MISSOULA – It is an electrical feeling to face on the roof of the Washington-Grizzly Stadium press field earlier than the Brawl of the Wild. Think about that – 27,000-odd individuals in a single place, all specializing in the identical factor, gamers and coaches and followers alike locked-in on nothing else however the recreation that may determine Treasure State bragging rights for an additional 12 months. It’s an unusual expertise, exhilarating and even just a little scary to really feel the sheer power of consideration from everyone within the stadium.
If ever a Cat-Griz recreation deserved that single-minded depth and fixation, it was Saturday’s, which had not solely the Great Divide Trophy on the road, but additionally (for the primary time within the historical past of the rivalry) the outright Big Sky title and (for the primary time within the historical past of the rivalry), the No. 2 seed within the FCS Playoffs, provided that it was being contested (for the primary time within the historical past of the rivalry) between two top-five groups, No. 3 and No. 4 within the nation.
That’s numerous firsts, and if there was a most spectacular factor out of all of the spectacular issues the Montana Grizzlies achieved of their 37-7 beatdown, it’s this: they turned essentially the most consequential rivalry recreation arguably ever right into a runaway, battering the Bobcats so badly it eliminated all drama from the Brawl to finish all Brawls.
The win gave Montana the Big Sky title for the primary time since 2009, Bobby Hauck’s final 12 months with the Griz earlier than returning to Missoula in 2018 and made certain the Great Divide Trophy would keep within the Garden City.
“It was a great performance by our team today, and we’re very excited to get the 74th win over our rival,” Hauck mentioned. “I think it’s kind of special just because of the landscape of Division I college football right now. Recruiting classes are kind of an antiquated notion to a degree with everybody hopping schools everywhere, so the fact that we have a bunch of guys who came in here together, I think that’s a little bit unique. … Certainly with this group here, we have a bunch of guys who stuck it out. They enjoy it, they like each other, they like football and they love Montana.”
Instead of the top-five battle it was billed as, the report crowd of 27,178 at Washington-Grizzly and the stakes of the second made Montana State appear like an overmatched, undisciplined highschool staff, as errors piled as much as condemn the Bobcats to a demoralizing defeat heading into the FCS Playoffs.
The Griz will head into those self same playoffs because the No. 2 seed and arguably the most popular staff within the nation, with a seven-game successful streak, 4 straight victories by a minimum of 24 factors and, so long as they hold successful, the chance to play at home all the best way as much as the nationwide championship recreation in Frisco, Texas.
“We are good at home, somebody’s going to have to come in here and beat us,” Hauck mentioned. “Not that that can’t happen, certainly it can, but it really felt like the winner of this game was going to be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and that’s the way it’s gonna be. The best part of this whole deal is, the way the playoffs are set up these days, is that we don’t play next weekend, so we get to sit at home and enjoy this, marinate in it for a week before we even know who we play.”
Two years in the past, the Griz shocked Montana State with a 74-yard Junior Bergen landing on the second play of the sport, sparking a 29-10 rout that wasn’t that shut and, for the primary time in Brent Vigen’s time teaching the Bobcats, exposing the then first-year coach.
This time, Montana’s opening drive was much less explosive, however simply as efficient. The Griz took benefit of some weak Montana State tackling, transformed three third downs, caught a break when Nick Ostmo jumped on his quarterback Clifton McDowell’s fumble contained in the MSU 15, and completed off a 14-play, 75-yard drive when Eli Gillman spun into the tip zone for a 4-yard landing and a 7-0 lead.
“We got beat in all three phases,” Vigen mentioned. “Never quite got the momentum back. … Momentum the other way feeds that crowd. That first series, their offense against our defense, was not good. The number of tackles we missed on that particular drive was more than usual for us.”
Montana State, in the meantime, gashed the Griz with the run recreation between the 20s however couldn’t end promising drives, and that, together with the entire and utter lack of a passing recreation, mixed to doom the Bobcats.
Montana State tried simply three passes within the first half, finishing none, and quarterbacks Tommy Mellott and Sean Chambers completed the sport 4 of 16 for 67 yards.
The Bobcats drove contained in the Montana 30 twice within the first half, however after Casey Kautzman missed a 42-yard discipline aim on the primary drive, they went for it on fourth down the second time and failed.
Montana State went for it 4 instances within the recreation, failing every time.
With the Grizzlies stretching their lead and unable to seek out a solution, the Bobcats turned undisciplined and mistake-prone.
