The matchup between an ever-improving University of Montana passing attack and an injury-riddled and staggering Montana State secondary has the potential to steal the spotlight Saturday afternoon during the annual Cat-Griz clash at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Since the start of the season, the Grizzlies have switched and then settled on a starting quarterback, while also beginning to mix in a freshman at the position. Clifton McDowell took over the position from Sam Vidlak after UM was upset 28-14 at Northern Arizona in the opening week of conference play. Starting with the Grizzlies’ home game against Northern Colorado three weeks ago, freshman Keali’i Ah Yat has also been getting some reps. But the one constant in the UM passing game has been the receivers.
“That’s a heckuva matchup,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “It’s certainly not one guy. I think between Junior (Bergen), (Keelan) White, (Aaron) Fontes, (Sawyer) Racanelli jumped in there this week, that’s not even to mention (Bozeman product) Ryan Simpson, they have a deep bunch there and it’s a really good mix of speed guys and some size in there.”
Simpson is 6-foot-6, while Racanelli and White are 6-3 and 6-2, respectively. Bergen and White are the seventh- and eighth-leading receivers in the Big Sky Conference and have nearly identical stat lines. Bergen has 37 catches for 543 yards and three touchdowns, while White has 36 receptions, 538 yards and two touchdowns.
Fontes is another potent receiver for the Grizzlies with 28 catches for 383 yards and five touchdowns, although he missed last week with a head injury.
“We have a great group of receivers and ball carriers in general,” UM center A.J. Forbes said. “We have a ton of play-makers out on the perimeter and they have done a great job of doing what they need to do to get the ball down the field and into the end zone. I’m really happy with what our skill players’ outlook is right now.”
The UM passing game has steadily climbed the BSC rankings all year after a rough start that saw it sitting near the bottom. The past three games have been particularly sharp as McDowell and Ah Yat have combined for a 151.1 passer rating – a number that has the Grizzlies now sitting in the middle of the pack at 137.1.
The Bobcats got off to a great start and led the Big Sky in pass efficiency defense through the first five games, but as injuries piled up, that number has slipped. Over the past three games, the MSU pass defense has become a noticeable weak spot as cornerback Simeon Woodard, nickelback Level Price Jr. and safety Dru Polidore have collectively been in and out of the lineup for the past six weeks. Price’s co-nickelback Caden Dowler was injured in the South Dakota State game and is out for the year. Those four players have missed a total of 15 games.
Opposing teams have completed over 70 percent of their passes against the Bobcats, who, to their credit, have gone up against three of the best passers in the league in Sacramento State’s Kaiden Bennett, Idaho’s Gevani McCoy and EWU’s Kekoa Visperas in three of the past four games.
“It’s another great test,” MSU linebacker and team captain Nolan Askelson said. “I think our guys are excited for it. I know they are going to prepare the right way. We’ve had some great challenges to get us ready for this game. Idaho had some great wide receivers. Even last week, Efton Chism is really good. The Griz quarterback, he’s very similar to the quarterback last week (Eastern Washington’s Kekoa Visperas), pretty similar to Portland State’s quarterback (Dante Chachere). They can extend plays, get off schedule and make stuff happen outside the pocket.”
The good news for MSU is that Woodard, Price and Polidore are all expected to be back this week. Woodard forced a fumble last week when he jarred Eastern Washington tight end Blake Gobel, setting up a Bobcats touchdown. Price returned against Northern Arizona.
That trio is joined by safety Rylan Ortt, cornerbacks Jon Johnson and Andrew Powdrell, and nickelback Miles Jackson, who slid over from cornerback when Price was out and now sees plentiful time as the backup.
The combination of quarterback play and the variety of skills the UM receivers possess has caught Vigen’s attention.
“They do a good job of getting guys open and I thought the other night, (McDowell) had a lot of time back there to process things,” Vigen said. “Those longer developing concepts, they are moving through first read, second read, third read and guys are wide open. It’s two-fold. We have to be able to cover and we have to get pressure. We have been able to do that for the most part, but this is a whole new animal come Saturday.”
Ortt and Simpson flipped cities to join their respective teams. Ortt is a Missoula Sentinel product, while Simpson graduated from Bozeman High. Simpson has two receptions for 23 yards on the season, while Ortt has three interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown. Had Dowler been available, he and Bergen would’ve been a pair of players from rival crosstown high schools facing off against each other. Dowler attended Billings West and Bergen went to Billings Senior.
The clash between No. 3 Montana and No. 4 Montana State is set to kickoff at high noon at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula on Saturday.
