#15 Griz head east for first road test

At 2-0, Montana football head coach Bobby Hauck is pleased where his Grizzlies sit in the early stages of his first season back at the helm of his former team and alma mater. But since returning to Missoula and settling into his old role, he's known the 2018 schedule would be favorable for the Griz with a pair of home games to open the year.

Now comes the real test: Montana's first game on the road – a place the Grizzlies haven't produced a winning record since 2013 – as UM travels east to face the Western Illinois Leathernecks of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) on week three.

"We knew this would be a tough one going into it, looking at the schedule clear back last spring. We're excited to get together, get back to work this week, get on to Western Illinois and go to their place and see if we can't get to 3-0.," said Hauck at his Monday press conference.

"If you're going to have a good season you can't just win at home, you got to win on the road. We've talked about that as a team, and I'm excited to go on the road with these guys and see how they perform. We need to understand its' a different environment when we go someplace else, but the field is the same size. It's 120 yards long and 53 yards wide."

THE GAME: The No. 15 Grizzlies (2-0) take a rare trip east of the Mississippi to face a Leatherneck outfit that was picked to finish seventh the preseason MVFC poll, with kickoff set for 2 p.m. (MT).

At 0-2 on the season, WIU may not look the part of a tough opponent on paper, but after giving up a late lead to the Bobcats in Bozeman on week one and hanging tough with the Big Ten's Illinois Illini on week two, Hauck knows this trip is all business.

"I like their team, they're good. I like their defense, they've got good players at all three layers on the defense," said Hauck.

"They have a good quarterback. If you go and look, the throw he made on the post route on the opening drive against Illinois last week looked like the real deal. By all accounts, he's a terrific player. They've got a lot of skill and good team speed. They play hard and do things right."

After two road losses that could easily have been big wins, Western Illinois hosts the Griz in its home opener, hungry to pick up a win.

Unfortunately for Montana, the Leathernecks have been very good at defending their home turf in recent years, holding a 33-4 record against non-MVFC teams at Hanson Field since 1999, and riding an 11-game win streak against nonconference visitors.

"We know we have our hands full, and we have to be ready to go," Hauck added.

LAST MEETING: Western Illinois came into Missoula in the 2003 playoffs and cut the Grizzlies season short with a 43-40 double-overtime win. The Griz are 1-2 vs WIU all-time, and are 0-1 in Macomb, dating back to the first trip there in 1998.

WATCH: The broadcast rights to Montana's game at Western Illinois are owned and managed by WIU. Through its affiliation with the MVFC and its partnership with ESPN the Griz/Leathernecks game will only be available to stream on ESPN+, the network's subscription-based OTT streaming service, available on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, and other app-based streaming services, via the ESPN App. The game will not be shown by a local broadcaster in Montana.

Ryan Kent Jr. will provide the play-by-play on the broadcast, while Patrick Morris will be the color commentator.

LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran and Greg Sundberg will bring you the UM/WIU action live from Macomb on the Grizzly Sports Radio Network.

Fans from Polson to Plentywood can tune in to hear the live call on one of 15 radio stations statewide. You can also hear a digital stream of the game live worldwide via GoGriz.com/listen or the TuneIn app on our computer or smartphone.

COACHES' SHOWS: Each Wednesday the Bobby Hauck Radio Show airs statewide on Grizzly Sports Radio Network LIVE from The Press Box Bar and Grill in Missoula – The Official Fan Headquarters of Grizzly Athletics – at 6:30 p.m.

The Grizzly Sports Report with Bobby Hauck airs on SWX and ABC/ Montana each Wednesday night at 9:30. Get to know a different student-athlete each week, and break down the previous week's game with Hauck and host Shaun Rainey.

GRIZ TRACKS
DANTE'S INFERNO: Last week, Dante Olson hit a peak as the ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week. After a huge game against Drake where the junior logged 16 tackles, two sacks, 3.5 TFLs a forced fumble and a pass breakup, Olson has caught fire. Not only was he named Big Sky Player of the Week for a second-straight week, he was also named the STATS FCS national Defensive Player of the Week as well. It's worth repeating that Olson has only started two games as a Grizzly… and has been named Player of the Week following both of them.

N*A*S*H: Sophomore cornerback Dareon Nash could very well have earned the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week award if it weren't for Olson's production explosion. Nash had the best game of his career with three tackles, a pass breakup, a fumble recovery, and a pair of interceptions – one of which he returned 40 yards for the first pick-six of his career.

The last Grizzly to pick-off two or more passes in a game was Justin Strong, who had three INTs and a touchdown against Portland State in 2017.

JERRY'S WORLD: In 2016, Jerry Louie-McGee shattered the school record for receptions in a game with 21 at Cal Poly. Against Drake, Louie-McGee was two catches away from breaking Josh Paffhausen's 1997 record of 15 catches for the second time in his career with 14 receptions on the day for 133 yards.

The only other two receivers to catch 14 passes in a game was Joe Douglass against EWU and MSU in 1996, and Mike Trevathan in 1990 against Idaho.

"Mr. Electricity" Louie-McGee is now UM's leading receiver with 184 yards on the season to give him 1,409 career yards, which places him at No. 29 among UM's top 30 all-time leading receivers. He'll need 15 more yards to pass Sam Gratton' career total of 1,423 and move to No. 28.

