Griz-Cat to put an end to one team’s winning streak

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

There will be a lot of new faces and playmakers in this year’s Cat-Griz game on Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, but the stakes haven’t changed.

Last year, the Griz headed to Bozeman with a chance to win the Big Sky Conference outright but were defeated 16-6 by the Bobcats, forcing the Griz into a three-way tie for the title with MSU and Eastern Washington.

Entering this weekend’s game, Montana has another shot to win the conference outright, but another Griz defeat at the hands of the Bobcats would once again force them to share the conference crown with MSU.

The Griz (9-1 overall; 7-0 Big Sky Conference) clinched at least a share of the conference title, their ninth in a row, with last weekend’s 53-21 win over Northern Colorado, but that doesn’t diminish the upcoming game against MSU in the eyes of the Griz football players and coaches.

“This is a huge rivalry, one of the oldest in college football,” said senior defensive end Mike Murphy. “If we were 0-10 right now we’d go out there with the same intensity, wanting to win. It’s not a matter of taking care of our goals already. This is one of our main goals.”

As usual, both teams enter the game with state bragging rights on the line. But this year, both teams will feature relatively new looks as far as personnel is concerned.

Last year, the Griz entered the game with a struggling offense that featured freshman quarterback Cole Bergquist under the center. This year, however, Montana’s passing attack will be led by senior Josh Swogger, a transfer from Washington State, and a receiving corps that has matured and gained a new face in Washington transfer Craig Chambers. Swogger has thrown for 1,772 yards and 10 touchdowns with seven interceptions and is 8-1 as the Montana starter.

This year, the Bobcats (7-3 overall; 6-1 BSC) had to replace four-year starter Travis Lulay, who went 3-1 against the Griz. The Bobcats opened the season with Cory Carpenter as their starting quarterback, but because of an injury have had to go with junior Jack Rolovich. Rolovich has started the last four games, going 4-0 and has thrown for 1,087 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions this season.

“He’ll throw it up a little bit and try to make some plays,” said UM senior cornerback Tuff Harris. “The Bobcats have had Lulay in the past with their quarterback situation. This year, the next guy stepping up, Rolovich is doing pretty well.”

No matter who is at the quarterback position for the Bobcats, the number one target on the MSU team is University of Arizona transfer Michael Jefferson, who has 54 catches for 822 yards and eight touchdowns. He ranks second in the conference in receiving yards and touchdowns.

“He’s done some good things this year,” Harris said. “He’s put up some numbers. He looks pretty good on film. He runs well, he goes fast and makes plays.”

Both teams head into the game riding long winning streaks that have set up this game as a showdown that carries more importance than just state bragging rights. Montana has won nine in a row after a season-opening loss to Division I-A Iowa on Sept. 2. The Bobcats started the season 1-3, but won their last six games to keep pace with the Griz.

“They’re on a nice little roll having won six in a row,” said UM head coach Bobby Hauck. “Their scheme’s good, they’re well coached, they’ve got good players, no doubt about it. You don’t win six in a row without that.”

This will be the 106th meeting between the two teams and there are playoff and conference implications on the line, but one of the factors that many people are not looking at is the importance of the Griz winning their final regular season game heading into the playoffs.

“You never want to end your season on a loss because it’s so hard to turn around and kind of get the wheels going again next week,” said UM senior running back Brady Green.

Montana has lost twice to the Bobcats in the last three years and both of those times the Griz failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs the following week.

“It’s like a playoff game,” Green said. “I kind of like it because it gets you in that playoff mode going into the playoffs.”