MISSOULA — Saturday is the game before the game as No. 12 Montana hosts No. 21 Idaho State with next week's Brawl of the Wild looming. F the Grizzlies, it's about staying focused against a dangerous Bengals team, as both programs are playing for their playoff lives.
"What I would say is every game is big, right?" UM coach Bobby Kennedy said. "Because if you lose a game early in the season or middle of the season, it has an effect on you. We do talk about the games people remember are in November. And obviously we're in that month. And so every game has an important significance to it. But still you have to focus at the task at hand."
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Montana picked up it's seventh win this past Saturday in a history-making day for running back Eli Gillman against Portland State. UM sits at 7-3 and 5-2 in Big Sky play.
A win over Idaho State would essentially lock Montana into the playoffs, but the Bengals are a formidable foe who have had a wild season in the fourth year of head coach Cody Hawkins.
"And so they're playing really well," Kennedy said. "I've got a lot of respect for what they're doing on defense. They're a physical bunch. They're big up front. And then also if you look at what coach Hawkins and his offensive staff does, throwing the ball around and a really good scheme, tough to prepare for, but they're very efficient on offense."
Defensively, the Bengals sport one of the strongest units in the league as they rank second in the Big Sky in scoring (22.1 points) and total defense (366.5 yards), third in fumbles recovered (8) and sacks (21), and fourth in interceptions (10). They will match up against Montana's league-leading and FCS-elite offense.
Offensively, they're led by the big arm of quarterback Jordan Cooke, who has caused the Griz problems twice in his career including a wild shootout in Pocatello last year.
"It's definitely exciting. We'll be ready for it," UM cornerback Sage Salopek said. "We just got to work hard this week and follow (defensive coordinator Eric Sander's) plan. And we're definitely ready for the challenge."
The Bengals started the season 4-0 with an FBS win over Utah State, but have stumbled of late, having lost four of their last six, including a three-overtime heartbreaker to Montana State last week where the Bengals nearly completed an upset.
Sitting at 6-4 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky play, the Bengals hope for the playoffs are even more heightened, but Montana hasn't lost to Idaho State since 2003 and has won 16 straight meetings, as the two get set to duel it out on national TV under the lights on Saturday with everything on the line.
A spokesman for Idaho State confirmed with MTN Sports that the Bengals arrived in Missoula early Friday evening as the team traveled by bus and car, and did not run into the issues many other teams were nationally due to an FAA ground stop on all U.S. flights.
"We've approached every game the same, one game at a time," Kennedy said. "But there's always emotion in every game, especially when you're playing at home. ESPN2, obviously another probably sell-out at Washington-Grizzly. Senior day, it's a special day, but the thing that guys have to remember is, just because it's senior day, it's not their last game."
