Cat-Griz Final Thoughts: To borrow the immortal words of Jack Buck, I don't believe what I just saw

MISSOULA - Whether you're a Bobcat or a Grizzly, you probably felt like Montana State head coach Jeff Choate late in the afternoon following an epic 118th Brawl of the Wild.

"Processing all this is probably not going to hit me for a while," Choate said following MSU's dramatic win in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. "Some of it seems like a little bit of a blur right now."

In other words, Choate, like so many others, may not have been able to easily comprehend what happened in MSU's 29-25 victory Saturday, their third straight in the series.

If you're a Bobcat fan, you may have been in disbelief that your squad steamrolled their way back from 22-0 down in the second quarter and, because of that, are on their way to the playoffs for the first time in what has been too long for MSU.

If you're a Grizzly, you were probably thinking something quite different. You still couldn't believe it either, but it was more so, Adam Eastwood fumbling on the one-yard-line with the game seemingly in hand, than giving the Cats credit for what was an improbable comeback.

Oh, and Griz fans, the other things you were thinking, and probably muttering to yourselves on the way out of Wash-Griz, I'm quite certain I can't print those thoughts and words in this column.

And that was this latest Cat-Griz game in a microcosm. From start to finish, it seemed like it was hard to believe what any of us saw.

I know, given how things have gone for both teams this season, I truly couldn't believe Montana scored 22 unanswered points to start the game, not with the way the Cats were playing defensively this season.

Conversely, I also couldn't believe that the Cats got off to such a poor start either. I know, even Northern Iowa head coach Mark Farley was quoted earlier this year as saying that Wash-Griz was worth 10 points to the Griz, but I was still stunned the Cats spotted Montana 22 in the first half.

Then came the final 30 minutes.

Even though UM still had a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the one thing I did believe was, Troy Andersen was going to lead a charge. Honestly though, I thought Andersen would do it by breaking off at least one, if not two long touchdown runs. Kudos to the Griz for not letting that happen, and yet it mattered none.

In the end, Andersen was still a hero, and I admit, I doubted he could win the game with his arm. But a fade ball to Travis Jonsen in the fourth quarter certainly shut me up about Andersen's ability to beat the Griz through the air.

Still, there was plenty more that I couldn't believe Saturday.

I honestly couldn't believe, that after a season riddled with turnovers and fourth-quarter meltdowns that Montana would do it in the Cat-Griz game, too. I thought, if the Cats are going to win, it will solely be on the shoulders of Andersen, a punishing ground game, and a blue-collar defense that hits hard and punishes anyone with the ball.

And while the Cats were all those things and more Saturday, the Griz still gave them their share of gifts, too. Namely two turnovers in the final eight minutes of football.

The first fumble hurt, and honestly, when the Cats answered with a score, I was resigned to believe that the Griz had indeed melted down and the game was over.

With two minutes left I didn't think the Griz could answer. Yet, I was nearly wrong about the 118th Cat-Griz game for the umpteenth time Saturday, because after Malik Flowers' kickoff return to midfield, and a couple of amazing catches by Sammy "Touchdown" Akem, I was again bewildered. The Griz, after all that, were still going to pull this off?

I couldn't believe it.

Of course, Eastwood's fumble, caused by a stern pop from the man-child Tucker Yates will now forever live in Cat-Griz lore, but even when it happened, I didn't believe it. I could not, and refused to believe that, after everything both teams went through Saturday, the Griz wouldn't be able to punch in a one-yard touchdown to seal their first win in the Brawl in three years.

Why couldn't I believe that? Because it was only three years earlier that the Griz punched in a one-yard touchdown run to beat the unbeatable North Dakota State in front of a national ESPN audience. And no offense to MSU and its defense, of which I'm extremely impressed, the Cats aren't those Bison. Nobody is.

Still, what I couldn't believe would happen, did in fact happen. Eastwood's fumble was as shocking a turn of events as I've seen in Wash-Griz in a long time, it was as shocking a turn of events as I've seen in the Cat-Griz game maybe ever.

I'll say this, I am not shocked that Montana State won its third straight Brawl. The Cats are a salty football team, getting better and better, and for most of the season, I had them as the favorite to win Saturday. But, with all due respect to MSU, I'm just stunned and shocked in the manner in which they won, charging back from 22 points down, and causing a fumble on what was as close to the last play of a Cat-Griz game as we've seen in 21 years.

I'm still stunned by that, and I don't care if you're a Griz fan, Cat fan, Griz coach, Cat coach, a player, or whoever you are, you were stunned by the ending of the Cat-Griz game, too. You know you were. As the final minutes unfolded, no matter what side of the rivalry you were on, you didn't see that ending coming, and when it first happened, you didn't believe what you just witnessed either.

But it indeed happened. It all happened Saturday, and, it will go down as one of the best, hotly contested and intense Cat-Griz games in a long time. For me, it was perhaps the most dramatic game since "the kick" in 1997 at Reno H. Sales Stadium.

It was, in other words, unbelievable.

On the other hand, I think Saturday's game was exactly what the rivalry needed. It needed a jump-start because, with all respect to the winners of the last four or five Cat-Griz games, it just hasn't had the kind of drama and intensity that Saturday's game possessed. It was, in essence, exactly how you'd like to see the Brawl go down, well maybe with a little snow, cold and wind mixed in, too, though I for one am glad it wasn't cold and windy.

And now it's over. For 362 days, the rivalry will be reduced to message board and water cooler smack talk.

For another long winter, spring ball, and hot summer, the Divide Trophy will continue to take up residence somewhere inside the MSU Athletic Department in Brick Breeden Field House. Yeah, Choate is getting awfully good at keeping that trophy with him these days.

On the other side, for the next 362 days, Griz fans will anguish over what might have been, and what's to come. Hell, let's be honest, even if the Griz had won that game, they'd still anguish about what's to come. That's what Griz Nation does. Though I do hope Griz fans will get over the loss long enough to enjoy this winter's run by the Grizzly men's basketball team because they're really good, I mean really, really good.

Cat-Griz 118 is in the books, and it was one for the history books too. And just like I couldn't believe most of what I saw Saturday in Missoula, I can't believe that another Cat-Griz game has come and gone.

It is over though. So all that's left to say is, well done Bobcats. To borrow your slogan, you do indeed own the state. And to both teams, thanks for a Cat-Griz game I still can't believe happened, but, also for one I'm never going to forget.