122nd Brawl shaping up as biggest ever

It’s a top-five matchup and the Big Sky Conference championship hangs in the balance, so obviously the 122nd Brawl of the Wild needs no hype.

It gets it anyway.

From alumni speeches — Bobcat linebacker Nolan Askelson remembered a particularly fiery one Glacier High and MSU product Logan Jones gave last year — to media scrums, there’s no getting away from Cat-Griz week.

“I’ve gotten a lot of texts,” Griz linebacker Levi Janacaro began, during UM’s usual Monday press conference.

“They want to make sure you know who you’re playing this week?” asked Griz coach Bobby Hauck. “I get a lot of that.”

At noon on Saturday inside a jam-packed Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Montana Grizzlies will host the MSU Bobcats. It looks like an even matchup: Montana is ranked No. 3 and MSU No. 4 in the Football Championship Subdivision polls, for starters.

Montana State’s defense has three pick-6s, Montana’s has two. Both teams changed field goal kickers late in the season.

Both teams hope to have important pass-catchers back this week. MSU tight end Treyton Pickering (two touchdowns) missed last week’s 57-14 win over Eastern Washington, and UM receiver Aaron Fontes (team-high five TD receptions) sat out his team’s 34-7 win at Portland State. 

Both teams have excessive talent.

“Our opponent, they’re a good team,” said Hauck, ever careful to call his intra-state rival nothing more than, State. “There’s no other way to put it, they’re a really good team.

“They’re leading the conference in scoring and rushing offense. People have had a lot of difficulty stopping them. It should be a good game and a fun week.”

“Montana is extremely talented, and much improved through the course of the season,” MSU coach Brent Vigen noted. “Very aggressive on defense, and an offense that has been consistent.”

Vigen also noted that Clifton McDowell’s emergence as the Grizzlies’ No. 1 quarterback — coming after Sam Vidlak was sacked seven times in a 28-14 loss at Northern Arizona — has made a difference.

“Ever since they went in his direction, they’ve been productive,” he said. “Kind of a classic dual threat. What I think you see in him is a really good competitor. He’s forced defenses to defend more.

“I think they’ve really found themselves, I guess is how I’d say it, with McDowell.” 

The position may also be the difference Saturday, because while the 6-foor-4 McDowell has won all seven of his starts, including all six games post-NAU, MSU has two quarterbacks his equal in Tommy Mellott and Sean Chambers.

And yes, they sometimes play at the same time.

“Our opponent, they’re a good team. There’s no other way to put it, they’re a really good team. They do a good job playing those two quarterbacks, I think it probably starts with them, really,” Hauck said. “Chambers, No. 10, and Mellott, No. 4, they blend those guys in and do a good job. That’s what sticks out.”

It will be the first trip to Missoula for Chambers, the Wyoming transfer with breakaway speed and 14 rushing touchdowns.

“I’m excited,” he said. “A lot of guys talk about the environment, and how hostile it is. I’m excited.”

Askelson, who wears the No. 41 legacy jersey at MSU, was hurt early in last year’s game, a 55-21 Bobcat rout.

“I only got in four or five snaps last year before I had my injury,” the Billings Senior product said. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a shot at these guys. As a Montana kid, this is what you really dream of. I’m excited. I love playing over there. I’m ready to go.”

Levi Janacaro, who wears UM’s No. 37 legacy jersey, has watched the game all his life — including a trip to Bozeman with a friend from fifth grade. If our math is correct it was 2011, when the Griz knocked then-No. 1 MSU 36-10. 

“His dad took me down to the game in Bozeman, and the Griz beat them there. That’s probably one of my favorite games that I remember from the rivalry,” Janacaro said. “Sad ride back for my buddy and his dad.”

It was surely a sad trip back to Missoula last season, after the Cats rolled up over 400 yards rushing. This year’s Griz defense seems to have tightened up the gaps under new coordinator Ronnie Bradford. 

All that’s left is the game — after another 24 or so hours of hype.

“No matter where you come from in our state, you’re on one side or the other,” Vigen said. “Or you’re a person that just moved here. I guess maybe that’s the third element.”

    Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott (16) tries to get past Montana linebacker Patrick O'Connell (58) during the 120th Brawl of the Wild at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 20. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)