Griz/Eagles on Top-six collision course in Cheney

The No. 4 Montana Grizzlies return to the college football spotlight this week for a top-ten showdown with No. 6 Eastern Washington under the lights at Roos Field in Cheney with ESPN 2 set to provide a nationwide broadcast of the clash of unbeaten teams.

Off to the first 3-0 start to a season since 2013 and riding a wave of momentum from an upset over the No. 20 Washington Huskies, the Griz will try to pick up their second win of the year in the Evergreen State Saturday when UM takes on EWU starting at 8:30 p.m. (MT).

The high-flying Eagles also enter the game with an unblemished record at 4-0, an offense that is putting up video game-like numbers, and an FBS upset of their own over UNLV in Las Vegas on week one.

It all adds up to a matchup of titanic proportions when two of the Big Sky's most successful teams of the last thirty years square off for a bout that is likely to have title implications.

While Montana leads the overall series with EWU 28-17-1 and leads 11-10 in games played in Cheney or Spokane, the Grizzlies have yet to taste victory on the Eagles' notorious red turf, where they are currently riding an 18-game win streak. Installed in 2010, Montana is 0-5 at EWU on the red carpet, including a pair of losses in 2014 when UM fell in the regular season and in the FCS playoffs.

It's a different story for the Grizzlies under head coach Bobby Hauck, however. Starting in his first stint as UM mentor in 2003, Hauck enters the game at 7-1 all-time against the Eagles, with the lone loss coming in 2005.

The mantra #RTD – Return To Dominance – has been a staple in the Grizzly locker room since coming back to UM in 2017 as Montana seeks its first Big Sky Championship since 2009.

Standing in the way of that return are the Eagles, who have won at least a share of six Big Sky championships since 2009, the most recent of which coming in 2018 when EWU played for a national championship in Frisco, Texas.

Despite that recent success, however, the Griz enter the game holding the upper hand over EWU with a decisive 34-17 victory in Missoula the last time the two powerhouses met in 2019. The Griz controlled the line of scrimmage and the tempo of the game in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 24-3 after the break and rushing for 254 yards and three touchdowns to take the win.

Led by Big Sky Preseason Offensive MVP Eric Barriere leading the charge, Eastern Washington enters the game with the most productive offense in the country after three straight games scoring 50-plus points. With the nimble and accurate Barriere and a corps of talented receivers, EWU leads the nation in total offense averaging 632 yards per game, 445 of which have come in the air.

But the Eagles haven't faced a defense as salty as Montana's yet this season. The Grizzly defense ranks top-three in the nation in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense, having not given up a passing TD yet this year and allowing an average of just over 200 yards in the air per game.

It's the best passing attack in the league versus the best passing defense in the league. A tasty matchup of historic proportions and post-season implications all set to play out in front of a national audience.

KNOW BEFORE YOU #GOGRIZ
• Due to Spokane County regulations, all fans traveling to the Eastern Washington game must wear a mask while inside the stadium at Roos Field. Fans not adhering to the rule are subject to removal from the facility.

• There will be no official GSA tailgate party in Cheney due to staffing shortages at EWU. Griz fans are invited to gather at Bob and Ray's Beer Garden, located on the south end of the press box at Roos Field. Bob and Ray's Beer Garden opens 90 minutes before kickoff.

• Due to staffing shortages, Eastern Washington asks Montana fans for their patience while entering the stadium and in concession lines.

WATCH: For the first time ever, a regular-season Big Sky Conference football game will be broadcast on ESPN 2 this week, putting the Grizzlies in front of millions of fans with basic cable and satellite packages nationwide this week. As of 2018, approximately 86 million television households in America – over 93-percent of households with pay TV – have ESPN 2 as part of their cable or satellite package.

