No. 2/3 Griz open the season against Northwestern State

Saturday, September 3

Missoula, Mont.

1 PM

Montana

Northwestern State

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Montana wide receiver Mitch Roberts (80) celebrates after pulling down a pass. The University of Montana Grizzlies beat the Western Illinois Leathernecks 42-7 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium on September 11, 2021.

No. 2/3 Griz open the season against Northwestern State

8/30/2022 2:25:00 PM | Football

Montana Game Notes Northwestern St. Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana Grizzlies knock the lid off a highly anticipated 2022 season on Saturday with the renewal of an old playoff rivalry as the Northwestern State Demons visit Missoula out of the Southland Conference.

In the early aughts, Northwestern State came to Missoula in three out of four seasons (2001, '02, and '04) for first-round games in the 1-AA playoffs and returned to Natchitoches, Louisiana, with three losses.

The Demons come to town seeking a return to that playoff caliber, coming off a 3-8 season in 2021 and bringing with them a largely young and rebuilt roster in 2022. Head coach Brad Laird is entering his fifth season at his alma mater and comes to Montana with a 12-28 career record, a new offensive coordinator in Beau Blair, and a new defensive coordinator in Weston Glaser along with three other new position coaches.

Montana enters the 2022 season riding a tidal wave of momentum having been picked to win the Big Sky title race for the first time in a decade by both the league's coaches and media. With the FCS coaches picking the Griz at No. 2 in the land in their preseason poll, expectations return to their traditionally lofty status this season, and for good reason.

The Griz are loaded with talent up and down the roster, and include three players on the Buchanan Award Watch List on defense and record-setters mixed with emerging young talent on offense.

While Montana has high hopes for the year, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single stop, and the first step is dispatching the traditionally strong Demons from Louisiana.

KNOW BEFORE YOU #GOGRIZ: Griz Football is back for its 125th year and Bobby Hauck's 11th as head coach. Get game ready with these helpful tips:

MOBILE TICKETS - Download your tickets to the wallet app on your mobile device now, before you get to the game. TRANSFER YOUR TICKETS to friends and family via your GrizTix account.

MOBILE DEVICE - Charge the battery on your mobile device so you're sure to have plenty of power to get your tickets scanned and for all those selfies you'll be taking!

FAN ADVISORY NOTICE - Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-90's on Saturday. Stay hydrated, wear proper attire and use sunscreen. Plenty of water will be available in fountains and at concession stands around the stadium.

TRANSPORTATION – Double-check your transportation and parking options ahead of time.

GAMEDAY POLICY REMINDERS – Visit the Gameday Central page on GoGriz.com to make sure you're caught up with clear bag policies and other important gameday info.

GAMEDAY TIMELINE – Get to your seats early and enjoy the pregame festivities without missing a minute of action.
8:30 a.m. - Parking Lots Open
10 a.m. - Ticket Office Open
11:30 a.m. - Stadium Gates Open
1 p.m. - Kickoff

WATCH: ABC/Fox Montana will carry a statewide, free-to-air broadcast of Saturday's game, with ESPN+ streaming the action nationwide with no blackouts.

Dennis Patchin will serve as the play-by-play man for the broadcast, with former Grizzly QB and current Kalispell Glacier High School head coach Grady Bennett serving as analyst. Shaun Rainey 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 long-time 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.

THE SERIES: Montana and Northwestern State have played three times in program history, all in the then-1-AA playoffs. In 2001 Montana won 28-19 in the first round before going on to win the national title that season. Head coach Joe Glenn followed that up with a second-straight win in the 2002 playoffs, with the Griz winning 45-14.

Hauck and the Grizzlies last beat the Demons in 2004, winning 56-7. To this day Montana's 56 points remain tied for the third-most ever allowed by Northwestern State against a 1-AA/FCS team since it became a 1-AA school in 1977. Keep reading for more on that epic performance.

LAST MEETING: Northwestern State came to Missoula with the best rushing defense in the nation in the first round of the 2004 playoffs, Hauck's second season as UM head coach. The Purple Swarm was allowing just 78 yards per game, but Lex Hilliard had more than that by halftime, en route to 171 yards rushing and four touchdowns in Montana's 56-7 victory over the Demons.

Craig Ochs completed 19-of-30 passes for 234 yards and three more touchdowns as Montana advanced to the quarterfinals, and eventually would play for a national title against James Madison.

Montana dominated the first half, allowing Northwestern State just two first downs and 29 yards in total offense and never allowing the Demons to cross midfield. The visitors had a negative nine yards in offense in the second quarter.

Hilliard rushed for 111 yards and touchdowns of 24 and 61 yards in the first half alone. Both scoring runs came after it looked like he was caught up around the line of scrimmage, before breaking free and running untouched into the end zone.

