It was a pretty jocular press conference Tuesday at UM, where Coach Mick Delaney spoke of the 35-27 defeat at Appalachian State and the Grizzlies’ Saturday home game against Liberty (kickoff at 1:30 p.m.). The hottest topic of conversation was Dan Moore’s 87-yard catch and run against Appalachian State. “I thought Dan was going to [...]

There was a lot to like about Montana’s 35-27 loss at Appalachian State Saturday, one that dropped the Grizzlies just two spots (to No. 14) while raising the Mountaineers three spots to No. 8. Montana had four turnovers and still hung into the very end. The Griz lost the special teams battle and hung into [...]

As I write this it is less than 5 hours to kickoff for No. 12 Montana at No. 11 Appalachian State, an FCS showdown that will play out to a national audience. Wait. Scratch that. It will play out to an audience willing to pay at least $25 for the game (One alert reader tells [...]

Here’s the deal if you want to watch televised coverage for Saturday’s game between the Montana Grizzlies and Appalachian State Mountaineers in Boone, N.C. You’re going to have to pay for it. Most cable providers offer ESPN GamePlan. A single weekend through Dish Network, for example, costs $39.99 (gulp!); for the whole season it is [...]

I keep finding little nuggets of similarities between the Montana Grizzlies and Appalachian State Mountaineers, who play football in Boone, N.C., Saturday.  For example: The elevation in Boone, N.C.: 3,333 feet. In Missoula: 3,209 feet. Here’s my “Who’s Next?” story on the Mountaineers, who have won 119 games since the beginning of the 2001 season [...]

Montana football game Mick Delaney said it himself at the Grizzlies’ Tuesday press conference: “It’s certainly not going to derail either team if they lose. If they go on and win their conference, they could meet each other down the road. That’s happened in the FCS several times in the last nine, 10 years.” Delaney [...]

So I went 4-4 in my second-round FCS playoff picks last week, including a 42-17 loss by the MSU Bobcats to North Dakota State. I thought the Bison would be tough, but when their starting QB went down, the Cats looked to be set. Then the hosts wore down in the fourth quarter, giving up [...]

So I’ve been wondering where Marc Mariani, the subject of my Wednesday column, ranked in the annals of FCS title games with his two 170-yard outings in 2008-09. The NCAA doesn’t do such a great job with its record books, so it seemed it was up to me to find out. So I found out. [...]

It’s been 20 hours and I’ve watched the game over again, and I’m still trying to find the words to describe that scene at Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday night, after the Griz beat App State 24-17 in the FCS semifinals. Surprising shouldn’t be one of them; after the first-round comeback for a 61-48 win over South [...]