Both Montana and Eastern face QB issues

Eastern Washington isn’t the only team with a quarterback quandary.

Upcoming opponent Montana has a tough choice to make going into Saturday’s crucial Big Sky Conference game against the Eagles.

Will it be Brady Gustafson, who started in the Grizzlies’ thrilling season-opening win over North Dakota State and is recovering from a leg injury; or mobile freshman Makena Simis, who’s struggled in recent weeks?

Gustafson is in his third week of practice and worked briefly with the first string at Tuesday’s practice, but coach Bob Stitt didn’t confirm a starter at his weekly Tuesday press conference as he has the past two weeks.

Current starter Simis has struggled in his decision-making, and like EWU’s Jordan West, has committed some untimely turonvers. That raises the possibility of Gustafson returning sooner than some expected.

“I hope he’s closer,” Stitt said of Gustafson, a dropback-type who started Montana’s first three games. “It’s one of those things that you’re hoping someday he wakes up and feels great, but it’s hard to game plan for Brady on hope.”

Meanwhile, Eastern defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding is preparing for either quarterback.

While acknowledging their different styles, Schmedding said, “You have to take into account what they do best, and look what you can do against each one of them.”

At the same time, Schmedding said 22nd-ranked Montana’s up-tempo offensive system “is very similiar regardless of who’s at QB.”

The stakes are high. At 5-4 overall, the Griz need to close with wins over EWU and Montana State in order to have a chance at the postseason.

Simis is actually the Griz’ third quarterback. He replaced an injured Chad Chalich in an overtime loss to Weber State Oct. 10. Since then, Montana has become more run-heavy, thanks partly to the rise of true freshman back Jeremey Calhoun.

Last week, in a 33-27 win over Idaho State, Calhoun had 21 carries for 98 yards.

“All that, ‘You’re a freshman, you’re a rookie,’ goes out the window,” Calhoun said. “You have to grow up really fast. The guys that you line up against don’t care if you’re a rookie. They’re gonna go just as hard against you as they would a senior.”

Seven win enough?

Will parity be too much of a good thing for the Big Sky when the NCAA picks the FCS playoff field? Up to Big Sky teams could reach seven wins, and it’s doubtful all of them would get invites.

With two games left in the regular season, consider this plausible scenario:

– Southern Utah (6-0 Big Sky, 7-2 overall) wins at Portland State and home vs. Northern Arizona to win the conference and the automatic bid.

– Eastern Washington (5-1, 6-3) loses at Montana and beats PSU;

– Portland State (4-2, 7-2) loses to Southern Utah and EWU;

– NAU (4-2 and 6-3) beats Sac State and loses to Southern Utah;

– Montana (4-2 and 5-4) beats EWU and Montana State;

– North Dakota (3-3 and 5-4) beats Northern Colorado and Cal Poly.

In the above scenario, five teams would finish 7-4 overall. The bottom line: that might not be enough to make the postseason.

Kupp chase

More history will most likely be made this week by Cooper Kupp, Eastern’s two-time All-America wide receiver.

With exactly 100 catches this season, Kupp is only four from equaling his own school record of 104 set last year (the Big Sky record is 112).

With 297 career grabs, he is just two from the 300-catch mark and three from the 301 Jerry Rice had for Mississippi Valley from 1981-84.

With just seven receptions, Kupp would move into sixth in FCS history and eight would move him into fifth (No. 4 has 310, and the record is 395).