RANKINGS: With no losses for teams in the top half of the FCS national rankings last week, the Grizzlies slid down a notch to No. 15 in the STATS FCS Media Poll but held firm at No. 16 in the AFCA FCS Coaches' Poll.

Montana and Elon swapped places on in the media poll, with the Phoenix picking up a win over No. 21 ranked Furman 45-7, and the Griz defeating the unranked Drake Bulldogs.

Five teams from the Big Sky Conference entered the top-25 this week, with Eastern Washington leading at No. 6, Weber State checking in at No. 11, Northern Arizona moving to No. 20 after falling to EWU, and UC Davis checking in at No. 23 following a pair of impressive wins.

LEGEND OF THE FALL: "Super" Dave Dickenson will make a rare return to Missoula on Saturday, Sept. 22 for the Griz/Sac. State game when he will be honored by the National Football Foundation and its on-field salute partner Fidelity Investments for recognition of his inclusion in the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2018.

To mark the event, the Grizzlies will be wearing throwback copper and gold uniforms, and a limited-edition line of Dickenson apparel by Nike is available at select retailers.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: With the win over Drake on 9/8, the Montana Grizzlies moved to 199-30 inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium since it opened its doors in 1986. If the Grizzlies beat Sacramento State on 9/22, UM will celebrate its 200th win at WGS.

CLOSING IN ON COACH READ: Montana's win over Drake put Bobby Hauck's record at UM to 82-17, needing just four more wins to become the winningest coach in Montana history, surpassing Don Read's career record of 85-36.

MORE HAUCK MILESTONES: Hauck's overall record as a head coach moved to 97-67 following the win over Drake, needing just three more wins to reach 100 career wins.

MISSISSIPPI MUD: Since the turn of the century, the Montana Grizzlies have only ventured across the Mississippi River six times, holding a 3-3 record against teams from that side of "Old Man River." Two of those games (at Maine in 2003, and at James Madison in 2008) were played during Hauck's first tenure at UM and were both Grizzly wins. The Griz also defeated Hofstra in New York in 2002, but lost at Tennessee in 2011, at Appalachian State in 2012, and at Liberty in 2015.

The Griz will look to get back on the winning side of that 3-3 record when they travel to Macomb, just 50 miles to the east of the Mississippi in Illinois.

CAREER DAYS

FLOWERS POWER: Freshman receiver Malik Flowers earned Montana's nomination for the Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week on Sunday following a career day on the kick return team where he ran two kicks back for 78 total yards and a long of 40 – both just inches away from being broken wide open for a touchdown.

DOOLIN' DALTON: Junior QB Dalton Sneed had the best game of his short Grizzly career against Drake, completing 31 of 47 passes for 278 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns, all new career highs.

Sneed also ran for 65 yards and a TD to give him 343 yards of total offense. He's now Montana's leading rusher with 123 yards on the season, making him the ninth-leading rusher in the Big Sky.

"Dalton has done a good job. He's made quick decisions, and that's what we want him to do, run or pass," said Hauck of his starting QB.

DIRTY HARRY: Freshman running back Adam Eastwood is starting to stack up the stats as Montana's rushing attack finds its legs, picking up his first two touchdowns as a Grizzly against Drake, including busting loose a 4th and one situation for a 37-yard score. He finished with 11 attempts for 51 yards – all new career highs.

QUICK HITS:

-Sophomore linebacker Jace Lewis picked up the first sack of his career against Drake.

-Kicker Adam Wilson also set new career marks with nine kickoffs for 573 total yards and three touchbacks.

SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS: Western Illinois, who is receiving top-25 votes this week, is coming off a 26-23 loss to Montana State in Bozeman after holding a 13-6 lead at halftime. The Leathernecks also lost to Illinois on week two, 34-14. WIU held a 7-0 lead through the first quarter, however, with George Wahee took in a 24-yard pass from QB Sean McGuire, and the Leatherneck defense held the Illini to just 14 points in the first half.

McGuire moved to second all-time in Western's career passing yards (7,365) and touchdowns (55) after his performance at Illinois, where he played his first game of college football in 2015.

WIU has been the first to score in each of its first two games this season. At Montana State, it was a three-yard touchdown by Steve McShane on its second drive, and at Illinois, Western put seven on the board on its very first drive on the pass from McGuire to Wahee.

The Leatherneck defense is led by returning first-team All-MVFC nose tackle Khalen Saunders and McShane, a second-team all-conference running back. WIU also returns all-conference safety Justin Fitzpatrick.

MISSOURI VALLEY BATTLE: The MVFC took a 3-2 lead in the Big Sky/MVFC challenge series last week with both Northern Colorado and Montana State falling to the two teams from South Dakota.

Three games remain in the series between FCS powerhouse conferences: UM/WIU, NAU at Missouri State and South Dakota at Weber State on 9/15.

UP NEXT: Montana returns home to face a surging Sacramento State team in Missoula on Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. In the Dave Dickenson College Football Hall of Fame game, the Grizzlies will don copper and gold uniforms to make the momentous event in the program's history.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Adam Eastwood

Malik Flowers

Jace Lewis

Jerry Louie-McGee

Dareon Nash

Dante Olson

Dalton Sneed

Justin Strong

Adam Wilson

University of Montana Athletics