Big homecoming games in Montana

In college football, one loss can be devastating to a team's season. But, rebounding from that loss can also save a season. And the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats need to make sure that happens this weekend.

Both the No. 15 Grizzlies (1-2) and No. 13 Bobcats (1-1) are at home for sold-out homecoming games this weekend, and both are looking to rebound from stinging road losses a week ago. Both teams are also playing their Big Sky Conference openers, so the stakes are certainly high.

In Missoula, fans will be edgy when the Grizzlies take on 2-1 Northern Arizona Saturday afternoon. Sure, it's homecoming and Montana is honoring the great 1995 national championship team, including the Griz busting out the Copper and Gold uniforms for the game against the Lumberjacks.

But festivities aside, Griz Nation is anxious as Montana has dropped two straight following its dramatic win over North Dakota State back on Aug. 29. UM's most recent loss came last Saturday, a flat, 31-21 performance at Liberty, where the Griz lost more than the game. UM junior quarterback Brady Gustafson suffered a broken leg in the first quarter of the game, and is out anywhere from 4-6 weeks.

That means, Bob Stitt's high-powered offense, which has been anything of late, will be turned over to junior Chad Chalich, an Idaho transfer. Chalich played well at times against Liberty last week, but Montana needs to find its rhythm, and the Griz need to find it in a hurry. The Griz' defense is doing all it can to hold teams back, but the Grizzly offense, led by receivers Jamaal Jones and Ellis Henderson, just haven't done its part in the last two games. And a big reason why is Montana's lack of a running game. John Nyguen has struggled behind an inexperienced offensive line, and the running back group has also been banged up, with Joey Counts and Lorenzo Logwood both having to deal with ankle injuries.

And now, a reeling and injured Griz team, that once looked like the best team in the FCS, must deal with a dangerous NAU offense, led by quarterback Case Cookus and a talented receiver group. And though the Lumberjacks got blasted by Pac 12 power Arizona last week, NAU is on a two-game winning streak against the Griz, and if Montana wants to reverse that trend, the Griz will need to play much, much better than they did against Cal Poly and Liberty the last two games.

Meanwhile, Montana State doesn't have the problems the Griz do on offense. And the Bobcats will look to their veteran offense, led by record-setting junior quarterback Dakota Prukop to carry them Saturday when they host No. 20 Cal Poly (1-2) in Bozeman.

In last week's huge showdown at Eastern Washington, the Cats put on an offensive display, with Prukop totaling over 500 yards of offense by himself. However, MSU lost the game 55-50 and the MSU defense surrendered nearly 700 yards of offense to the high-flying Eagles.

Now, the Bobcats are tasked with the challenge of playing a completely different, but equally powerful offense. The Mustangs, who already have a win in Montana this season (20-19 on Sept. 5 in Missoula) are a triple-option attack, and once again, they lead the FCS in rushing, averaging 310 yards per game on the ground. Led by true dual-threat quarterback Chris Brown, and a bevy of talented running backs, the Mustangs are very hard to stop, and MSU's young defense will have their backs against the wall Saturday afternoon.

"Their (Mustangs) defense matches their offense in terms of their strategy," said MSU head coach Rob Ash. "They're solid and sound, they don't allow big plays and so they get you into long drives that they produce and long drives that you have to produce and they shorten the game."

Yet, the Bobcats, who have lost two straight to Cal Poly, have an offense that certainly can produce, and while Cal Poly is very good defensively, the Mustangs will have their hands full with Prukop, and receivers like Mitchell Herbert, who is proving to be a go-to guy for MSU this season. So, if the Bobcats can score seemingly at will, just like they did last week at EWU, then that should take some pressure off a young, inexperienced MSU defense.

And, a win at home against a nationally ranked Cal Poly team, which has played a brutal schedule, including road games at Montana and Arizona State, as well as a home loss to Northern Iowa last Saturday night, would go a long way toward MSU's goal of winning the Big Sky.

Saturday's game between MSU and Cal Poly kicks off at 1:35 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. The game will be televised statewide on Cowles Media. Saturday's game between Montana and Northern Arizona will kick off at 2 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula. The game will be televised nationally on Root Sports Northwest.