Must-win time for Eagles and Grizzlies

MISSOULA – Their fans might be offended at the notion, but the Montana and Eastern Washington football teams are looking very much alike these days.

Both have endured quarterback issues, inconsistency and late-season meltdowns that have left the Eagles and Griz winning less often than usual – and not looking very impressive when they do.

Both are in must-win mode going into Saturday’s Big Sky Conference showdown at sold-out Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Eastern (6-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big Sky) is ranked 10th in the nation, but losses to the Griz and Portland State would leave them out of the playoffs for the first time in four years.

Montana (5-4, 4-2) has no wiggle room at all; the Griz need to beat Eastern and Montana State to have any chance at the postseason.

“It’s a great opportunity for us, and it’s a great opportunity for them so they’ll be jacked up,” Eastern coach Beau Baldwin said. “It’s going to have a playoff feel to it – most November games do.”

The subplots are many:

– Can Eastern slow a Montana ground game that’s gaining momentum and win a few battles on third down?

– Can the Griz cut down on the mistakes that in the last two weeks led to a blowout loss at Portland State and a near defeat at lowly Idaho State?

– Can Eastern find a way to reignite an offense that looked downright ordinary in a one-point win over Weber State and a devastating 52-30 loss to Northern Arizona?

All of the above well may hinge on the outcome of the biggest subplot of all: the quarterback quandaries afflicting both teams.

Baldwin’s choice isn’t easy: stick with current starter Jordan West, who’s looked indecisive while completing barely half his passes in the last two games; or send the more-mobile Reilly Hennessey – a freshman who’s never started a college game – into the noisy maw of Washington-Grizzly?

First-year Montana coach Bob Stitt has a similar dilemma: Should he stick with mobile sophomore Makena Simis who threw six touchdowns passes in one game but has continued to make mistakes?

Or should he go back to junior Brady Gustafson, a solid dropback passer who is almost fully recovered from a leg injury suffered two months ago? For Stitt, the key word is “almost.”

Neither coach is showing his cards, which leaves the defenses with more work.

“They’re very different in how they do things,” said Eastern cornerback Victor Gamboa, who thinks Montana’s scheme is simple but well-executed no matter who’s at the controls.

“They play really hard,” said Gamboa, who’ll have to deal with two of the better receivers in the Big Sky in Jamaal Jones (49 receptions for 804 yards) and deep threat Ellis Henderson (34 catches, 518 yards).

Eastern also must contend with an offense that’s gaining traction on the ground with true freshman Jeremy Calhoun. The Eagles are still smarting from the loss to NAU, which converted 13 of 19 third-down opportunities.

Said defensive tackle Matthew Sommer: “If we can get them in third and long and second and long, we’ll be in a good spot.”

Notes

Both teams are nationally ranked for the 15th time in the last 21 meetings. … Montana leads the series 26-15-1, but EWU has won the last four games. Prior to that, Montana had won six of the previous seven. Overall, Eastern is 5-14-1 in Missoula. … The Eagles beat the Griz twice last year, 36-26 in a regular-season game and 37-20 in the second round of the FCS playoffs. Both of those games were in Cheney. … In 2013, the two teams combined for 1,029 total yards, and one year earlier had 980.