Griz hope to avenge loss
It may seem unlikely that on the heels of two blowout wins in the playoffs against two highly touted opponents that the margin of error for the Montana Grizzlies is shrinking, but it is.
Today's Division I-AA semifinal - which became an official sellout at 11:30 a.m. Friday, the first playoff full house in school history - between Sam Houston State and Montana is a rematch of a Sept. 18 game, and it features a Griz team that is at the same time riding the emotional high of its two postseason wins and plumbing its depth chart for healthy bodies.
Injuries and illness along the offensive and defensive lines have spread Montana thin and it is unrealistic to think untested underclassmen can continue to play well in pressure situations. The Griz have been fortunate so far that that has been the case, but all concerned would rather not push their luck.
Especially when you consider the Bearkats have already roughed up the Grizzlies, 41-29, in the heat and humidity of Southeast Texas. At the time, the Griz were the No. 1-ranked team in the country.
"They played us better defensively than anybody we played all year," UM coach Bobby Hauck said Tuesday from his office in Missoula. "They just flat shut us down in September.
"We don't have any depth right now and I don't know who's going to start right now. That's an end of the week thing."
Sam Houston rolled up 512 yards in that game and had leads of 20-0 and 41-10. A lot has changed for the Griz since then - young defenders who were playing in just their third collegiate game have a full season of experience now, and the offense has morphed into a nearly unstoppable force.
Much has remained the same for the Bearkats. Quarterback Dustin Long led Sam Houston to the second-best passing attack in all of I-AA, throwing for over 4,200 yards. Receivers Jarrod Fuller and Jason Mathenia have over 1,000 yards each.
"They kind of do what they do," Hauck said. "They were a good football team when we played them in September and they're a good football team now.
"They're very talented on offense at all the positions and the quarterback is a great player."
Of course, variations of the same thing were said before the first round (a 56-7 win over Northwestern State) and the quarterfinals (a 47-17 win over New Hampshire), so it's hard to get a good feel for how this game will go, other than to look back at the Bearkats' win early in the season.
"They whipped up on us when we were down there," Hauck said. "I don't think we match up real well with them. We're the ones that are banged up, they're healthy. So I don't know."
Another potential barometer is common opponents. The Bearkats lost to Northwestern State 45-27 on Nov. 20. Two weeks later the Demons were crushed in Missoula.
So who really knows?
Kickoff from Washington Grizzly Stadium is scheduled for noon. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2, cable channel 33, with Pam Ward calling play-by-play and Mike Tomczak handling color.
The winner of today's game advances to the I-AA championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Dec. 17 versus James Madison, which defeated William & Mary, 48-34, Friday night in the other semifinal.