George Ferguson Column: Even in a loss, Cats, Griz have a big impact

Expectations at the University of Montana, as it relates to football, have been very, very high for a long, long time. When you become as good and powerful as the Grizzlies have been for nearly two decades now, expectations grow, even to the point of being unrealistic.

At Montana State, it’s taken some time, but the MSU fan base, and the athletic department in Bozeman are reaching those same heights as far as expectations are concerned.

Put another way, interest, excitement and expectations are at an all-time high as it relates to Montana’s two major college football teams.

And that’s why, despite both the Bobcats and Grizzlies losing, last Saturday was so fun, and so special.

In Bozeman, another sellout crowd at Bobcat Stadium bared witness to one of the most exciting college football games of the year, and one of the most exciting in Bobcat Stadium’s recent history. Yes, Eastern Washington came out on top with a 52-51 win, a win that was achieved by EWU head coach Beau Baldwin’s decision to go for two, instead of tie the game with a point-after in the waning seconds, but nevertheless, the game showed that the Bobcats are once again for real.

It might have been devastating in the short-term for head coach Rob Ash, the Cats and their fans, losing to Eastern when it seemed like they had the game in hand in the fourth quarter. But, in the long term, the game, which was a thriller from start to finish, left little doubt that the Bobcats roller coaster ride as an up-and-down program is now a thing of the past.

MSU graduated the most successful senior class in the program’s storied history last spring, but the Bobcats showed against the mighty Eagles, that they now reload, they don’t rebuild.

Yes, in front of what is becoming the norm in Bozeman, sellout crowds, the Bobcats put a stamp on the fact that they are an FCS power, a consistent winner, and a team that will always have to be reckoned with. It’s interesting, too, because MSU is about to trot out a throw-back day, in which the Cats will wear uniforms dedicated to the 1984 Division 1-AA national championship team. But 30 years ago was a long time, and it’s looking more and more like MSU fans aren’t going to have to wait another 30 years for the next national championship.

Meanwhile, several hundred miles east of Bozeman last Saturday, the Montana Grizzlies did something pretty much no one in the Treasure State thought they would do, hang with, and give the three-time FCS champion North Dakota State Bison a tough game.

But that’s exactly what Montana did in the Fargodome Saturday. Griz fans love to tell tales of yester year, about how things used to be. About how the Griz were the Bison before the Bison were the Bison. And the doom and gloom that now surrounds the program sometimes, is a product of expectations that grew out of winning, winning and more winning.

But like the Cats will do next week, the Griz threw back to the old days so to speak. They played a huge FCS road game, against what is becoming the greatest FCS dynasty ever. And while there are no moral victories, the Grizzlies, and especially their defense, proved a lot of doubters wrong.

Last Saturday was meaningful despite the two losses, because I’ve never heard so much chatter, so much banter after two losses. That’s because on the same day, Montana played the No. 1 team in the FCS and MSU played the No. 2 team in the FCS and both games turned out to be great. To many, both games surpassed a lot of people’s expectations.

And that just goes to show how truly big college football has become in Montana. Are we Alabama or Florida or California? Of course not. But, just when I thought interest in Montana’s two NCAA football programs couldn’t get any bigger, it did.

In fact, some might argue that interest and support and excitement surrounding the Grizzlies and Bobcats is at an all-time high. The record crowds flowing into Washington-Grizzly and Bobcat Stadium’s every Saturday tend to support that theory.

And that leaves me to wonder, where do we go from here? I don’t know the answer to that, but the logical answer seems to be that both programs will just keep getting bigger and and bigger. It stands to reason that with each new generation of fans, the popularity of football at Montana and Montana State will keep rising.

And that's interesting considering the Bobcats haven't won a national championship in 30 years and next fall will be the 20th anniversary of Montana's first national title.

But something tells me we’ll know for certain when the annual Brawl of the Wild lands in Missoula Nov. 21. That’s when we’ll really see, at least for this season, just how big this whole thing has become.