Montana hosts UMass

MISSOULA – The University of Massachusetts had to do more than get ready to meet second-ranked Montana on the football field this week.

It had to figure out how to deal with the nearly 24,000 screaming fans who bought tickets to today’s Division I-AA semifinal game against the Montana Grizzlies.

“Well, we are just going to have to prepare our guys the best we can for it,” UMass coach Don Brown said. “Hand signals, silent cadence, but it will certainly be tough to assimilate during practice week.”

More than 23,800 tickets for tonight’s game sold out before noon Wednesday.

On the field, in just the second game played under the lights in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, teams with potent offenses and stingy defenses will fight for a national championship berth.

Atlantic 10 champion UMass (12-1), which has a school-record 11-game winning streak, is led by sophomore quarterback Liam Coen, who averages 197 yards passing and has thrown 25 TD passes this season.

The Minutemen allow opponents 11.9 points per game and hold them to 271 yards in total offense.

Big Sky Conference champion Montana (12-1) comes in with a 12-game winning streak and a 5-0 record in home semifinals.

Quarterback Josh Swogger averages 210 yards passing and has thrown 17 TD passes.

•Montana’s student government has endorsed a scaled-down plan for expansion at Washington-Grizzly Stadium that includes 2,000 new seats and an increase in athletic fees of $10 per semester.

The original plan called for a $7 million, 4,000-seat expansion and a fee increase of $17.50 per semester.