Long-time ABC and ESPN play-by-play man Clay Matvick will lead the broadcast. Rocky Boiman, a Super Bowl XLI champion, nine-year NFL veteran, and a fourth-round draft pick out of Notre Dame, will serve as analyst for the broadcast. NFL Network and ESPN reporter Tiffany Blackmon will be on the sidelines. The crew will be used to dramatic finishes, having been in Massachusetts last week for Boston College's 41-34 upset of Missouri in overtime.

With kickoff scheduled for 8:35 p.m. (MT) – 7:35 p.m. local time, Montana versus EWU is set to be one of the last college football games played in the country that weekend.

The game will also be available to stream on the WatchESPN App.

LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran and long-time analyst Greg Sundberg will bring you the action live from Cheney on KGVO Missoula, the flagship station of the Grizzly Sports Radio Network, and its fifteen affiliates around the state. Live audio web streams can also be found at GoGriz.com/Listen.

Also new in 2021, Griz fans have a better than ever way to stream all of Montana's radio broadcasts on their mobile device LIVE and FREE of charge with the Varsity Network App, powered by Learfield and Sidearm Sports.

COACHES SHOW: The Bobby Hauck radio show returns this week, broadcast live across the state from the banks of the Clark Fork River at the show's new home of FINN in the DoubleTree Hotel in Missoula, each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Admission to watch the live broadcast at FINN is free, with a special coaches show menu available.

Week 5 Montana Grizzlies Football Press Conference https://t.co/oC0nM2JoSN
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) September 27, 2021

GRIZ TRACKS

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana held firm at No. 4 in both the Stats Perform FCS media poll and the AFCA coaches top-25 for a third-straight week. With little movement or upset losses among the top five in both polls, the Griz picked up an extra first-place vote in the media poll for a total of three, while UM tallied 614 points in the coaches poll. Montana started the year ranked No. 9 in both preseason polls.

This week's game marks the first time UM and EWU have played when both teams are ranked in the top nine nationally.

DEFENSE BY THE NUMBERS: With only 14 points allowed by UM coordinator Kent Baer's defense in the last three games and only 24 points allowed this calendar year (including two spring games), the Griz D enters this week's game with the best scoring defense in the Big Sky. That equates to the third-best scoring D in the nation, but the best, however, among teams with an FBS opponent on the schedule.

The Grizzly defense pitched a shutout for nearly three straight games to start the season, with an opposing offense not scoring a touchdown from the opening drive of the Washington game and the fourth quarter of last week's win over Cal Poly.

Eastern Washington's air attack will have to contend with Montana's defensive backfield, which leads the league and is third in the nation in team passing efficiency defense, with a 91.49 rating.

BADA** BACKFIELD: Montana's defensive backfield has been a major area of improvement since the last time the Griz played a full season in 2019. A key reason why opponents have been able to average only 200 yards passing per game is a stable of cornerbacks and safeties that are two of the deepest and most dialed-in groups on the team.

Senior corner Omar Hicks Onu leads the team in pass breakups with a pair and is fourth on the team in total tackles with 16, nine of which are solo tackles – a sign of the open-field tackling that has been nothing short of outstanding for the Griz this season.

Unsurprisingly, Robby Hauck is second on the team in tackles with 27 to date as he climbs the UM record books (more on that later).

Also unsurprising has been the play of senior safety Gavin Robertson, who came away from the UW game with a pair of interceptions and posted nine tackles before missing the Cal Poly game to sickness.

What may have been a surprise was the performance of his replacement Garrett Graves, who got his first career start at safety against the Mustangs and proceeded to put in a game-high 11 tackles, one for loss, and one pass breakup.

OUTSTANDING O'CONNELL: One of the key players in Montana's defensive dominance has been junior linebacker Patrick O'Connell, who enters the game at Eastern leading the nation in both sacks and tackles for loss.

Montana's team defensive speed has posed major problems for opposing offenses, and O'Connell has it. The Kalispell Glacier product who walked-on at Montana after transferring in from the University of Mary where he played baseball and football has tallied an FCS-best 5.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in just three games. His total of 28 tackles places him in the top-25 in the FCS as well.

