All on the line in Brawl of the Wild

UM NOTES | MSU NOTES | WHERE TO WATCH | LIVE STATS

Like leaves turning fall colors and rivers rising with spring runoff, the Griz-Cat football rivalry has been one of the great constants for Montanans over the last 116 years.

The constant remains in 2016, and to the victor go the spoils. For the Montana Grizzlies, the spoils not only mean bragging rights and retaining the Great Divide Trophy, but a potential spot in the FCS playoffs as well.

For the Montana State Bobcats, the spoils include spoiling Montana's playoff hopes and bringing the Great Divide Trophy to Bozeman for just the third time in the last decade.

It's also senior day at in Missoula, where the University of Montana will give special thanks to the program's 17 seniors who will play their last regular season home game.

It doesn't get any bigger than this.

THE GAME: The No. 21/22 Grizzlies (6-4, 3-4 BSC) face another must-win matchup, this time with the heft of a rivalry game behind it as the Montana State Bobcats (3-7, 1-6) cross Homestake Pass headed for Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the "Brawl of the Wild."

"Montana's greatest rivalry" kicks off at noon on Saturday, Nov. 19, with the GSA Tailgate party opening at 10 a.m.

The 116th Brawl of the Wild, presented by Northwestern Energy, Town Pump and BlueCross BlueShield of Montana, is sponsored by Karl Tyler Chevrolet and Cadillac.

WATCH: The Griz/Cat game will be the Big Sky's featured game of the week on the ROOT Sports Network and DIRECTV's Audience Network. Tom Glasgow will provide the play-by-play on the broadcast, with Jason Stiles serving as the color commentator and Jen Mueller on the sidelines.

ROOT Sports is available to Charter Communications customers on channel 60 or 122 and HD channel 560. DIRECTV customers can see the game on channels 687, 688 and 687, 688(HD). DISH Network customers can see the game on channels 426 and 426(HD).

Due to the media rights agreement between ROOT Sports and the Big Sky Conference, no web stream is available for this game.

To find ROOT Sports on your cable or satellite package, visit the Where to Watch page on GoGriz.com.

WATCH PARTIES: Griz fans and Montana alumni can meet with other fans and alumni around the nation to take in Brawl of the Wild at a Griz/Cat watch party, one of the rivalries' favorite traditions. Visit the Where to Watch page on GoGriz.com to find a list of establishments around the country hosting a watch party.

LISTEN: The "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran brings you the call on the Montana Grizzlies Radio Network with longtime color commentator Greg Sundberg in the booth and Adam Painter on the sidelines. Fans can tune in worldwide to hear the audio only stream of the game at GoGriz.com.

IMPLICATIONS: Everything. At 6-4, Montana holds an outside chance at a 24th trip to FCS playoffs. Obstacle No. 1? Beat MSU. Obstacle No. 2? Pull for some upsets in the Big Sky.

There are currently six teams in the Big Sky Conference that have a chance to meet the first criteria for the FCS playoffs: seven Division-I wins. North Dakota and Eastern Washington are the selection committee's easy picks from the Big Sky right now at 9-2 and 9-1, respectively.

Entering the weekend at 6-4 are Montana, Weber State, Cal Poly and Northern Colorado. Griz fans will be pulling for UNC to upset Cal Poly at home, and for Idaho State to pull off an upset over Weber State.

Pending the week's outcomes, the selection committee could have a handful of 7-4 teams to choose from in the Big Sky, leaving someone on the outside looking in.

One thing sitting in Montana's favor is the Big Sky's tiebreaker rules that use Sagarin Ratings to determine a winner using a formula based not only on wins and losses but strength of schedule as well. The Griz are currently the Big Sky's second-ranked team in current Sagarin Ratings at No. 110, with Eastern Washington coming in at 69, Weber at No. 162, Cal Poly at 142, and Northern Colorado at No. 178.

WEEKLY POLLS: Following a tough loss at Northern Colorado, the Griz held tough in the FCS coaches' poll at No. 21 and No. 22 in the STATS FCS media poll.

SERIES HISTORY: Entire books have been written about the series history between Montana and Montana State, so we'll stick with the basics.

Montana leads the all-time series 72-37-5 dating back to the first game in 1897. Since MSU joined the Big Sky in 1963, Montana leads the series 30-22, with the Cats going on a hot streak in the 60s and 70s.

However, since moving into Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 1986, Montana has gone 24-5 overall (including 16-straight wins during "the streak") and 12-3 inside the friendly confines of home.

