The Bobcats are about to start 0-3
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We’re back and have bad news Bobcat fans! Thanks to a brutal schedule, Montana State will almost definitely start the season 0-3. The Bobcats open the season @Washington State (#24 in the FBS), home for South Dakota State (#4 in the FCS), and @North Dakota (#8 in the FCS and favorites to win the Big Sky). Making things even worse for Cat fans is that the Griz will probably start 2-1, with home games against Valparaiso and Savanah State sandwiched around a sure defeat at Washington (#8 in the FBS).
Also, be sure to check out the first episode of Montana Mint Sports podcast (FYI – we have a podcast!) where we break down last season and discuss this week’s games. You can give it a listen here or just search “Montana Mint Sports” in you podcast app. Big thanks to Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs for providing us with the intro/outro music.
Speaking of this week’s games…
This Week’s Games
Montana State @ Washington State
The line from Vegas: Washington State -33.5
CompughterRatings.com simulated score:
Montana State 12
Washington State 49
Montana vs. Valparaiso
The line from Vegas: Griz -36
CompughterRatings.com simulated score:
Montana 54
Valparaiso 7
In other news
Worried about Valpo? Should the Griz be worried about Valparasio? Probably not. The team, which offers no scholarships, has won a total of 11 games over the past four seasons, including just four last year. Every season preview on the Crusader’s is touting the fact that the team is returning nine starters on offense and seven on defense. But is that a good thing when the team stuggled the year before? I’d feel a little better as a Valpo fan if they weren’t bringing back so many of last year’s guys.
Valpo finished 7th in the 11-team Pioneer Football League last season, which marked the first time Valpo has finished ahead of three or more teams in the standings since 2003. The Griz are gonna roll over this squad, but if you want to learn more, this season preview video from Valparaiso gives decent insight into the team. It also includes this gem from senior WR Frank Catrine: “Now that we know how to play college football, the guys are ready.”
Tough Opener for Cats. When the Bobcats scheduled a game against Washington State, they probably had no idea the Cougars would rise into the FBS top 25. A Cats win is unlikely, but not impossible. Don’t forget that Eastern Washington and Portland State opened up the last two seasons with wins against the Cougars. As reported by406MTsports.com, Coach Jeff Choate is not planning to deviate from the fundamentals:
“It’s nothing revolutionary. We’ve got to be calculated. We’re not going to go light our hair on fire and run around Martin Stadium and beat Washington State. We’re going to have to be very calculated in our approach. This is a demanding, challenging opener, and we’re going to be tested in a lot of ways. But the most important test that we have to pass is our ability to continue to keep fighting and keep playing hard regardless of the circumstances.”
Another important test is keeping your stars healthy so you don’t regret the big paycheck for playing up.
Griz Looking to Move Past Last Year’s Collapse. Griz fans are hungry for a win after the team collapsed at the end of the 2016 season. UM lost four out of their last five, including a game to lowly Northern Colorado and an upset loss to Montana State. Coach Bob Stitt knows this, and talked about last year’s late season problems:
“What happened to us the last couple of games last year was one of the toughest things that any of us have ever went through, but it actually was the best thing that could ever happen to our program, because it hurt so bad and woke us all up…We can’t wait to get on the field to show people what we’ve accomplished in the offseason.”
The Griz weren’t ranked in the preseason top 25 for the first time since the Lincoln Administration, but the Mint’s Z-Train thinks that could be a good thing, “I like the Griz as discounted underdogs this year. Expectations are set really low. They will sneak up on a few teams, and the Griz haven’t snuck up on anyone in about 25 years.”
Montana will rely heavily on their experienced offensive line (all starters weigh over 300 lbs), the arm of new starting QB Reece Philips (he’s a transfer from Kentucky), and their eight returning defensive starters.
Double Cupcakes. September is the Big Sky Conference is all about cupcakes. Every weekend seems to be packed with teams beating up on crumby cupcake teams (see: Montana vs. Savanah State in Week 3) or they are the cupcakes for FBS teams. Three masochistic Big Sky schools are doing double duty, and playing two games each against superior teams:
- Northern Colorado: @Florida (!), @ Colorado
- Idaho State: @Utah State, @Nevada
- Portland State: @BYU, @Oregon State (hats off to PSU though. They played BYU last weekend and only lost 20-6)
Eastern Washington has games against Texas Tech and North Dakota State, which is basically an FBS school. Knowing EWU, we wouldn’t be surprised if they go 2-0 or 0-2 in this stretch.
Optimism from Bobcat Nation. One of our Griz writers was lurking on BobcatNation.com and shared one optimistic fan’s view of last season: “When you look at last season, you can’t tell me that we were horrible. We should have won the Idaho, UND, Sac and NAU games but turnovers, giving up 20 points in the 4th quarter, and getting sacked on the last play of the game ruined those hopes. Weber State, SUU and EWU, once again turnovers and the offense not moving the ball killed us.”
The Mint Team discussed…
Bear Tycoon (Griz Fan): Aren’t turnovers, not moving the ball, and giving up a bunch of points what dooms every bad team?
Z-Train (Griz Fan): That’s Hot Take Nate testing new theories out.
Bear Tycoon (Griz Fan): “We weren’t bad. Had we scored more points than the other team in most games, we would have had a winning record!”
Z-Train (Griz Fan): “If the Griz would’ve won every game of season they’d have been undefeated.”
Hot Take Nate (Cats Fan): Poorly worded by poster but like 4 losses were by combined 10 points or something so it allows you to think if any breaks would have happened the Cats could have had better record.
Jasper Moonshot (Griz Fan): When it happens that many times they aren’t bad breaks, it’s a bad team.
Hot Take Nate (Cats Fan): 4 times is not that many.
Z-Train (Griz Fan):That’s half the season!
Hot Take Nate (Cats Fan): 1/3
Bear Tycoon (Griz Fan): So if it was baseball, it would be 54 games. Seems like a problem.
Hot Take Nate (Cats Fan): They obviously weren’t a great team. But it gives fans the positivity to think that a leap this year is a real possibility. Either way – no one gives a shit about the record last year with the win over the Griz.
Other news. For the rest of the Big Sky Conference, Brad Reed from eGriz.com has a good rundown of what to expect. Montana State made the front page of Reddit by screwing up their hype photo. 406MTSports.com had an interesting story about how Coach Choate is coaching against Billings Central alum Dylan Hanser this weekend, who the Choate recruited to the Cougars when he was an assistant. The Griz have named Korey Alexander as the “coin toss captain” after the senior went undefeated in a team coin flipping competition.
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