Montana hosts Idaho for the battle of the Little Brown Stein

Fresh off a bye week, the Montana Grizzlies dive head-first into their October gauntlet Saturday for the first of three-straight high-profile matchups this month, with the old foe Idaho Vandals coming to Missoula for a battle for the Little Brown Stein.

The Griz and Vandals are set to square off for the 88^th time this week, the second-most matchups of any opponent in Montana history behind Montana State.

While Idaho is the only team in the Big Sky that owns a lead over Montana in the overall series that dates back to 1903, the Griz have dominated the rivalry over the last thirty years.

The Vandals have won just three games inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium since it opened in 1986, including games when Idaho competed a level up in the FBS.

However, with a new coach at the helm, the Vandals are marauding into Missoula as one of the hottest teams in the conference after a bye week of their own. Former South Dakota State offensive coordinator Jason Eck has Idaho cooking with a pair of narrow losses to Power-5 teams in the nonconference slate and 124 points on offense in the last three games.

On paper, it's a matchup of two even teams with each averaging north of 32 points per game with similar rushing and passing totals, and big play capability on defense to turn the tide of any game.

But with over a hundred years of tradition on the line, anything will be possible in Missoula this week as the Vandals strive to once again become one of the nation's elite 1-AA/FCS programs.

Since head coach Bobby Hauck came back to Montana in 2018, however, the Grizzly mantra has been #RTD, Return to Dominance. With UM having not lost to Idaho since the turn of the century, the Grizzlies must vanquish the Vandals if that return is to come to fruition.

Kickoff at Washington-Grizzly Stadium is set for 1 p.m.

SOLD OUT: The Montana/Idaho game officially sold out last Friday, a full week ahead of kickoff. It marks the second-straight sellout for the Griz after 26,087 fans piled in Washington-Grizzly Stadium to see UM beat Portland State on Homecoming – the 11^th biggest crowd in stadium history.

Seats are selling fast for Montana's final two home games against Cal Poly (Nov. 5) and Eastern Washington (Nov. 12). For a limited time, Grizzly Athletics is offering a two-game mini plan for tickets to see the Griz take on both the Mustangs and Eagles. To help the Griz reach four-straight sellouts, visit GrizTix.com.

Montana has boasted the best overall attendance in the Big Sky so far this season at an average of 24,796 fans over three games. Only Jackson State and Tennessee State (who each play in stadiums that hold 40-plus thousand) have had a better attendance average across the FCS.

FAMILY FUN: The University of Montana will welcome thousands to campus for the game as part of its family week celebration, with activities and events planned for students and their families to help them get to know UM and the Missoula community.

WATCH: The battle for the Little Brown Stein will once again be broadcast around the state on the Montana Television Network this week, with a nationwide stream available without blackout on ESPN+.

This week's game will air primarily on your local CBS station, with KPAX airing the contest in Missoula along with KAJ in Kalispell. In Billings fans can watch on KTVQ, with the game on KRTV in Great Falls and KXLH in Helena.

In Butte and Bozeman, the game will be shown on your local CW station, available over the air on channel 4.2 in Butte and 7.2 in Bozeman. The CW is also available on DirecTV, Charter Cable, and Dish Network. For complete broadcast details and channel listings, visit the Where to Watch page on GoGriz.com.

Long-time Montana broadcaster Jay Kohn will provide the play-by-play, with Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer and former NFL head coach Marty Mornhinweg serving as the analyst. Kyle Hansen will report from the sidelines.

LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran is in his seventh season behind the mic at Montana and is once again set to bring you all the Grizzly action over the airwaves on the Grizzly Sports Radio Network and its fifteen affiliate stations around the state.

Your "Grizzly Gameday" starts two hours before kickoff each Saturday with the official pregame radio show featuring Denny Bedard and Scott Gurnsey, who then throw to Corcoran and color commentator Greg Sundberg 30 minutes to kickoff. Bedard and Gurnsey will also wrap up the day's action with the official post-game show.

