Griz return to the road for clash with top-ranked Aggies

With the non-conference season officially in the rearview mirror, the Montana Grizzlies (3-1) face a tall order on week five, opening Big Sky Conference play on the road against the league's top-ranked team in the No. 4/5 UC Davis Aggies (2-2).

The Griz head to Davis with momentum after going undefeated in FCS play so far this season and a thirst for payback after the Aggies defeated UM for the first time in program history in 2018 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium before advancing to the national quarterfinals.

On paper, the 2019 Aggies appear to be postseason-bound once again under veteran head coach Dan Hawkins, returning plenty of offensive firepower in All-America and Walter Payton Award candidate quarterback Jake Maier and preseason Phil Steele All-Big Sky running back Ulonzo Gilliam.

Averaging 327 passing yards per game so far this season, the Aggies aren't missing All-America receiver Keelan Doss, who signed with the Oakland Raiders after a successful training camp that was documented on the HBO series Hard Knocks.

While UC Davis enters the game with a pair of losses, they have both been on the road and both against two of the nation's top teams… despite the difference in subdivision.

UC Davis acquitted itself well in a 13-27 loss on week one against the California Golden Bears, who are currently ranked No. 15 in the FBS AP top-25 poll. The Aggies enter Saturday's game against the Griz coming off a tight 16-27 loss against the defending FCS champion NDSU Bison in Fargo.

One FBS loss and one FCS loss. But a look at this week's Sagarin Ratings indicate a different story. Unsurprisingly, NDSU is the highest ranked FCS team in the Sagarin Ratings, but what is a surprise is that the Bison come in at No. 40 in the nation. The Cal Golden Bears? They're ranked behind NDSU at No. 45. UC Davis comes in ranked No. 107 by Jeff Sagarin, and the Griz come in one spot behind at No. 108, helping set up a big-time showdown in Davis on Saturday.

"We've had a couple days to watch them, and they're deserving of every bit of their national ranking," said Montana head coach Bobby Hauck.

"I think they are a really, really, terrific football team who absolutely handled us last year, and you couple that with the fact that they have most of their team back, it's a tall order to prepare this week and to try to go get a win down there."

Kickoff from UC Davis Health Stadium is set for 1 p.m. local time, 2 p.m. Mountain.

WHERE TO WATCH: Saturday's game marks the first of six Griz games this season to be broadcast nationwide on ROOT Sports. Veteran broadcaster Tom Glasgow will have the play-by-play, with analysis from Taylor Barton.

ROOT Sports and its affiliates (AT&T Rocky Mountain, Las Vegas, and Southwest) are available on DirecTV, Dish Network, and Spectrum Cable. The game will also be shown on DirecTV's Audience Network, part of the satellite provider's basic channel lineup. Check local listings to see if the game is available in your area. A web stream of the game is also available via AT&T Now and AT&T TV (subscription required).

LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran and longtime analyst Greg Sundberg will bring you the action live from UC Davis Health Stadium on KGVO Missoula, the flagship station of the Grizzly Sports Radio Network, and its thirteen affiliates around the state.

HAPPENINGS

TAILGATE TOWN: The Grizzly Scholarship Association will welcome Griz fans to the game at UC Davis with its second road-game tailgate party of the season this week. The official Griz pregame party is located south of UC Davis Health Stadium in parking lot 56. The GSA will be set up in the south east corner of the lot in parking spots 5, 6, and 7, next to the Schaal Aquatic Center. Beverages will be available for purchase, with proceeds going directly to the GSA and its mission of providing scholarships to student-athletes. More information and maps of the area can be found at gogriz.com.

COACH TO CURE: On Saturday, Hauck and the Grizzly coaching staff will join hundreds of football coaches around the country in wearing patches on their sleeve to help build awareness of the "Coach To Cure MD" project in partnership with the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

Coach To Cure MD is a one-day, nationwide awareness building and fundraising event that will be held on Sept. 28, 2019. Over the last 11 years, Coach To Cure MD has raised over $2.1 million for Duchenne research. The goal of Coach To Cure MD is to raise awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, generate new financial support for Duchenne research, demonstrate coaches' commitment to the betterment of young men and the core academic research missions of their universities.

By wearing this patch, Coach Hauck and his staff show their support for Coach To Cure MD and the fight against this disease.

