Saturday, October 28
Missoula, Mont.
1 PM
Montana
7-1 , 4-1
40
vs
0
Northern Colorado
0-8 , 0-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Northern Colo.
0
0
0
0
0
Montana
0
14
12
14
40
Griz blank Bears, improve to 7-1
10/28/2023 5:54:00 PM | Football
Montana's defense stifled Northern Colorado in the frigid temperatures inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday afternoon, earning two defensive scores and holding the Bears to just 94 total yards in a 40-0 shutout win. It's the second straight time that the Griz have shutout the Bears, outscoring them 75-0 in the last two meetings.
The Grizzlies' two defensive scores were both pick-sixes, one from Jaxon Lee and the other Braxton Hill. It's the first time the Griz have had multiple pick-sixes in a game since 2010 when they set a Big Sky record with four against Western State.
The offense, meanwhile, had an efficient day to put up 455 yards of total offense as Montana improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big Sky play. It's the first 7-1 start for Montana since the 2009 season, which ended in a trip to the National Championship game in the final game of Bobby Hauck's first tenure.
Now 14 years later, Hauck picks up the 123rd win of his career. At 123-35, he is now tied with Northern Arizona's Jerome Sauers for the most wins by a head coach in Big Sky history.
"It's such a great day by our defense," Hauck said of the win. "It's hard to shut people out in modern day college football. To hold them under 100 yards of total offense, it was a really, really good performance - and obviously that's an understatement – by our defense."
Gallery: (10-28-2023) FB: Montana vs Northern Colorado
It's the first shutout of the season for the Griz, and the third shutout by Montana's defense since the start of 2022. One of the top rushing defenses in the country was on display as Montana allowed just 18 yards to the Bears on 31 carries.
"The 31 carries for 18 yards, half a yard a carry, and under 100 yards of total offense. That's a special, special day in terms of the annals of Grizzly defense," Hauck said. "We play defense here, and we play good defense."
Defensively, Montana was nearly perfect. The Grizzlies limited UNC to 1-for-15 on third down and only seven total first downs. Montana had six sacks for the second straight game, which matches its most since recording seven against Drake in 2018.
Lee and Hill both scored on the interception returns, but the duo also led the Grizzly defense with six tackles each. They shared the lead with Riley Wilson, who also had four tackles for loss and three sacks in a dominant performance. It's the most sacks by a player since Jace Lewis had three against Portland State in 2019.
The defensive stat sheet was balanced with 12 players recording at least three tackles. The Grizzlies limited Northern Colorado to just 54 total plays, compared to 80 by the Montana offense. There was a big advantage in total plays, and Montana still averaged 4.0 yards more per play.
"It starts with our tackling. We're an excellent tackling football team," Hauck said. "We get guys on the ground. I thought our coverage guys held up. Our guys held up, the pass rush was good, and it was just a really complete defensive effort."
The Grizzlies didn't allow more than 31 total yards in any quarter, and Northern Colorado picked up 33 of their 94 yards on a single pass.
Montana outgained Northern Colorado 455 to 94 overall. They had 26 first downs to seven for UNC and won the turnover battle for the fourth time this season.
Montana's offense had its best rushing game of the season, running for a season-high 285 yards. The Griz had a three-headed attack led by Eli Gillman, who carried it 14 times for 106 yards and two scores. It's the second 100-yard game of the season for Gillman, who averaged 7.6 yards per carry.
Clifton McDowell added 78 yards as the starting quarterback and Nick Ostmo toted it 13 times for 86 more yards. As a team, Montana averaged 5.6 yards per carry with a long of 21 yards.
On top of all the domination, there was also a notable debut for Montana. It's been 25 years since Brian Ah Yat threw the final of his 89 career touchdown passes, which ranks second in Montana history behind only Dave Dickenson.
On Saturday, his son Keali'I Ah Yat made his Grizzly debut and threw for his first career touchdown.