Griz fans outside the radio footprint can stream all of Montana's broadcasts on their mobile device LIVE and FREE of charge with the Varsity Network App, powered by Learfield and Sidearm Sports.

Fans can download the app for iPhone or Android use for instant access to free gameday audio streams and the Coach Hauck Radio Show and receive push notifications to remind them of games starting or upcoming audio broadcasts as well.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana held firm in this week's national polls, staying at No. 2 in the AFCA Coaches Poll for the seventh-straight week and checking in at No. 3 in the Stats Perform FCS media poll.

The Griz earned three first-place votes in the coaches poll for 623 total points to hold the No. 2 spot, a place they've been all season long.

In the media poll, Montana and South Dakota State remained in an essential deadlock in the No. 2/3 positions, with UM earning six first-place votes and SDSU earning seven. That one point difference gave the Jackrabbits a slight overall advantage in the voting with 1,285 points to UM's 1,247 points, a mere 38-point margin.

The Griz and Jacks were tied at No. 2 in the poll on week three, but UM has slotted in third in the three weeks since. The polls are due for a shakeup this week when No. 1 North Dakota State and SDSU square off in the annual Dakota Marker game in Fargo, while the Griz play for a trophy of their own in the Little Brown Stein.

The Big Sky Conference is represented heavily once again in the polls, with Montana State, Sacramento State, and Weber State sitting at Nos. 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Idaho comes to Missoula sitting just outside the Top 25 at No. 28 in the media poll, and receiving votes in both polls this week.

SCOPE THE SAGARINS: Montana enters the week as the No. 1 FCS team in the nation according to the Sagarin Ratings, which ranks each Division-I team regardless of subdivision in USA Today, and play a part in the Big Sky Conference's tiebreaking process.

The Griz come in at No. 72 in the week's ratings at 68.88, ahead of notable programs like Nebraska (74), Navy (76), NDSU (77), Arizona (79), Sacramento State (82), SDSU (85), Weber State (90), and Montana State (118).

PLAYER OF THE WEEK REWIND: Prior to the bye, Montana earned its fifth Big Sky Player of the Week award in as many weeks of action following the win at Idaho State. Freshman punter Patrick Rohrbach was named the league's special teams player of the week after a career day in Holt Arena.

The Kalispell native averaged 52.75 yards on four attempts with a long of 68 yards to flip the field for the Grizzlies in Pocatello.

He's been the catalyst in Montana's punt coverage, which once again is one of the tops in the FCS in winning the all-important field position battle. The Griz enter this week's contest against Idaho with the third-best net punt average in the nation at 41.55 yards per attempt. Rohrbach is averaging 44.1 yards per attempt, meaning UM's opponents are being held to just over 2.5 yards per return.

Montana has had five player of the week picks at the halfway mark of the 2022 season, with Rohrbach joining Braxton Hill, Patrick O'Connell, Robby Hauck, and Lucas Johnson as honorees. The Griz had five picks all of last season combined.

THE LITTLE BROWN STEIN: A history lesson. Montana and Idaho first squared off 119 years ago in 1903 and meet on the gridiron for the 88^th time this week.

The Stein was created by UM student newspaper writer John T. Campbell in 1938 for the cost of 25 dollars, paid for by a group of students to be crafted by a local carpenter.

Since then, the trophy has traveled back over Lolo Pass with the winner of the game, with Idaho holding a 37-25-1 advantage in Stein games. Montana has held the Stein for more than two decades, having last taken it home in 2000.

SERIES VS THE VANDALS: To this day, Idaho remains the only Big Sky team that holds an overall series lead against Montana, with the Griz trailing 30-55-2 dating back to that first meeting in 1903.

But in recent times, it's a different story. Montana has won every meeting between the two schools in the 21^st century, including those meetings when Idaho was an FBS program.