DANTE'S KIDS: After a hugely successful fundraising campaign, Dante Olson's adopted third-grade class at Gerber Elementary in Gerber, Calif., will be in attendance at UC Davis, experiencing life on a college campus as part of the "No Excuses University" program that helps encourage underprivileged kids to pursue a college education.

With the support of Griz Nation, Keri Spengler's third grade class raised over $4,000 to help offset the cost of sending Olson's adopted class nearly two hours south on Interstate 5 to Davis for the game.

The kids, who regularly Skype and exchange letters with Olson, will get to see their mentor play and cheer him on against the Aggies and once again meet him face to face after the final whistle.

Earlier this month Olson was named to the prestigious AFCA Good Works Team in part due to his work in the community, helping the kids from Gerber realize they too can pursue a college education.

GRIZ TRACKS

TWICE AS NICE: Following Montana's dominant 47-27 win over Monmouth, two Grizzlies took home ROOT Sports Big Sky Player of the Week awards on Monday. Quarterback Dalton Sneed won the second Player of the Week honor in his career after completing 75 percent of his passes, and returner Malik Flowers was named Special Teams Player of the Week after taking a kickoff the distance for a full 100-yard return for a touchdown.

It's the first time two Grizzlies have been named Player of the Week since 2013, when Matt Hermanson and Ellis Henderson won the defensive and special teams player of the week awards, respectively.

Sneed was staggeringly accurate against Monmouth, completing 30 of his 40 (75%) passes for a total of 334 yards and four touchdowns. His completion percentage was the second-best of any QB in the league on week four, and the most against a team receiving top-25 votes. His 75% completion percentage was also a career-high and was the best of any UM QB since 2016. Sneed's 334 yards is the third-highest total of his career at UM. He also added 21 yards on the ground for 355 yards of total offense.

Flowers' return was the second of his career and the longest in modern Grizzly history, passing Damon Boddie's 1993 return of 99 yards at Idaho. Milt Popovich returned a kick for a TD 102 yards in 1936 to sit atop the UM record book.

The Fontana, Calif., native is the leading kick returner in the Big Sky, averaging 32.2 yards per return, a total that ranks him sixth in the FCS. It is the first Big Sky Player of the Week recognition of his career.

IN THE POLLS: Montana continued to inch its way up the national polls this week, bumping up one spot to N0. 18 in the STATS FCS media poll, and rising two places to No. 17 in the AFCA coaches' poll. UC Davis stayed put at No. 4 in the media poll and fell to No. 5 in the coaches' poll after falling to NDSU. Weber State (5/6), Montana State (7/11) and Eastern Washington (21) round out the Big Sky representatives in the top-25.

STOPS WHEN IT MATTERS: Montana continued its impressive third down performance last week against Monmouth, converting seven of its 11 attempts and holding the Hawks to just four of 16.

The Griz lead the Big Sky and are ranked No. 9 in the nation in the FCS in third downs so far this season, converting nearly 52 percent of all attempts. The defense is ranked No. 2 in the league and No. 15 nationwide, allowing opponents to convert 29 percent. Impressive, considering Oregon is on the schedule.

FINISHING STRONG: Montana put a focus on second half improvement over the offseason, and boy is it taking effect. The Griz have outscored opponents 88-34 in second half so far this year and lit up the scoreboard overall, outscoring opponents 142-96 after four games. Take the Ducks out of the , and that's just 61 points allowed against FCS opponents.

Conversely, UC Davis has made a habit of starting their games strong, outscoring opponents 45-14 in the first quarter alone, and holding a 108-102 overall advantage.

MOVIN' ON UP: Three Grizzlies continued their march toward the top of the Montana record book against Monmouth last week… even though one of them is already there.

• With six grabs for 45 yards, Jerry Louie-McGee passed his former teammate Keenan Curran on UM's all-time receiving yards list to move to No. 15 with 2,037 yards so far in his career. Louie-McGee became the Grizzlies' all-time leader in pass receptions at Oregon and has extended his record to 202 catches with eight regular-season games to play.

• Olson posted a game-high 13 tackles against the Hawks, good enough to move him into No. 26 on the all-time tackler list, passing UM safeties coach Shann Schillinger's career mark of 257 tackles and former Buchanan Finalist Trey Young's career total of 250.

Should Olson continue his average of 10.75 tackles per game (knock on wood…) over the next eight games (adding 86 to his current total), he's on track to be one of the Grizzlies' top five tacklers of all time with 347 takedowns. 2019 Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame inductee Vince Huntsberger is UM's all-time leading tackler with 393.

