Cats seeded No. 2, Griz No. 3

Nov. 24—After the 124th Brawl of the Wild, Montana coach Bobby Hauck talked — not for the first time — about his Grizzlies meeting Montana State again in the FCS playoffs.

It certainly could happen.

Following MSU's 31-28 win at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, the FCS Playoff Selection Committee on Sunday made the Bobcats the No. 2 seed and the Griz, No. 3. That puts them on the same side of the 24-team bracket ahead of a possible semifinal matchup on Dec. 20.

Both teams got a bye through the first round, which is Saturday. The 10-2 Bobcats will play either Ivy League champion Yale (8-2) or Missouri Valley Conference at-large recipient Youngstown State (8-4).

The 11-1 Grizzlies await the winner of the Colonial Athletic Association's New Hampshire (8-4) and the MVC's South Dakota State (8-4).

Both the Cats and Griz will kick off at 2 p.m. Mountain on Dec. 6 in their home stadiums.

Montana State has faced neither of its potential second-round opponents. Yale knocked Harvard from the unbeaten ranks 45-28 in the 141st playing of "The Game" on Saturday. This is the first season Ivy League teams have been eligible for the FCS postseason, and both the Bullodgs (or Elis) and Harvard Crimson got in.

Yale has running back Josh Pitsenberger, who has rushed for 1,238 yards and 15 touchdowns, and Dante Reno, who has thrown for 2,040 yards and 17 scores. Nico Brown has 978 receiving yards and 10 TDs.

Youngstown State is one of six MVC teams in the field — the Big Sky got three, with UC Davis seeded eighth — and has gotten big numbers from quarterback Beau Brungard, who in addition to throwing for 2,917 yards and 23 touchdowns has rushed for 1,378 yards and 24 scores.

The SDSU Jackrabbits, who began this season 7-0 before losing quarterback Chase Mason to injury, made the field thanks in part to one amazing throw and catch: In overtime against North Dakota, Jack Henry flung a 23-yard touchdown pass that Grahm Goehring hauled in to give SDSU a 34-31 win.

It snapped a four-game losing streak and guaranteed a playoff berth for the 14th-seeded Jacks, who won back-to-back national titles in 2022-23.

Henry was 6 of 17 passing for 132 yards in the game, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Mason, out with a foot injury suffered against Murray State, had been rumored to return for UND. Northern Illinois transfer Luke Marble, like Henry a redshirt freshman, started twice after Mason's injury before he, too, was hurt. Henry has started the last three games.

New Hampshire was among the last four programs to receive a playoff berth. Ricky Santos, who played quarterback for the Wildcats in a 2004 FCS quarterfinal loss to Montana in 2004, now coaches his alma mater. He is 37-23 as head coach.

Not surprisingly, UNH has a prolific quarterback: Matt Vezza has thrown for 2,625 yards and 19 touchdowns, with six interceptions.

The Wildcats were 4-4 after back-to-back losses to Villanova and Rhode Island; now they've won five straight games, including a 33-27 win over Maine on Saturday.

New Hampshire has met SDSU before, in the 2017 FCS quarterfinals. The Jackrabbits won 56-14.

Montana lost to SDSU in the 2023 title game and fell to the Jackrabbits again in the 2024 playoffs. Before that the Griz were 8-0 against the Jacks, with ridiculous comebacks in the 1993 season opener (52-48) and 2009 playoffs (61-48).

UC Davis (8-3) is on the opposite side of the bracket from the Cats and Griz; the Aggies await the winner of Central Connecticut State and Rhode Island.

Frontier Rematch

Over in the NAIA playoffs, there is an intrastate rematch this Saturday in Butte.

Carroll College's reward for outscoring St. Thomas of Florida 42-35 in a first-round game is a trip to face unbeaten Montana Tech.

The longtime Frontier Conference rivals are separated by 70 miles and two divisions: Tech is 11-0 overall and 6-0 against the Frontier's East Division; Carroll went 5-1 in the East Division and is 9-2 overall.

The teams met in a non-conference game on Sept. 6 in Helena, and Tech won 30-19 behind 178 yards and three touchdowns from running back Wykece Johnson.

Carroll's Kaden Huot, a transfer from Montana, threw for 166 yards and three TDs in the loss. Tech's Jarrett Wilson, a sophomore out of Polson, threw for 81 yards and one score while splitting time with Jake Casagranda.

Since then, Wilson has thrown 25 more touchdown passes with one interception. The East Division's Offensive Player of the Year has 2,281 passing yards and 381 yards rushing. Teammate Levi Torgerson, who has 1,044 yards and 12 TDs receiving, was named East Player of the Year.