The Griz are 7-0 against the Vandals since 2000 and 11-2 going all the way back to 1991. Idaho leads the all-time series in games played in Missoula, but Montana is 6-3 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with the last home loss occurring in 1999 when Idaho scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to win 33-30 as an FBS program.

DOMINANT D: Montana enters the week with the Big Sky's top overall defense that ranks among the top five in most major categories in the FCS. Coordinator Kent Baer's unit is allowing just 246.6 yards of total offense per game, why allowing a 95 passing efficiency and a 25 percent third down conversion percentage, each the fifth-lowest averages in the subdivision.

UM's scoring defense is allowed an average of just 11.4 points per game, the fourth lowest in the FCS this week. Against the rush, the Griz are seventh in yards per game, giving up just 81 per contest.

FORD'S NO FLY ZONE: Montana cornerback Justin Ford led all of college football with nine interceptions in 2021 to earn unanimous All-America honors and a place on the Senior Bowl Watch List. It's a good reason why opposing coaches have avoided his side of the field line the plague this year.

Montana's five opponents have thrown the ball 166 times against the Griz this season. Exactly seven of those have been thrown in Ford's direction, with only three being completed – a mark of respect for the senior's ability.

Ford's nine INTs in 2021 were the most ever by a Grizzly cornerback. He remains among UM's top-20 in career interceptions this week, despite having little opportunity to move up the ranks so far this season.

HAUCK AND HUNTSBURGER: Robby Hauck built on his school record tackle total with seven stops at Idaho State last week to tally 409 in his career with six more regular season games left to play. To break that school record he had to pass Montana legend and Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer Vince Huntsberger's career total of 393 stops, the school record for 18 years until Dante Olson posted 397 in 2019.

Huntsberger, from Libby, lettered at UM from 1998-2001, a time when the NCAA didn't recognize playoff statistics. With playoff games added, Huntsberger would have totaled 469 stops in his career, an unofficial mark Hauck is on track to surpass.

Being two of the top tacklers in Big Sky history isn't the only similarity between the two, however.

Huntsberger was the 2001 Buchanan Award runner-up, while Hauck is on the watch list for the 2022 Buchanan Award. Both earned multiple All-Big Sky and All-American honors, both were team captains, and both won UM's Golden Helmet Award for the team's hardest hitter.

Both are academic stars as well, with Huntsberger named a three-time Academic All-American and Hauck on his way to a third, a feat just three Grizzlies have ever accomplished. Huntsberger was a Finalist for the "Academic Heisman" – the William V. Campbell Trophy – and Hauck was named a semifinalist for the award earlier this fall. Two of Montana's greatest safeties, on and off the field.

OUTSTANDING O'CONNELL: With 1.5 sacks and TFLs at Idaho State, Patrick O'Connell moved up Montana's all-time lists in both categories last week. The Kalispell native is now tied with Mike Murphy (2003-06) at No. 6 on the career sack list with 27 and sits at No. 8 on the TFL list with 40. He now needs just three more sacks to pass Andy Petek in sacks and four more TFLs to pass Petek in that category too.

O'Connell was a finalist for the Buchanan Award as a junior after leading the Big Sky with 14 sacks in the regular season.

Through five games this season, O'Connell is on pace to break his sack total from last year with seven to his name at the halfway point on the schedule. Through five games last year he totaled 6.5 sacks and later posted two at Idaho.

• O'Connell's 7 sacks are the most in the Big Sky this week and is tied for the fourth-most in the FCS. William & Mary's John Pius leads the nation with 9.5 to date.

• His 9 TFLs are also a Big Sky-best and check in tied at No. 9 in the FCS as well. Pius also leads that category with 14.5.

WELNEL WOWS: Marcus Welnel is also continuing to climb into the record books at Montana. The Helena native is No. 17 on UM's career sack leader list with 14 and No. 20 all-time in TFLs. He needs just one more TFL to pass former teammates Dante Olson and Tucker Schye's career mark, and one more sack will tie him with Randy Riley (1993-1996).

