George Ferguson Column: Cats and Griz have the opposite issue

The Montana State Bobcats and Montana Grizzlies were certainly riding high after each scored important home wins in what was the start of Big Sky Conference play last Saturday.

Both teams were emotionally up, not only because they won homecoming games in front of huge, sold-out crowds, but because they both proved they could rebound from tough losses.

However, if you were paying attention to either game, or both, and you are a fan either of team, you might want to take caution in your jubilation.

Why you ask? Because each team has a glaring problem, and just like most things Cat-Griz, those problems couldn’t be more different.

For the third game in a row, the Grizzlies struggled to put points on the board. And while Montana beat Northern Arizona to end a two-game losing skid, the offensive issues that reared their head during the Griz’ Sept. 5 loss to Cal Poly, once again were front and center.

Before, and especially following UM’s triumph over four-time FCS national champion North Dakota State, many Griz fans expected the team to be an offensive juggernaut. After all, the Griz are led by Bob Stitt, who is considered an offensive genius, not just at the FCS level, but all over the college football landscape.

But, since that spectacular win over NDSU, where the Griz piled up over 500 yards on the vaunted Bison defense, they have been anything but a juggernaut. Instead, the Griz are averaging just 25 points per game, are an abysmal 12th among Big Sky teams in rushing, they are converting just 29 percent of their third downs and are dead last in the league in time of possession. Montana has also scored just six touchdowns so far when it gets inside the opponent’s 20-yard-line. And those are numbers Stitt probably wasn’t planning on having to fix, and Griz fans weren’t expecting to see following the upset of the Bison.

Montana also has had major injury problems on offense, including losing veteran center Ben Weyer before the season started, and starting quarterback Brady Gustafson early in its loss at Liberty two weeks ago. But even with the injuries, the Griz were supposed to have an offense that was almost impossible to defend, and to this point, they have been anything but.

Montana State, on the other hand, has no such problems on offense.

The Bobcats are among the FCS leaders in scoring, total yards, big plays and even time of possession. No, with Walter Payton Award candidate Dakota Prukop at the controls, and a bevy of great receivers, running backs and one of the best offensive lines in the nation, Tim Cramsey’s offense is a loaded freight train without brakes right now.

But is that enough for the Bobcats to be a national title contender? At least three games in, the answer is doubtful unless MSU head coach Rob Ash can make his defense better, and better in a hurry. MSU is allowing 33 points and 433 yards of offense per game, and even in the win against the Mustangs last Saturday, the Bobcats surrendered over 400 total yards and 370 rushing to Cal Poly’s triple-option attack. And things were much worse the week before in the Cats’ wild loss at Eastern Washington.

And once again, that’s where the comparison with the Cats’ arch rival ends. While Montana has sputtered offensively, the Grizzly defense is thriving, and loaded with senior talent, there’s no reason to think the Griz won’t be a force on defense throughout Big Sky play.

So, that begs the question — which is the better problem to have? An inconsistent offense, with new quarterbacks, a running game that struggles to get going and an offensive line that has its issues, but a team that also has a nasty, hard-hitting defense that opposing offenses fear when they take the field against it?

Or, if you’re Montana State, is it better to have an offense that is nearly unstoppable when it’s clicking, led by one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and an offensive coordinator who seems to push all the right buttons. But, on the other side of the ball, you have a young defense, with new personnel, a very thin secondary, and at least so far, hasn’t proven they will be able to get the stops against the best teams the FCS has to offer?

Of course, in typical Cat-Griz fashion, MSU fans will say they would rather have an offense like they have because they can outscore anybody, while Montana fans will lean on the old adage that defense wins championships. And likely neither fan base will relent.

But the actual answer to the above question is probably neither, or at least somewhere in the middle. Can such unbalanced teams, which both MSU and UM appear to be right now, really contend with the upper echelon teams in the FCS come November and December? I don’t know, but I know neither of them did in the playoffs a year ago, and both had similar balance issues.

Now, it’s obviously not all bad, because both teams are ranked inside the Top 15 in the FCS. Both teams are 1-0 in the Big Sky and, issues aside, both teams are loaded with great players — on both sides of the ball.

Both squads also have favorable schedules coming up, which means, both teams’ records will likely be pretty darn good when we reach November 21. And, for at least diehard fans of the Grizzlies and Bobcats, that day will answer the question about who has it better — the team with the tough-as-nails defense, or the team with supersonic, score-at-will offense.

So whether you’re a fan of the Bobcats, or a fan of the Grizzlies, you do realize your team has problems, but, I guess that’s another way to make the annual Brawl of the Wild even more intriguing. On that day in Bozeman, the answer to which problem is a better, or a worse problem to have depending on who you root for, will come.

After all, it’s Cat-Griz, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.