Levander Segars caught touchdown passes of 11 and 9 yards to give Montana a 28-0 halftime lead. Hilliard scored two more TDs early in the third quarter, on runs of 30 and 2 yards to put Montana up 42-0. He rushed for a 28-yard gain before the 2-yard score with 11:18 remaining.

Northwestern State scored on its next drive. It would be the first time the Demons crossed into Montana territory. The Grizzlies answered two plays later with a 51-yard pass from Ochs to Tate Hancock to make it 49-7.

Jimmy Wilson and Kevin Edwards then picked up interceptions on consecutive Demon drives. Edwards' pick led to Montana's final score, a 51-yard TD run by JR Waller with 48 seconds left the third. Montana had 543 yards in total offense against the Demons, which also led the nation in total defense, allowing its opponents just 250 yards per game that season.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana was the No. 2 pick in the AFCA preseason poll and the No. 3 pick in the Stats Perform media poll. This week's Sagarin Ratings have Montana as the No. 89 team in the country ahead of programs like Nevada, Navy, and Colorado State. The Griz are the third-highest ranked FCS team in the ratings behind NDSU and South Dakota State.

HAUCK MILESTONES: With an overall record of 108-29 and 63-14 in conference play in his ten years at Montana, head coach Bobby Hauck is the Grizzlies' winningest coach of all time. He is also closing in on becoming the all-time winningest coach in Big Sky Conference history.

Hauck needs just 16 more career wins to pass former NAU head coach and UM assistant Jerome Souers' Big Sky record 123 wins. However, he only needs four more wins to pass Nevada's Chris Ault's total of 111 to move into second place in league history.

In conference play, Hauck's career total of 63 wins ties him in fourth place with Mike Kramer, needing six more wins to pass Ault's Big Sky total of 68, 12 more to pass Tim Walsh's total of 74, and 24 more to pass Souers' total of 85.

EXPERIENCE AT QB: Hauck listed senior Lucas Johnson as his No. 1 pick at QB on the week one depth chart Tuesday, with sophomore Kris Brown slotted in as the backup. Whoever takes the field under center for the Griz will have good experience under their belt.

Johnson, a graduate transfer from San Diego State, impressed in his last college football game, leading the Aztecs to a Frisco Bowl win over No. 24 Texas San Antonio with a career-high 333 passing yards and four total TDs, three in the air and one rushing.

Brown acquitted himself nicely as a freshman, going 3-1 as a starter in four games filling in for injured senior Cam Humphrey. His highlights include a career-high 256 yards in the air in the win over Idaho and five rushing touchdowns in a three-game stretch.

FRESH STARTS: Besides Johnson, just four other Grizzlies are slated to make their first start for Montana on Saturday, two on offense and two on defense. And just because they're making their first start doesn't mean they're inexperienced.

On offense, the Griz welcome Nebraska transfer Chris Walker at left tackle, who is a "first off the bus" kinda guy at 6-foot-6 and a hair under 300 pounds with a beard to match his demeanor. Also starting for the first time is freshman guard Liam Brown, known in the weight room as one of the strongest players on the team.

On defense, junior linebacker Braxton Hill gets the nod after having matching his jersey number, having already made 35 appearances in his career. Senior Deari Todd, who came to UM from Michigan State last season, is also slated to get his first start at defensive end.

HOME OPENER STREAK: Montana enters Saturday's game with one of the longest win streaks in home openers in FCS football at 31-4 all-time in the first game of the year at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The Griz have won 18-straight home openers, the fifth-longest active streak in the subdivision. Only Harvard, Central Arkansas, North Dakota State, and North Dakota have longer streaks.

ACTIVE FCS HOME-OPENER WIN STREAKS
1:         35 North Dakota - 1986-2021
2:         23 North Dakota State - 1999-2021
3:         22 Central Arkansas - 2000-2021
4:         20 Harvard - 2001-2021
5:         18 Montana - 2004-2020-21

CREOLE CONNECTIONS: Natchitoches is known as Louisiana's oldest city, and is known for its historic downtown and French Creole architecture. A world apart at over 2,000 miles from Missoula, the Griz have only had four players from Louisiana in program history.

Currently on the roster is freshman cornerback Dylan Simmons from Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. The only other Grizzly lettermen to hail from the Pelican State go way back, starting with John Lands from Baton Rouge (1958-59), Rue Nelson from New Orleans (1968), and Byron Williams from New Orleans (1976).

BULKED UP: The Grizzly starting five on the offensive line check in at an average of 305 pounds this week, with a combined weight of 1,523 pounds. Guard Hunter Mayginnes entered camp as the heaviest guy on the team at 325, with Brown close behind at 310.