LAST MEETING: At Bozeman, the Grizzlies raced out to a 31-7 first-half lead and finished with a 54-35 victory to defeat the Bobcats for the 72nd time in the schools' long-running rivalry.

Brady Gustafson threw for 353 yards and four touchdowns, three to Jamaal Jones, and Montana (then 7-4, 6-2 BSC) sent most of the 20,507 in attendance home before the end of the game.

FIRST AND TEN WITH THE GRIZ: Montana senior quarterback Brady Gustafson will likely get the chance to add to his massive passing yards tally if he returns from injury against the Bobcats.

"Gus" has thrown for 2,593 yards this season, despite missing the last two games against ISU and Northern Colorado. That total makes this the 21st best passing season for UM QB in school history.

He is just 30-yards shy of passing Cole Berquist's 2007 passing mark of 2,623. If Gustafson throws for just under 200 yards against MSU, he could jump up to No. 16 on the season passing list ahead of Jordan Johnson's 2014 mark of 2,784.

In his two years as a starter, the Billings native has thrown for 4,617 yards, putting him at No. 11 on UM's all-time career passing yards list behind Craig Ochs, who threw for 5,419 yards from 2003-04.

John Nguyen earned a place in the UM history books as well at UNC. His 80 yards on the ground in Greeley pushed him to 2,027 career yards rushing, passing his brother Peter Nguyen at No. 7 on UM's all-time career rushers list.

Nguyen now needs just six more yards to pass Steve Caputo on the all-time list at 2,033 and 202 yards to pass Hall-of-Famer Ricky Klever's career total of 2,228.

Montana became the Big Sky's overall top defense this week, holding opponents to just over 344 yards of total offense per game. The Griz rank second in pass defense in the league and second in rush defense, allowing 216 yards in the air and 128 yards on the ground per contest.

The Grizzlies top total defense comes in at No. 31 on the nation's list of top total defenses. Coach Jason Semore's group is especially effective on third down, coming in at No. 3 in the nation for third down conversion defense.

A big reason for UM's success on the defensive side of the ball has been the outstanding work of redshirt sophomore Josh Buss, who leads Montana in tackles this season with 70.

Buss has been especially productive in tackles for loss, where he's tied at No. 10 in the nation averaging 1.8 per game, and totaling 17.5 this season. Montana ranks No. 11 in the nation in team tackles-for-loss.

FOUR DOWNS WITH THE CATS: Montana State freshman quarterback Chris Murray was given an honorable mention for the FCS national freshman of the week award last week after rushing for 98 yards and throwing for 66 more in MSU's win over UC Davis, the first Big Sky win of the season for the Cats.

Murray is the Bobcat's leading rusher this season with 718 yards, which is an MSU record. He is 14^th in FCS football in rushing yards per carry and is only the second freshman on that list. The other: Joe Logan of Northern Arizona (No. 6).

Bobcat senior running back Chad Newell had a career-high 132 yards on the ground last week against UC Davis, and, like UM's John Nguyen, passed the 2,000 career yard mark as well.

Montana State snapped a six-game losing streak in with its 27-13 win over UC Davis. It was the longest losing streak for the Bobcats since 2001.

CAN THE CATS: CAN THE CATS: The annual "Can the Bobcats" food drive competition wraps up this week, and the Griz are looking for a repeat victory.

The competition will run through Saturday, Nov. 19 when the winner will be announced at the Brawl of the Wild game.

The "Can the Cats" food drive is once again sponsored by Karl Tyler Chevrolet will once again raise much-needed stock for the Missoula Food Bank. Karl Tyler Chevrolet trucks and UM volunteers will collect canned food at the gates of Washington-Grizzly Stadium during home games on Nov. 5 and Nov. 19.

Designated canned food boxes for "Can the Cats" will be located on campus in UM residence halls and at The Source in the University Center. Collection boxes also will be available at the Good Food Store, Karl Tyler Chevrolet, Orange Street Food Farm, the YMCA, Worden's Market and the Swift Building in Missoula.

Canned food donations can be made directly to the Missoula Food Bank during the collection period, but donors must specify that their donations are for "Can the Cats."

Since winning the inaugural "Can the Cats" food drive, Montana had not won the annual contest until the 2015 season when Griz fans donated 281,633 pounds of food to beat MSU's 260,237 pounds.

That year, Griz fans made the largest single donation in program history - 40,000 pounds of potatoes – to ensure a Montana victory. More information is available at canthebobcats.com.

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Players Mentioned

Josh Buss

Brady Gustafson

Jamaal Jones

John Nguyen

University of Montana Athletics