Ah Yat had 89 passing yards and the score while completing 69 percent of his passes. McDowell threw for 81 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Fontes was Montana's leading receiver with five grabs for 66 yards while Junior Bergen and Sawyer Racanelli had 21- and 20-yard touchdown catches, respectively.
It was a balanced day for a Grizzly offense that had the ball for over 35 minutes of action.
"When you can run it, it's easier to throw. When you can throw it, it's easier to run. When you have balance, you're really hard to stop," Hauck said
The cold weather bled into the play in the game after the opening kick as both offenses struggled to warm. Montana moved the ball decently, picking up a first down on all three drives in the opening quarter but left with no points to show for it. They would miss a 44-yard field goal on the second drive.
The Grizzly defense didn't allow anything to the Bears in return, forcing a three-and-out on all three Northern Colorado drives in the opening quarter. They gave up just 16 yards in the first quarter.
Montana mixed things up on the fourth drive, putting in Ah Yat at quarterback, who completed his first career pass over the middle to Fontes for a 14-yard gain.
The drive went into Bears territory, but again stalled out to force a Grizzly field goal. This time Glasgow's kick was blocked, keeping the teams scoreless with 13 minutes left in the half.
The Grizzly offense had moved the ball but couldn't break through for the initial score to get things started. The defense decided to help them out with that.
Lee intercepted an underthrown pass over the middle on the next Bear drive, breaking a tackle during a 48-yard return for a touchdown to get Montana on the board. It was the first pick-six for Montana since Corbin Walker returned one for a touchdown in the playoff loss to NDSU last year.
Northern Colorado was able to hit on a big play for 33 yards to move it into Grizzly territory, but it was as far as the Bears would go as Montana held them in place and forced a turnover on downs. Northern Colorado had 48 total yards and just a single first down with nearly all the production coming on the single play.
McDowell reentered at quarterback and the Grizzlies again put together a solid drive into Northern Colorado territory. The 12-play drive came to an end on a fake punt as Travis Benham had a pass intercepted at the Northern Colorado 20.
The Grizzlies got a boost from the special teams unit after forcing another Bears punt. Bergen got a chance at a return for the first time on the day and made the most of it. He slid left and then found a seam up the middle for 19 yards. A Northern Colorado penalty tacked 15 more on at the end to put Montana in scoring position.
Ah Yat entered again and delivered the offensive play of the half, dropping a 21-yard touchdown into Bergen's hands to put Montana ahead 14-0 at the end of the half.
"He's been the number two guy for about four weeks, and we've kind of intended to play him each of the last three weeks and it hasn't been opportune to do that," Hauck said of Ah Yat. "Being able to play him a significant amount was really good for our team and good for his development."
The Bears moved 30 yards on penalties in one play to open the second half, but the Grizzly defense forced another turnover on downs to get the ball back in Montana territory.
McDowell found a big hole on the first offensive play going 19 yards into Northern Colorado territory. He then connected on third and short with Fontes for a first down before breaking another long run to put Montana in the red zone.
Gillman ran for 11 yards up the left side and then punched it in from six yards out for his seventh touchdown of the season.
Hill provided another highlight reel play for the Griz defense on the next drive, jumping in front of a pass for an interception that he returned 34 yards for a score. It's the second interception of the season, and career, for the Anaconda native and the first touchdown of his career.
Add Hill's 34 yards with Lee's 48 and Montana's defense had 82 interception return yards. Northern Colorado's offense had just 60 yards. The Grizzlies as a whole had a 316-78 advantage in total yards after the third quarter.
Montana added on to the lead with their first drive of the fourth quarter. McDowell found Sawyer Racanelli for a 20-yard score in the back corner of the end zone. It was the first career touchdown for Racanelli, an made it 33-0 in the early fourth quarter.
The rushing attack added another touchdown on the following drive after nine plays and 75 yards. Gillman scored on a run that he bounced out to the left for his second score of the day to bring it to the final score of 40-0.