STACKING THE SACKS: While O'Connell leads the Big Sky with seven sacks, three other Grizzlies are getting in on the action too. This week, four of the league's top-10 sack leaders, more than one third, come from Montana. Welnel sits No. 3 in total sacks with 3.5, Alex Gubner sits at No. 7 with 2.5 after a big game at ISU, and Tyler Flink is tied at No. 8 with two.

GOOD KNIGHT: Marcus Knight found the end zone yet again at Idaho State to bring his career total to 26 rushing touchdowns. The junior is now two away from breaking Jeremy Calhoun's career total of 27 rushing scores and moving into fifth place on UM's all-time table.

Knight has his work cut out for him if he wants to keep climbing the ladder, currently needing 15 more to pass Jordan Canada's career total of 40 and cement his place in the upper echelon of all-time Grizzly rushers.

• Knight had a banner day in his last outing with 103 yards rushing against Idaho State, his first 100-yard day since Nov. 2, 2019, at Portland State when he went for 106.

• Montana's last 100-yard rusher was Xavier Harris, who went for 119 against Dixie State in 2021.

• Running back Nick Ostmo also had a big day at Idaho State, rushing for a career-high 93 yards. He was just eight yards shy of giving Montana two 100-yard rushers against the Bengals, a rarity for any college football team.

The last time Montana had two backs go off for a hundred in a single game? 2013 when Travon Van and Jordan Canada pounded out 136 and 106, respectively, against Portland State. Prior to the season, running back coach Justin Green drew comparisons between this year's corps of backs and the Van/Canada vintage from nearly a decade ago.

"This is probably the deepest we've been since Travon Van and Jordan Canada," said Green. "Those guys were really, really, good football players, and we were able to find ways to get them on the field. So, I expect the same for this group."

BIG PLAY LUC J: Quarterback Lucas Johnson has been a true dual threat this season. Luc J (his moniker as a recording artist) enters the week fifth in the Big Sky in total offense at an average of 244 yards per game with 1220 total. At the halfway point in the season, his total offense average is already among the ten best ever at UM.

(Coach) HAUCK MILESTONES: Bobby Hauck could tie the great Don Read's win total over Idaho with a victory on Saturday. Hauck enters the game at 4-0 against UI in his career, while Read went 5-6 against the Vandals during his championship tenure.

Hauck became Montana's winningest coach of all time in 2018, surpassing Read's 85-win mark following the Grizzlies' 46-27 victory at Idaho.

• Now with 113 victories as UM's head coach, Hauck needs just 11 more to break Jerome Souers' Big Sky record 123 overall wins.

With 65 wins in Big Sky play, Hauck needs four more wins to pass Nevada Hall of Famer Chris Ault's Big Sky total of 68, 10 more to pass Tim Walsh's total of 74, and 22 more to pass Souers' total of 85 wins in conference play.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Several Grizzlies passed milestones in the career starts category at Idaho State. Missoula native Levi Janacaro made his first start. Safety TraJon Cotton and center AJ Forbes hit the 10-start mark. Welnel made his 20^th career start, and Gubner made his 30^th. Robby Hauck added to his team-high start total, now at 45, having started every game of his UM career.

PLAYING CLEAN BALL: Montana has not had more penalties than any one of its opponents to date this season. In fact, the Griz have committed exactly half the penalties of their opposition, with UM at 22 for 218 total yards and opponents committing 44 penalties for an even 400 yards.

HOLD ON TO THE BALL: Idaho State was just the second team to win the turnover battle against Montana this season. UM is now +2 in the turnover differential with an even number of fumble recoveries and interceptions (4) in the takeaway category. The Griz have capitalized on the turnovers more frequently, however, leading the points off turnovers 28-10.

