The fiercest rivalry in the West has involved thousands of characters during its 122-year history, and hundreds of individuals during the last six seasons.
But Montana State has forged an upper hand during that time span, winning five of six within the rivalry because of one singular factor: the ability to dominate the line of scrimmage, particularly on offense.
It hasn’t mattered who the head coaches or primary players are in the game…other than Montana’s blitzkrieg win over MSU in 2021 in Bobcat head coach Brent Vigen’s first rivalry game, Montana State has run the ball directly down the Grizzlies’ throats.
The physical domination has been a point of extreme consternation for those who follow Montana football. The Griz have a long and well-established reputation as a tough, violent team with a defensive mentality and run-stopping linebackers in spades.
That’s certainly been true the last six years. The most recent Big Sky Conference player to win the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the FCS was Montana linebacker Dante Olson in 2019. And the Griz have annually entered the rivalry game with the Bobcats as one of, if not THE, top rushing defenses in the league.
Entering this year’s rivalry game, Montana again leads the conference and ranks fourth in the nation by allowing just 84 rushing yards per game. The Bobcats again lead the conference (and rank second nationally) by averaging 302 yards per game on the ground.
What’s going to give on Saturday in Missoula?
“The entire concepts of college football offenses and defenses have been altered by the implementation of the 3-3 defenses,” explained Mike Kramer, a four-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year who served as the head coach at Eastern Washington (1994-1999), Montana State (2000-2006) and Idaho State (2011-2016) and is now the resident Big Sky historian for Skyline Sports. “Some teams play it all the time, some teams can morph into it, some teams play a four-man front but that 3-3 front with the strong safety guys, the alley-type, they can set the edge and influence various blitz patterns.
“The Griz have used it extensively…so this game comes down to how well can that scheme hold up against the Bobcat run game, but more importantly, it all boils down to how are the quarterbacks going to play?”
During Montana State’s recent rivalry surge that includes victories in five of the last six clashes, MSU averaged 348 yards per game. Over that stretch, the Bobcats are averaging just under six yards per carry on nearly 300 carries.
In Montana’s one victory over the last six, the Griz held MSU to 95 yards on 41 carries (2.3 per carry) on the way to a 29-10 win in Missoula in 2021.
The 2016, 2017 and 2018 versions of the ‘Cats were severely limited in the passing game with slithery running signal caller Chris Murray and linebacker turned option quarterback Troy Andersen. Neither the 2016 or 2017 Bobcats were playoff teams, while the 2018 MSU squad used its epic (some would say miraculous) 29-25 comeback victory to make the playoffs for the first time in four years.
The 2019 beat down in Bozeman included the Bobcats rushing for 382 yards on 62 carries and scoring six rushing touchdowns in a 48-14 win. Isaiah Ifanse rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns while Logan Jones piled up 121 yards and a TD as MSU stamped a four-game winning streak over the Griz in what would end up as Jeff Choate’s final season at the helm.
When Choate left MSU to take a coordinator job at Texas, many wondered if the Bobcats could maintain their momentum in the rivalry. Those concerns were accentuated when the Montana State offense did nothing in the hostile Washington-Grizzly Stadium environment in Brent Vigen’s first showdown against the Griz.
At least some of the reservations among Bobcat Nation were calmed last season when the Bobcats took a team that was once ranked as high as No. 2 in the FCS and ran roughshod all over them to post one of the most lopsided results in the Big Sky Conference history of the rivalry. Montana State rushed 65 times for 439 yards and five touchdowns on the way to a 55-21 win that helped sew up MSU’s first Big Sky title since 2012.
“We played really well when that game got going and our third touchdown was off a bad snap, we made some plays defensively to allow that thing to open up and maybe it became a tidal wave that day,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “But any time we can involve the quarterback in the run game against whatever defense that is, that poses a challenge to the defense. Slicing it up as far as how that team chooses to defend us compared to some other teams is maybe a little different.
“But, scheme aside, it is a battle of wills. We want to run the football and they have been very good at stopping it and something has to give. Our ability to find ways to run the football will be a huge key on Saturday.”
Although Montana enters this weekend’s clash on a six-game winning streak and boasting a suffocating defense, UM’s 12th-year head coach Bobby Hauck is still wary of the Bobcat rushing attack.
“Their scoring and rushing numbers are phenomenal,” Hauck said. “They do a great job running the ball and they do a great job of playing the two quarterbacks. It really starts with that. They do a good job. Chambers and Mellott, they blend those guys in and do a good job with them.”
Mellott rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns while Elijah Elliott piled up 126 yards and Chambers chipped in 86 yards and one of his 19 rushing touchdowns in the rivalry rout last season.
“They find different ways to run the quarterback, that’s the basis of their offense and that opens up everything else,” Hauck said. “It starts with that.”
Montana’s defense has a similar reputation as a swarming, high-energy unit that can swing the momentum of games. And although the 3-3-5 base defense remains the same, many of the details of the scheme are different after Ronnie Bradford replaced Kent Baer as defensive coordinator in the offseason.
UM’s coverage schemes on the back end are much more diverse. Their safety rotations are much more prevalent and the safety responsibility in the run fit is also much different. The four years prior, Montana had strong safety Robby Hauck run the alley with reckless abandon, a strategy that helped UM annihilate certain rushing attacks and helped Hauck finish his career as the leading tackler in Big Sky history.
But the aggressiveness of the Griz defense sometimes backfired, and their over-aggressiveness and lack of gap soundness, particularly against the ‘Cats, became a harbinger of rivalry failure.
This year’s Griz defense plays a “much more team-oriented, disciplined style”, according to Chambers. Vigen, who’s 22-2 in Big Sky games at MSU, also noticed the differences in Montana’s defensive tendencies.
“I think they are every bit as aggressive,” Vigen said. “They put those corners on some extreme islands and they put their field safety on an island against their slot receiver. Their strong safety, the nickel, they are down in there even more so. They have the ability to play coverage and rush four, or even rush three at times and do it out of a pretty similar initial shell.
“Running the alley really fit Robby and I don’t know if it doesn’t fit these guys, but they don’t do that as much and that’s a difference. Sometimes, you think Ryder Meyer is playing that position but he’s not, he’s playing a different spot. Maybe they are built similar, and they tackle really well.”
Montana State’s offense still possesses outside zone and read option elements while also implementing counter and power, plus plenty of pre-snap motion and a little bit of razzle-dazzle. Both quarterbacks, plus Wisconsin transfer Julius Davis, redshirt freshman Jared White, true freshman Scottre Humphrey, revitalized senior Lane Sumner and Elliott have all taken turns as the standout ball carriers this season.
“You have to have great eyes and everyone has to do their jobs,” Montana senior captain linebacker Braxton Hill said. “One guy gets sucked in, sucked out, it could be a big play. So we will have to be disciplined and execute our game plan.
“I’m proud of how far this team has come but we really just have to hone in on this week, execute our game plan and every individual has to do their assignment.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez or noted. All Rights Reserved.
