By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN
Following their 1984 1-AA national title the MSU Bobcats needed over 12 seasons to accumulate 50 more wins. With their 43-36 win over Stephan F. Austin on Saturday the Bobcats have now won 50 games since the start of the 2006 season. For Griz fans since the start of the 2006 season Montana has won 71 games.
Saturday’s 34-14 Griz win over Liberty marked the Griz 100th win since Joe Glenn left the program to take over at Wyoming. The Griz have gone 100-25 since Glenn’s departure. Ironically it also took the Griz 125 after Don Read retired in 1995.
It is apropos that Saturday’s game with Northern Arizona is homecoming as several members of the Lumberjack coaching staff have strong ties to Montana.
Lumberjack head coach Jerome Sourers spent 12 years on the Griz staff from 1986-97. Defensive coordinator Andy Thompson was a player on the 2001 National Championship team at UM. David Reeves is the special teams’ coordinator in Flagstaff but played and coached at UM for a total of 15 years. The Jacks defensive line coach Travis Baker spent the 2010 season as the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs of Montana Western.
The Lumberjacks have played at Washington Grizzly Stadium a dozen times losing all 12. The last NAU football win in Missoula came on September 27, 1986 in what was Don Read and staff’s home debut.
The MSU Bobcats are off to their first 3-0 start since 1978. The Cats started 7-0 that season before falling to NAU and the Grizzlies to knock them out of play-off consideration. Since 1978 The Grizzlies have started 3-0 ten different times, three times those 3-0 starts turned into perfect regular season records.
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Chris Walterskirchen has been an observer of Montana sports for nearly half a century. A Kalispell native, Chris has worked in various capacities for professional and college sports organization of at various times: ranging from announcing and statistical work to the concessions and even a stint as a costumed mascot.
Chris has academic degrees in communications and elementary education. His style of sports trivia involves more than just who won and who lost, but also focuses on the obscure or human side of sports. In this blog you will learn things like the Grizzly football team has won 210 games over the 19 seasons since they have had Monte as their mascot or that UNLV is the only school that both the Griz and Lady Griz have both faced in the NCAA basketball tournament
When not following sports Chris enjoys taking care of animals of all kinds (a peacock rescue?) and reading to pre-schoolers.