FAST FACTS: Here's a list of Griz quick hits to get you prepped for Saturday:

• Montana has only allowed two points to be scored in the third quarter this season, outscoring its opponents by 35 points in the period. Idaho has also had an active third quarter, scoring the same amount of points as its opponents (38) coming out of the half this year.

• UM's most productive quarter has been the second, outscoring opponents 66-10. The Vandals have also scored the bulk of their points in the second quarter, but have also been scored on, leading opponents 47-34.

• Montana's game at Idaho State was the first time the Griz have not scored on one of the first two drives of the game this season. UM has won the first quarter 54-17 so far this season.

• The Griz have not trailed at the half in any game this season, and has only trailed in a game twice, briefly in the first quarter against Portland State and Idaho State.

• Idaho State was the first team to out-pass Montana this season with 299 yards in the air, helped by some big chunk, fly-sweep plays. Led by Lucas Johnson, the Griz have out-passed the competition 1228 yards to 827.

SCOUTING THE VANDALS: Idaho comes to town at 3-2 on the season bolstered by three-straight convincing wins over FCS teams and two narrow FBS losses to Washington State and Indiana.

The Vandal offense is led by freshman QB Gevani McCoy who earned FCS Freshman of the Week honors following a win over Northern Colorado where he went 22-27 for 298 yards and four touchdowns at the Kibbie Dome.

The native of Baldwin Hills, Calif., is currently the most efficient QB in the Big Sky, having completed 72.8 percent of his passes for a rating of 168.1. The second-most efficient QB in the league? Montana's Lucas Johnson, who has completed 67.6 percent of his passes for a rating of 152.9.

Another Vandal freshman leads the team in rushing, with Anthony Woods sitting fourth in the Big Sky in yards per game at 70.6. The pair are helping Idaho lead the nation's No. 1 red zone offense, putting points on the board on nearly 95 percent of their trips inside the opponent's 20.

Washington State transfer linebacker Fa'avae Fa'avae leads a Vandal defense that is the best against the rush in conference play after two games, allowing Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado an average of just 74.5 yards on the ground. Fa'avae is the league's No. 2 overall tackler, averaging 9.6 stops per game.

VERSUS COACH ECK: Montana will face Idaho mentor Jason Eck for the first time as a head coach this week. The 2019 AFCA FCS Assistant Coach of the Year has faced the Grizzlies once before, however.

In 2015 Eck spent one year at Montana State as the Bobcats' O-line coach and run game coordinator. Montana traveled to Bozeman that year and beat MSU 54-35 on 353 passing yards and four TDs from Brady Gustafson with 132 yards and three receiving TDs from Jamaal Jones, while MSU rushed for 190 yards.

The Vandals and Bobcats bring another connection to Missoula this week, with former MSU quarterback Tucker Rovig serving as a GA on Eck's staff.

THE OCTOBER GAUNTLET: Montana's schedule gets cranked up to 11 this month with the Grizzlies set to take on the Vandals this week, then hitting the road for a pair of conference matchups that will go a long way toward determining a Big Sky Champion.

Idaho comes to town ranked No. 28 in this week's media poll having played close games against Washington State and Indiana and won its last three games by a combined 124-59.

Montana then travels to face the defending Big Sky champion Sac State Hornets, ranked No. 5 in this week's media poll, on Oct. 22. A week later the Griz head to Ogden to take on No. 6 Weber State, setting up two-straight weeks of potential top-10 showdowns on the road. UM has suffered two-straight losses to Sac State, and has lost three of the last four meetings with Weber State, dating back to 2015.

Montana hosts Idaho for the battle of the Little Brown Stein

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Players Mentioned

TraJon Cotton

Tyler Flink

AJ Forbes

Justin Ford

Alex Gubner

Xavier Harris

Robby Hauck

Braxton Hill

Levi Janacaro

Lucas Johnson

Marcus Knight

Patrick O'Connell

Dante Olson

Nick Ostmo

Patrick Rohrbach

Marcus Welnel

University of Montana Athletics