Sunday Notebook: Montana over Drake 48-16

The Montana Grizzlies scored 38 second-half points on Saturday to move to 2-0 on the season, overcoming an inconsistent start to take down a Drake Bulldogs team that put up a fight on their first trip to Missoula.

The Griz have now won 29 of the last 31 nonconference regular-season home games played in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, and extend their win streak to 3-0 over teams from the Pioneer Football League.

ROOT Sports Big Sky Player of the Week nominations

Defense

Junior linebacker Dante Olson put together yet another dominant defensive performance to earn Montana's nomination for the STATS FCS and ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week.

For the second-straight week, Olson had one of the best defensive games in the nation against Drake on Saturday, with 16 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a pass breakup, and two sacks, which he tallied in the span of three plays.

Those 16 tackles were once again the most of any player in the Big Sky Conference and tied for the most sacks in the league this season with his two against the Bulldogs.

After two games he sits No. 3 in the FCS with a total of 29 tackles, and leads the Big Sky in average tackles per game with 14.5. He also leads the Big Sky and ranks No. 6 nationally in sacks with three total, an average of 1.5 per game. He's also nationally ranked at No. 11 in tackles for loss, putting him at No. 2 in the Big Sky.

Offense

Dynamic receiver Jerry Louie-McGee hauled in 14 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown to lead all players in Montana's win over Drake.

Those 14 catches are more than double of what nearly every other receiver in the Big Sky caught this week, and is the most catches in a game by anyone in the league this season.

His 14 catches are the second-most in a game during Louie-McGee's career. The only better receiving day he's had just happens to be a UM and Big Sky Conference record 21 catches at Cal Poly in 2016.

Only twice has he put up more than 133 yards as well: once against Cal Poly (155) and once against Valparaiso in 2017 (159).

With four catches for 51 yards in the season opener against Northern Iowa, Louie-McGee is now tied for second in the nation, averaging 9.0 receptions per game, also the highest average in the Big Sky.

Special Teams/Freshman

Freshman Malik Flowers introduced himself to Griz Nation in a big way on special teams over the past two weeks and has earned Montana's nomination for Big Sky Player of the Week following the Drake game.

Against the Bulldogs, Flowers returned two kickoffs a total of 78 yards, both of which were nearly broken wide-open for touchdowns. His longest kick return of the day was carried 40 yards before he was tripped up. Against Northern Iowa, Flowers also returned a pair of kickoffs for 37 total yards. He returned the first touch of his career 37 yards and was stopped for no gain on the second.

He's now ranked first in the Big Sky in kick return yards and ninth nationally, averaging 28.8 yards per attempt.

OTHER SATURDAY STARS

Dalton Sneed once again showed his versatility, putting up 343 yards of total offense against the Bulldogs, passing for two touchdowns and rushing for another.

The junior from Arizona ran 60 offensive plays on Saturday (the most of any QB in the League so far this season) and completed 31 of 47 passes, the second-most completions in the conference.

With 65 net yards rushing against Drake, Sneed is establishing himself as a dual-threat as the No. 9 rusher in the Big Sky so far this season, averaging 61.5 yards per game. He's the fourth-ranked QB in the Big Sky in total offense, averaging 324.5 yards per game altogether, also the tenth-best average in the nation.

Samuel Akem had a career day receiving, racking up 86 yards on eight catches and a just the third touchdown of his career. His leaping 33-yard reception in the second quarter is also the second-longest of his career.

Fears of Josh Buss being held back due to injury went unfounded against Drake, with the senior preseason all-everything linebacker putting in in one of the best shifts of any defender in the league with six tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 TFLs, a fumble recovery, and a quarterback hurry.

Despite only playing a handful of snaps against Northern Iowa, Buss is still ranked fourth in the Big Sky in sacks among the top-40 tacklers in the league with 10 takedowns.

FIRST LOOK: WESTERN ILLINOIS

Montana will face its first road test of the season next Saturday as the Griz travel to Macomb, Illinois for another matchup against a team from the Missouri Valley Football Conference – the Western Illinois Leathernecks.

The Leathernecks return home for their first game of the year in Macomb when the Griz visit on Sept. 15 at 2 p.m. MT.

WIU will be eager to impress its home crowd as well, coming off a pair of road losses at Montana State to open the season followed by a 34-14 thumping by the Big Ten's Illinois Illini in Champaign.

But don't let 0-2 fool you, the Leathernecks return 14 starters from last year's 8-4 team that lost 21-19 to Weber State in the FCS Playoffs, including quarterback Sean McGuire, who completed 20 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns against the Bobcats and threw for a pair of touchdowns against Illinois.

Also leading the Leatherneck offense is running back Steve McShane, who scored all three of WIU's touchdowns in Bozeman.

Defensively, Western Illinois is led by Buck Buchanan Award watch list D-lineman Khalen Saunders, who earned first-team All-MVFC honors as a junior at 6-2, 310-pounds.

The Leathernecks are coached by Jared Elliott, who is in his first season as head man after a successful stint as assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator at WIU.

Montana is 1-2 all-time against Western Illinois, dating back to the first meeting between the two schools in 1964, a 7-0 win for the Griz in Missoula. The two losses to WIU have both come in the playoffs, a 52-9 drubbing in 1998, and a 43-40 double overtime thriller in 2003, Bobby Hauck's first year as Grizzly head coach.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Samuel Akem

Josh Buss

Malik Flowers

Jerry Louie-McGee

Dante Olson

Dalton Sneed

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