Griz return home to host Bears

The Montana Grizzlies emerge from their month-long road gauntlet this week with wins over two ranked opponents, a top-five ranking, and rested bodies from the bye, set to return to Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the first time since Sept. 30 on Saturday.

The Griz will look to improve to 7-1 this week with winless Northern Colorado coming to Missoula for a Big Sky Conference clash, with UM seeking its fourth-straight win as the business end of the season closes in.

All the team's goals are still in front of it as well, with UM now tied for second in the conference standings but having a head-to-head advantage over both Idaho and Idaho State.

The Griz can't get caught looking ahead, however. Northern Colorado hasn't found wins but has been in position to cause plenty of upsets, losing each of its conference games by fewer than 14 points and seeing a would-be win over Weber State evaporate with a late pick-six.

Meanwhile, it may not always be pretty, but Montana has been grinding out the wins. The Griz enter the game coming off a signature win at Idaho two weeks ago when UM fed off a raucous crowd to build a 20-7 halftime lead and pull away with the 23-21 victory to retain the Little Brown Stein.

Montana also has found its identity over the last month as well, with quarterback Clifton McDowell settling into the starting role under center to lead UM in a balanced offensive attack.

The always-stout Grizzly defense also stepped up during the road swing, allowing fewer than 100 rushing yards against a pair of ranked opponents and building a conference-best turnover margin.

Kickoff from Missoula is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday.

HAPPENINGS: Saturday will be a busy day on the UM campus, with plenty of events surrounding UM's only home game in the month of October in front of an expected sold-out crowd.

The Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame will host its annual induction banquet the Friday night before the game, honoring UM's first soccer coach Betsy Duerksen, track & field All-American Dean Erhard, football All-American Marc Mariani, and former Lady Griz basketball and track & field standout Jeanne McNulty-King.

The Dennis, Phyllis, Kyle, and Kevin Washington Family will also receive the Grizzly Lifetime Honors Award for its decades of generous philanthropy to UM and the Missoula community at the banquet.

The group will then be honored on the field during the game on Saturday between the first and second quarters.

It's family week on the UM campus, with students welcoming families from across the country to Missoula. It's also Band Day, with high school musicians joining the Grizzly Marching Band in performing inside the stadium.

Last but not least, Saturday is First Responders Day in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where heroes of all kinds will be honored for their service with pre and in-game activities.

WATCH: The Grizzlies return to Montana Television Network and Scripps TV stations around the state this week. A nationwide stream of the game is also available without blackout on ESPN+.

Saturday's game will be primarily broadcast on Scripps TV's new independent network "MTN", which replaces the CW and serves as the secondary home of Big Sky Conference games.

"MTN" carries specific UM games in specific markets around the state. Saturday's game will be shown on "MTN" in Missoula, Kalispell, Billings, Bozeman, and Butte. The game will air on KRTV in Great Falls and KXLH in Helena.

MTN is available in Montana free-to-air for viewers with antennas or on DIRECTV. MTN is not available on Spectrum cable. To find out if MTN is available in your area, visit their Where to Watch page.

Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer and former NFL head coach Marty Mornhinweg serves as the analyst on the broadcast, while longtime Montana newsman Jay Kohn will provide the play-by-play. Kyle Hansen will report from the sidelines.

LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran is in his eighth 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.

"Grizzly Gameday" starts two hours before kickoff each Saturday with the official pregame radio show with Ace Sauerwein and Denny Bedard before Corcoran and longtime color commentator Greg Sundberg take over 30 minutes to kickoff.

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.

THE SERIES: Montana has dominated the series against Northern Colorado, which dates to 1976, but has only been played 17 times in the decades since, with UM holding a 15-2 advantage.

The Bears, once a D-II powerhouse, joined the Big Sky in 2006. In that time, Montana has gone 10-1 against UNC, with the only loss occurring in 2016 in Greeley. The only other loss for UM in the series was the first-ever meeting in 1976, a 27-19 home win for the Bears.

The Griz have never lost to UNC in Missoula and are 7-0 all-time inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with the closest margin of victory at 11 points for UM in 2004, 27-16.

In both tenures as UM's head coach, Hauck is also 7-0 in his career against UNC, who remains the only team in the Big Sky to never post a win over his Grizzlies.

LAST MEETING: Montana's defense posted its most dominant effort of a season that was defined by dominant efforts, traveling to Greeley in 2021 and pitching a 35-0 shutout of the Bears, the team's first in a decade.

