Top-10 matchup on tap for Brawl of the Wild

It's late November, and in the state of Montana that means one thing: Griz/Cat football.

In a fall tradition as old as the turning leaves, Montana and Montana State will take the field for the 119th time this Saturday in Bozeman to write the latest chapter in the storied rivalry.

For Montana, it's the third and final stop of a 2019 revenge tour that's already seen the Grizzlies dispatch two of the three teams that pulled off the rare feat of winning at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 2018.

Now, fresh off a signature win over the defending conference champion, the Grizzlies enter the 2019 Brawl of the Wild with all the momentum of a freight train rolling downhill, a Big Sky-best 9-2 record with a No. 3 national ranking, and over a century of tradition to uphold.

While Montana enters the contest with a commanding 72-40-5 all-time series lead, the Grizzlies travel over Homestake Pass looking to right the ship following a three-game skid in the series.

More than the 364-day state-line bragging rights that go along with a win, Saturday's game has far-reaching implications that will play into deciding a conference champion and the league's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs when the No. 3 Griz face the No. 8 Cats in a top-10 showdown.

A win for the Griz all but ensures at least a share of their first Big Sky Championship since 2009 and punches their ticket to the postseason as the league's automatic qualifier. A win for the Cats helps create a spaghetti bowl of tiebreaker scenarios for both teams. With at least some form of playoff football in the picture for both teams, a win in the Brawl of the Wild could help set the tone for December football.

For the second-straight week, the Grizzly defense will have its hands full with one of the Big Sky's strongest run games with MSU averaging a league-leading 260 yards per game on the ground. But the Griz enter the game one of the best rush defenses around, holding Weber State's vaunted run game to just 69 yards and allowing an average of just 112 yards per game over the course of the 11-game season, setting up a battle of wills at the line of scrimmage.

But if there is one thing the Griz can do it's score points, and do it with ruthless efficiency. Montana's offense is seventh in the FCS in scoring with an average of nearly 38 points per game and is no one-trick pony. The balanced Grizzly attack is fueled by a true dual-threat QB that is completing a conference-high 67 percent of his passes, a receiving corps with two of the top-five wideouts in the league, and the Big Sky's top scorer in tailback Marcus Knight.

Kickoff from Bozeman is set for noon.

WATCH: The Brawl of the Wild game marks the sixth and final Griz game this season to be broadcast nationwide on ROOT Sports. Veteran broadcaster Tom Glasgow will have the play-by-play, with analysis from Taylor Barton and Jason Stiles reporting from the sideline.

ROOT Sports and its regional affiliates (AT&T Rocky Mountain, Las Vegas, and Southwest) are available on DirecTV, Dish Network, and Spectrum Cable. The game will also be shown nationwide on DirecTV's Audience Network (Ch. 239), part of the satellite provider's basic channel lineup.

A webstream of the game is also available via AT&T Now and AT&T TV (subscription required) via the Audience Network.

LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran and longtime analyst Greg Sundberg will bring you the action live from Bozeman on KGVO Missoula, the flagship station of the Grizzly Sports Radio Network, and its thirteen affiliates around the state. Live audio web streams can also be found at GoGriz.com/Listen or on the TuneIn app.

LIVE STATS: Links to live stats can be found at GrizStats.com

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: After dispatching third-ranked Weber State, UM replaced them at No. 3 in both the weekly polls on Monday. This week marks the first time since Sept. 15, 2014, Montana has been in the top three in the coaches' poll, and the first time since week one, 2010, the Griz have been in the top three in the media poll. After beating UC Davis, MSU rises to No. 8 in both polls.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Montana's big team win over WSU was highlighted by some impressive individual performances that resulted in the Griz taking home two ROOT Sports Big Sky Player of the Week Awards on Monday – the second time this season the Griz have doubled up.

• Wide receiver Samori Toure carved the Wildcat's defense up for 193 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches, including one for a season-long 79 yards, to earn the first Offensive Player of the Week honors.

• Linebacker Jace Lewis continued his season-long breakout with a game-high 16 tackles (seven solo) and one TFL that helped keep Weber to just 1.9 rushing yards-per-carry.

On Sept. 21, Grizzly quarterback Dalton Sneed and kick returner Malik Flowers became the first Griz to double-up on weekly conference accolades since Matt Hermanson and Ellis Henderson were recognized in 2013. Lewis is the first defensive player from Montana to win the leagues' weekly award since Dante Olson had a three-peat in 2018.

SERIES HISTORY: The Cliff Notes version: The Griz hold a 72-40-5 all-time lead over MSU, are 31-17-1 in games played in Missoula, 18-3-1 in neutral site games, and 12-4 inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium. BUT…

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE? Recent history may be on Montana's side as the rivalry game heads east of the divide with the road team finding surprising success. While the Griz hold a narrow 23-20-3 record in games played at Bozeman, the visiting team has taken the Great Divide trophy back with them in eight of the last 10 contests, dating back to UM's 2009 win at MSU.

SCOUTING THE CATS: With a run-first focus, MSU enters the week with a league-leading ground game that has eaten up 260 yards per game this season or 2,859 total yards on 487 attempts. Their rushing attack has come mostly by committee, however, with only one player (senior Logan Jones) ranking among the league's top-10 rushers at 67 yards per game.

