BOZEMAN — No. 3-ranked Montana State is set to host Cal Poly on Saturday in a matchup that features one team that's overcome injuries and another that's just been bit by the injury bug.
Montana State coach Brent Vigen referred to Cal Poly as an improved team this season.
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1:59"They have another first-year coach in coach (Tim) Skipper, and I think he's had a great track record over his career," Vigen said. "I think what he's brought is apparent. It's a little bit of a shift in culture, I would guess.
"I know they've found ways to win a few that have been really tight matchups," Vigen said. "And at the same time, they've lost a few."
And while Cal Poly has dropped their last couple of games, the only game MSU safety J.J. Dolan and the the Bobcats are worried about is this one.
"We don't look at their record, we know they're a really good team," Dolan said. "They've got great players, great coaches. You can just tell they're going to be fighting.
"Their players play as hard as they can and they're going to come in here and play as hard as they can to beat us," Dolan said. "So we're looking at it as it's going to be the most important game of the season because it's the next game."
While the Mustangs have been missing a few key offensive pieces, quarterback Anthony Grisby Jr. is still playing strong, which Vigen noted.
"Certainly their quarterback Grisby is the one that makes it go for them," Vigen said. "Dynamic athlete, good passer."
Cal Poly's defense has shown an ability to slow down the ground game, which has been an important factor for the Cats in recent games.
"The key in this game — as it always is — is our ability to establish the run game on our side and do everything we can to slow them down," Vigen said. "And whether they have all their guys or not, we're getting to this point in the season when that's not always going to be the case, but we've got to anticipate that they'll get some of those guys back that maybe didn't play the last week or two."
The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Mountain Time from Bobcat Stadium and will be broadcast by Scripps Sports and also available on ESPN+.