Reading the game-by-game yardage totals for Montana this year has been a bit like tracing a seismometer readout in the midst of an earthquake – confusing, whiplash-inducing and a bit terrifying. The Grizzlies have run for as many as 410 yards in a game (against farcically outmatched Morehead State). They’ve thrown for as many as 364 (against Eastern Washington and the Eagles’, shall-we-say, occasionally laid-back approach to defense).
They’ve been almost perfectly balanced (198 yards rushing and 197 passing against Northern Colorado) and hilariously lopsided (268 passing but just 68 running against Cal Poly).
It’s a statistical record engineered to generate sports-talk radio and social media debates, which the Griz offense has produced in bunches over the last three months: Should Logan Fife or Keali’i Ah Yat (or both) play quarterback? Is running back Eli Gillman, the reigning Jerry Rice Award winner, getting enough touches? And, most relevantly as the Griz head into the 123rd Brawl of the Wild against Montana State this week, is that head-scratching statistical record an indication of a balanced offense that can evolve based on what defenses throw at it – or one without an identity?
The Grizzlies’ offensive skill players – Gillman and Nick Ostmo at running back, plus Junior Bergen, Keelan White, Aaron Fontes and Sawyer Racanelli at wide receiver – are among the best in the country, and so is their offensive ceiling. They scored 45 or more points for a straight month of games across the end of the non-conference schedule and the beginning of Big Sky play.
But Montana’s offense has been affected by instability at quarterback, as the coaching staff has pinballed back and forth between Ah Yat and Fife, and on the offensive line.
Following a Week 2 loss to North Dakota, the Griz switched center Liam Brown and left guard Cade Klimczak, giving the newly arrived Central Michigan transfer the responsibility of snapping the ball.
Left tackle Cannon Panfiloff missed time with an injury in recent weeks, putting Whitefish product Dillon Botner in the starting lineup at left tackle, while redshirt junior Declan McCabe and redshirt freshman Lucas Frietas have rotated into the mix at the interior spots.
Entering the 123rd Brawl of the Wild, the Griz are third in the Big Sky Conference in rushing and fifth in passing. They’ve surrendered the third-most sacks in the conference (although they have some good company at the tail end of the leaderboard – UC Davis’s prolific offense has actually given up one more sack through 11 games).
Against Portland State last week, Montana was shut out in the first half with Ah Yat at quarterback, then scored four touchdowns in the first 16 minutes of the second half with Fife at QB – a maddening microcosm of the Grizzlies’ inconsistency all season long.
Now, the Griz take the whole unstable apparatus into the most important game of the year. Fife, unsurprisingly, is expected to start at quarterback against Montana State this week, but there are plenty of questions elsewhere.
Bergen has been limited with a groin injury throughout the season. White is expected to return after missing the Portland State game entirely. Fontes has had issues with drops, and All-American tight end Cole Grossman hasn’t fully re-integrated back into the offense in the last two games after missing all of last season and most of this one for undisclosed reasons.
Despite averaging over 200 rushing yards per game, the Griz haven’t broken that mark since September. Gillman, after a month without going over the 100-yard mark in a game, finally broke out with 134 last week against Portland State.
“(Gillman and Ostmo) are both really impressive backs,” Montana State head coach Brent Vigen said. “They break tackles, and I think they’re both decisive guys, so we have to be able to tackle well. … We’re gonna have to be in the right spots. We’re gonna have to play with good pad level and try to make them go sideways as much as possible.”
This week, they’ll go up against the most impressive defense in the conference.
Montana State is first in the conference in total, scoring and rush defense. The Bobcats are allowing just 113.3 yards per game on the ground, and have given up over 150 rushing yards to an FCS opponent just once this season – 225 two weeks ago against Eastern Washington. That total included a 75-yard rushing TD from Wildcat quarterback Michael Wortham.
That’s come, admittedly, against a weak slate of opponents that often has the Bobcats pulling starters early in the second half.
The unit has had multiple players step up when starters have been lost to injury. Senior defensive tackle Blake Schmidt and senior linebacker Danny Uluilakepa are both out for the season.
Paul Brott at DT and Bryce Grebe and Neil Daily at linebacker have stepped into those roles.
“I think the good thing about where we are at with our nose (tackle) is it’s allowed Paul (Brott) to play more, and Paul is playing at a really high level,” Vigen said. “Hunter Sharbono and Talon Marsh, two freshmen, have both been able to come in and do some things. The linebacker piece, Neil Daily, Bryce Grebe, those two guys have done a really good job, and McCade (O’Reilly) has continued to play at a really high level himself. We’ve been able to withstand that.”
The front seven is still anchored by O’Reilly, who leads the Bobcats with 54 tackles, and Bryce Grebe’s older brother Brody, a two-time All-American defensive end.
With offenses keying on the “Melstone Cowboy” this year, he has only six sacks, but opposite-side D-end Kenneth Eiden has added four more, and Montana State is third in the conference in sacks as a team.
“The one guy who really stands out is Brody Grebe,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said. “I got to spend time with him at the league meetings this summer and really enjoyed him. He’s had a really good season and a good career. It seems like forever ago he was in camp and we were watching Roundup High film, watching him. Now he’s playing in his last one of these and he’s had a really productive year.”
Montana State matched a season-high with six sacks last week against UC Davis, but the 28 points the Aggies scored against them in a furious second-half comeback matched the most put up by an FCS opponent all year.
Montana’s offense, at its best, has the necessary firepower to challenge the ‘Cats the same way UC Davis did.
But which version of the Grizzlies’ attack shows up in Bozeman on Saturday may be the biggest question they’ve faced all season.
“They’ve had some success running the football this year,” Montana State safety Rylan Ortt said. “They got talent on the outside, and they got a couple quarterbacks that are very talented and can operate that offense at a high clip at times. We’re going to have to be able to tackle and get off blocks and ultimately, just execute our game plan on Saturday.
