The 124th Cat-Griz game, lately known as the Brawl of the Wild, brought back that chicken-or-the-egg question about Montana’s offense:

Did the Griz not get the ball to their playmakers enough, or did the Cats’ defense take the ball out of the hands of Eli Gillman and Michael Wortham? 

When the dust cleared on Montana State’s 31-28 win, Wortham had three “Wildcat” carries and three targets on offense — and one of those passes, Keali’i Ah Yat would like to have back. 

“It’s funny how football goes,” Griz coach Bobby Hauck said of Caden Dowler’s tip-drill pick-6 that gave MSU the lead for good. “We knock the ball out and there’s nobody there to get on it. We tip a ball in the air and a guy happens to be standing right there where the ball goes.” 

Hauck was noting that the ball got popped loose from MSU running back Julius Davis just a couple plays after Wortham scored on a 5-yard run to put the Griz up 21-17. MSU recovered at its own 32-yard line.  

The Cats still punted, and the Griz still had a chance to build on that lead — but then came that interception. Speaking of which, you know who right-place-right-timed a lot of opponents? Colt Anderson for one. Tim Hauck for another. 

“Games like this are won at the line of scrimmage and you know I think we did a pretty good job there,” MSU coach Brent Vigen said. Then he added: “That takeaway was huge.” 

At the end, after Gillman tore off a 52-yard run on his 15th and final carry, Davis was running four times for 36 yards during a clock-killing Bobcat drive. Adam Jones added a 15-yard run and Justin Lamson a crucial 6-yard gain on third-and-5. 

It used to be the Grizzlies — with Lex Hilliard or Chase Reynolds piling up carries and sore limbs — would do that to people, not the other way around. 

Gillman has put up amazing numbers without piling up the carries. The junior has 1,261 yards while averaging 16 totes a game this season. He has had as many as 20 attempts twice in his career. 

Then again, the Griz have as many as four games left, with a semifinal Brawl rematch in the future, come Hades or (SDSU QB) Chase Mason. 

Meanwhile Vigen is a hot coaching commodity, amid a high point in the Cats’ history. They’ve been this good before, but not for this sustained amount of time. 

“I’m probably more excited about how we got there,” Vigen said Saturday. “We played complimentary football. Offense, defense, special teams all had a hand in things today.” 

Then he noted that the closeness of the game, in a series that had been blowout city four straight years. 

“They’re a good football team, we’re a good football team,” Vigen said.  “Everybody got their game today.” 

Reach Fritz Neighbor at 758-4463 or [email protected].