Griz football 2016: A look back at 2015

PDF 2015 RECAP

In the lead up to the 2016 Griz football spring game, GoGriz.com will bring you a look ahead to the upcoming season.

Before looking ahead though, we're taking an opportunity to look back at the 2015 season with a complete season recap.

THE SEASON: The 2015 University of Montana Grizzlies went 8-5 overall and 6-2 (tie, second) in the Big Sky Conference, and advanced to the NCAA FCS playoffs for the third straight season, and for the first time under head coach Bob Stitt.

JUST WIN BABY: Montana has won eight or more games in 20 of the last 22 seasons, and had 10 or more victories 13 times in that 22 year span.

ANOTHER WINNING SEASON: Montana's 57-16 home demolition of Eastern Washington on Nov. 14 gave the Grizzlies their 28^thwinning season in the past 29 years.

23RD PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: Montana extended its record number of appearances in the NCAA DI-AA/FCS playoffs to 23. The Griz defeated South Dakota State in Washington-Grizzly Stadium 24-17 in the opening round, followed by a loss to eventual national champion North Dakota State 37-6 at Fargo, N.D. in the second round.

HOLMES THE NATION'S BEST: Montana senior defensive end Tyrone Holmes posted a national-best 18 sacks in 2015, earning enough votes to be crowned the STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year, the award for the best defensive FCS player in the country.

Sacks (FCS)
RANK        NAME                         TEAM                         TOTAL SACK              SACKS PG
1                Tyrone Holmes           Montana                     18.0                             1.38
2                Victor Ochi Stony Brook                13.0                             1.30
3                Javon Hargrave South Carolina St.      13.5                             1.23
4                James Cowser Southern Utah            13.0                             1.08
Sacks (FBS)
1                Carl Nassib Penn St.                      15.5                             1.19

Holmes was also named to four separate All-America teams: the FCS Coaches' All-America team, the Walter Camp Foundation All-America team, the Associated Press All-America first team and the STATS FCS All-America first team. He was also named to the sports blog CollegeSportsMadness.com's All-America team.

With 18 sacks, the most of any player in the nation, Holmes' senior season mark is the second-best in UM program history to Andy Petek's 19-sack performance in the 2000 season.

Holmes finished his career at UM in second place in career sacks as well, tallying 34.5 in his career, just three shy of Zack Wagenmann's school record or 37.5 career sacks.

He also finished second to Wagenmann in career tackles for loss, posting 49.5 in his time at UM.

JONES SETS RECORDS: Jamaal Jones set a new mark for most career receiving yards in school history with 3,021 yards during his three years at Montana. Jones caught 1,217 worth of passes in the 2015 season, the fifth best single season receiving mark in program history. He led the 2015 Griz with 11 touchdown receptions. His 75 catches are also the fifth best single season mark in school history.

Career receiving yards
1… 3,021 ...........Jamaal Jones, 2013-15
2… 3,018 ...........Marc Mariani, 2006-09
3… 2,733 ...........Matt Wells, 1992-95
4… 2,574 ...........Scott Gurnsey, 1991-94
5… 2,566 ...........Jon Talmage, 2002-05
6… 2,561 ...........Shalon Baker, 1991-94
7… 2,527 ...........Raul Pacheco, 1995-98
8… 2,402 ...........Jeremy Watkins, 1996-99
9… 2,301 ...........Joe Douglass, 1995-96
10… 2,300 ...........Etu Molden, 1998-01
11… 2,295 ...........Ellis Henderson, 2012-15
12… 2,257 ...........Bill Cockhill, 1990-93

Single season receiving yards
1… 1,479 ..........Marc Mariani, 2009
2… 1,469 ..........Joe Douglass, 1996
3… 1,308 ..........Marc Mariani, 2008
4… 1,240 ..........Jefferson Heidelberger, 2004
5… 1,217 ..........Jamaal Jones, 2015
6… 1,145 ..........Etu Molden, 2001

He hauled in 184 career catches (3rd most in Montana history) for 3,021 yards. Scored 22 career touchdowns (8th most in Montana history) as a Grizzly. Started in 39/40 games during his career at UM. He was voted 2016 team captain by his teammates, and was named 2015 Steve Carlson Offensive Team MVP.

Career pass receptions
1… 192 .............. Raul Pacheco, 1995-98
2… 189 .............. Matt Wells, 1993-96
3… 184 .............. Jamaal Jones, 2013-15
4… 182 .............. Shalon Baker, 1991-94

Pass reception touchdowns
1… 29 ........ Marc Mariani, 2006-09
2… 26 ........ Etu Molden, 1999-01
                   Mike Erhardt, 1993-96
                   Shalon Baker, 1991-94
5… 25 ....... Joe Douglass, 1995-96
6… 24 ....... Jon Talmage, 2002-05
7… 23 ....... Ellis Henderson, 2012-15
8… 22 ....... Jamaal Jones, 2013-15
9… 21 ....... Jimmy Farris, 1997-00

Jones was named to the College Sporting News 2015 "Fab 50" All-America Team, the Associated Press 2015 All-America Second Team, the CollegeSportsMadness.com All-America Team, the 2015 STATS FCS First Team All-American, the First Team All-Big Sky Conference team, the 2015 Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team, the 2015 USA College Football Preseason All-American list and the 2014 All-Big Sky Conference Second Team.

