MISSOULA — It's arguably the biggest Brawl of them all, as No. 2 Montana and No. 3 Montana State meet at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday at noon with the outright Big Sky Conference championship on the line. So before we look forward, we'll take a look back at how the 11-0 Grizzlies got to this point.
The Grizzlies were the preseason No. 7 team nationally, and the top storyline entering the season would be their schedule with the bye coming Week 1, followed by 12 consecutive games.
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UM opened it with a bang over NCAA Division II Central Washington and followed that up with a thriller against North Dakota where the Griz scored in the final minutes after trailing all game to pick up the statement win.
A blowout over Indiana State followed that, which set up a then-top-10 nationally televised night game against Idaho, where the Griz rolled past the Vandals to retain the Little Brown Stein, and the Griz offense began to solidify itself as one of the best in the FCS.
The first road trip of the season was after that, where again the team faced a high-powered offense and adversity from Idaho State, but a breakout game from Michael Wortham lifted the Griz to a comeback victory in Pocatello, Idaho.
A homecoming date with Cal Poly marked the halfway point as UM broke out the throwback copper and gold uniforms, and after beating the Mustangs, Montana welcomed Sacred Heart the next week in a mid-season, non-conference contest that marked six home games in seven weeks and another win for the Grizzlies.
Related: 124th Brawl of the Wild: No. 3 Montana State Bobcats season in review
Game 8 brought all the fireworks as Montana traveled to Sacramento State. With plenty of trash talk leading up to the game, the Griz took home the Panda Bowl after another offensive onslaught under the lights on national TV once again.
A road win over Weber State would snap a losing streak in Ogden, Utah. The following week, UM played Eastern Washington too close for comfort, as a fumbled spike by the Eagles proved to be the difference as the Griz held on. The latest chapter was a return to Providence Park in Portland, Ore., as the Grizzlies used five interceptions and plenty of offense to blow out the Vikings.
So now, it's the 124th Brawl of the Wild, and while UM is locked into a bye in the playoffs, a win over the Bobcats would solidify home-field advantage through December, and of course, bragging rights within the Treasure State.
