The snap was good. The thermometer read 10 degrees and they had already cleared snow from the field at halftime. Armanti Edwards, rolled out to his left and threw a short pass to his best wide receiver, Brian Quick, just inside the end-zone. The pass went beyond the outstretched arms of star cornerback Trumaine Johnson and touched off Quick's finger tips and onto the AstroTurf. As the snow came down, reflecting off the huge ESPN stadium lights, there was a magical ambiance in the air as more than 26,000 Montana Grizzly fans went wild. We shouted, groaned with relief, high-fived and hugged other fans we had never met. We were going to the national championship game!
The game, start to finish, was the most amazing I have ever watched in person, but how it ended is a what I will always remember. After going up by a touchdown, Montana fans experienced a terrifying last minute drive when Edwards led App State the length of the field in the final 1:31, converting on a fourth down and ultimately getting two shots at the end-zone from the 3 yard-line. Edwards, who had led Appalachian State to two national championships with his duel threat quarterbacking would be drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL draft later that year. In addition to the heart stopping goal-line stand, the game also featured the ESPN college hit of the year by a Montana's Keith Thompson on an App State receiver. The drama of the ending along with the surreal ambiance made the game an instant classic. It also capped off what had already been an incredible year in Montana football, including a 27 point comeback earlier in the playoffs against the SDSU Jack Rabbits, which was sparked by a 98-yard Marc Mariana kick-return. The Griz ended the season 14-1 after being defeated in the national championship by Villanova.
Football may not be religion in Montana like it can be in Texas or the South but that doesn't mean our state lacks football excitement or success. Carroll College is still the only team in any division to have won 4 national championships in a row and almost every year MSU and/or U of M make it to the FCS playoffs as contenders. Additionally, it is often players who grew up playing football in Montana that are the stars of these teams and many get drafted or signed into the NFL.
I think being a football fan in Montana is more fun than in places where football is everything. Maybe its the fact that we have nothing to prove or that football isn't everything for Montanans. Montana isn't known for football nationally and even though we love it, football still has to compete with hunting for people's attention in the fall. Maybe its the personal touch and actually knowing and wanting to root for the players on the field. We don't have a pro team and by its nature, college football is more personal. When you cheer on your Montana college football team(whichever team it is), its not just your team you're cheering for, you're rooting for the kid you went to high school with, or played against. That same kid will probably come home this summer and work the harvest just like everyone else....and then he might get drafted next year. But he'll still be a Montanan, a real person you can talk to, who succeeded just as much because of his Montana work ethic as his athletic ability. That's True Montana.
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