MISSOULA — The 123rd Brawl of the Wild did not turn out how Montana planned. The Grizzlies were beaten by rival Montana State 34-11 last Saturday in Bozeman to surrender the Great Divide Trophy back to the Bobcats.
But the good news for the Grizzlies is that it's now a brand new season. No. 14-seed Montana (8-4) will host a first-round FCS playoff game this Saturday against Tennessee State (9-3), a team the Griz have never faced.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 8:15 p.m. Mountain time and will be televised on ESPN2.
On this week's edition of the Grizzly Insider show, MTN Sports' Kyle Hansen and UM play-by-play broadcaster Riley Corcoran analyze last week's game against the Bobcats and also dive into this week's matchup against the Tigers, who are coached by 1995 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL star running back Eddie George.
Montana head coach Bobby Hauck also joins the show to take a look back at the MSU game and a look ahead toward the Tennessee State matchup. One intriguing connection between the teams? TSU's defensive coordinator is Brandon Fisher, who played for Hauck at Montana from 2005-09 and helped the Grizzlies reach consecutive national title games in 2008 and 2009.
The winner of Saturday night's matchup will advance to the second round, and will travel to play No. 3-seeded South Dakota State — the two-time reigning national champion — in Brookings, S.D. To watch this week's edition of the Grizzly Insider show, see the video player above.
