San Diego at Montana, Saturday, 4:00
Montana needed to beat Montana State on the final day of the season to make it into the playoffs and the Grizzlies wasted little time putting away their rival. Montana absolutely dominated that contest and they will look to do the same to San Diego in the first round of the playoffs. San Diego hopes to get the Pioneer League a playoff victory, but this is not a team that has had success against strong competition this season. San Diego lost their two toughest games of the year, against Jacksonville, who tied atop the Pioneer standings but were not eligible for the postseason, and Cal Poly. They lost those two games by a combined score of 69 to 21. San Diego has proven they can beat lesser competition, but Montana is not lesser competition.
If the Toreros are going to pull off an upset, quarterback Keith Williams will need to have a big day. He threw for 2,093 yards on the season and is a relatively efficient signal caller. Williams does not have to look down field too often since both Brandon White and Reggie Bell are very dangerous receivers in the open field. Against Montana the short passing game might be the most effective game plan. That is especially true when defensive end Zack Wagenmann is inevitably getting into Williams’ face. Wagenmann has 13.5 sacks on the year and the San Diego offensive line will not be able to contain him. Montana’s offense has had some ups and downs this season, but running back Jordan Canada is a workhorse and quarterback Jordan Johnson is very dangerous with his arm and his legs. In the end, that will be too much for the Toreros.
Projected Score: Montana 34, San Diego 7
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