The Grizzly defense allowed just 245 yards, with a large chunk of that (over 100 yards) coming in the fourth quarter when the result was all but guaranteed. Montana forced a pair of turnovers, including an early interception for Justin Ford.

Montana's offense put in its fair share of work, scoring early and often to keep the game well out of reach with Cam Humphrey returning from injury. The Grizzly quarterback didn't miss a beat, throwing for 233 yards and three scores. He also ran for 71 yards and another score.

The Grizzlies were balanced offensively, getting some good production from a stable of young running backs. Junior Bergen led Montana with eight carries for 64 yards, but Isiah Childs added a touchdown while Xavier Harris also saw carries.

The Grizzlies outgained the Bears by nearly 150 yards, averaged nearly twice as many yards per play and also held a distinct advantage on third down. Montana converted over 50 percent (8-for-15), while holding UNC to just three first downs in 16 attempts.

It was the third of six-straight wins for the Griz that season, which ended at James Madison (now receiving FBS top 25 votes) in the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana continued its rise in the national polls Monday after earning its second-straight road win over a ranked opponent at Idaho before the bye week.

The Griz entered the top five for the first time this season in the AFCA Coaches Poll, up one spot from No. 6 over the open week and just eight points shy of Incarnate Word at No. 4.

Montana also moved up to No. 7 in the Stats Perform media poll from No. 9 the week previous.

Losses from No. 4 Sacramento State and No. 9 North Dakota helped nudge UM into the top five, with another ranked showdown with the Hornets on deck Nov. 4 in Missoula.

GRIZ IN THE RATINGS:  With the Division I Football Championship Committee releasing its FCS Top 10 Thursday afternoon, let's take a look at the Massey and Sagarin ratings, both data points the committee could use to help determine postseason rankings. The Griz enter the week as the No. 5 team in the FCS Massey Ratings, behind the likes of SDSU, MSU, NDSUU, and Southern Illinois.

In the Sagarin Ratings, the computers slid UM in as the No. 13 team in the FCS at No. 130.

The D-I Football Championship Committee will release its midseason Top 10 for the first time in two years this week, offering a snapshot as to which teams are currently in the running for a postseason seed.

///GRIZ TRACKS///

It was a busy bye week for the Griz in terms of accolades following the win at No. 3 Idaho. A stifling defensive performance and a perfect day kicking led Montana to a pair of Big Sky Player of the Week honors for safety Ryder Meyer and kicker Grant Glasgow.

The win over the Vandals garnered national accolades for the Griz as well, with Stats Perform naming Montana the FedEx Ground FCS National Team of the Week.

Running back Eli Gillman also earned a tip of the cap for his explosive season with a place on the watch list for the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award, given annually to the nation's top freshman player.

It was the second straight week Montana earned weekly honors from the league after Aaron Fontes was named the Offensive Player of the Week with a career-high 99 yards and two TDs at UC Davis.

Here's a breakdown:

(LAST) SATURDAY'S STARS: Meyer posted a team-high eight total stops, combining on one for a loss in the win. He also came up with a critical interception in the endzone on a tipped pass from Riley Wilson to keep the Vandals from scoring early in the second half to earn Defensive Player of the Week accolades.

In his first year as a starter, Meyer is 12th in the Big Sky in total tackles with 48 this week, the second-most on the team behind Braxton Hill's total of 61 stops. It was the first Big Sky Player of the Week honor for the native of Fairfield.

Glasgow had a perfect day with his foot at Idaho, taking a personal haul of 11 points with three field goals and two PATs to earn Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

The three field goals, all from 40-plus yards, were a single-game career high for the native of Lawrence, Kansas. He's the first Grizzly to kick 3 field goals in a game since Brandon Purdy did it at Montana State in 2017.

He also averaged a clean 65 yards per kickoff for 390 total yards, with all six of his attempts sailing into the endzone at the Kibbie Dome for a touchback, not giving the Vandals an opportunity for a return.

Glasgow also earned a tip of the cap nationally, with Stats Perform giving him an honorable mention for the FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week.

In his first year as a starter, Glasgow is sixth in the Big Sky in made field goals with seven on 11 attempts with a long of 49 yards and is 19 for 20 on PATs for 40 total points this season. He's also 11th overall in the league in scoring with 40 points.

Junior Bergen was Montana's go-to target in the passing game against Idaho, hauling in five passes for 118 yards and a touchdown, including a big 76-yard dagger that got the Griz out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. He also added a rush for one yard for a total haul of 119 all-purpose yards. He earned Montana's nomination for Offensive Player of the Week.

