Griz Advance, Cats Bow Out

December 3rd, 2006 | by Craig |

In a defensive struggle, the hallowed and beloved Griz held Payton Award finalist Arkee Whitlock to just 80 rushing yards (35 of which came on SIU’s lone scoring drive) to secure a 20-3 victory over Southern Illinois, and a home field semi-final game next weekend against UMass. (Either 5:30 Friday evening, or 2:00 p.m. on Saturday — details to come later today.)

On the other side of the country, the (mostly) hated and reviled Bobcats came up short in their upset bid against defending champs Appalachian State. The first quarter seemed like it was setting up for an ASU blowout, with the Mountaineers scoring on their first two possessions. MSU fought back and was down by a single touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter, and the offense seemed to be getting into a rhythm running the ball.

Then, inexplicably, the Cats ran an end-around pass that resulted in an ASU interception, and a score. Then a fumble at the Cats 3-yard line resulted in another 7 for the Mountaineers, effectively sealing the Cats fate. The Cats had a heckuva season, though, coming off of a 1-3 start, and should be back to play next year.

The Griz, however, are back to play next week.

The other semi-final game has top-ranked ASU against the Penguins (yes) of Youngstown State in one of the two time slots mentioned above.

[UPDATE]:  Being the higher seed, App State got their choice of time, so they will be playing the Saturday game, while the Griz will be playing at 5:30 on Friday night.

  1. 4 Responses to “Griz Advance, Cats Bow Out”

  2. By Wulfgar on Dec 3, 2006 | Reply

    I seem to be the only person in Bozeman who realizes that the ‘Cats greatest strength is phenominal play by key individuals and that their greatest weakness is coaching. It’s been that way for 7 years … coincidence? Not if yesterday was any indicator.

  3. By Craig's Spousal Unit on Dec 3, 2006 | Reply

    Was it the offensive coordinator of the Cats that called the gimmick play or the coach?

    It’s a moot point now.

    They had it going their way up until that play, too.

  4. By Craig on Dec 3, 2006 | Reply

    I don’t think you’re the only one, Rob. Did you check out the comments over at Bobcat Nation today?

    Yikes.

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