Montana led 17-0 late within the half due to a 4-yard landing run by McDowell and a 40-yard discipline aim by Nico Ramos. With the Bobcats making an attempt for a Hail Mary to finish the half, Chambers took a sack on the MSU 31 with one second left on the clock. That introduced the gamers, who had run to the locker rooms pondering the half was over, again onto the sector and gave Montana an opportunity for a 48-yard discipline aim to finish the half.
Freshman Grant Glasgow’s kick was properly quick, however Jon Johnson crashed into the kicker’s plant leg, leading to a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty and letting Montana attempt to kick once more from 33 yards. Senior Nico Ramos slotted the re-kick proper down the center, giving the Griz a 20-0 lead at halftime.
“We could have let the time run out,” Vigen mentioned. “We can protect well enough to get a Hail Mary off, let the five seconds run out. Our chances of scoring there are slim. It didn’t work, I know that.”
Montana State confirmed a pulse out of the halftime break with a fast landing drive, scoring on their first completion of the sport when Mellott hit Ty McCullouch for a 19-yard rating.
But on the following kickoff, one other mistake – Brendan Hall not kicking the ball into the tip zone – let Junior Bergen return the kick, and the Billings native who was at one time dedicated to the ‘Cats took it again to the 50.
Six performs later, the Griz have been again ultimately zone when Bergen motioned to the slot, shredded Level Price Jr.’s ankles on an choice route, and side-stepped into the tip zone after the catch for a 20-yard rating and a 27-7 lead.
“Their kid (Brendan Hall) is 85% touchbacks, so we didn’t know if we’d get an opportunity (for a return), but we did work at it this week,” Hauck mentioned. “The point with the kickoff return was, if we get an opportunity, we have to take advantage of it, and they did. Fifty-yard return and get the ball into positive territory, that kind of steals it back from them. I would have liked to have scored on the kickoff return, but Junior likes to share it a little bit.”
Ramos kicked a 29-yard discipline aim and Nick Ostmo rumbled untouched up the center for a 64-yard landing late because the Griz continued to impose their will and the ‘Cats continued to flounder.
Unlike in 2021, Montana State couldn’t even add a comfort rating, making the 30-point margin of victory the most important beatdown within the Brawl because the well-known 2008 recreation when the Griz ran out of the tunnel in throwback copper-and-gold uniforms and proceeded to stomp the Bobcats 35-3.
Fitting, contemplating so many have in contrast the 2023 Griz with the 2008 Griz, a squad that regarded sluggish throughout the non-conference, obtained pushed by a Division II staff, misplaced its convention opener, after which gained 10 video games in a row to surge all the best way to the nationwide championship recreation.
The second half of the present story is but to be written, however this group of Griz have 10 wins already and gained’t have to go away the state till after the New Year in the event that they carry on successful.
Saturday, Montana rolled up 430 yards to Montana State’s 280, with McDowell ending 17 of twenty-two for 200 yards and one landing, and including 69 yards and a landing dashing. Ostmo had 85 yards on seven carries for Montana, and Bergen had six catches for 91 yards. Montana transformed 7 of 14 third downs, whereas Montana State was 1 of 10.
In what’s destined to be a future trivia query, Montana State had two 100-yard rushers (Mellott, 108, and Julius Davis, 107), however the Bobcats will take a bitter style and loads of questions into what might be a harder playoff run than they might have imagined three weeks in the past. At 8-3, the Bobcats would possibly fall out of a top-eight seed with Saturday’s consequence and their prospects at a Top 5 seed evaporated.
“This game does not end our season,” Vigen mentioned. “We’ll find out tomorrow what the next steps are going to be, and we’ve got to go back to work. We’ve got to look at this film and say, OK, what could we have done better? And get off the mat and go after that next opportunity.”
The Grizzlies, in the meantime, will take two shiny trophies and all of the momentum on the earth into their playoff run, persevering with an astonishing resurrection and upswing after their stunning conference-opening loss to Northern Arizona.
And it’s no secret that Montana thrives on momentum. Just ask Montana State, caught within the highlights, run over and left on the facet of the highway in a Brawl that was billed as historic and ended up that method in a very totally different method than everyone thought.
“It’s awesome,” Montana linebacker Braxton Hill mentioned. “I can’t even describe it. I’ve been here six years, we’ve been saying championships 18, working on 19. Knowing that we finally made it to 19, I mean, I’m just so proud of this team, the seniors and the coaches, and I wish it could last forever.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez and Blake Hempstead – Skyline Sports. All Rights Reserved.
