Pretty danged important.
“The goals that have been met already are not going to take pressure off us,” said Mike Murphy, senior defensive end for the No. 2-ranked Grizzlies, said Tuesday. “This is a huge rivalry, one of the oldest in college football. If we were 0-10, we'd go out there with the same intensity, wanting the win.”
Mike Kramer, coach of the Bobcats, has maintained that the rivalry itself is secondary to the playoff implications it holds this season. Montana State is playing for its playoff life; UM is not. Kramer went onto say the timing of the game is poor, coming as it does on the eve of the playoffs.
Montana coach Bobby Hauck does not share the same opinion.
“It's rivalry weekend in college football, and I think that's when it ought to be played,” Hauck said Tuesday. “Ohio State and Michigan play at the end, Stanford-Cal, Auburn-Alabama. It's tradition. I don't know why we'd break with that.”
Montana is in position to be the first team to go unbeaten in league play since 2001. The Griz did it that year.
The Griz play a ton of people on defense: Four corners, four or more safeties, six linebackers, four defensive tackles. At defensive end, however, almost all the plays go to the trio of sophomore Kroy Biermann and seniors Murphy and Dustin Dlouhy.
And they like it that way.
“It's given us a lot of independence, basically,” Dlouhy said. “Coach (Kraig) Paulson has been good enough to pretty much let us handle the rotation ourselves.
“So we can really be in there when we're healthy, instead of when things are going wrong - if we're tired and p laying a lot of reps, or have any kind of injury or something. It's been really beneficial.”
The trio has combined for 18 and a half of Montana's 25 sacks this season. Biermann is second in the Big Sky Conference with 8.5. The rotation has kept the players more fresh, in their minds.
Dlouhy said another factor in their play has been the work of the defensive tackles.
“That's been really huge,” he said. “Kerry Mullan has had like his best three games of the year these last three weeks.
“That directly correlates to what we've been doing - with him and Craig Mettler, Jesse Carlson, Kelly Kain - that's probably the No. 1 reason I and Kroy and Murphy have been more productive.”
Northern Colorado coach Scott Downing was of no mind to pick a Griz-Cat winner Saturday. Downing, whose team lost to MSU 13-10 in Bozeman on Nov. 4, saw the Griz pick apart his Bears for a 32-point victory.
Afterward he did his best soft shoe.
“I think it's going to be a great game,” he said. “Playing them back-to-back, and seeing both of them, they're very similar to each other. To me, it's probably going to come down to the kicking game. With what they (the Griz) were able to do against us, the edge in that situation may go to Montana.
“They both know how to win and they're both riding very long winning streaks. I don't know - I'm probably not the best guy to handicap this game.”
QUICK KICKS: UM and MSU didn't share a non-conference opponent. Montana's scoring margin in Big Sky games is 16.9 points; MSU's is 4.4. Š Montana State practiced three times last week, when they had a bye. Š Here are the digital satellite coordinates for Saturday's game: IA 8/K17/Slot A; 89 degrees West; Frequency 12035.500 Vertical; FEC þ; Symbol rate 6.148936. Problems? Call Bob Bonner at 702-648-7775. Š Montana is fourth in both the Sagarin computer rankings and the Gridiron Power Index. Montana is 19th and 18th in the two rankings. Š The forecast for Saturday is for 39 degrees and mostly sunny at game time, with a high of 44. Š Montana's Dan Carpenter (18-for-23) is first in I-AA in field goals made per game. Š Montana is eighth in the nation in rush defense. Š Griz quarterback Josh Swogger has one interception in the Grizzlies' last five games.
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