Bobcats get UM after rest
There is plenty of intrigue near the top of the Big Sky Conference standings as the season winds down.
Second-ranked Montana (8-1, 6-0) has a I-AA playoff berth wrapped up but won’t get the automatic bid without beating Montana State in two weeks.
Montana State’s Bobcats (7-3, 6-1) have rolled since the Eastern Washington Eagles dropped their record to 1-3 with a 19-10 win in Bozeman on Sept. 23. Now the Bobcats have a week to rest before trying to wrestle the automatic berth from the Montana Grizzlies in Missoula.
The unusual but timely bye for a banged-up team can’t make the Grizzlies happy. The Bobcats were originally scheduled to play UC Davis this weekend, but they switched that game to the week before the EWU game.
“I had to leg-wrestle him. Arm-twist him,” Bobcats coach Mike Kramer told The Bozeman Daily Chronicle about convincing associate athletic director Dan Davies to move the game. “We were scheduled to play Davis this coming weekend and Davis would have beat us 145-0 with our health. We just desperately wanted to be able to preserve the opportunity to get healthy for that last thing.”
(Davis defeated the Bobcats 45-0.)
That last thing is the rivalry game, which the Bobcats have rejuvenated by winning three of the last four after losing 16 straight. It was a MSU win last year that put Eastern in the playoffs.
On the outside looking in is No. 23 Portland State (6-4, 5-2). If the Vikings beat Sacramento State this week, they would have a good argument for being the first four-loss team to make the playoffs since Idaho in 1986, provided the Griz win. PSU has lost to Top 25 I-A teams California and Oregon plus UM and MSU after getting beat up by Cal.
Big heart
Northern Colorado’s second-leading all-time rusher and single-season leader Adam Matthews, who finished up in 2003, died Thursday morning of an apparent seizure. He was 25.
His brother Asa is a linebacker at Northern Colorado.
After UNC lost 13-10 at Bozeman on Saturday, Kramer gathered players from both teams at midfield for a prayer.
“That meant a lot to me,” Matthews told The Greeley Tribune. “I didn’t know the other team knew anything about it.”
Kramer, who had tears in his eyes when questioned, wouldn’t repeat what was said.
“That’s a very private thing between us and the Northern Colorado guys,” he said, mentioning how close he was to his brothers. “I couldn’t even function, let alone play a game.”
Quick kicks
Eastern Washington (2-8, 2-5) finishes the season against Idaho State (2-7, 1-5) on Saturday. The Eagles’ last two-win season was 1988. Their last three-win season was 1995. They have not had fewer than three conference wins since going 1-6 in ‘95. … If Sacramento State can beat Portland State the Hornets will finish 5-3 in league. In their previous 10 years in the league, their only non-losing season was 2000 (5-3). … Marcel Marquez set a Sacramento State record with 396 yards passing against Idaho State. … Northern Arizona’s Jason Murrietta became the ninth QB in Big Sky history with more than 10,000 yards passing.