Grizzly quintet named Preseason All-Americans by HERO Sports

Early accolades continue to pile up for Montana, with HERO Sports placing five Grizzlies on its Preseason FCS All-America team Thursday, the most selections of any team in the Big Sky Conference.

Patrick O'Connell, the league's preseason Defensive MVP, earned a place on yet another All-America first team, as did cornerback Justin Ford and safety Robby Hauck.

Prolific return man and wide receiver Malik Flowers landed on Hero Sports' special teams second squad, and junior defensive tackle Alex Gubner earned a place on the third team list.

All five have been picked on multiple preseason teams in the leadup to the 2022 kickoff, and for good reason. Montana was picked to win the Big Sky Conference title race in both the media and coaches' preseason polls earlier in the summer. Expectations for the program are also high around the country, with the Griz being picked No. 3 in preseason polls.

O'Connell is UM's fourth linebacker in the past five seasons to be named the preseason Big Sky player of the year, joining Jace Lewis (2020), Dante Olson (2019), and Josh Buss (2018) as honorees.

The Kalispell native returns after one of the best defensive seasons in Montana history as a junior. The former walk-on was the Big Sky regular season leader in sacks as a junior with 14 and was third in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award that goes to the top defender in FCS football. A consensus All-American, O'Connell was also a first-team All-Big Sky pick and was named the team's Steve Carlson MVP and co-recipient of the Doug Betters Golden Helmet Award.

Flowers enters his senior season as Montana's all-time leader in kick return touchdowns with two in 2021, earning a place on three All-America teams. He's tallied five career return TDs with 2,044 career return yards – the second-most in UM history – with another season to play. His current average of 28.4 yards on 72 returns is the best average in school history as well.

Ford led all divisions of college football in interceptions with nine as a junior, going on an unprecedented streak of eight-straight games with a pick. He also logged a pair of touchdowns on interception returns and a fumble return for a touchdown against Montana State.

He's finished the year tied for the third-most single-season INTs in UM history and the most-ever by a Grizzly cornerback. He was also one of three defenders to be named Defensive team MVP by the UM coaches after the season.

Gubner was dominant on Montana's defensive line his junior season. He finished the year with 43 total tackles and was fourth on the team in TFLs with nine. He also registered 1.5 sacks, a pass breakup, a QB hurry, and a forced fumble. As a sophomore, he tallied a team-high four interceptions, one of the highest totals in the league.

Hauck is poised to shatter the all-time tackles record at Montana, entering his senior year sitting at No. 3 on UM's career tackles list with 364 and chasing former Grizzly Dante Olson's school record of 398 stops. He's also on track to break EWU's Ronnie Hamlin's Big Sky record of 473 tackles.

Hauck earned All-America honors after posting his second-straight season with over 125 tackles, missing his 2019 career-high of 129 by a single stop last year at 128. A star in the classroom as well as on the field, he is also poised to become just the third, three-time Academic All-American in program history.

Montana opens the 2023 season on Sept. 3 against Northwestern State in Missoula. Season and single game tickets are now on sale at GrizTix.com.

2022 HERO Sports FCS Preseason All-American Team

First Team Offense
QB Jason Shelley, Missouri State
RB Isaiah Ifanse, Montana State
RB Isaiah Davis, South Dakota State
FB Hunter Luepke, North Dakota State
WR Xavier Gipson, Stephen F. Austin
WR Jaxon Janke, South Dakota State
WR Taylor Grimes, Incarnate Word
TE Tucker Kraft, South Dakota State
TE Noah Gindorff, North Dakota State
OL Cody Mauch, North Dakota State
OL McClendon Curtis, Chattanooga
OL Mason McCormick, South Dakota State
OL Matthan Hatchie, UT Martin
OL Garret Greenfield, South Dakota State
AP Xavier Shepherd, Kennesaw State