Always ready to step in and run is do-everything junior Troy Andersen, who guided the team as a sophomore at QB and is now the 43rd-ranked tackler in the league with 54 takedowns, but has also rushed for a team-high seven touchdowns.

Montana's defense will need to prepare for QB Tucker Rovig tenth-best passing efficiency rating of 129.5, but with four players who have rushed for five-plus TDs, and five who have accounted for 300-plus yards this season MSU brings a variety of weapons to the table.

Defensively, senior defensive end and Washington transfer Bryce Sterk has posted an eye-popping 11 sacks this season, but in seven conference games, his threat has been neutralized with only 2.5 sacks in conference play. Andersen has stepped in to fill the void, however, picking up 5.5 sacks in league games, the third-most in the conference.

GRIZ TRACKS

DANTE'S PEAK: After shattering Montana's school record with a national-best 151 tackles as a junior, Dante Olson has (not so) quietly gone about once again becoming the best tackler in the country as a senior.

At an average of 12.1 per game, Olson is leading FCS football again with 133 tackles to date, a mark that beat the previous school record (131, Kendrick Van Ackeren) for a second-straight season.

After only two years as a starter (or regular contributor), Olson has stormed his way into the Montana record books and is now the third-leading tackler in Grizzly history with 351 career takedowns. He also needs just six tackles to pass Tyler Joyce (LB, 2004-07) and move into second on the all-time list. He needs just 43 more tackles this season to pass Hall of Famer Vince Huntsberger and become UM's all-time leading tackler.

OTHER TOP TACKLERS: Olson isn't the only Grizzly having one of the best seasons in Griz history in the tackling department.

Sophomore safety Robby Hauck passed the 200 career stops mark last week with 10 against Weber State, bringing his season total to 108 and his career total to 203. He's now the No. 40 tackler in UM history with two years left to play.

• Ten seems to be Hauck's lucky number when it comes to tackles. He's now posted five-straight games with exactly 10 stops, and seven this season with 10. His 12-tackle game against Monmouth is the only game he's posted more than 10.

Junior Jace Lewis is also posting one of the 30-best tackling seasons since 1994 with 104 stops to-date. He's had four games this season with double-digit tackles, including a career-high 17 at Sac State and three sacks at Portland State, cementing his place as one of the best pass rushers on the team.

GOOD KNIGHT: Marcus Knight continued his incredible first year in Missoula with two rushing touchdowns against Weber State that brought his season total to 19 total and 18 rushing TDs – making his one of the best overall scoring seasons in Griz history. Here's a breakdown:

• Without even finishing his first year, Knight is now No. 11 on Montana's career rushing TD list with two seasons left to play.

• Only the great Chase Reynolds has rushed for more TDs in a season. He rushed for 22 TDs in both 2008 and '09, meaning Knight needs just five more this season to set a new school record.

• Knight is chasing Reynolds on the overall TD list as well with 19 this season (18 rushing, 1 passing). Reynolds had 23 total TDs in 2008 and 24 in '09.

• Knight is the only Grizzly to every have four, 3-TD games in one season, with all four happening inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

• With 114 points this season, Knight leads the Big Sky and is ranked No. 5 in the FCS in scoring. His 18 rushing TDs are the fourth-most nationally as well.

SAMORI'S SUCCESS: Toure is in the midst of one of the most torrid scoring runs in UM history, scoring seven touchdowns with 462 yards receiving over the last three games. He's now the first UM receiver to cross the 1,000-yard mark in a season since Jamaal Jones in 2015 with 1,052 to date – the eighth-most in UM history with at least one game left to play.

• His 1,052-yard season total are the most receiving yards in the conference and ranks him No. 9 nationally.

• With 2,045 career yards, Toure is now the No. 15 receiver in program history, needing just 45 more yards to pass Mike Ferriter at No. 14 with still a year left to play.

• He is now on Montana's all-time receiving TD list with 17 to his name.

QUICK HITS: • The Griz started fast with 14 points in the first quarter against WSU, the first time this season they've scored two TDs in the opening period all season. UM has been outscored in the first quarter 48-55 this year, but has gone on to outscore its opponents 369 to 203 in the final three quarters combined.

• Montana claimed its 250th win as a Big Sky Conference member last week against Weber State, not long after securing the 600th win in program history against Eastern Washington – now one of only 22 FCS schools nationwide to cross that threshold. UM now has exactly 100 more wins than losses in team history, with a 603-503-26 all-time record, and a 250-136-1 Big Sky record. Last week's win also marked UM's 40th all-time win over Weber State.

• UM went 6-0 in the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the first time since going 7-0 at home in 2014, a record that included a home playoff game in a Blizzard against San Diego.

• With the likelihood of a playoff appearance in the cards for UM this season, it will extend the Grizzlies FCS record to 24 all-time postseason appearances.

• One way to break ties in the Big Sky standings and declare a recipient of the league's automatic qualifier for the FCS playoffs is the Sagarin Ratings, a computerized system that takes strength of schedule into account for all D-1 football teams.

With one week to play, UM has the highest Sagarin Rating in the Big Sky at No. 81, which is higher than eight Power Five conference teams.

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Players Mentioned

Malik Flowers

Robby Hauck

Ellis Henderson

Jamaal Jones

Marcus Knight

Jace Lewis

Dante Olson

Dalton Sneed

Samori Toure

Kendrick Van Ackeren

University of Montana Athletics