Cats, Griz hoping for a turnaround

It’s a big weekend for the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats. Why? Because both teams got off to a 0-1 start in Big Sky Conference play, and neither can afford to fall further behind in the conference standings.

The No. 11 Grizzlies (2-1, 0-1) suffered their first loss of the season last Saturday — a gut-wrenching one-point defeat at Cal Poly. In that game, Montana’s fortunes flipped, as the Griz’ offense posted a record-setting day, but the defense, which was among the FCS leaders coming in, couldn’t figure out a way to stop all of the quirks in Cal Poly’s triple option attack.

Now Montana comes home, and normally that would be a reprieve, but the Griz’ homecoming opponent, Southern Utah is no slouch. In fact, the Thunderbirds are the defending Big Sky champions, and despite losing three defensive players to the NFL and their starting quarterback, SUU (2-1, 1-0) appears to have picked up right where it left off. The T-Birds only loss this season came at the hands of Pac 12 power Utah, and once again, they rely heavily on a stout defense, a defense that allows a mere 24 points per game.

However, SUU’s offense will be a challenge for a beat up Montana defense, led by Caleb Kidder, Ryan Johnson and linebackers Josh Buss and Connor Strahm. The T-Birds have running back Malik Brown averaging 122 yards per game, while second-string quarterback Patrick Tyler has led the T-Birds to two straight wins after taking over for injured BYU transfer Coy Hill.

While stopping the T-Birds will be paramount for the Griz to get back on track, Montana head coach Bob Stitt hopes his offense keeps going. Against a good Cal Poly defense, the Griz’ QB Brady Gustafson threw for 418 yards and a school-record 47 completions, 21 of those going to record-setting freshman Jerry Louie-McGee. But for Montana to be successful they can’t rely so heavily on the pass. Instead, running backs John Nyguen and Jeremy Calhoun must also churn out yards to keep the stingy SUU defense honest.

In other words, Montana must put a complete game together for the first time this season, if it is to win the first of three straight games at home.

Meanwhile, MSU (2-2, 0-1) just wrapped up a three-game home stand, but it didn’t end the way first-year head coach Jeff Choate was hoping. Last Saturday, the Bobcats lost a 17-15 thriller to North Dakota, and now, MSU heads on the road for the first time in a month, as the Cats visit winless Sacramento State Saturday night.

The Hornets (0-3, 0-1) have struggled out of the gate and are last in the Big Sky in total defense, including suffered a loss to the same Western Oregon squad the Cats beat 55-0. Still, MSU won’t take the Hornets lightly.

Last week, new MSU QB Tyler Bruggman threw four interceptions, and the Cats turned it over five times in the loss to UND. And after a great defensive effort, one which now has MSU’s defense first in the Big Sky, with the likes of Mac Bignell and Grant Collins leading the way, MSU’s offense needs to catch up.

Much of that will fall on the shoulders of Bruggman, who has struggled at times. But MSU also needs to find its ground game with bruising fullback Chad Newell leading the way. Newell, despite struggling with injuries, rushed for 100 yards against UND, and against a Sac. State defense that struggles against the run, expect to see plenty of carries for him and fellow senior Gunnar Brekke. And that could spell good things for an MSU offense that’s struggled to find consistency thus far.

And if things go right for MSU in Sacramento, as it should, it would be exactly what the Cats need heading into what would be a huge showdown with Big Sky favorite Northern Arizona Oct. 8 in Bozeman.

Saturday’s game between the Bobcats and Hornets will kick off at 7 p.m. M.D.T. in Sacramento. The game will be televised statewide on all Max Media affiliates. Montana’s homecoming game against Southern Utah will start at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. That game will also be carried by Max Media.