The homefield advantage in sports is a factor in the outcome of game. But finding a solid pattern and just how many points it’s worth has evaded mankind for decades. The Montana-Montana State football rivalry game is not different.
This game has formed a pattern only to turn on a dime five times since 1956 when the Bobcats went on a 30-year run that saw MSU win 22 times in 30 year. Just like that, however, the Grizzlies rattled off 16 straight wins, a streak known as….”the Streak”.
Once that spurt ended the teams were relatively even compared to the previous 46 years as UM won four of the next seven.
Then came a stretch where the road team mysteriously dominated the series winning eight times in 10 years. That led to the present phase of the home team not just winning but blowing out the visiting team in the last four matchups.
As for any rivalry the saying goes, “throw out the records when these two play.” However, no one has ever said, “throw out homefield advantage when these two play.”
Since 2019, the home team has won by an average score of 43-13.
“We both have great fan bases,” MSU senior captain and defensive end Brody Grebe said. “When it comes to Montana, everyone in Montana is asking you about this game all year long and nobody is thinking about any other game in the off-season except for about this one.”
Being at home, the Bobcats will definitely have the advantage of sound on their side this Saturday. Depending on what kind of weather shows up, one team may have to adjust how they attack their opponent.
“In terms of the backing in Montana in general and each program’s support throughout the community and throughout whole state, it makes a huge impact on this game,” Grebe said. “Having all our fans there cheering is going to be a great advantage for us.”
The Bobcats and Grizzlies have each won their last two home games in this rivalry with the unique characteristic being the lop-sided final scores. The trend started in 2019 when Montana State – without star Troy Andersen — drubbed Montana 48-14.
The next game was in 2021 and saw UM get up on MSU – this time with Andersen – by 26 before MSU tacked on a meaningless touchdown in the waning seconds of a 29-10 Griz win.
In 2022, the Bobcats rolled to a redemptive 55-21 win. And last year, UM dropped MSU 37-7 for redemption of their own.
The emotional game definitely isn’t one that either coach – be they the home or the road team – wants to give any motivational material to their opponent. Montana head coach Bobby Hauck and Montana State’s Brent Vigen are no exceptions.
“The home team has dominated this game recently,” Hauck said. “We’re the road team this week. They’re rolling. They really had a great season. I don’t know that anyone really gives us a great chance to go down there and win, but we’re excited for the game and we’ll go down there and try our best to get our 75th win in this series.”
“We haven’t played as well over there as we played at home two years ago,” Vigen, who wasn’t at MSU in 2019, said. “Where does that play in? That’s maybe a question for next year. We’re playing here this year, and we gotta find the way to play as well as we can in our home stadium against a really good opponent.”
Oddly, the previous 10 games before the last four only saw the home team win twice as the Grizzlies took a resounding 34-7 win at home in 2014 and MSU won 31-23 in 2017 at Bobcat Stadium. The other nine games featured four epic matchups that weren’t decided until late. But there was no symmetry in them as the Bobcats won them all in Missoula in 2010 (21-16), in 2012 (16-7), in 2016 (24-17) and in 2018 (29-25) with the latter being perhaps the most exciting game in Cat-Griz history.
The seven years prior to 2009, only had two road breakthroughs as MSU ended “The Streak” in 2002 in Missoula and during the Griz’ undefeated 2007 regular-season, UM dropped the Cats in Bozeman.
“The Streak” took place from 1986 to 2001 with UM winning 16 straight. Despite that, the scores show that both teams did better at home than on the road. Prior to 1986, Montana State had won 22 of 30 rivalry games over Montana.
Montana has been winning home games in prolific fashion for nearly 40 years since moving into Washington-Grizzly Stadium. UM is 238-37 during that time span. The Bobcats are in the midst of one of the longest (25 games from 2019 to present) regular season home winning streaks in Big Sky Conference history. MSU is 27-1 under head coach Brent Vigen at home counting playoff games.
Presently, MSU hasn’t lost at home to UM since 2015, while the Grizzlies haven’t lost at home since 2018.
The Bobcats have been decimating teams at home this year with an average margin of victory of 37.5 points over the last four games. MSU has had its backups in for at least the final quarter of every home game. It’s closest game at home was 41-24 win over Maine, but MSU built a 38-0 and didn’t play its starters in the second half.
The Grizzlies have fared slightly better on the road than at home this season. They’re 3-1 in road games and 5-2 at home with losses to Weber State and UC Davis in Missoula. The only road loss was to North Dakota in a game that saw UM squander a 24-7 halftime lead. UM has won its last two road games by a combined 59 points. All that may bode well for them coming into this game, but despite that the sports books opened with MSU favored by 16.5 points.
The Bobcats and Grizzlies will settle things on the field – MSU’s home field – this Saturday at noon.