First Team Defense
DL Isaiah Land, Florida A&M
DL Devonnsha Maxwell, Chattanooga
DL Josiah Silver, New Hampshire
DL Titus Leo, Wagner
DL VJ Malo, Portland State
LB Patrick O'Connell, Montana
LB Adam Bock, South Dakota State
LB Ryan Greenhagen, Fordham
LB Jacob Dobbs, Holy Cross
LB Stone Snyder, VMI
DB Justin Ford, Montana
DB Anthony Adams, Portland State
DB Michael Tutsie, North Dakota State
DB Robby Hauck, Montana
DB Montrae Braswell, Missouri State

First Team Special Teams
K Matthew Cook, Northern Iowa
P Grant Burkett, Missouri State
LS Robert Soderholm, VMI
RS Isaiah Bolden, Jackson State

Second Team Offense
QB Tim DeMorat, Fordham
RB Jaleel McLaughlin, Youngstown State
RB Malik Grant, Sacred Heart
FB Alex Ramsey, The Citadel
WR Tyrone Scott, Missouri State
WR Jakob Herres, Richmond
WR Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Alabama A&M
TE McCallan Castles, UC Davis
TE Kemari Averett, Bethune-Cookman
OL Michael Corbi, Villanova
OL Jaylin Hendrix, Central Arkansas
OL Mark Evans II, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
OL Kyle Nunez, Stony Brook
OL Alex Jensen, South Dakota
AP Jake Chisholm, Dayton

Second Team Defense
DL BJ Thompson, Stephen F. Austin
DL Nate Lynn, William & Mary
DL Brevin Allen, Campbell
DL Jason Dumas, Southern
DL Eyabi Anoma, UT Martin
LB Aubrey Miller, Jackson State
LB David Hoage, Northern Colorado
LB Tristan Wheeler, Richmond
LB Matthew Jackson, Eastern Kentucky
LB Spencer Cuvelier, Northern Iowa
DB Benny Sapp III, Northern Iowa
DB Ferlando Jordan, Southeastern Louisiana University
DB Eddie Heckard, Weber State
DB Kedrick Whitehead, Delaware
DB Ty Okada, Montana State

Second Team Special Teams
K Nathan Robertson, Kennesaw State
P Max Quick, Stephen F. Austin
LS Dalton Godfrey, South Dakota
RS Malik Flowers, Montana

Third Team Offense
QB Shedeur Sanders, Jackson State
RB Darius Hale, Central Arkansas
RB Geno Hess, SEMO
FB Coy Williams, Davidson
WR Andrei Iosivas, Princeton
WR Jadakis Bonds, Hampton
WR Avante Cox, Southern Illinois
TE Zach Heins, South Dakota State
TE Ryan Miller, Furman
OL Nick Correia, Rhode Island
OL Noah Atagi, Weber State
OL Nash Jensen, North Dakota State
OL Colby Sorsdal, William & Mary
OL Tavon Matthews, East Tennessee State
AP Dylan Laube, New Hampshire

Third Team Defense
DL Jordan Lewis, Southern
DL Malik Hamm, Lafayette
DL Caleb Sanders, South Dakota State
DL Eli Mostaert, North Dakota State
DL Alex Gubner, Montana
LB Ty Boeck, Chattanooga
LB Callahan O'Reilly, Montana State
LB Brock Mogensen, South Dakota
LB Bryce Flater, Northern Iowa
LB Kelechi Anyalebechi, UIW
DB Marte Mapu, Sac State
DB Kyriq McDonald, Missouri State
DB Jordan Jones, Rhode Island
DB BJ Bohler, Florida A&M
DB Esaias Guthrie, Delaware State

Third Team Special Teams
K Jerry Rice, VMI
P Ryan Kost, Monmouth
LS Steele Judy, The Citadel
RS Jah'Marae Sheread, Florida A&M

University of Montana Athletics

Grizzly quintet named Preseason All-Americans by HERO Sports

Related News

Players Mentioned

Malik Flowers

Justin Ford

Alex Gubner

Robby Hauck

Jace Lewis

Patrick O'Connell

Dante Olson

Related Videos