Ty Gregorak has been a part of games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium where his Montana defense has seized momentum and avalanched an opponent. Saturday’s 57-16 win over Eastern Washington was one of those days. Now a Griz defense that has been up and down all season will try to carry that momentum into their biggest game of the season.
[restrict paid=”true”]
“The last game like that I remember is 34-7, last year against you know who, sticks out in my mind,” said Gregorak, Montana’s defensive coordinator, referring to UM’s victory over MSU in Missoula last season. “Another time I remember something like that from before was Stephen F. Austin (a 51-0 playoff win in 2009). All of those are days were it’s a great day to be a Griz.”
The Griz defense has thrived in certain areas — Montana leads the Big Sky Conference with 36 sacks — but UM has also been vulnerable against the run. The Grizzlies gave up 330 rushing yards in a 20-19 loss against Cal Poly, 253 yards in a 24-21 overtime loss to Weber State and 339 yards rushing in a 35-16 loss at Portland State. The Griz pass defense is allowing less than 190 yards per outing, second-best in the conference.
On Saturday, a Griz defense that features eight seniors will try to slow down the explosive Bobcats. Montana State’s offense enters the game leading the league in scoring (42.6 points per game) thanks to a balanced attack averaging 521.5 yards per game. MSU rushes for 219 and throws for 303 yards per game. Although UM has been vulnerable against ground attacks, the Bobcats are not focused on the potential advantage.
“I think we can do anything we want,” MSU senior captain wide receiver Mitch Griebel said. “We can run, we can pass, we can put in element plays. It’s always been on us. It hasn’t been the defenses that have stopped us.”
“I think our offense matches up against any defense really well,” added MSU junior captain running back Chad Newell, a Billings Senior product. “I believe in our guys, I believe in our guys up front, our guys on the outside. No. 5, (junior quarterback Dakota Prukop) great player. And I believe in us as a backfield. I think we match up with anybody and we oppose as much of a challenge as anyone does to us.”
The play of senior defensive end Tyrone Holmes has helped Montana dominate teams with downfield passing attacks like Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington. Holmes, a senior All-America candidate, leads the nation with 14 sacks. He notched four sacks against NAU and three more last weekend against Eastern Washington.
“As a pass rusher, he’s better than (Southern Utah senior James) Cowser,” MSU offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey said. “Cowser runs through you. Holmes has some moves.
“We have great respect for those guys who are great players and he is going to make his plays. We are going to do a lot of things to try to neutralize him but good players make plays.”
Much of Montana’s success rushing the passer can be attributed to a physical, high-energy secondary that has improved throughout the season. Junior JR Nelson has interception returns for touchdowns each of the last two weeks and has broken up six other passes. Senior Nate Harris has been one of the league’s best man-to-man corners, notching an interception and nine pass breakups.
On Tuesday during Montana’s pre-rivalry press conference, Harris fielded the first question of the afternoon. When asked about the significance of his team’s rivalry matchup, the charismatic, entertaining senior from Chino, California did not hold back.
“When I first got here, I knew it was a big rivalry but I always thought it wouldn’t effect me much,” Harris said. “I wanted to beat them and I hate them because of my other friends. But now going into my fifth year, I really don’t like those guys at all. I’ve developed a hatred like the guys from Montana who grew up in the rivalry have. I feel like it’s kind of disrespectful for me to say I have the same amount of hatred as a guy like (Connor) Lebsock who you know has a legacy of family. I can never sit here and say I hate them that much or that it means that much to me because I don’t know the deepest roots of it but when I go into weeks like this, I think of it as playing for the Connor Lebsocks and the guys who are from Montana and the guys in the past and the guys who have really been through the Griz-Cat and they understand the meaning of the rivalry. I understand it. I understand it more than a lot of guys. This is my fifth season here. I have bad stories and history with these guys. But I do it more for the other guys and the guys from the past.”
Griebel fielded a question inquiring about the exact attitude Harris speaks of. Despite his team’s two-game losing streak to Montana, Griebel said the Bobcats will not back down.
“I think some of them do think they are better than us but they better respect us this week,” Griebel said. “They are coming into our house and we aren’t going to take anything for granted. The past doesn’t influence us. We are going to come out ready this week.”
Harris was Montana’s third cornerback as a true freshman in 2012. He started his first rivalry game the following season. Saturday will mark his fourth Cat-Griz start. His first two years, he and the UM defense were faced with the task of stopping Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee. Montana State replaced the two-time Big Sky Offensive MVP with Prukop, a third-team All-Big Sky selection last season as a sophomore who ranks fourth in the nation in total offense (347 yards per game) this season. But the dual-threat from Austin, Texas did not play in the rivalry game last season because of a sprained PCL. Instead, Jake Bleskin started and Montana harassed the Great Falls native into five interceptions.
On Saturday, Prukop will make his first rivalry start. Harris said Montana’s defense cannot wait for a shot at the newest golden boy quarterback in the Big Sky.
“I don’t want to really be rude but I don’t like Prukop,” Harris said. “I’ve been playing for four years now and I played twice against DeNarius and DeNarius was an amazing player, one of the best players in the country and I haven’t played against Prukop yet. I just feel like there’s a lot of talk about Prukop so I’m so excited to play against him and see what he’s really about and see if he’s really ready for a Griz-Cat rivalry. It’s different. It’s a completely different game. It’s going to be just like North Dakota State. I’m just excited to play and see what he’s about.”
Despite the 38-35 win over four-time reigning national champion NDSU, the Griz defense showed an early vulnerability to mobile quarterbacks. Bison senior quarterback Carson Wentz rushed for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the first half before spraining his ankle, an injury that certainly affected the outcome of the action.
Cal Poly quarterback Chris Brown rushed for 130 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown in Cal Poly’s 20-19 win over UM. Weber State junior Jadrian Clark rushed for a season-high 84 yards in WSU’s first win at Washington-Grizzly Stadium since 1987. Portland State junior Alex Kuresa rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the Vikings’ first win over Montana since 2004.
Of Montana’s 36 sacks, 29 have come in Montana’s six victories. Prukop seemed to feel he and the MSU offense would have no problem operating on Saturday.
“It’s a hard question. Every defense comes at you with a different scheme,” Prukop said when asked how good Montana’s defense is. “I wont know that question till we play them Saturday. They’re a good defense, Montana always has a good defense. But I wouldn’t say its anything out of the ordinary next to the rest of the Big Sky.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez or noted. All Rights Reserved.