McDowell also had a player-of-the-week-worthy outing at Idaho. He went 11-for-18 passing for 176 yards and a TD, and added 38 more yards on the ground with 13 carries for a total haul of 214 yards.

More importantly, McDowell led the charge on third-down conversions for the Griz, moving the chains on 8 of 14 attempts. Which leads us to…

MOVE THE CHAINS: Montana converted its highest percentage of third downs this season at Idaho, moving the chains just over 57 percent of the time with eight conversions on 14 attempts. While the Griz were pouring on the points in the second quarter against the Vandals, the team converted five of their six third down opportunities, an 83 percent clip, the best third-down quarter of the season.

On the season, the Griz sit middle of the pack in the Big Sky, converting 42 percent of their third downs.

ENDZONE ELI: Gillman was a workhorse for the Grizzlies at Idaho, toting the ball 12 times for 84 yards with a long of 53 to average 7 yards per carry to earn Montana's nomination for the Stats Perform FCS Freshman of the Week.

Last week, Gillman was one of 22 players from around the country named to the watch list for the 2023 Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award, which honors the national freshman of the year in the Football Championship Subdivision and is presented by FedEx Ground.

After seven games, Gillman's 508 rushing yards are the most of any freshman in FCS football and the fourth-most for a freshman in all of D-I football this week. Gillman's season total also puts him among the top 40 rushers in the FCS in any class.

His six rushing touchdowns are also tied for the third-most among all players in the Big Sky Conference. With six catches for 45 yards, he's sitting on 553 all-purpose yards as the Griz rest up during the bye week.

With four regular-season games remaining, he needs just 295 more yards to post one of the top 25 rushing seasons in Grizzly history. He also needs just six more rushing TDs to enter his name on that top 25 list.

Gillman has already etched his name into Montana's record book, however, when he broke loose for an 85-yard touchdown run at UC Davis, the longest in Montana history by four yards. He's had five games of 78 yards-plus rushing yards this season, including his career-high 119 on 19 attempts against Butler.

GUBBY'S GOT GAME: Meyer's full stat sheet may have won him the Big Sky Player of the Week award, but the straw that stirred the defensive drink for the Griz against the Vandals was without a doubt senior tackle Alex Gubner.

Idaho entered the game with one of the top rushing attacks in the Big Sky and the league's leading rusher in Anthony Woods, who was averaging an impressive 110 yards per game on the ground.

In large part thanks to Gubner's play up front, the Griz shut Woods and the Vandal rush down, allowing him just 41 yards and Idaho as a team just 58 net yards, with QB Gevani McCoy escaping a crumbling pocket and losing a total of 54 yards rushing, nearly as much as the entire team gained.

Gubner, a four-year starter, 2023 team captain, preseason All-Big Sky pick, two-time all-conference selection, and 2022's co-defensive team MVP, is having an All-America season for the Griz in his senior campaign.

While his 21 total tackles, one sack, and 3.5 TFLs this season don't tell the story, Montana's rush defense does.

The Griz enter the game against Northern Colorado with the third-best rush defense in FCS football, allowing an average of just 84 yards on the ground per game, the fewest in the Big Sky.

Gubner has also been instrumental in keeping teams out of the endzone. Montana's scoring defense is the second-best in the Big Sky this week, allowing an average of 19.3 points per game scored against it.

The Grizzly red zone defense is even better, keeping teams off the scoreboard at the best rate in the conference at just 68 percent of the time – the seventh-best rate in the FCS.

And who could forget Gubner's freshman year, when he led the team, and was second in the Big Sky with four (!) interceptions… That's four picks for a defensive lineman.

GROUND AND POUND: With the likes of McDowell and Gillman on offense, and a stifling rush defense led by Gubner, Montana has leaned heavily into the run game to grind out wins to sit at 6-1 on the year.

The Griz outrushed the Vandals by exactly 100 yards in their last outing (158-58), despite the offense striving for balance in the pass and run game.

Montana has nearly doubled up its opponents rushing the ball this season with 1107 yards compared to just 588 for other teams. Even though it hasn't always been pretty, the result shows in the win column with UM undefeated at 5-0 when winning the ground game.

Balance has been achieved, however, with offensive coordinator Brent Pease's unit entering the weekend with 1303 passing yards and 1107 rush yards.

EMPTY CALORIES: Coach Hauck is fond of calling big passing numbers "empty calories" without a strong rushing game to back up the air attack. Evidence of that is that UM has been outpassed by opponents in every game but still ground out a 6-1 record.

