Montana at #4 Eastern Washington, Saturday, 4:30
Montana had a nice little warm-up game against San Diego before the competition starts to get much, much tougher in the second round and possibly beyond. The Grizzlies were up 52-0 in the fourth quarter before letting the Toreros pick up a couple late, meaningless touchdowns. Quarterback Jordan Johnson threw three first-half touchdown passes and backup quarterback Shay Smithwick-Hann threw a couple of his own in the second half.
Montana is not going to cruise past Eastern Washington on Saturday afternoon. EWU beat Montana 36-26 just a few weeks back on November 8th. After falling behind early in that contest, Montana was forced to abandon their game plan and had to try and beat the Eagles in a shootout. That just is not going to happen. Not many teams can match EWU in a shootout. This is a team that nearly beat Washington in a high scoring contest and can drop 50 points on anybody. Quarterback Vernon Adams missed a big chunk of the season with an injury, but he is back and heaving the ball all over the field.
Montana has a decent secondary, but Adams did throw for 410 yards and four touchdowns against the Griz earlier in the year. It takes a special defensive back, or two, to contain receiver Cooper Kupp. And if you double Kupp, Adams will find Shaq Hill or one of his many other talented receivers. Montana can make this interesting since they certainly know what to expect from Eastern Washington, but going to Cheney and coming away with a win is too much to ask.
Projected Score: Eastern Washington 45, Montana 38
See All FCS Playoff Breakdowns
