The Sport's Network: UM @ UNC Preview
Here's the Sports Nework's preview of the the UNC game this weekend. Matt Dougherty says the Bears will not make even close to the showing they did against the Cats. He also says, essentially, that the Griz will basically use the Bears as a practice squad to get the offense rolling.
While Montana State gets to sit and wait for the Nov. 18 showdown with the Grizzlies in Missoula, Montana gets a chance to go on the road and clinch at least a share of the Big Sky title for the ninth year in a row by winning at Northern Colorado. That should be a pretty easy task, though the Bears were in the game until the end in a 13-10 loss against the Bobcats last week. Still, this should provide a good opportunity for Montana to get the offense going after a few so-so performances. Quarterback Josh Swogger (1,618 yards, 9 TD/7 INT) came through with a gamewinning drive in the final minutes of Montana’s 10-9 victory over Cal Poly last week, but he’ll try for a better overall performance after completing 12-of-30 passes last week and less than 50 percent over the past two weeks. Northern Colorado should provide that opportunity with a pass defense that allows 63 percent of passes to be completed and 222 yards per game. The Montana running game can get going as well against a porous run defense, and the Grizzlies should just keep dominating on the other side of the ball. Montana’s defense only gives up 100 yards per game on the ground and has 13 interceptions, and should just boost those numbers against a team with 16 interceptions and only four touchdown passes. Montana might look past this game a bit with Cal Poly in the rear view mirror and the Bobcats coming up next week, but that wouldn’t really matter anyway against a team that is struggling so much. Northern Colorado offered a good performance last week, and isn’t likely to do it two weeks in a row in a game that should end up in a Grizzly blowout. Prediction: Montana 35, Northern Colorado 10
Looks like Dougherty was right on the money. I feel much more confident in the Griz after watching them dominate UNC on both sides of the ball. The O was a little shaky in the previous couple of games, so it was good to get them rolling, especially the running game. You can bet the Cats were watching that game for some last minute scouting. Wonder what was better for each team, the Cats having a bye week or the Griz getting everything clicking again.