FAST START: Montana jumped out to a 20-7 first half lead at Idaho thanks to big plays that put 10 points on the board in each of the first two quarters.

Montana is also undefeated at 5-0 when scoring a TD on the first two offensive drives, 4-0 when leading at the half and 6-0 when leading after the third quarter.

Montana has outscored its opponents 122-71 in the first half this season with the second quarter being the most productive with 71 total points scored.

POSESSION, POSESSION, POSESSION: Montana won the turnover battle for the third time this season at Idaho, in fact dominating it with three takeaways to zero turnovers for a +3 margin. Of note, UM is undefeated when winning the turnover battle.

The Griz are now +8 in turnover margin on the season, tied for the sixth-best martin in the FCS and the best in the Big Sky.

With 16 total turnovers on the year the Griz also sit fifth in the FCS and lead the conference in that category. The bulk of those 16 turns has come in the form of picked-off passes, with UM adding two on the tally at Idaho to reach 11 on the season. Those 11 picks are also a Big Sky best and rank fourth nationally.

Meyer and Jaxon Lee each picked off their first career passes against Idaho, with Kale Edwards forcing the third fumble of his career to ice the game on the final Vandal possession.

The Griz have recovered five fumbles, the second-most in the league and a top 30 total nationally.

GRADNEY'S GRABS: Despite not having a pick in three games, cornerback Trevin Gradney is still tied for the most interceptions in the FCS and leads the Big Sky heading into week nine, totaling four on the year.

HAUCK'S RECORD: Coach Hauck continues to close in on making history following the win at Idaho. At 122-35 overall and 70-19 in Big Sky Conference play in his 12 years at Montana, Hauck is on the cusp of becoming the winningest coach in Big Sky history, needing just 2 victories to break the overall win record set by former Northern Arizona head coach (and long-time UM assistant) Jerome Souers (123).

A win over UNC would tie him with Sauers at the top of the conference record book, and one more win this season out of three remaining games would make him the winningest coach in conference history.

With a 70-19 Big Sky record, Hauck is now No. 3 on the Big Sky's all-time win list, recently passing College Football Hall of Famer Chris Ault of Nevada. He's now chasing Tim Walsh (Portland State/Cal Poly) who posted 74 wins in his career, and former Northern Arizona head coach (and longtime UM assistant) Jerome Souers, who totaled 85 Big Sky Conference wins.

Incidentally, the win over Idaho was Hauck's 70th in the Big Sky, and number 630 in Grizzly history.

MORE IDAHO NOTES: Montana chipped away at Idaho's lead in the all-time series last week, now trailing 31-56-2 overall 14-29-2 at Idaho.

Idaho is the only Big Sky team to hold a series lead over UM, but in the last 30 years it's been a one-sided affair. The Griz have now won 12 of the last 15 meetings dating back to 1991.

BEAR TRACKS: Northern Colorado comes to Missoula this week winless at 0-7, but the Bears are finding their footing under head coach Ed Lamb, who has decades of high-level experience and helped lead Southern Utah to a Big Sky championship in 2015.

• No stranger to the Big Sky Conference Lamb began his coaching career at Idaho where he served as the defensive coordinator in 2002 and 2003 under the legendary Tom Cable. He later went on to coach at SUU from 2008-2015 before serving as the Assistant Head Coach at BYU, his alma mater, from 2016-2022.

During his career with the Vandals and Thunderbirds, Lamb is 1-4 all-time against the Griz. Montana beat Idaho twice when Lamb was the DC in both 2002 and 2003 when the Vandals were in the FBS

At Southern Utah Lamb went 1-2 against UM, upsetting the 2012 Griz 30-20 in Missoula, but falling 46-10 to UM in 2008 and 35-17 in 2014.

• Since joining the Big Sky Conference in 2006, Northern Colorado has never had a winning season in league play, with 4-4 being their best overall conference win/loss record.

• UNC is led by Jacob Sirmon under center, who started his career at Washington as one of the top high school recruits in the nation before transferring to Central Michigan to play for Missoula native Jim McElwain.

Sirmon is the son of former Grizzly and 1995 National Champion David Sirmon, and is the cousin of former UM offensive lineman Cy Sirmon.

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Players Mentioned

Junior Bergen

Isiah Childs

Kale Edwards

Aaron Fontes

Justin Ford

Eli Gillman

Grant Glasgow

Trevin Gradney

Alex Gubner

Xavier Harris

Braxton Hill

Jaxon Lee

Clifton McDowell

Ryder Meyer

Riley Wilson

University of Montana Athletics