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: One of the key performance indicators of any football team is the turnover differential, a running tally of all the giveaways and takeaways throughout the season. It's a KPI that Hauck puts a lot of importance on. After all, you can't win if you don't have the ball.

Montana is out to a 3-0 start this season and the overall turnover differential reflects that success, and some key takeaways like Marcus Welnel's game-sealing pick at Washington will live on in Griz lore for a long time.

The Griz came out of the Cal Poly game +2 in the turnover battle thanks to a pair of interceptions from Justin Ford and Justin Belknap, the latter of which the senior D-end returned for a touchdown.

Without any giveaways against the Mustangs, the Griz are now +4 on the season in turnovers, with UM ranked second in the league and top-10 nationally in interceptions.

Welnel, the junior linebacker from Helena Capital, has been especially productive. He leads the league and is ranked No. 15 nationally in interceptions per game with three.

LIGHT UP THE SCOREBOARD: Montana's offense has been (not so) quietly lighting up the scoreboard, especially against FCS opponents. So far this season the Griz have outscored everyone 94-21 and their two FCS opponents 81-14.

Led by QB Cam Humphrey and a deep receiving corps, Montana has now outscored its last five opponents in this calendar year (spring games included) by a whopping 201-31.

RETURN RECORDS: Montana wide receiver and kick returner Malik Flowers entered the season tied with former Grizzly Jefferson Heidelberger (2001-04) for the UM school record in kick return touchdowns at three. After running another one back against Cal Poly, Flowers now owns that school record and moved into the lead on the UM career kick return yards per return list at 28.73.

With the TD and another full season left to play, Flowers is now poised to break both the Big Sky Conference and FCS records for kick return touchdowns, needing five to tie the conference mark and six to tie the national record. Eastern Washington's Lamont Brightful (1997-2001) holds the Big Sky record with five career kick return TDs, while Hampton's Jerome Mathis (2001-04) holds the FCS record with six.

With 1,724 career kick return yards to his name, Flowers is also now second on UM's all-time list in that category behind Rob Schulte who racked up 2,086 yards on 89 attempts for an average of 23.4 per return.

THE STUDENT PASSING THE TEACHER: With 10 tackles against Cal Poly, Robby Hauck climbed past his position coach Shann Schillinger's all-time tackle total on Montana's career leader list. Hauck, just a junior, has a whopping 263 career tackles to his name, putting him at No. 25 on the Grizzlies' all-time list.

After Saturday's win he passed Schillinger's career total of 257 tackles posted at UM before going on to the NFL. Hauck also passed Sean Dorris, Chad Lembke and Loren Utterback on the list.

BOOM-SCHINI: Montana freshman punter Brian Buschini has been instrumental in UM's defensive effort, helping the Griz win the field position battle all season long.

In three games, Buschini, a graduate of Helena Capital, has dropped seven of his 15 punts inside opponents 20 with only one touchback and a total haul of 702 yards and six punts of 50-plus yards. His average of nearly 47 yards per punt puts his No. 7 in the FCS and top 15 in the FBS as well.

Perhaps more importantly, out of 15 of Buschini's punts Montana's coverage team has only allowed only two returns for a Big Sky-best four yards, keeping opposing special teams from gaining ground.

In the first game of the season at Washington, Buschini was named ROOT Sports Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week and was an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS Freshman of the Week as well. He was instrumental in Montana's upset of the Huskies, dropping three of his seven punts inside the 20 and posting a long of 58 yards.

RATE 'EM HIGH: Montana improved to No. 77 in the Sagarin Ratings this week with a total rating of 69.75, up from No. 79 last week and No. 92 on week two.

Compiled by statistician Jeff Sagarin for USA Today, the Sagarin Ratings formula compares and ranks all 258 Division-I college football teams. They are also used as part of the tie-breaking protocol within the Big Sky to determine conference champions.

