Since Don Read, a third-year coach with a new-age offense, brought Montana to the 1988 1-AA playoffs, reaching the postseason has become something of a tradition in Missoula. Montana has extended its season as far as the first round 23 times in the years following that first-round loss.
So when that custom was jeopardized by a 35-16 loss to third-ranked Eastern Washington on Saturday, a ripple ran through the fan base and the local media. The common thinking is with three conference losses, any further defeats in the team’s final three contests would eliminate the Griz from postseason consideration.
That projection, however, isn’t one Montana is concentrating on. The Grizzlies’ attention is far more acute.
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“You can’t talk about winning a game,” UM second-year head coach Bob Stitt said. “You have to go out and execute plays and you can’t think about playoffs or anything else. You got to put together plays to win a game.”
A few minutes after the loss in Cheney, Stitt identified the Grizzlies’ lack of execution on a handful of plays as the primary factor holding them back from challenging the No. 3 Eagles to the end. He continued that point during Monday’s press conference, identifying a few dropped balls, a missed opportunity on a double pass and the Eagles’ propensity for turning big plays into touchdown as primary missed opportunities.
For the coach that was both good and bad: Bad because it caused a loss that dropped the Griz to 2-3 and into eighth place in the Big Sky standings. Good because it showed growth in a area he was critical of the week before. Stitt and his assistants have said in the days following a 45-34 loss at Northern Arizona that a lack of focus and energy were the main culprits.
Not so last week in Cheney.
“We were prepared against Eastern Washington — we were ready to go,” second-year inside receivers coach Mike Ferriter, an All-Big Sky player who won four straight Big Sky titles as a player, said before Tuesday’s practice. “Our guys went out and played our tails off, we just didn’t execute the best. … We were close and Eastern is a really good team. We’re a good team too and we weren’t able to put enough plays together to be in that game.”
Added Stitt, “You’ve got to go execute things. We’re not that far away. We took some real positives out of the game because that was a good football team. That’s a team that could win it all and we were right there.”
Montana racked up 25 first downs and 550 yards of total offense, yet made it into the red zone just three times on EWU’s red turf, its second-lowest red-zone total of the season. Dropped passes and negative plays stunted the Grizzlies’ possessions. On the other end of the ball, Montana forced three consecutive punts, then allowed touchdowns on five of the next six times it took the field.
That streak was stopped with interceptions of Eastern Washington quarterback Gage Gubrud, who had not thrown an interception in 222 consecutive passes before tossing two in a span of five throws.
“We’ve got to get better this week,” Stitt said. “At some point it’s going to click and everybody is making those plays.”
This week would be a good time for those two things to come together for Montana. After the Grizzlies reeled off three straight lopsided wins to begin October, they will start November with the likelihood of having to win each of its final three games to increase their FCS record of playoff appearances.
Montana hosts Idaho State on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Griz will then travel to Northern Colorado before hosting rival Montana State. The schedule is favorable: the three remaining opponents are a combined 4-11 in league with the Bears a game better than the Griz in the conference standings at 3-2.
But first comes Idaho State.
“Nothing is over,” senior defensive tackle Zach Peevey said Monday afternoon. “We’re taking this one game at a time because that’s all we’ve got. There are three games left and we’re looking at Idaho State right now and focusing on them.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Right Reserved.
