Griz try and stop Mustangs; Cats tackle Cats

It's getting late into October, and for the Montana State Bobcats and Montana Grizzlies, time is starting to tick away.

Both Montana teams are firmly in the hunt for a Big Sky championship, and both have critical games on Saturday. The No. 10 Grizzlies (2-1, 5-1) host Cal Poly in a Big Sky battle Saturday in Missoula, while the No. 5 Bobcats (2-0, 4-2) travel to struggling Weber State.

Montana comes into Saturday's game fresh off an impressive 42-7 road win over UC Davis last Saturday night in California. But the Cal Poly Mustangs (2-0, 3-3) are in a first-place tie with Montana State and Eastern Washington, and they'll be a major step up in competition, especially with their confusing triple-option offense.

"Preparation and discipline are going to be 100 percent the key," Montana coach Mick Delaney said. "Any time you're playing triple-option football – I've been associated with that playing Air Force for 15 years (while coaching) at Colorado State and obviously playing Cal Poly I think this is the fourth time since I've been here – it's discipline."

The Mustangs have been up and down this season, but their offense hasn't. Cal Poly leads the Big Sky in rushing behind star back Kristaan Ivory, who leads the conference with 117 yards per game. Quarterback Dano Graves is also a dual-threat star who can beat teams with his feet, but was once the leading high school passer in the country.

Yet, Montana's defense is No. 1 in the Big Sky against the run, so Saturday's game will be a true showdown. The Grizzlies are allowing just 101 yards per contest and they're also first in the conference in scoring defense. Linebackers Jordan Tripp and Brock Coyle have got plenty of attention, but Zach Wagnemann is having another fantastic season, while fellow linemen Alex Biennaman and Tonga Takai are also stout in stuffing the run.

And they'll need to be against a Cal Poly team which will run on every down and distance if needs be.

"You can't start leaning," Delaney said. "If you've got the quarterback you've got to take the quarterback. If you've got the pitch you've got to fight off of the cut blocks and take the pitch. It's just one-on-one is what it amounts to and who works the hardest. You can't guess. You've got to be right-on with your responsibilities."

Scoring points will also be at a premium Saturday because the Mustang offense is designed to keep the ball. So when the Grizzlies have it, their potent offense must put the ball in the endzone. Jordan Johnson continues to amaze at quarterback as he's now gone six straight games without throwing an interception, and he has an efficient 16 touchdown passes. But Montana is also a power running team with both Jordan Canada and Travon Van among the league leaders in rushing, while sophomore Joey Counts has really come on strong of late.

So expect a grind-it-out game in what is the first of two huge bouts in Missoula. A week after the Griz play Poly, they'll host Eastern Washington in what is expected to be one of the biggest games of the season in the Big Sky.

And while Cal Poly presents a huge challenge for the Griz, Weber State will have a hard time putting up a fight against the Bobcats Saturday in Ogden, Utah.

MSU comes into the game fresh off its bye week, which was an extra seven days to get star quarterback DeNarius McGhee feeling better. But even with a banged up McGhee, MSU's offense hasn't faltered. Instead, the Cats are leading the conference in scoring, and have really been given a boost by senior running back Cody Kirk, who has over 300 yards in his last two outings, and junior speedster Shawn Johnson, who's coming off a career game two weeks ago in a win over Northern Arizona.

Meanwhile, MSU's steadily improving defense, led by star end Brad Daly and linebacker Alex Singleton, should be up to the task against a WSU squad which is really struggling. Weber is starting a freshman at quarterback, and the Wildcats are currently last in the Big Sky in most offensive and defensive categories. Still, Weber has talented running backs in Josh Booker and Bo Bolen, and despite the Wildcats' dismal 1-6 record and 0-3 start to conference play, MSU head coach Rob Ash is by no means overlooking them Saturday.

"Weber State has always played us tough," Ash said. "They're a very physical team on both sides of the ball. That goes back to the roots they had when Coach McBride got physical, tough players into that program, and they're still playing that way. They've had a terrible schedule, brutal schedule. They've had some difficulties with injuries. I'm waiting for them to break out and have a great football game, one of these days and hopefully not this week."

The next stretch of games will be critical to MSU's season. The Cats have very winnable road games at Weber Saturday and at Northern Colorado Nov. 2. In between is a home game with UC Davis, and all that leads up to the Cats' huge showdown with EWU Nov. 9 in Cheney, Wash., where the big Sky title could very well be on the line.

Saturday's game between MSU and Weber State kicks off at 3:30 p.m. in Ogden, Utah. The game can be seen live on Root Sports Northwest. The showdown between Montana and Cal Poly starts at 1:35 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula. That game is scheduled to be shown locally on Max Media.