George Ferguson: Big Sky play starts, now we'll see what Cats, Griz are made of

OK, it's already been pretty well established that the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats are pretty darn good. In fact, it looks like no 2020 had almost zero effect on either program through three weeks of the season.

Now, however, comes Big Sky Conference play, and that's an entirely different matter.

I know, the fourth-ranked Grizzlies already knocked off a Pac 12 opponent on the road and a Missouri Valley foe at home. How tough can the Big Sky be? I know, the Bobcats have won two blowouts at home, and should have an FBS win to their credit as well. The Big Sky should be a breeze for them too, right?

Wrong.

None of that matters, for two reasons. The first is, the Big Sky is always good, really good, and teams that might not look great on paper, always turn out to be tougher than they appear. Second thing is, not only is the Big Sky really good, but it's a really long season. Cat-Griz is still two months away, and standing in between the Griz and Cats is a gauntlet of games, weather, injuries and, perhaps, the continued pandemic, which, at some point, is likely going to shake up this football season.

Some of those things are beyond either program's control. What each team can do is win, no matter how tough the Big Sky is, and it is. The Griz open this Saturday with a revamped Cal Poly squad, and then, go to Cheney and the Inferno, where they haven't beaten Eastern Washington since Marc Mariani torched the Eagles in 2008. Oh, and for good measure, EWU has a ridiculously good quarterback and the game is a late-night affair on ESPN2. Still think things are going to be easy?

The Bobcats, meanwhile, open conference play this Saturday at Portland State. The Vikings may not be tough this season, but a Friday night game on national television at four-time defending champion Weber State, and a November trip to the Inferno, are games that could get in the way of the Cats' quest to finally win an outright Big Sky championship.

And that is the goal.

When Bobby Hauck was asked what makes the mindset of Big Sky games different, he simply said, the goal is to win the Big Sky championship, and to do that, you got to win 'em all. So that's what Montana and Montana State are trying to do, they're going to try and win 'em all before they get to each other in late November in Missoula.

Of course, to do that, they'll need to run the Big Sky obstacle course.

In this week's STATS FCS Poll, five teams including UM at No. 4 and MSU at No. 13 are ranked in the Top 15. EWU is at No. 6, UC Davis has risen to No. 12 and Weber is No. 14. And don't forget, Sacramento State has already been ranked and Northern Arizona just beat its Pac 12 big brother Arizona last Saturday night.

That's right, as usual, the Big Sky is going to be a bloodbath. There's no denying Montana and Montana State are really good, and Cat-Griz could certainly end up being a game for the ages this season, but it's way too soon to really look at it like that. It's way too early to think about it, and the main reason why is - the Big Sky is loaded, and every week is going to be brutal.

So, without further ado, let the games begin.

Montana hosts Cal Poly for homecoming Saturday at 1 p.m. in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The game can be seen Montana on ABC/FOX. The Bobcats play at Portland State Saturday at 3 p.m. The game will be televised on Montana SWX.