It’s hard to know what to think of NAU’s spanking at the hands of Weber State. For one thing, the Jacks turned it over four times, which led to three quick touchdowns by the Wildcats.

In other words, NAU probably isn’t nearly as bad as they looked last Saturday. But the Lumberjacks also appear to have some real problems on offense, especially considering their starting quarterback looked lost against a good Weber State defense.

I watched the game for free on Big Sky TV – how sweet is that? – and  wasn’t impressed with the Jacks’ O at all. Add in the fact that their freshman running back is apparently dinged up, and it could be tough sledding at Washington-Griz on Saturday.

On the other hand, if Montana has an off-game offensively, and NAU is able to score a couple of defensive touchdowns – you never know. Old mo’ could slide over to their sideline pretty quick.

Jerome Souers has had an awful time against UM, going 0-10 in his tenure against his former team. For whatever reason, no matter how good the Jacks are or how much the Griz might be struggling, it always seems like NAU finds a way to gag against UM. Not saying it’s going to happen this time around, but it is interesting.

What I find most interesting is whether or not NAU, if it loses, will still find a way to make the playoffs. Montana, I think, is in pretty good shape … and has a very good shot at a top-four seed if it wins out. NAU would have three losses, though, and still has to play Montana State (in Flagstaff) and at Eastern Washington. Not exactly gimmies.

It would be cool to see three teams from the Big Sky make the playoffs. In my opinion there is something of an East Coast bias, but if NAU does finish 8-3, it would be hard to leave them out – even if it meant giving them a 16 seed and sending them to James Madison or App State.

I’ll save the UM playoff discussion for a later date, but stay tuned. I’m curious to hear any opinions you have on the NAU game or the playoff picture.

Saturday’s game against Sac State was the best game Cole Bergquist has ever played.

That’s no great leap of logic, but it is a good sign coming down the home stretch. If UM’s senior quarterback can play anything like he did Saturday over the last stretch of the season, the Griz have a good shot of making something interesting out of what many thought would be a down year for the Griz.

In many ways, Bergquist reminds me of John Edwards. Good runner, very competitive, although I think Bergquist is a better passer than Edwards was. The difference with Edwards, in 2001 at least, was that the Billings product had a better supporting cast than Bergquist has had over the last couple of years on offense.

Bergquist does get sacked a lot, which isn’t all the offensive line’s fault, though that group hasn’t played as well as maybe was predicted coming into the season. Some of it, as Bobby Hauck has pointed out, is play design or play-calling – where Bergquist goes on a blind rollout right into an uncovered defensive end – as happened at Eastern Washington and Weber State.

The offensive line played a solid game against Sac State, and Montana clearly had things clicking in all three phases against the overmatched Hornets. We’ll see if that continues.

I may write something about this later in the paper (so stay tuned), but in my opinion this is Hauck’s best job of coaching since he’s been at Montana, and that’s saying something, since I think, overall, he’s done excellent work.

I know some of you aren’t big fans of the offense at Montana. I’ve heard from some of you who believe the play-calling lacks imagination, is conservative and focuses on “not screwing up” rather than “making things happen.”

While it might be true you’re not going to see too many double reverses or middle screens anytime soon – and UM’s style of offense isn’t going to be confused for Texas Tech or Kansas – the fact is, they are disciplined and play smart football. And that’s a credit to Hauck and the offensive coaches. The clock-control game plan against Eastern Washington was perfect, and both sides of the ball performed very well. The result was a 19-3 victory over what I think is still a very, very good offense.

Northern Colorado, despite their record, is a very dangerous team. In fact, I’m almost tempted to pick them to beat the Griz. Not because I think the Bears will actually win, but I am trailing in the Missoulian’s weekly picks race, and I know the other guys will all be picking UM. Plus I have to keep up my reputation as a “Grizzly doubter” as Nick Lockridge so nicely pointed out this week.

But I do think Montana has turned something of a corner. The defense is playing much better, the offensive line seemed to get things together Saturday, and, as always, the special teams are solid. The Griz could lay an egg, but I have a feeling they’re going to play well. They’re on a roll, and it probably going to continue.

As for the following week – UM’s rejuvinated offense against what appears to be a very, very strong Northern Arizona defense – that’s going to be incredibly fun to watch. To me, that game will probably be the difference between UM hosting a game or two or spending the opening week of the playoffs on the road (and, yes, I think they’ll make the playoffs). Clearly, the Big Sky is more balanced than it’s been in some time, with three teams capable of making the postseason. And pretty much any week, if you make a couple mistakes, you can get taken down.

I apologize for the long absence on the Missoulian’s Griz football blog.

I recently transferred back to the sports department, and it’s taken a little bit to get my feet under me.

Nevertheless, there’s no excuse. We’ve been striving to give Grizzly football fans a thoughtful alternative to discuss UM football, Big Sky football and everything else UM sports related, and I failed to hold up my end of the bargain.

Hopefully we can keep this up in the future, and slowly you’ll jump on board.

We’re in the middle of what has turned out to be an extremely interesting Grizzly football season. I honestly didn’t see a young defense and an unproven group of running backs as able to beat what I think is a very good Cal Poly team to open the season … but they did.

The Mustangs did miss a very short field goal that likely would have won it, but the very fact that the Griz were in position to win was impressive.

The Griz have had their struggles, including that tough loss at Weber State, but this team is better than I thought they could be, and they continue to splash egg on my face – which is fine. Go Griz.

I have to say that I think the job the defense did, and particularly the job by the coaching staff, was phenomenal in the win over Eastern Washington. Bobby Hauck and his coaching staff’s game plan against the Eagles was nothing short of brilliant, and perfectly executed. The offense kept the potent EWU offense on the sidelines, and when the UM defense was on the field, they had Eastern guessing on almost every snap. Toss in another excellent game by the special teams, and it was a recipe for a very impressive win.

I don’t see Sac State being much of a problem this weekend, but then things get a little more interesting with a road game at hard-luck Northern Colorado, and then what promises to be a barn-burner at home against Northern Arizona.

The future looks fun, and who could ask for more in Griz Nation.

I’m curious what you all think about the prospects for the rest of the season, and where Montana is shining and where it needs to improve.