Montana game
The trip to Montana was entertaining in that the culture of college football delivered as promised in Missoula. The downtown bars are filled with University of Montana memorabilia and the streets are full of Griz fans enjoying — some really, really enjoying — a football weekend.
While the game day experiences in Brookings and Vermillion have improved dramatically in recent years, the Grizzly is an entirely different animal. RVs were lined up down the streets and very large contingents of fans were attending several separate and very large tailgating parties prior to kickoff.
The football part is very good, obviously, too. The Coyotes got leaned on a little, which made it difficult to take advantage of the rookie quarterback. Trent McKinney handed the ball off a lot and threw screen passes to the outside…very good gameplan for an untested QB. What made it even better is that the Grizzlies were able to pull it off with the ultimate source of success being that they were able to pound holes into the middle of the Coyote line.
One of the things Joe Glenn said about playing at a guady venue like Montana was that it would very quickly expose the things the team has to work on as it prepares for the rest of the season. Now they have those things.
It also has a schedule that looked difficult prior to Saturday and now — after so many MVC teams played well the opening week — looks even tougher.
I’ve posted a few of the sights from Missoula…..with comment:
This dude had it going on…Sort of a teriyaki smoked chicken smell to it…unbelieveable….wish I had the recipe.
One of the several tailgating venues outside the stadium. Not sure how that ol’ sidewinder Griz fan got into the photo.
Outside the hotel…in the background, a wedding group is preparing to take pictures. In the foreground, some dude who’d had a tough day is chillaxin’/passed out. If I was to title this one, I’d call it ”Best Man”.
