George Ferguson Column: This Brawl would have likely been the biggest yet

In a normal year, today would be the day when eight locals - and I always try and have a good cross section of Griz and Bobcat fans - would predict the outcome of the annual Brawl of the Wild.

This year, though, isn't a normal year. In fact, it's so abnormal thanks to coronavirus that, there is no Cat-Griz game to predict.

For me, it will also be the first time since 2004 that I won't see a Cat-Griz game in Missoula in person. I had a good excuse that day though - I was covering the Havre Blue Ponies winning the Class A state title. The Griz also turned back the Cats that day, so, that was a good day, even though I wasn't at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Yes, it will be really weird to wake up Saturday morning and be in my own bed. On a normal Cat-Griz Saturday, I'd normally wake up in one of two places. In years when the game is in Missoula, I'd be in a hotel, getting ready to go tailgate. In years when it's in Bozeman, I'd wake up in my own bed, but very early, and I'd drive to Bozeman to cover the game, with our trusty photographer Colin. And before Cat fans jump me, no, I don't have anything against spending the night in Bozeman. I go to Bozeman all the time. I'm not one of those Griz' fans who hates Bozeman. In fact, I love Bozeman, I spend plenty of money in Bozeman, and I actually am there a lot, I just don't do it for the Cat-Griz game when it's there. When it's in Bozeman, it's just a different way of doing things for me, so relax. I like the city of Bozeman just fine.

Anyway, back to Saturday morning. Again, it's going to be weird, just like this whole week has been weird, not having the chance to write all the normal stories I do for the buildup to the game. Not preparing to go freeze my tail off at the game, and so on.

That, however, is life in a global pandemic.

And it was weird to not be calling folks to ask them to predict this year's game, too. I had a great lineup of people to do it, too. I try and mix it up, change it up every year, and I had some people I've never asked to partake before, on both sides of the rivalry. That, though, will have to wait until at least March.

So, instead, I've decided to call the game had it been played this fall. Yes, I'm going to predict a game that never happened, and know that won't happen.

First thing's first. A quick history lesson. The Bobcats have won four Brawl's in a row. Jeff Choate has never lost a Griz-Cat game as head coach at MSU, and two in a row is the most Bobby Hauck has ever lost consecutively in the series. And the most recent game, that was an absolute beat down in Bozeman, a beat down of epic proportions that had me muttering all the way back to Havre how I'll never go to another Cat-Griz game in person again because I'm tired of watching the Griz get crushed, over and over. I wasn't telling the truth on that last part, though. I'd love to be going to a Cat-Griz game Saturday.

So there's where the rivalry stands right now. And where would have these two teams been Nov. 21 had the 2020 season been played? Well, it's my feeling they would have both been Top 5 teams in the FCS and playing for, at the very least, a share of the Big Sky championship Saturday.

Yes, it's my belief that, the Bobcats and Grizzlies would have been really, really good in 2020, so much so that, there would have been a real chance that both teams could have been 10-1 coming into the 120th meeting. And no, that's not me being a Griz homer either. Any person who truly follows both teams knows full well that both teams were absolutely loaded in 2020, not just one or the other. And anyone out there who thinks, somehow, both teams weren't going to be really good this fall, well you need to take your blue, or maroon colored glasses off for a minute.

So having said that, there would have been a lot on the line in Missoula this Saturday. At minimum a share of the Big Sky championship would have been on the line, and perhaps a No. 2 seed in the playoffs, which would have meant not having to face North Dakota State until the national championship game. Home field advantage in the playoffs for sure would have been on the line, and of course, a streak would have been on the line, too, for the Bobcats anyway.

Imagine the scene in Missoula if both teams were ranked that high, both teams had amazing overall records, both teams were healthy and clicking on all cylinders. Imagine that, this game had the makings of one of the most important games in all of the FCS this season, with so much at stake. Of course, we've been there before with the rivalry, but then add to that MSU's four-game winning streak, add to it the all-out hatred that is so bad right now between both fan bases, add in the weather, a national TV audience on Root Sports, and a game that is already one of the most intense rivalry games in all of college football every year, imagine all of that and what you would have had this Saturday quite possibly would have been the single biggest, single most-anticipated Cat-Griz game ever.

I really do believe this season, had there been no pandemic, had all the makings of exactly that - epic. And of course, it would have been perfect given this was to be the 120th meeting in the rivalry. It just sounds good to say, 120th Brawl of the Wild.

It would have been huge, that's for certain.

But, the question is, who would have won? I never usually predict the Cat-Griz game. I'm too superstitious. But, for those of you who think I just go homerville every time, you'd be wrong. I'm the biggest North Carolina basketball fan that I know who doesn't live in North Carolina and yet, I rarely, have ever picked the Heels to win it all in my March Madness brackets. And that's even when they've been really good. So no, even if I picked the Cat-Griz game every year, I wouldn't just pick the Griz because that's my team. I'd definitely be objective. In fact, I think I'm about the most objective person I know when it comes to the rivalry, too.

And yet, this time, objectively, I'm going with the Griz. Yes, if there had been a game in Missoula this Saturday, I think the Griz would have gotten over the Jeff Choate hump, probably barely. And I'm going to give two factors as to why.

The first key would have been Montana's passing game. Had there been no pandemic, and everybody was healthy, the Griz would have likely had the single-most dangerous passing attack since the 1995 national championship team, and that's saying a lot because the Griz have had a lot of really good areal attacks through the years. But, this year was going to be special, even with first-year quarterback Cam Humphrey.

Add to that, the Bobcats were also going to be breaking in a much different secondary this season, and while MSU's defense was going to be stout still, the Griz passing game was, in my estimation, going to be more than any team in the Big Sky could handle.

The other factor that weighed in on my decision to pick the Griz was, even without the pandemic, Troy Andersen was set to not play this season. And while Choate has been the Griz' killer, and deserves so much credit for reviving MSU's program, it's also not a coincidence that, the winning streak Choate has going, includes Andersen playing about a million positions. Now, I know, Cat fans will counter me with, "Andersen didn't play last year and the Cats destroyed the Griz." And that's fine. But that was last year. So while we know last year's MSU team, which went all the way to the FCS semifinals, knew they could beat the Griz without Andersen, this year wouldn't have been last year. This Bobcat squad was different, especially on defense, and a healthy Troy Andersen would have made a huge difference in the outcome of the game had it been played.

So there you have it. I kept it simple. I picked the Griz for those two reasons, and those two reasons alone. Nothing more, nothing less. I think the Griz would have won an extremely close game in Wash-Griz. I think the Griz would have gotten over the Jeff Choate streak, and got the Divide Trophy back in Missoula.

That's how I see it anyway. But how I see it is actually moot because the game isn't happening, and that's too bad because, whether it's next March, or not until next November, the next time these two teams play each other, they won't be the teams we would have seen in 2020. That's just the harsh reality. Yes, it's my opinion that, we missed our chance to see perhaps one of the greatest Cat-Griz showdowns ever.

And all I have to say to that is, thanks a lot 2020 ... I can't wait until you're over.