MISSOULA AND BOZEMAN – The quarterback often receives too much of the praise and too much of the blame. But he definitely draws the most attention. And this Saturday in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the most visible position on the field should also be the most important.
Both the Grizzlies and the Bobcats have dynamic talents taking the snaps. Dalton Sneed and Troy Andersen do it in different styles, but both guys lead their teams in passing and rushing yards.
The 6-foot-1 Sneed prefers to pass, with 2,369 yards and 20 TD tosses, but he is electric when he starts running. The junior college and UNLV transfer has picked up 654 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
The 6-3 Andersen might be the best overall athlete on the field. The Dillon native has 16 rushing touchdowns and over 1,000 yards on the ground, versus 749 yards and two touchdowns passing. Griz head coach Bobby Hauck thinks the sophomore is the best player on the Bobcats roster.
“He’s a good athlete. He’s a good player,” said Hauck. “We’ve got to go play. That’s what it is about. They’ve got 10 other guys out there, too, that are helping him.”
“He’s a good athlete, good player,” echoed Griz linebacker Josh Buss. “We’re excited to get our assignments, and we’ve just got to focus on doing our job. You know, we’ve got a pretty good running quarterback right here, too.”
“Obviously, they’ve got an elusive quarterback,” said Cats head coach Jeff Choate. “That’s kind of an eraser. So if there is a mistake made, Dalton Sneed can kind of correct that. He does a nice job of knowing where he is going with the ball, getting it out of his hands. They move the pocket some. When they hold onto the ball, they are pretty dynamic on offense.”
Both teams have had some offensive struggles, but they both put up plenty of points in back-to-back wins since the calendar turned to November.
The Grizzlies and Bobcats collide for the 118th time at noon on Saturday.
