Eagles face tall task against Montana QB Brady Gustafson

Looming large over Saturday’s Big Sky Conference game in Cheney is Montana quarterback Brady Gustafson, a 6-foot-7 pocket passer who some experts liken to former North Dakota State star Carson Wentz.

That’s not hyperbole. Gustafson has all the tools – arm strength, effortless throwing motion and athleticism – that get you noticed by NFL scouts.

This week he’s Eastern Washington’s problem. Eagle safety Zach Bruce has a concise but thorough scouting report.

“He’s very good at reading defenses pre-snap, and he’s really smart,” Bruce said Tuesday as the Eagles prepared for Saturday’s showdown at Roos Field.

“He’s a smart player, good at getting the ball out fast, and for a 6-7 guys, he’s pretty athletic – every now and then he’ll keep the ball and run.”

Gustafson is a major reason the 16th-ranked Griz are 5-2 overall against a difficult schedule. He’s completed 199 of 302 passes for 2,195 yards, 22 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

And he’s healthy. Last year, the senior from Billings broke his leg in mid-September, and some doubted he would return that year.

“It seemed like we had a different quarterback starting every week,” second-year Montana coach Bob Stitt said this week.

But Gustafson hobbled back – just in time to face Eastern in the penultimate game of the regular season. The Griz won that game 57-16 and throttled Montana State the following week en route to a spot in the FCS playoffs.

Of the Eastern game, Stitt told Bleacher Report that “We scored 51 points by the third quarter, so I took him out of the game.”

“We could have scored 80 points if we left our starters in that day,” Stitt said.

Gustafson has many targets. Eight players have at least 15 catches, but the go-to target is Coeur d’Alene product Jerry Louis-McGee (41 catches for 366 yards).

Eastern coach Beau Baldwin compares Gustafson with Washington State’s Luke Falk. “There are some similarities to how they play the game, so it’s going to be a challenge,” Baldwin said.

Grizzlies struggling on the road

Montana is 5-2 overall but just 1-2 away from Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The Grizzlies’ latest setback was last weekend at Northern Arizona, where a disastrous third quarter led to a 45-34 defeat that leaves them two games off the pace in the Big Sky race.

“We have a great home-field advantage, but you have to maintain focus on the road,” said Stitt as Montana is in the midst of its only back-to-back road games of the season.

Down by eight half points at halftime at NAU, Montana was outscored 18-0 in the third quarter and fell behind 45-20 before scoring two touchdowns in the final six minutes of the game.

“We didn’t handle adversity very well – it was the first time we’d been down by a couple of scores,” Stitt said.

Earlier this year, the Griz lost at Cal Poly 42-41.

Adams wins in CFL debut

Unfazed by a driving rainstorm, former Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. got a win in his first start in the Canadian Football League.

“We kept our composure the whole day I want to thank the guys for having my back the whole game,” Adams said after leading Montreal to a 19-14 win at Saskatchewan.

An unrelenting rain kept the football and field conditions slippery from start to finish, and it affected both offences for the majority of the contest.

Adams’ first career touchdown, a 22-yard strike to Marcus Henry midway through the fourth quarter, proved to be the winning score. At the time, it gave the Alouettes a 19-5 lead.

Adams finished the game 11-for-24 passing for 177 yards and one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 26 yards.

Weber at UND in crucial Big Sky game

Two other teams are tied with Eastern atop the Big Sky standings, and they’ll square off this weekend.

North Dakota (5-0 Big Sky and 6-2 overall) hosts Weber State (4-0 and 5-2) in a game that will give the winner at least a share of the lead, depending on how Eastern does against Montana.

Weber State is coming off a 37-36 win over Southern Utah that saw the Wildcats overcome a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

North Dakota’s six-game winning streak is the program’s longest since 2007. The Fighting Hawks lead the conference in scoring defense at 21.5 points a game.