MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies find themselves with another tough Big Sky Conference football game on the schedule in Week 9. But this is different from any other conference game so far this season, with the Griz coming off a loss, rather than a win.
The 3-4 Eastern Washington Eagles will come into Washington-Grizzly Stadium playing better than their record shows. The Eagles are coming off a big win over Northern Colorado for their second Big Sky Conference win.
Saturday's is a game Eastern views as a rivalry game. UM head coach Bobby Hauck knows his Griz will have to stop EWU's offense, and he remembers well the traditional rivalry between the two foes.
“I don't really look at passing stats much, I think those are empty calories, but, you know, this game I think the team that stops the run better probably is going to have a better defensive game," said Hauck. "I think everybody treats us like a rivalry game, historically that's my take on it. Watch the postgame celebration last weekend down in Sacramento, that looked like the Super Bowl. If they had a roof they would have had confetti coming out of it. You know, this is always a big game, mostly because both teams are generally pretty competitive.”
The Griz and Eagles kick off at noon on Saturday with the game televised on ROOT Sports.
