Griz have a chance to put the last 14 years of trials and tribulations behind them Saturday against the Bison

A lot can happen in 14 years. And in the case of the University of Montana football program, boy has it.

The last time the Grizzlies hosted an FCS semifinal, hometown hero Marc Mariani was just that, a Havre and Montana folk hero playing for the Grizzlies in what ended up being a historic semifinal win over star-studded Appalachian State.

Little did anyone know, or dare to believe at the time, but that windy, frigid, snowy night in Missoula would be the last time the Grizzlies would reach an FCS championship game. For one of the winningest college football programs in the modern era, at any level, going 14 years without a championship game appearance has been shocking.

But what happened to the program in the last 14 years has been equally as stunning.

Just one year after the 2009 season, the Griz missed the playoffs for the first time in eons. And while they would reach the semifinals in 2011, missing the playoffs has happened to the Griz several times since.

Scandals also rocked the program. No need to rehash, but Montana had to go on NCAA probation, fired a head coach and athletic director and experienced years of bad publicity, and as is usually the case with college programs, it took its toll on UM.

There were also coaching changes galore. Bobby Hauck was a staple for the Griz for a long time, but when he departed for UNLV after that 2009 season, a coaching carousel began. Robin Pflugrad was fired in 2012, Mick Delaney tried to steer the ship for a couple years, and then there was the Bob Stitt era.

Yes, just since Montana's last appearance in the title game, the Griz have cycled through four head coaches, including Hauck's return in 2018.

Now don't get me wrong, there's been plenty to still love about what the Grizzlies have done in the last 14 years. Plenty of excitement, plenty of thrills and great games, playoff appearances and so many incredible players have come and gone during that time. 

And yet, the last 14 years has been mostly seen, by Griz Nation itself, as a time of change, disappointment and, in some seasons, failures. That might sound harsh, but it doesn't mean it's not true.

Of course, something else did happen during the last 14 years, and it has a bearing on where we are today.

Remember that smoky August afternoon in 2015, when little-known Stitt, and guys like Brady Gustafson and Joey Counts led the Griz to one of their greatest wins in program history? I do, because like so many of you, I was there when the Griz shocked then No.1 North Dakota State on ESPN in the first college football game of the season.

To this day, that has been one of the most incredible wins the Grizzlies have ever pulled off, and certainly the greatest regular season game Montana has ever won in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. It's a game no Griz fan will ever forget, and one most Bison fans haven't forgotten either.

So, while there have been many a rough stretch when it comes to Grizzly football since they beat Appalachian State on that horrible December night in Missoula back in 2009, the brightest moment since came when Montana shocked the Bison that blistering hot day in 2015.

Now though, eight years later, the 2023 Grizzlies have a chance to top that day against the Bison when Brent Musberger famously said "You are looking live at Missoula Montana." On Saturday, the Griz have a chance to do something that hasn't been done in 14 years. They are hosting an FCS semifinal with a chance to go back to the championship game, and it's against the very same Bison program.

Saturday's game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium will be the biggest game to be played there in a long, long time, and that's the second time I've said that this season. But it's true. Because, while Montana has hosted, and played in plenty of massive games before, and has been to so many FCS semifinals in years past, given all that's happened to the program since the last semifinal home game, there's no way this isn't the biggest, and most importuned semifinal game since the very first one back in 1995.

It's big because it's NDSU. While South Dakota State might be the best team in the country lately, and while Montana State has been owning the Brawl of the Wild rivalry for a few years on and off now, the Bison and Griz are still the standard by which the FCS is best known for. It's no different than how, no matter how washed up he might, Tiger Woods is still the standard by which professional golf is measured. That hasn't changed and neither has the Bison and Griz being the flagship programs of FCS, and that's why this game is so huge.

But perhaps bigger than how huge this game is, is how important it is. It's important because the once-dominant Griz program has been anything but the last decade. Now though, they have a chance to be yet again. Now, the Griz have a chance to finally put all that has happened to that program the last 14 years behind them for good. 

Yes, a win Saturday would mean, for now, all is right with Montana football again. And it's only fitting that, that chance, that opportunity that has eluded Montana for over a decade now, comes against North Dakota State.

As they say, you couldn't have written a better script.

Editor's Note: Montana and North Dakota State meet in the FCS semifinals Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Missoula, The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.