No. 3 Montana carries head of steam into Bozeman: ‘We will be ready and we will be excited to play’
By Colter Nuanez SKYLINE SPORTS
For the second time in less than a month, the collision course is set. And when Montana State hosts Montana on Saturday in the first same-season rematch in 113 years in a rivalry that is 128 years old, a trip to the national championship game is on the line.
Montana and Montana State have played 124 times in the storied history of one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in college football. Montana leads the all-time series with a record of 74-44-5, but since the two schools have been playing at the same level of college football, it’s knotted at 37-37.
Montana State won its third Big Sky Conference title in the last four seasons by defeating archrival Montana in Missoula on Nov. 22. MSU’s 31-28 win at Washington-Grizzly Stadium helped MSU secure an undefeated run through the Big Sky for the third time under fifth-year head coach Brent Vigen and also helped the Bobcats sew up the No. 2 seed in the FCS Playoffs.
The second seed meant Montana State would host its playoff games, all the way until the FCS national title game in Nashville, Tennessee, provided MSU won all three games after a first-round bye. And although the Bobcats had to slog through a myriad of drama as well as a stagnant performance in a 21-13 win over Yale on Dec. 6, and although MSU had to overcome 12 penalties on Friday night against Stephen F. Austin, the Bobcats still take the nation’s longest winning streak into the Dec. 20 rivalry rematch with the Grizzlies.
Montana State’s 44-28 triumph over the Lumberjacks included just one punt. But it also included a variety of mental miscues that probably prevented MSU from blowing out the visitors to a greater extent. Still, the Bobcats have won 12 in a row after an 0-2 start and are the definitive favorite remaining in a 24-team bracket that saw the opposite side of the bracket get completely busted over the las two weeks.
For the first time ever, North Dakota State qualified for the playoffs and did not qualify for the quarterfinals. The top-seeded, defending national champion Bison went one-and-done, losing a home playoff game in Fargo for just the second time in their 21-year Division I history when Illinois State pulled one of the greatest upsets in the history of the subdivision. ISU’s 29-28 win at the Fargo Dome meant the FCS will have a new national champion.
On the other side of the bracket on Dec. 6, Montana boat raced South Dakota State, 50-29, meaning that a school that is not a “Dakota State” will claim the FCS title for the first time since 2016 and just the second time since Eastern Washington was the last Big Sky Conference team to win the title back in 2010. NDSU had won 10 of the last 13 national titles before the Dec. 6 upset loss.
Also on Dec. 6, the second round also saw No. 11 South Dakota go on the road and rout Southern Conference champion and No. 6 seed Mercer, 47-0. But that ‘Yotes team ran into a buzzsaw in Missoula on Dec. 13 as Montana ran South Dakota out of the stadium in a 52-22 blowout that gives the Grizzlies a head of steam coming to Bozeman.
The opposite side of the bracket features a pair of unlikely contenders that played on the first weekend in the first round. Illinois State has won three straight road games—including their upset of NDSU—after outlasting UC Davis on Dec. 13 while Villanova posted an eye-opening upset of its own by rallying from a 14-0 deficit to beat No. 4 Tarleton State, 26-21.
The left side features a pair of upstarts. The right side of the bracket features an unforgettable matchup that’s the first of its kind.
New chapter for a legendary rivalry
On Nov. 22, Montana State’s first win in Missoula since 2018 was also MSU’s seventh rivalry win in the last nine clashes. It also handed Montana its first loss after the Grizzlies started 11-0 for the fourth time in school history.
But Montana is hot, outscoring its two playoff opponents 102-51. Sophomore quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat has thrown for 665 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions so far through two playoff starts. Receiver Michael Wortham went bonkers against South Dakota, hauling in 10 catches for 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns of more than 50 yards. He was also UM’s leading rusher and scored a rushing TD—he piled up 269 all-purpose yards and broke Marc Mariani’s single-season AP record.
Montana State used a steely mentality and almost perfect execution to come out on top in the regular season rivalry matchup. The Griz had a commanding 16-play, 90-yard touchdown drive to begin the second half that ate up more than nine minutes of game clock and gave the hosts a 21-17 lead. After a Griz defensive stop, it felt like UM had all the momentum.
MSU snared the momentum right back when a pass careened off of Wortham’s hands and into Caden Dowler’s grasp. The Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year returned the interception for a touchdown to put MSU back on top. A blocked field goal by Zac Crews and a dominating final drive to bleed the final seven minutes of clock gave MSU the 31-28 win, the Big Sky title and the Great Divide Trophy.
The Brawl of the Wild has always been the state of Montana’s Super Bowl. This week’s “Super Brawl” has different ramifications than any other in a rivalry that dates back to 1897.
On Friday, MSU head coach Brent Vigen did not yet know his next opponent. On Saturday, UM head coach Bobby Hauck was well aware of what loomed. He was short and sweet when asked about the rival.
“We will be ready and we will be excited to play,” Hauck said.
Excitement only begins to describe how the state of Montana should feel about the Super Brawl that descends upon Bobcat Stadium on Saturday.
