Griz, Cats, Carroll all home for playoff games Saturday
The Montana Grizzlies, Montana State Bobcats and Carroll College Saints will all be home for playoff football games on Saturday.
The Griz and Cats were named to the 24-team FCS playoff field and will play host to first-round games that will begin at 2 p.m.
The Grizzlies (8-4) will play San Diego in Missoula and the Bobcats (8-4) will take on South Dakota State in Bozeman. The games are slated to be televised by pay-per-view online network ESPN3.
Carroll, which won its NAIA playoff opener 49-0 over Valley City (N.D.) on Saturday, will be home at Nelson Stadium in Helena again this Saturday for a noon game against Frontier Conference rival Southern Oregon. There was no immediate word whether the game will be televised.
Carroll is 10-1 on the season, while Southern Oregon is 10-2. This will be the third meeting between the squads this season, with each winning on its own field during the regular season. Southern Oregon posted a 38-35 victory over the Saints in the season opener, while Carroll prevailed 42-40 later in the campaign in Helena.
The Grizzlies, who defeated the Bobcats 34-7 Saturday afternoon in Missoula, are 8-4 on the season. Coach Mick Delaney's club will be back at Washington-Grizzly Stadium this weekend to take on the San Diego Toreros of the Pioneer League. San Diego (9-2) was defeated 34-3 by Big Sky Conference member Cal Poly on Saturday.
The Big Sky will have three teams represented in the playoffs, including league champion Eastern Washington (10-2), which earned a first-round bye, and Montana State. Idaho State, which finished in a second-place tie with the Cats and Griz at 6-2 and had the same 8-4 overall record, was not picked for the playoffs.
The Bobcats will take on South Dakota State (8-4) of the Missouri Valley Conference on Saturday afternoon. The Jackrabbits, who defeated Big Sky foe Northern Arizona in the first round of the 2013 playoffs before falling at Eastern Washington in the second round, feature halfback Zach Zenner, a candidate for the Walter Payton Award. That honor goes to the most outstanding offensive player in FCS football.
South Dakota State finished 5-3 in the Missouri Valley. SDSU dropped its season opener at Missouri, and its three FCS losses came to Youngstown State and playoff entries North Dakota State and Illinois State.
The Bobcats are in the playoffs for the fourth time in the eight-year MSU coaching career of Rob Ash.
"We're very excited," said Ash. "One of our goals all season was to qualify for the playoffs and play for a national championship. We have an eight-win team, and deservedly we are in the playoffs. I'm very excited for the players."
If Montana State wins, the Bobcats will play a second-round game Dec. 6 at three-time defending national champion North Dakota State (11-1). The Bison have a first-round bye and are the second-seeded team in the playoff field.
Sophomore running back Chad Newell breathed out when MSU's name popped up in the last game revealed by the FCS Selection Show on ESPNU. "It was a big relief," he said. "I was sitting here sweating it out and we were the last team listed. It was just a big relief."
New Hampshire (10-1) is the top seed in the playoff field, while Jacksonville State (10-1) is No. 3 and Eastern Washington is No. 4.
If the Grizzlies defeat San Diego, they will travel to Eastern Washington for a second-round game on Dec. 6.
Montana will be making a record 23rd appearance in the Division I-AA/FCS playoffs.
"What this means is we're where Montana football should be, and that is in the playoffs and competing every single year for national championships," said Griz head coach Mick Delaney as he watched the announcement of the playoff match-ups Sunday (Nov. 23) morning on ESPNU along with his coaches and players.
"I am so proud of these coaches and kids," said the third year mentor, who announced earlier this week he will retire at the conclusion of the 2014 season. "They have strived so hard, and I honestly believe that we've gotten better week-by-week. I am so humbled to have been a part of this whole thing for the past seven years (he came to UM in 2008 as the associate head coach/running backs coach) — and you know we are not done yet."