• Sneed's impressive total of 334 yards passing last week has also bumped him up in the record book. Now with 3,937 career yards, Sneed passed UM receivers coach Brent Pease to move to No. 13 on the all-time passing yards list. He now needs just 195 yards to pass former QB coach Andrew Selle at No. 12 on the list.

Sneed's four TD passes against the Hawks moved him to No. 13 on the all-time passing touchdown list, placing him at No. 13 ahead of Justin Roper's two-year total. Sneed needs just five more passing scores to move past Pease on that list as well.

Now with 15 games as a Grizzly under his belt, Sneed is also hovering near the top of the other major UM passing record list, entering Saturday's game averaging 262.5 passing yards per game, currently good enough to put him third on the list behind Drew Miller's Big Sky record 327.8 YPG average, and Dave Dickenson's 316.6 YPG average.

LAST TIME IT HAPPENED: Montana's win over Monmouth set several marks that haven't occurred at UM in quite some time

• Marcus Knight's 149-yard rushing total was a career-high for the sophomore, and a total a long time coming for a UM running back. The last Grizzly to run for more than 100 yards was Dalton Sneed, who set a school record for QB rushing yards with 208 last season. The last Grizzly running back to rush for more than 140 yards was Jordan Canada, who rushed for 211 yards at Southern Utah in 2014.

Knight's five total touchdowns this season (four rushing, one receiving) are the second-most in the Big Sky, and the twentieth-most in FCS football. His four rushing TDs are the most in the league and sixteenth-most in the FCS.

• Sneed replaced his own mark of 300-399 passing yards in a game with 334 against Monmouth. The last time he threw for 300+ was against Montana State in 2018. He posted one of the best passing games in UM history with 430 yards against South Dakota on week one.

Sneed's four TD passes were a new recent-best as well, with the last UM QB to throw four in a game being Gresch Jensen in 2017 at Idaho State.

• Both Bryson Deming and Colin Bingham caught a pair of touchdowns from Sneed last week, with the tight ends accounting for four of UM's six TDs. The last Grizzly to catch a pair of TDs in a game was Samuel Akem against Idaho in 2018. The last time two Grizzlies caught a pair of TDs each was also in 2018, when Akem and Curran each had two.

QUICK HITS

CATCHING PASSES FROM PASS CATCHERS: Colin Bingham's two touchdown catches against Monmouth were his first two of the season, and the fifth and sixth touchdowns of his career, respectively.

Bingham's second-quarter touchdown catch on a double pass from Sneed to Samori Toure is also the second TD catch of his career that was thrown by a wide receiver. The Missoula native also caught a double-pass in 2018 against Northern Iowa that was thrown by Keenan Curran.

CHASING 600: Montana needs just three more wins to become the 22^nd FCS school to earn 600 or more victories in program history, with a current total of 597 wins dating back to 1897. It's a rare mark, with only 79 programs in all of Division-I football (FBS & FCS) currently holding 600-plus wins. The leaders of both lists represent some of the most historic programs in college football history, with Yale (907) and Harvard (875) possessing the most wins in FCS history, and Michigan (953), Ohio State (911), and Texas (908) topping the FBS list.

MISSOURI VALLEY TAKES IT: Despite a strong start from the Big Sky Conference that included Montana's 31-17 win at South Dakota, the Missouri Valley Conference clinched its second-straight win in the 2019 BSC/MVFC Challenge Series thanks to five wins last week. With one game (Northern Iowa at Weber State – 9/28) left to play, the MVFC leads the series 6-3.

MISSISSIPPI MUD: After dismantling Monmouth, which is located in West Long Branch, N.J., the Grizzlies improved their all-time record against teams from east of the Mississippi river in Washington-Grizzly Stadium to 32-7 since the facility opened in 1986. The next chance the Griz will have to improve on that record in the regular season will be Sept. 19, 2020, when Morehead State (Morehead Ky.) visits on week three next year.

Griz return to the road for clash with top-ranked Aggies

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Players Mentioned

Samuel Akem

Colin Bingham

Keenan Curran

Bryson Deming

Malik Flowers

Ellis Henderson

Gresch Jensen

Marcus Knight

Jerry Louie-McGee

Dante Olson

Dalton Sneed

Samori Toure

University of Montana Athletics