cliff and mick

[gfallscat]

Bobcat-Grizzly rivalry lives forever


Cliff Hysell was looking to bag some pheasants Monday. A few years back at this of year he was a bear-huntin'.

Mick Dennehy took a long walk with his dogs Monday. Not so long ago the only hikes that interested him in November were those connected with shotgun or field-goal formation.

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The two retired football coaches are somewhat removed from the Montana-Montana State football rivalry, which heats up this week for the 105th time. But if the Bobcat-Grizzly game is part of their football past — and it is, given that both played and coached for their respective schools — it's also what connects them to the present. And the future.

The rivalry, see, will live forever.

"On Sunday mornings before the game you could notice a different feeling with the kids," said Hysell. "They were more attentive and already starting to get edgy. ... Then the day of the game, people don't tailgate as long, they get in the stands earlier. It's just different."

Hysell played offensive line for the Bobcats, then served as MSU's head coach from 1992-1999. He always beat the Grizzlies as player, but never as a head coach.

"That," said Hyself, "is something I'll take to my grave."

Dennehy played defensive back for the Griz, coached for a time under Don Read and served as UM boss from 1996-99.

"I was really glad they changed the game from the middle of the season to the end," said Dennehy. "It's such a big game, with so much at stake, and to lose a game like that in the middle of the year would have been devastating."

Dennehy lost to the Bobcats only once when he played, as a senior in 1972, and beat them every year he was a head coach.

"It's a huge game, and it's also a fun game," Dennehy said.

There are many similarities in the careers of these two native Montanans. Both were star players. Both cut their coaching teeth at their alma maters and then moved on, Hysell at Fresno State and Dennehy at Utah State.

Now both are back home, much more comfortable in cattle country than amid big city lights.

Dennehy, of Butte, was a reliable, capable assistant to Read and then proved he was more than ready to handle the top job. We remember his poise on the UM sideline against the Cats, which did not mask a tenacious character.

Think Henry Fonda as Frank James.

Hysell, of East Helena, never pretended to be anything but what he is — a defensive football coach who loves a three-and-out more than a long touchdown pass. We'll never forget his look on the MSU sideline against the Griz, complete with cowboy boots, jeans and a long duster.

Think John Wayne as Big Jake.

As a matter of fact, Dennehy has stories of the rivalry worthy of the silver screen. Take 1997, for instance. In Bozeman, the Bobcats scored with 22 seconds left to take a one-point lead. A UM winning streak then at 11, and that later reach 16, was in serious jeopardy.

Back in Dennehy's Missoula office, the phone rang.

"There's this old gentleman, a plumber in Missoula who never missed a game," Dennehy said. "So they score to go ahead and he leaves me a message. Said he was sick to his stomach and that, cripes, you've done a great job and all streaks come to an end. So be proud of yourself. Blah, blah, blah."

In Bozeman, the Cats kick her out of bounds. Then Brian Ah Yat completes a 46-yard pass to Justin Olsen. Then, on the last play of the game, Great Falls native Kris Heppner nails a field goal to win it.

"That old plumber," said Dennehy, "he never even knew we'd won the game until he got up and read the paper the next day."

On Hysell's watch, the Bobcats improved from a laughingstock to legitimacy, returning the rivalry to just that.

"You know when I took the job there wasn't a helluva lot of light at the end of the tunnel," said Hysell, who was hired in Bozeman following MSU's disastrous five seasons under Earle Solomonson. "I couldn't have come back at a worse time, because the University of Montana was better than they'd ever been."

Not that all the memories are bad for coach Hysell.

"In 1996 we go in at halftime ahead, for the first time in however many years, then in '97 we should have beaten them," Hysell said. "And in '98, we lose it in Missoula with two minutes left. Should have won 'em both."

These days, Dennehy, 55, and Hysell, 63, aren't coaching rivals; they're fishing buddies. Often last summer they hooked up on the river, to discuss retirement and swap fish stories.

"As far as I'm concerned," said Dennehy, "Cliff is as good a friend now as he was back then. He's always someone I've respected."

Said Hysell: "Mick's a helluva guy. In fact several of my really close friends are University of Montana graduates."

Such conciliation isn't altogether common in this rivalry, you understand. It also allows for intelligent, reasoned responses where predictions are concerned. When Bobby Hauck's 8-2 Grizzlies meet Mike Kramer's 6-4 Bobcats on Saturday in Bozeman, many expect a close game.

"It's an interesting game," Dennehy said. "The one thing that Montana State has really got going for it is a kid (Travis Lulay) starting at quarterback for four years. Now Cole Bergquist (Montana's freshman QB) and his receivers, they're all going to be really, really good. But they're young.

"That Grizzly defense is great — really, really good. I think Montana's defense may have to play well enough to help their offense out a little bit, and they're sure capable of doing that."

Said Hysell: "Lulay, he's a special guy. I've watched him for the last 3 1/2 years and about the only thing he hasn't done is throw a pass to himself. He's a difference-maker, and if he has one of those games that he's capable of having, he could be the difference in the game. And the same way with (Montana halfback) Lex Hilliard, he could be the difference, too. It should be a good one."

[ChiOCat]

I wasn't a fan of Hysell and his "let's just hold on to the lead" strategy. But that was a good article!

I especially liked the comment about Lulay, the only thing he hasn't done is throw a pass to himself. He should have been a National Champion at least once in his college career. Of course my Dolphin's lovin' husband likens him to Marino