By Danny Waldo
Plenty will be on the line when the Montana State Bobcats and Montana Grizzlies renew their annual rivalry with the playing of the 115th Brawl of the Wild on November 21st in Bobcat Stadium. The Grizzlies will be looking to keep their slim hopes of receiving an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs alive, in addition to extending their current winning streak in the series to three games. For the Bobcats, this year’s battle is more personal. For one, MSU will be looking to exact revenge after suffering a 34-7 shellacking to end the 2014 season, and win in Bozeman for the first time since 2005. But importantly, Montana State will be looking to end its season on a high note, putting a positive end to a dismal season that saw the Bobcats fail to live up to high expectations set forth during fall camp. MSU will not be going to the FCS playoffs for the second time in three years, and MSU will finish outside the Top 25 for the first time since the 2008 season. On some level, both the Bobcats and Grizzlies have failed to play up to the expectations of a pair rabid fans basis.
Montana was expected to burn the bulbs out of most scoreboards in the Big Sky with the arrival of new head coach and offensive guru, Bob Stitt, while MSU was hoping for an improved effort on the defensive side of the ball with the promotion of longtime assistant, Kane Ioane, to Co-Defensive Coordinator. Neither of those changes have resulted in the production the ‘Cats and Griz envisioned. Montana State is currently buried at the bottom of most defensive statistics in the Big Sky, while the Grizzlies are meddling in the middle of most offensive statistical categories. The tale of the tape in the 115th meeting will come down to whose weakness can become a strength. In a rare instance of the Brawl of the Wild not being played for at least a share of the Big Sky Conference title, pride and state bragging rights will be the spoils that go to the victor on a cold late November in Bozeman. For the Bobcats, that would be the sweetest of all victories. •
