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Any Volunteers?

There have been some rumors floating around that the Montana Grizzlies will travel to play Tennessee to open the 2011 football season. Well, a source of mine says it's a done deal. Good ol' Rocky Top!

The Griz, apparently, will face the Volunteers on Sept. 3, 2011, at 100,000-plus seat Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Montana, I'm told, will replace North Texas on the Vols' schedule.

If it happens, this will be the first game the Griz will play against an Bowl division team since traveling to Iowa in 2006, a game they lost 41-7. Sure, they took one on the chin, but Montana did make something like $650,000 on that game, which helped the athletic department crawl out of a significant financial hole. So it was pretty much a victory in the long run.

Griz AD Jim O'Day has told me in the past that the football team would not play an "up game" unless the money was right. Why would they go on the road, get beat, and only make $200,000? They can make that kind of coin easily on any given Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium when they line up a patsy like Western State or Fort Lewis.

Is the potential matchup with Tennessee a bodybag game in which the Griz will take a pounding? Perhaps, although the Vols are hardly the SEC power they used to be. And after the Lane Kiffin debacle, UT is in a reconstruction phase under new head coach Derek Dooley.

New Griz coach Robin Pflugrad told me in an extensive interview during the spring that he will never duck the big dogs:

"I don't want to ever sound conceited or brag about the fact that we don't have to go anywhere, because I WANT to go somewhere. I WANT to take this team on the road and play a, quote, Division I team. I want to do that if not every year, every other year. We've been looking for a 2011 (FBS) opponent, and it's been difficult. We've had a lot of teams turn us down. Do you go to just play them? No. You better be able to make more money if you leave Missoula, or straight across even.

"We don't want to be cannon fodder for Nebraska or Florida or Alabama just to say we went and played them. I think our players have to get something out of it and I want it to be a positive experience. And our administration needs to get something out of it in a paycheck."


Win or lose, my guess is that the Griz are going to be laughing all the way to the bank on this one.

Skjellyfetti wrote:Looks like Tennessee's 2011 schedule is pretty well set unless one of these teams backed out or something:
09/03/2011 North Texas TBA
09/10/2011 Cincinnati TBA
09/17/2011 at Florida TBA
09/24/2011 at North Carolina TBA
10/08/2011 Georgia TBA
10/15/2011 LSU TBA
10/22/2011 at Alabama TBA
10/29/2011 South Carolina TBA
11/05/2011 Middle Tennessee TBA
11/12/2011 at Arkansas TBA
11/19/2011 Vanderbilt TBA
11/26/2011 at Kentucky TBA
http://www.govolsxtra.com/gvx/football/2011schedule/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

dbackjon wrote:

Skjellyfetti wrote:Looks like Tennessee's 2011 schedule is pretty well set unless one of these teams backed out or something:
09/03/2011 North Texas TBA
09/10/2011 Cincinnati TBA
09/17/2011 at Florida TBA
09/24/2011 at North Carolina TBA
10/08/2011 Georgia TBA
10/15/2011 LSU TBA
10/22/2011 at Alabama TBA
10/29/2011 South Carolina TBA
11/05/2011 Middle Tennessee TBA
11/12/2011 at Arkansas TBA
11/19/2011 Vanderbilt TBA
11/26/2011 at Kentucky TBA
http://www.govolsxtra.com/gvx/football/2011schedule/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Article said it would replace the North Texas game.

Any Volunteers?

Greg Rachac, Billings Gazette, Griz-Cat Insider

http://billingsgazette.com/sports/colle ... 002e0.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There have been some rumors floating around that the Montana Grizzlies will travel to play Tennessee to open the 2011 football season. Well, a source of mine says it's a done deal. Good ol' Rocky Top!

The Griz, apparently, will face the Volunteers on Sept. 3, 2011, at 100,000-plus seat Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Montana, I'm told, will replace North Texas on the Vols' schedule.

More of the story at the link.

Skjellyfetti wrote:Started a thread on Tennessee forum... Griz getting a lot of love so far:
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennesse ... 011-a.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SuperHornet wrote:I can't believe you're not paying attention, Willie!

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17063



BTW, I said it in that thread, and I'll say it again. The Vols are going to pay for ducking Mike Canales with a loss to the Griz.

Willie wrote:By no means am I saying Montana would win...but for Tennessee fans to pipe in and say they'd win by 20+ before it's even on the schedule shows the cocky arrogance of the SEC.

andy7171 wrote:So when do all the "What if" threads explode next summer like before the Michigan game.

Silenoz wrote:

Skjellyfetti wrote:Started a thread on Tennessee forum... Griz getting a lot of love so far:
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennesse ... 011-a.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Queue Griz fans registering on that forum to defend UM in that thread

JConnolly wrote:

Silenoz wrote: Queue Griz fans registering on that forum to defend UM in that thread

So the Griz fans are going to pull a Liberty?


I always had a lot more respect for you guys than that. But seriously, if the Vols think that they're just gunna walk over the Griz, they're in for a rude awakening. I'd hope this game wouldn't be the same time as an Elon game, because I'd love to watch it.

Silenoz wrote:

JConnolly wrote:

So the Griz fans are going to pull a Liberty?


I always had a lot more respect for you guys than that. But seriously, if the Vols think that they're just gunna walk over the Griz, they're in for a rude awakening. I'd hope this game wouldn't be the same time as an Elon game, because I'd love to watch it.

When you have as many fans as we do you're always going to have X percent who embarrass the rest.

JConnolly wrote:

Silenoz wrote: When you have as many fans as we do you're always going to have X percent who embarrass the rest.

Wish I could say I know the feeling........

Skjellyfetti wrote:

JConnolly wrote:
Wish I could say I know the feeling........

If you posted on AGS last season you'd know the feeling.

Newyland Law Vol wrote:why don't we just play a cupcake Bowl division team. No one wants to see a repeat of App St. in the Big House.