HENDERSON IN TOP-TEN: Ellis Henderson finished his career at UM with 2,295 career yards, placing him at No. 10 on UM's all-time career receiving list.

Henderson also finished at No. 7 on UM's all-time leading touchdown receptions list.

VAN ACKEREN SETS TACKLING MARK: Senior linebacker Kendrick Van Ackeren set a new record for most tackles in a single season, surpassing Colt Anderson and Tim Hauck, who each posted 129 tackles, with 130 total tackles in 2015. Van Ackeren achieved this mark despite the fact he only played in 11 of Montana's 13 games.

Total Season Tackles
130......Kendrick Van Ackeren, 2015
129......Colt Anderson, 2008
Tim Hauck, 1989

He finished his career with 281 tackles, placing him at No. 17 on UM's all-time leading tackler list.

GRIZ LEAD BIG SKY IN ATTENDANCE: Montana set its highest single game and season marks in program history in 2015. UM set a new single game attendance record of 26,472 in the "FCS Kickoff" game against North Dakota State on Aug. 29. On average 24,139 people packed Washington-Grizzly Stadium over seven home games in 2015, a total of 168,975.

In UM's 13 total games in 2015, UM had the highest average attendance in the Big Sky as well at 19,642. In total, 255,346 people attended a Griz football game in 2015.

Montana's 2014 season average attendance of 23,777 was the most in all of FCS football, beating James Madison's average attendance of 19,816. The NCAA has not released full attendance numbers to date, but UM should once again have the highest attendance figures in the FCS.

GUSTAFSON'S GUN: Junior quarterback Brady Gustafson put together one of the best passing seasons in Montana history, despite playing in only seven contests due to injury. "Gus" threw for 1,984 yards in his junior campaign, producing the No. 25 best passing season in UM history, with only seven games played.

Season passing yards
1… 4,176 ............Dave Dickenson, 1995
------
22… 2,439 ............Drew Miller, 2000
23… 2,400 ............Jordan Johnson, 2011
24… 2,160 ............John Edwards, 2001
25… 1,984 ............Brady Gustafson, 2015
26… 1,885 ............Justin Roper, 2010

SURE-FOOTED SULLIVAN: Senior kicker Daniel Sullivan set a new Montana record for highest career field goal percentage, making 31 of his 40 attempts during his two years at UM, for a 77.5 percent average. Sullivan surpassed both Dan Carpenter and Andy Larson, who both previously held the record at 73.6 percent.

Career Field goal percentage (Minimum 25 attempts)
1… 77.5 ... Dan Sullivan(31-40), 2014-15
2… 73.6 ... Dan Carpenter (78-106), 2004-07
   Andy Larson (28-45), 1993-96
4… 67.8 ... Brody McKnight (59-87), 2008-11

Sullivan scored 99 points with his foot in 2015, placing him at No. 14 on the all-time most points in a single season list. With 165 points in two years as a Griz, Sullivan finished his career at No. 20 on the all-time career scoring list.

GRIZ RANKED IN SIX FCS TOP-TEN CATEGORIES: The Griz finished the 2015 season ranked in the nation's top-10 in six different statistical categories, including defensive third down conversion percentage, blocked kicks, first down offense, fumbles recovered, passing offense and team sacks.

Third down conversion percentage defense:
RANK TEAM             G          OPP     3RD CONV OPP     3RD ATT PCT
10       Montana         13           66 217                         .304

Blocked Kicks:
Rank   Team              G          BLKD
T9       Montana         13 6

First down offense:
RANK TEAM             G          RUFD PAFD   PNFD FD
9          Montana         13 107     148     23       278

Fumbles recovered
RANK TEAM             G          FUM REC
T7       Montana         13 14

Passing offense
RANK…..TEAM………..G…..PASS ATT…..PASS COM…..INT…….PASS YDS…..YDS/ATT….YDS/COMP…..PASS TD……..YPG
13………Montana……13…..551……………317 …………….15……..3645…………6.62………….11.50……………25……………..280.4

Team sacks
RANK TEAM             G          SACKS             SACK YDS       AVG
5          Montana         13 43 248                 3.31

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Brady Gustafson

Ellis Henderson

Tyrone Holmes

Jamaal Jones

Daniel Sullivan

Kendrick Van Ackeren

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