Brady Gustafson lit the fuse as the Bob Stitt era began with a bang. But the spark provided by Montana’s junior quarterback was non-existent during a tumultuous six-stretch that pushes Montana to a must-win rivalry game on Saturday.
[restrict paid=”true”]
The 6-foot-7 Billings West product threw for 434 yards and three touchdowns in one of the best debuts by a Montana quarterback in program history. Montana defeated four-time reigning national champion North Dakota State 38-35 in Bob Stitt’s first game at the helm for the Grizzlies. Two weeks later, Gustafson suffered a lower leg injury in the first half of a 31-21 loss to Liberty and would miss the next six and a half games.
Last week, Gustafson returned to action and instantly injected Montana with new life. The Griz rode the momentum of the return coupled with their best defensive performance of the season in a 57-16 win over No. 10 Eastern Washington, the three-time defending Big Sky champions.
“We needed the confidence on the offensive side,” Stitt said on Wednesday morning. “It was great to have Brady back to get our offense back to more of what we want to be offensively here at Montana.
“With Brady, we can game plan and talk about things that defenses do and he can get us into plays, check us into things that other quarterbacks couldn’t do for us. We had to simplify it and be a little more conventional with the other quarterbacks. When somebody does show us something they haven’t show us on film that we don’t expect, we see it from the box, talk about it and Brady can go attack it. We are not so locked into what I call. I can get him started and he can go with it.”
In his first start back, Gustafson threw for 266 yards and a 45-yard touchdown to senior captain Jamaal Jones. He led UM on drives of nine and 11 plays to close the first quarter with a 14-3 lead and he helped UM score nine more offensive points as the Griz tok a 30-9 lead to the locker room at halftime.
“Our offense was scoring so fast and so quickly, it took them out of their game,” Montana senior cornerback Nate Harris said. “When the offense is running like that, it helps us. It helps us play looser. When we have a couple score lead, I’m not worried about getting beat deep. I’m not worried about missing assignments. We are just attacking. When the offense plays good, it ignites us.”
Montana’s defense took the ignition to put forth its best performance of the season. The Griz forced seven turnovers, including a fumble recovery Herbert Gamboa returned for a touchdown after a monstrous hit by Yamen Sander and an interception JR Nelson returned for a score. The Griz piled up six sacks in defeating the three-time defending Big Sky Conference champions.
Montana is averaging 429 yards per game on 84.5 plays per game entering Saturday’s rivalry showdown. The offense averages 489 yards per game on an average of 90 plays per game, including 352.6 passing yards per outing in the three full games Gustafson has played this season. Montana is scoring 38 points per game in the games Gustafson plays the duration.
“It’s kind of a tough offense for a lot of people to learn so I think that’s what he brings to it: he knows it,” MSU senior captain defensive tackle Taylor Sheridan said. “He knows what to do. I think he’s got it down as to who is going to be open and when. I think we have to get into his head a little bit and get him out of his game and make him second guess his routes and who he’s going to hit.”
The majority of the film the Bobcats have to analyze this week features either Chad Chalich or Makena Simis. Montana’s offense is noticeably different with each at the helm.
With Chalich at the helm, Montana earned wins over Northern Arizona and UC Davis with a style designated to each up yardage in small increments. Chalich threw the ball 47 times per game but for a total of 544 yards. Junior Chase Naccarato was his safety valve, catching 20 passes for 109 yards, 5.4 yards per reception.
Chalich suffered a leg injury of his own in the first half of a 24-21 overtime loss to Weber State. Simis came off the bench and was sacked four times, including once in OT as he was stripped. Weber recovered and kicked a game-winning field goal for its first win in Missoula since 1987.
Simis threw six touchdowns in a 42-16 win over a beaten up North Dakota team only to throw three interceptions in a 35-16 loss at Portland State.
“Brady brings a different skill set than the quarterbacks who have been playing recently,” MSU first-year defensive coordinator Kane Ioane said as he enters his 16th Cat-Griz game as either a player or a coach. “He’s a tremendous football player. He’s very smart. I think he has a really good grasp of what Coach Stitt wants to do offensively. You can see that, you can see the confidence of everyone on their offense when he plays.”
Rob Ash is no stranger to having an injured quarterback. In 2008, he played backup Mark Desin in Montana State’s 35-3 loss in Missoula. In 2012, MSU defeated Montana in Missoula as the Griz used backup Shay Smithwick-Hann. In 2013, DeNarius McGhee was a shell of himself but still played in a 28-14 loss to UM in Bozeman. And last season, MSU backup Jake Bleskin threw five interceptions as Motnana ran away with a 34-7 win.
“I think it’s very impressive they have gotten to this point in the season with a good chance to go on to the playoffs if they can win the game,” Ash said. “They have played three quarterbacks. That is very difficult to do. My hat’s off to them for being able to get them accomplished.”
Gustafson’s return seemed to galvanize the Grizzlies last weekend. The Billings West product actually grew up a Bobcat fan by his own admission in an interview conducted in 2012. He has seen plenty of Cat-Griz games play out. On Saturday, he will experience the rivalry as a starter for the first time.
“We want to wreak havoc in the backfield,” Sheridan said. “Since this is his first year starting, he’s good from everything I’ve seen but it’s a lot different when you play in a Cat-Griz game. We are hoping the 20,000 fans get to him. It’s just a lot different. We will see how he responds to it.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez or noted. All Rights Reserved.