Montana's young guys on the O-line made the biggest gains in the offseason, however. Redshirt Freshman Declan McCabe gained the most weight since last fall with 39 pounds of added heft. Backup center Kukila Lincoln, also a redshirt freshman, was the second-biggest gainer on the squad at 33 pounds.

LINEBACKER U: All-everything senior linebacker Patrick O'Connell of Kalispell leads a homegrown linebacker group that features ten players from the state of Montana in the fourteen-man room. Those 10:

Marcus Welnel - Helena
Geno Leonard - Missoula
Carson Rostad - Hamilton
Asher Croy - Bozeman
Braxton Hill - Anaconda
Levi Janacaro - Missoula
Marcus Evans – Helena
Ryan Tirrell - Missoula
Tyler Flink - Missoula
Patrick O'Connell - Kalispell

Stats Perform named Montana "Linebacker U" in 2021 for a decade of success at the position.

Since 2010, three former Grizzly 'backers Caleb McSurdy, Jordan Tripp, and Brock Coyle have gone on to play in the NFL. Tripp and Coyle were both Montana-bred players, with Tripp a native of Missoula and Coyle hailing from Bozeman.

Josh Buss was an All-American later in the decade, and Dante Olson won the Buck Buchanan Award for the best defensive player in the FCS in 2019 before a stint with the Philadelphia Eagles. O'Connell was a finalist for the Buchanan Award as a junior in 2021, and is on the 2022 watch list for the same award.

DOMINANT D: Montana is coming off one of the best defensive team performances in program history in 2021. With three UM defenders on the Buchanan Award watch list this year, stands reason the Griz should be equally dominant.

Coordinator Kent Baer's unit produced 88 turnovers last year, while surrendering an average of just 16.3 points per game, the program's lowest allowed since 2007. The 2021 Grizzly defense was also third in the nation against the rush last year, allowing teams to run the ball for an average of just 84.3 yards per game.

RETURNING RUSHERS: Montana returns 75% of its rushing production from, not just the last season, but the last three seasons, dating back to the 2019 campaign that saw Marcus Knight break school records for scoring and cross the 1,000-yard barrier.

The team's top three individual rushers from the last three seasons are each set to return in 2022. Lead by Knight, the UM running back room also returns 2021's leading rusher Xavier Harris, Nick Ostmo and Isiah Childs, with support from Malik Flowers and Junior Bergen.

RECORD WATCH: Robby Hauck enters the season needing just 34 more tackles to become the Grizzlies' all-time leading tackler, sitting at 364 stops in his career to date.

Malik Flowers, who already owns several Montana kick return records including most return touchdowns at five, needs just 43 more kick return yards to top Montana's all-time list in that category… If a team will even kick to him this year. Flowers needs three kick return touchdowns to break the Big Sky and FCS record set by Weber State's Rashid Shaheed.

Patrick O'Connell is approaching UM's top-10 in career tackles for loss and sacks. He currently ranks No. 12 in all-time TFLs at 31.5 and No. 10 in career sacks at 20.5. If he repeats his 2021 total of 14 sacks (a league best mark in the regular season), he'll finish among Montana's three career leaders in sacks.

HISTORIC WIN: Montana picked up one of the most historic wins in program history one year ago this week, beating the No. 20 Washington Huskies 13-7 in Seattle for the first win over UW since 1920. Montana and Washington were both members of the former Pacific Coast Conference from 1924-1950.

The Grizzlies became just the sixth FCS or 1-AA team to knock off a ranked FBS or 1-A team since 1983 with the 13-7 win at Washington. It had been five years since North Dakota State upset No. 13 Iowa in Kinnick Stadium as the last FCS team to beat a ranked opponent in 2016.

Eastern Washington is the only other Big Sky team to pull off the ranked upset when it beat No. 25 Oregon State in 2013.

Speaking of Oregon State: At UW, the Griz became the first non-FBS team to hold a Pac-12 opponent below 10 points since Grambling State beat the Beavers 23-6 in 1985. In one to watch, Montana State plays Oregon State on week three of the 2022 season.

All-Time FCS / 1-AA Wins over Ranked FBS / 1-A Opponents

Sept. 4, 2021	Montana	13-7	No. 20 Washington
Sept. 17, 2016	North Dakota State	23-21	No. 13 Iowa
Aug. 31, 2013	Eastern Washington	49-46	No. 25 Oregon State
Sept. 11, 2010	James Madison	21-16	No. 13 Virginia Tech
Sept. 1, 2007	Appalachian State	34-32	No. 5 Michigan
Sept. 10, 1983	Cincinnati	14-3	No. 20 Penn State