Montana is the second-highest-rated FCS team again this week behind James Madison at No. 71. At No. 77, the Griz are ahead of notable programs such as Northwestern (No. 81), Utah State (No. 93), Tulane (No. 94), Washington State (No. 104), and Colorado (No. 105). Eastern Washington checks in at No. 114.

RARE RECOVERIES: Levi Janacaro's blocked punt for a touchdown against Cal Poly snapped one of Grizzly football's longest "last time it happened" streaks. The last UM player to block a punt was Garrett Graves against Weber State in 2019.

But you have to go back in the archives much further to find the last Grizzly to return a blocked punt for a touchdown. Brent Meyers last ran back a blocked punt for a TD for the Griz nearly two decades ago in 2002 against Sacramento State.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NODS: With a slew of player of the week-worthy performances for the Griz against Cal Poly, Montana gave the nomination-nod to four Grizzlies for the ROOT Sports Big Sky Player of the Week and the Stats Perform FCS Player of the Week.

Offense: Samuel Akem: Akem struck early and went big for the Griz, taking a 65-yard touchdown pass to the house with 59 of those yards after the catch to open the scoring for UM in the first quarter. The senior finished with 84 yards on just two grabs.

Defense: Patrick O'Connell: O'Connell had yet another monster day for the Grizzly defense, putting in nine tackles, a sack for a loss of six yards, and 3.5 TFLs for a total loss of 14 yards. The junior also nearly scored a second Grizzly defensive TD, scooping up a fumble and returning it for a score, but it was later ruled an incomplete pass. He currently leads the nation in both sacks and TFLs.

Special Teams: Levi Janacaro: Janacaro had a two-fer on special teams against Cal Poly, blocking a Mustang punt in the third quarter (after nearly blocking another one in the first half) and jumping on it in the end zone for a special teams touchdown for the Grizzlies. He also logged five tackles and a half TFL.

Freshman: Brian Buschini: Buschini had another big day with the boot, picking up 318 yards on seven punts with a long of 60 for an average of 45.4 yards per punt. Of those seven he dropped four in the 20 and had three of 50-plus yards with one touchback.

BYE WEEK BLUES BUSTED: After an early open date on the schedule the weekend of Sept. 18, Montana picked up its first win following a bye week since 2015 with the 39-7 win over Cal Poly in Missoula last week. Entering the game, the Grizzlies had lost four straight games following a bye, all played on the road.

The last time the Griz won after an open date was against North Dakota in 2015 in Missoula. Since then UM lost at Cal Poly in 2016, at Weber State in 2017, at UC Davis in 2018, and at Sac State in 2019, all on the road, and all following the bye.

The Griz actually split post-bye week games in 2015 when they traveled to Liberty and lost after an open date on Sept. 12, but followed that with a win after a second bye on Oct. 17. UM had two open dates that season due to playing the week zero game against NDSU.

GRIZ QUICK HITS
• Cam Humphrey has thrown for 572 yards (190.7 ypg) to lead the Griz, completing 64% of his passes and recording seven touchdown passes against two interceptions. He's also figured in the ground game with 51 rushing yards on 17 carries with one rushing touchdown.

• The team's top three rushers, Isiah Childs, Xavier Harris, and Junior Bergen have combined 362 yards on the ground off 75 attempts, averaging 121 yards per game between them.

• The Griz have three receivers who have totaled 100+ yards so far this season, with Mitch Roberts leading the way with 142 yards on 10 grabs, Samuel Akem with 127 yards on 7 catches, and Flowers with 126 yards on just five catches.

• Gabe Sulser's has led the charge in the punt return game for UM, tallying 75 yards off five returns for an average of 15 yards per return

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Players Mentioned

Samuel Akem

Justin Belknap

Junior Bergen

Brian Buschini

Isiah Childs

Malik Flowers

Justin Ford

Garrett Graves

Xavier Harris

Robby Hauck

Omar Hicks Onu

Cam Humphrey

Levi Janacaro

Patrick O'Connell

Mitch Roberts

Gavin Robertson

Gabe Sulser

Marcus Welnel

University of Montana Athletics