The collision course is set.
No. 3 Montana had its way at Portland State on Saturday evening in the final Big Sky Conference contest of the second-to-last Saturday of the regular season. The third-ranked Griz rode 199 yards of total offense and three rushing touchdowns from senior quarterback Clifton McDowell and a defensive effort that included nine tackles for loss plus three sacks on the way to a 34-10 win at Portland State on Saturday.
The victory is Montana’s sixth straight, pushing UM to 6-1 in Big Sky play, 9-1 overall. No. 5 Montana State decimated Eastern Washington 57-14 on Saturday in Bozeman to keep pace in the league standings. No. 2 Idaho dropped a game, falling 31-29 at Weber State to fall to 5-2 in league play and 7-3 overall.
That means next week, both the Griz and the Bobcats will be ranked in the Top 5 in the FCS polls, marking the first time that has occurred in the soon-to-be 122 total meetings between the fiercest rivals in the West. And it also means the clash will be for the outright Big Sky championship for the first time since 2011.
“It sounds like a dream come true,” Montana sophomore linebacker Riley Wilson said after rolling up a pair of sacks, bring his team-high totals to 7.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss in his first season with the Griz after transferring from Hawaii. “We’re in a spot where we really are blessed to be in. But I think it’s a spot we’ve earned. We’re right where we want to be.”
Montana has completely altered the narrative of its season over the last month and a half, morphing from a team devoid of identity to a squad that’s eviscerating opponents with a suffocating defense that has given up 17 points in the last three weeks combined.
On Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium outside of Portland, the Vikings started the game with a field goal on the opening drive, but Montana would go on to score 34 unanswered points for the second week in a row. The Grizzlies outgained the Vikings 489-255 in the game.
It’s the second-most yards in a game this season for Montana and brings them over 1,000 total yards in the last two games, both dominant wins. The last three games have all been blowout victories as Montana has outgained its previous three opponents by 874 total yards (291.3 per game).
Now Montana takes that momenetum into a rivalry game that Montana State has recently dominated. MSU won 55-21 in Bozeman last season, marking the fifth win over the Griz in the last six for the Bobcats. Since Montana State snapped a 16-game rivalry losing streak to Montana in 2002, each side of the rivalry has 10 victories apiece.
“It’s always a scary week with the rivalry coming next and lots of stuff that’s not just the game that people are talking about,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said. “Our guys are pretty mature but they hear all of it and you worry about the focus and you worry about the performance. Our guys came out and performed so I was really pleased for them.”
Montana State is now 21-2 under third-year head coach Brent Vigen’s guidance in Big Sky Conference games. The loss this season came at the end of October at Idaho, giving the Vandals the driver’s seat for a bit.
But now that UI lost to Weber, Montana and Montana State will basically battle not only for the outright Big Sky championship and the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, but the No. 2 seed and homefield advantage throughout the entire FCS Playoffs.
“This game is big for a lot of reasons and there’s all those Montana natives that are down in our locker room that this game means so much to,” Vigen said. “And I know the rivalry certainly grows on our guys from out of state. And then by the nature of it being the last game, there’s generally going to be Big Sky Conference and playoff implications on the line. And that’s the way it’s going to play out next Saturday.
“We have to have a great week of preparation and then go give it everything we possibly can next Saturday.”
The Great Divide Trophy, the Big Sky title trophy and bragging rights will be on the line in Missoula next week.
“It shapes up to be a heck of a big game,” Hauck said. “It’s probably one of the things I’m going to caution our guys about is not to worry about any of that. We’ve just got to worry about winning this game and doing our thing. It’s about us versus them, and we aren’t going to worry about anything other than that.”
