Matadors Were Flagged Down on Pair of Near Upsets

Cal State Northridge has nearly pulled of major upsets twice, having opportunities to win in the fourth quarter before losing to Northern Arizona in September and to Montana last week.

But look closely at the two games and there is one common thread that might explain why Northridge failed to win: penalties.

Against Northern Arizona, Northridge was called for 11 penalties, contributing to seven of the Lumberjacks’ 24 first downs. In Saturday’s 43-36 loss to Montana, the Matadors were penalized nine times, leading to six of the Grizzlies’ 29 first downs.

Six of the most crushing penalties in the two games were for pass interference, including four in the game against Montana. The Grizzlies scored on those four drives.

Were the Matadors victimized by the officials or were they playing sloppy defense?

That depends on who you ask.

Northridge Coach Dave Baldwin made his opinion clear without commenting specifically.

Baldwin simply said he spent a lot of time filling out his weekly evaluations of the officials after the Northern Arizona and Montana games.

The same crew worked both games.

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Baldwin was disappointed that only 4,217 people showed up for the game Saturday, and many of them were Montana fans.

“I thought the students would turn out more,” Baldwin said. “We had the most rowdy fans. They were definitely behind us, but I didn’t see the number of students I’d like.”

When Northridge joined the Big Sky--thus committing to tripling its football scholarships and building a new stadium--it was done on the assumption that a good football team and good opponents would draw significantly more fans than the team did in the past.

But Saturday’s game didn’t do much to encourage those feelings. A crowd smaller than the season average (4,549) showed up to see Montana, the best team that has played at Northridge.

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The Matadors avoided any significant injuries in the Montana game. . . . Defensive back Steve Forte (fractured right leg) will not play again this season and Northridge will petition for a medical redshirt. Forte played in only two quarters. . . .

Montana Coach Mick Dennehy, who missed the Northridge game because of emergency colon surgery early last week, was released from the hospital on Tuesday morning, said Dave Guffey, Montana sports information director. Guffey said Dennehy hoped to attend the game against Portland State on Saturday, though in the press box and not on the sideline. . . .

Northridge quarterback Aaron Flowers’ 457 yards passing weren’t the best in the Big Sky last week, but you’d be surprised to learn who had the most. Sacramento State backup quarterback Tyler Jessee, who the Matadors pummeled a week earlier, passed for 464 yards in a loss to Portland State. Against Northridge, Jessee completed nine of 21 passes for 123 yards and was sacked five times in a little more than two quarters. Flowers needs 97 yards to break the Northridge record for single-season passing (2,705 by Steve Duddy in 1982). . . .

Receiver David Romines remains atop the Division I-AA rankings in catches per game (9.4) and second in yards per game (130.9). . . . Despite the loss to Montana, Northridge still rose from 40th to 38th in the Division I-AA poll. . . . With four losses, Northridge has virtually no chance of earning an at-large bid to the 16-team playoffs.