In the nearly two years Bob Stitt has presided over the Montana football program, the Grizzlies’ roster has undergone quite a makeover.
To usher in the talent he thought the offense and defense needed to successfully operate the schemes that were brought from the Colorado School of Mines, Stitt and his coaches have recruited more than 80 players to Missoula in two recruiting seasons. By the time the Grizzlies’ 2017 class is completed sometime next summer, just a handful of players will remain from the roster Montana published in December 2014, the month Stitt was hired.
While the fruits of that labor were exhibited in three blowout wins in October, the downside of such an overhaul crept up in the two subsequent losses that have put Montana’s postseason eligibility in dire straits. The Grizzlies failed to match Northern Arizona’s energy in a loss to the Lumberjacks and then couldn’t convert opportunities in crucial situations in a defeat at Eastern Washington.
Such results can be the product of swift changes, Stitt said Monday.
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“It’s a process of becoming a great program,” Montana’s head coach said. “It’s just one of those things you go through when you have a bunch of new players.”
On Montana’s two-deep heading into the game at third-ranked Eastern Washington were 20 freshmen or sophomores. Of the remaining juniors and seniors listed, nine have transferred into the program since Stitt took over and Montana relied heavily on those 29 players in various levels of the offense and defense.
Stitt watched Saturday as that inexperience limited Montana from completing drives, while the Eagles turned big plays into a cascade of points in the 35-16 win.
On its first possession, Montana ran a double pass that was thwarted when sophomore Keenan Curran didn’t get the ball off it time, leaving freshman Justin Calhoun standing empty handed and all alone near the Eagles’ 20-yard line.
Later that quarter, freshman Tim Semenza pulled a 48-yard field goal attempt that would have put the Griz up three.
Moments later, Montana again drove into Eastern territory, but failed to get points when Calhoun dropped a pass inside the Eagles’ 5-yard line, then Curran had two go through his hands, including one on a fourth-down attempt.
Eastern took advantage of the Montana miscues, scoring touchdowns on two Cooper Kupp catches and then a 2-yard run after Kupp threw a 54-yard pass to quarterback Gage Gubrud. For Stitt, the difference in outcome was a stark reminder of the two teams’ contrasting experience levels.
“A year ago, we had a lot of seniors on offense and they had a lot of juniors and what was the result? It was 57-16,” Stitt reminded the media at Montana’s weekly news conference. “This year they had seniors and we had freshmen and redshirt freshmen and sophomores playing for us and we hung in there much better than they hung in there last year at our place.
“It’s a process of bringing these guys along.”
That’s where Stitt sees progress. It was, after all, this same collection of players that allowed Montana to top Southern Utah 43-20 and then put together back-to-back games of 60 or more points for the first time in the program’s 114-year history. And the energy and focus that escaped the players in Flagstaff wasn’t an issue in Washington a week later.
But what the head coach needs now is for the consistency Montana showed during that three-game stretch in October to show up again during the stretch run. Montana’s results in their final three games will ultimately decide whether the team will make it to the postseason for the fourth consecutive season.
From his vantage points, Stitt says the Griz are bridging that gap.
“We’re real close, real close,” said Stitt, who is 13-8 at Montana. “ … I’m very excited about it. We have high expectations and our players do too on offense. We’re going to get there and when we do it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
In the meantime, Stitt and his coaches are being as patient as they can with the process. But in a place like Montana, where the postseason is viewed as a birthright to some, that can be a difficult thing to ask — something Montana’s head coach has become well aware of.
“Patience is tough especially in a place like this because everybody expects a redshirt freshman to come in here and play like Marc Mariani,” Stitt said. “It takes awhile. They’re coming along and I’m proud of where we’re at. But unless we’re winning nobody in our program — none of players — are satisfied with anything. We have faith in them and we’re going to keep pushing them until we’re where we need to be.”
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