By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN
This is the fourth time since 1998 that the Grizzlies have begun the season at 2-2 and two of those seasons saw Montana reaching the FCS play-offs including 2001 when they went all the way to the National semi-finals.
Once again the Montana Grizzly receiving core is among the leaders in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. Chase Nacarito and Jamaal Jones as well as Ellis Henderson are in the top 8 in the Big Sky in catches: while Jones and Nacarito are among the leaders in touchdown receptions. Henderson is among the top kickoff return leaders in the Conference.
The trip to Davis California continues a rivalry that began in 1926 when Montana beat what was then the California Agricultural College (that game occurred on the same day as Chicago’s Soldier Field was dedicated.) The two closest games in the series were in 2008 when Montana eked out a 29-24 win in Missoula and the following year at Davis when the Griz overcame a late Aggies rally and two mid-game power outages.
In 1983 Dan Marino was the sixth and final quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL draft. One spot ahead of Marino was Cal-Davis QB Ken O’Brien who was taken by the Jets. O’Brien led the Jets to the 1986 AFC semi-finals.
Running back Treshawn Johnson gave the Griz some valuable yards on the ground against Northern Arizona. If Johnson looks familiar from outside football it is because during the off-season he works at a popular Missoula Restaurant.
The two head coaches in Saturday Griz-Aggies game both have staying power. Bob Stitt spent the last 15 as head coach at Colorado School of Mines while Davis head coach Ron Gould spent 16 seasons as an offensive assistant at Cal-Berkley before taking over at Davis last season.
Of the ten teams currently in play-offs positions for the major League baseball post-season only two have won a World Series in the last 20 years — the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals.
Usually players from play-off teams dot the list of top hitters in the league. This season only 13 of the top National League leaders in batting average are on a play-off bound team. Pittsburgh catcher, Francisco Cervelli is 10th in the NL in hitting.
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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.