Big home games for Cats, Griz

The home openers for both the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats weren't exactly filled with drama. Both teams spent last Saturday beating up on NCAA DII foes in front of sellout crowds.

But things are changing quickly for both the No. 4 Grizzlies and No. 17 Bobcats because both teams will welcome in traditional Football Championship Subdivision powers Saturday.

In Bozeman, the Bobcats (1-1) will square off against Central Arkansas (1-1) in the first of two straight huge nonconference games at Bobcat Stadium. As good as UCA is, Saturday's game is a prelude to the much-anticipated showdown between MSU and Eastern Washington Sept. 20.

Still, the Cats, who dismantled Black Hills State 57-10 last Saturday night, can't look any further than the visiting Bears. While sophomore MSU quarterback Dakota Prukop ran for a school-record 176 yards and accounted for five MSU touchdowns last week against BHSU, the Bears will present a much more stern test for the young MSU offense. UCA is a veteran team, led by a pair of talented quarterbacks in senior Brian Howard and junior Taylor Reed. Both play and both bring different skill sets to the table. Dezmin Lewis, Jatavious Wilson and Jacoby Walker are all gifted receivers, as the Bears love to throw the ball, and their passing attack nearly upset Big 12 power Texas Tech two weeks ago.

By contrast, MSU's defense has been coming along just like head coach Rob Ash hoped it would. Alex Singleton and Na' Moeakiola lead the Cats in tackles and are already playing at a high level. But MSU's front four and the back four will be severely challenged by the wide-open UCA offense Saturday afternoon.

The same however, can be said for the UCA defense, which will have to deal with the Cats' new-look, up-tempo offense. That offense blistered Black Hills last Saturday, and will get an even bigger boost with the return of senior running back Shawn Johnson, who sat out last Saturday's game with a concussion. Wide receiver Justin Paige is also having a great start to the season, while Prukop seems to be gaining confidence with every snap, and his ability to hurt team's with his feet is becoming more evident with each game.

So, with two similar offenses squaring off in a big Big Sky/Southland Conference matchup, with playoff implications already on the line, the game will likely come down to which team can stop the other's quarterback the most. And which defense can hold up the longest. UCA will certainly be up against it, playing in the hostile environment that Bobcat Stadium has become, but the Bears have already played at Texas Tech, and they have a veteran offensive line, returning all five starters from a year ago, so the noise shouldn't intimidate them.

Yet, Saturday's game in Bozeman is big for both teams, and with home-field advantage, the Bobcats should have the edge.

The Grizzlies (1-1) will have an edge too, but they are going up against a head coach who knows Washington-Grizzly Stadium as well as anybody. On Saturday night, under the lights, former Griz head coach Joe Glenn brings his South Dakota Coyotes into his former stomping grounds for a rematch of a classic game last year. It's Glenn's second trip to UM since taking the USD job, while UM went out to Brookings last year and had to rely on an Ellis Henderson 98-yard kickoff return for a score to edge Glenn and USD 31-27. In 2012, Montana beat the Coyotes 35-24, and the Griz, who are still somewhat of a mystery right now, pummeled Central Washington last Saturday, while USD beat William Penn at home.

USD opened with an expected beatdown at Oregon two weeks ago, while Montana played last week without star quarterback Jordan Johnson, who suffered a concussion in the Grizzlies' loss at Wyoming two weeks ago. So, for both UM head coach Mick Delaney, and Glenn, a longtime friend of Delaney's, there are a lot of questions still to be answered Saturday night.

We're awful young and have been beat up on the defensive line," Glenn said. "I looked out last week, and we had three true freshmen on the field. We've got to get some guys well. We've got some guys. We just can't get them in the game.

"I thought our offensive line was a lot better last (Saturday) and we get better every day," Delaney said. "It's just a really gratifying thing to see how hard kids work when they get an opportunity ... . After two games they're veterans, so to speak. You can't use that, 'OK, they're young and not big enough.' All that crap doesn't count."

Montana's ability to run the ball is still a concern, despite doing for 300 yards against CWU last Saturday. Against the Coyotes last year, the Griz had little success running the ball, but as Glenn noted, the USD defense is young. Last year, the Coyotes had All-American Tyler Starr, but he now plays in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. So despite Johnson's return to the lineup, UM's goal is to run the ball with senior Jordan Canada, and get senior Travon Van as many touches as possible. Van was electrifying last Saturday, scoring four touchdowns, including three on three touches.

"Travon is healthy for the first time really since he's been here," Delaney noted. "He struggled off and on with a number of different things last year, a wrist and hamstring. When he's healthy, he's a dynamic football player. He's probably the fastest guy on our team."

And while the Coyotes are young on defense, and have only won two road games in the last two years, they are a savvy group on offense. It's still unknown whether star quarterback Kevin Earl will play, as he suffered an injury two weeks ago. But like Montana, Glenn wants to run the ball and he has the horses to do it. USD has a big offensive line, and running backs Trevor Bouma and Jasper Sanders. Bouma is a power back who bowled over the UM defense for 150 yards last season, while Sanders is a speed back, who missed last season, but already has 175 yards and a score this season.

USD's offense is also the first real measuring stick for what has been a great start for the Griz defensively. Coming into Saturday night's game, which is being billed as a "white out," Montana ranks in the top 10 in the FCS and almost every major defensive category. But, the Griz played an FBS team in Wyoming which didn't throw the ball at all, and a DII in Central Washington. So, the return of a Joe Glenn coached offense to Wash-Griz will really tell the tale about just how good UM's defense is right now. And if it's as good as it's been thus far, Saturday night should be a fun night for Montana fans.

Saturday night's game between the Grizzlies and Coyotes kicks off at 7 p.m. in Missoula. The Griz will wear special uniforms for the contest. Saturday's game at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, between Montana State and Central Arkansas, kicks off at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be televised statewide on ABC-Fox affiliates.