Griz back home to meet upstart Southern Utah
Just shy of a full month has passed since the last time the Griz burst from the tunnel at Washington-Grizzly Stadium to a roaring crowd. The players' anticipation of the long-awaited return to their home venue is over-matched likely only by that of the team's fans.
Head coach Bob Stitt is happy for another game in Wa-Griz as well after two straight roads trips mashed around an off week, but he's been encouraged by what he's seen since UM topped Saint Francis in Missoula way back on Sept. 3.
"It doesn't matter where we're at, we're playing football the exact same way," Stitt said this week ahead of his team's date with Southern Utah. "We've got swagger; we're confident. The crowd in our stadium needs to be the cherry on top rather than the reason we're winning ball games."
The Grizzlies' homecoming sundae on Saturday will come with an estimated 26,000 cherries. In front of a packed house, the Griz are set to host the Thunderbirds for the first time in four years, a 2:30 p.m. kickoff that will be broadcast on Cowles Montana Media affiliates (ABC/FOX).
Montana (2-1 overall, 0-1 in Big Sky Conference contests) has won its past three homecoming dances and is an astounding 22-1 in such games dating back to the 1993 edition. That daunting figure, along with wrestling the lauded Grizzlies, has Southern Utah (2-1, 1-0) humbled headed into kickoff. The T-birds are the defending Big Sky champions, but they know what it would mean to knock off the Griz, first-year SUU head coach Demario Warren said.
"This is a game for our program to show that we do belong at the top of the Big Sky every single year," said Warren whose team's title run in 2015 didn't include a matchup with Montana. "These are the type of games you have to win for people to start realizing that."
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The Griz are coming off a 42-41 firefight at Cal Poly last week. Montana showed an edge even in defeat that Stitt admired, the kind that appeared in the Grizzlies' road victory at Northern Iowa earlier in September as well.
But the Griz need conference wins now, not just solid showings, after starting their slate 0-1. The next chance is against a Southern Utah team known for low-scoring brawls. SUU ranks third in the Big Sky in points allowed at just 26.0 per contest, and is second-to-last in offensive scoring at 24.3.
Though UM found a new offensive gear last week -- quarterback Brady Gustafson passed for more than 400 yards with a program record 47 completions, 21 to receiver Jerry Louie-McGee for another record -- Stitt is expecting the defenses to rule Saturday's outing.
"We spent about a day here watching tape (of the defense) and after a day there aren't many weakness in it," Stitt said early this week. "You're gonna have to earn it and the quarterback will have to be good at recognizing what they're doing."
The same can be said for Montana, a top-four defense in both scoring (29.0 ppg) and yards allowed (345.0 ypg). With Cal Poly's triple option in the rear-view mirror, the Griz can get back to focusing on what they do best, defensive end Ryan Johnson said.
"Definitely looking forward to playing more traditional offenses," the senior said. "We feel we're built to get after the quarterback and our secondary is built to cover some guys."
Against SUU, that means QB Patrick Tyler and WR Mike Sharp. Tyler is an injury fill-in after opening-day starter McCoy Hill went down against Utah in Week 1. The junior transfer from Los Angles Valley College has led the T-Birds to two straight wins and has five touchdown passes. His favorite target has been Sharp, a senior, who has three of those scores.
Among them was a 90-yard bomb in last week's 45-31 win over Portland State, one of four SUU touchdowns longer than 70 yards.
Running backs Malik Brown (87 yards) and Raysean Pringle (71) each had one and both topped 100 rushing yards. Brown is the Big Sky's No. 2 rusher at 122.7 yards per game.
"We've been very confident in our rushing game this season," began junior offensive lineman Mark Evans, "and it's an emphasis our coach has wanted to make, to be a more balanced offense. In recent years we'd been kind of pass oriented."
Now the T-birds are goal oriented, hoping to stay at the top of the Big Sky. To do that, they'll have to start beating the Montanas of the conference.
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