Cats, Griz ready for games after dark

The entire country saw the Montana Grizzlies upset top-ranked North Dakota State last Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula. Now, it’s time for Montana to watch both its NCAA college football programs play under the lights.

Tonight in Bozeman, the Montana State Bobcats will make their season debut when they host NCAA Division II Fort Lewis in MSU’s annual Gold Rush Game. Then, on Saturday night, the Grizzlies will return to Wash-Griz after their emotional win over NDSU, and shift gears, hosting the triple-option attack of the Cal Poly Mustangs in a night game.

And while the Griz already have a game under their belt, tonight is the night when the No. 11 Bobcats (0-0) begin their push for not only a Big Sky championship, but a run at a national title too.

Under veteran head coach Rob Ash, the MSU offense is loaded for that run, led by All-American and Walter Payton Award candidate Dakota Prukop. Running backs Chad Newell and Gunnar Brekke give MSU the ground game it needs, while the Bobcats will play as many as eight talented receivers in a game, and all of them are a threat to go the distance every time they touch the ball.

While Fort Lewis will likely be unable to do anything about the MSU offense tonight, MSU fans are anxious to get a look at a revamped Bobcat defense. The Cats ranked near the bottom of the Big Sky in most defensive categories a year ago, and for MSU to reach its full potential this season, that has to change. MSU will start three new linebackers tonight, as well as three new players in the secondary.

But as inexperienced as the defense is, tonight’s outcome against the Skyhawks will never be in doubt. But it is still an important tune-up because, after a bye next week, the Bobcats will make the short drive west to Cheney, Washington, for a huge showdown with the Eastern Washington Eagles.

Meanwhile, big showdown is nothing new to the No. 12 Grizzlies (1-0), and the trick for new head coach Bob Stitt’s team this weekend will be putting the emotions of their huge win over NDSU behind them.

The Griz have no choice but to do that because the Mustangs are coming to Missoula, and the last two meetings between the two squads have been anything but easy. In 2013, the Griz had to block a field goal and then win in overtime to survive Cal Poly in Missoula. Then, last year, UM went to San Luis Obispo for a night game that turned into a nightmare. Cal Poly rushed for 431 yards on what was a stout Montana defense in a dominating 41-21 win.

Now, Montana must face that exact same triple option team. Only the Mustangs are a year older. Head coach Tim Walsh’s club not only returns four starters on the offensive line, but senior quarterback Chris Brown and senior running back Kori Garcia, who both went over 1,000 yards on the ground last season, and both went for 100 yards against the Grizzlies.

So, Saturday night figures to be a tall order for the Montana defense, which came up with huge stops time and time again against NDSU. The difference could be the Montana offense, which rang up 93 plays on the Bison last week. If the Griz can keep their fast-paced offense moving all night, then the Mustangs won’t have as many opportunities to be on the field chewing up clock and wearing down an emotionally tired UM defense.

Either way, it figures to be another tough test for the Griz, who couldn’t have asked for a better start … being 1-0 going into the Cal Poly game with that win coming against the four-time FCS champion Bison.

Saturday night’s game between the Griz and Mustangs will kick off at 7 p.m. in Missoula. The game can be viewed locally on all Cowles Media affiliates. Tonight’s game in Bozeman, between MSU and Fort Lewis, will kick off at 7:05 p.m. and can also be seen locally on Cowles Media channels