It capped off the big day for Gillman, who is on the Jerry Rice Award Watch List and made a great case to be the winner of it on Saturday.
"The astounding thing, or the beauty of it, is he really didn't get going until after halftime," Hauck said. "We kind of got after him and said you have to do better at halftime, and boy he got out and ran with it literally and figuratively."
The Grizzlies return home next week for a top 10 matchup against Sacrament State under the lights. The game will kick off at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday's split-the-pot was claimed by pink ticket #241661 for the amount of $6,596.50.
The Grizzlies' two defensive scores were both pick-sixes, one from Jaxon Lee and the other Braxton Hill. It's the first time the Griz have had multiple pick-sixes in a game since 2010 when they set a Big Sky record with four against Western State.
The offense, meanwhile, had an efficient day to put up 455 yards of total offense as Montana improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big Sky play. It's the first 7-1 start for Montana since the 2009 season, which ended in a trip to the National Championship game in the final game of Bobby Hauck's first tenure.
Now 14 years later, Hauck picks up the 123rd win of his career. At 123-35, he is now tied with Northern Arizona's Jerome Sauers for the most wins by a head coach in Big Sky history.
"It's such a great day by our defense," Hauck said of the win. "It's hard to shut people out in modern day college football. To hold them under 100 yards of total offense, it was a really, really good performance - and obviously that's an understatement – by our defense."
It's the first shutout of the season for the Griz, and the third shutout by Montana's defense since the start of 2022. One of the top rushing defenses in the country was on display as Montana allowed just 18 yards to the Bears on 31 carries.
"The 31 carries for 18 yards, half a yard a carry, and under 100 yards of total offense. That's a special, special day in terms of the annals of Grizzly defense," Hauck said. "We play defense here, and we play good defense."
Defensively, Montana was nearly perfect. The Grizzlies limited UNC to 1-for-15 on third down and only seven total first downs. Montana had six sacks for the second straight game, which matches its most since recording seven against Drake in 2018.
Lee and Hill both scored on the interception returns, but the duo also led the Grizzly defense with six tackles each. They shared the lead with Riley Wilson, who also had four tackles for loss and three sacks in a dominant performance. It's the most sacks by a player since Jace Lewis had three against Portland State in 2019.
PICK SIX! @jaxonlee_ takes his second pick in as many games to the crib! 🏠#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/bmzRi4dm4h
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) October 28, 2023
The defensive stat sheet was balanced with 12 players recording at least three tackles. The Grizzlies limited Northern Colorado to just 54 total plays, compared to 80 by the Montana offense. There was a big advantage in total plays, and Montana still averaged 4.0 yards more per play.
"It starts with our tackling. We're an excellent tackling football team," Hauck said. "We get guys on the ground. I thought our coverage guys held up. Our guys held up, the pass rush was good, and it was just a really complete defensive effort."
The Grizzlies didn't allow more than 31 total yards in any quarter, and Northern Colorado picked up 33 of their 94 yards on a single pass.
Montana outgained Northern Colorado 455 to 94 overall. They had 26 first downs to seven for UNC and won the turnover battle for the fourth time this season.
Montana's offense had its best rushing game of the season, running for a season-high 285 yards. The Griz had a three-headed attack led by Eli Gillman, who carried it 14 times for 106 yards and two scores. It's the second 100-yard game of the season for Gillman, who averaged 7.6 yards per carry.
Clifton McDowell added 78 yards as the starting quarterback and Nick Ostmo toted it 13 times for 86 more yards. As a team, Montana averaged 5.6 yards per carry with a long of 21 yards.
On top of all the domination, there was also a notable debut for Montana. It's been 25 years since Brian Ah Yat threw the final of his 89 career touchdown passes, which ranks second in Montana history behind only Dave Dickenson.
On Saturday, his son Keali'I Ah Yat made his Grizzly debut and threw for his first career touchdown.
Welcome to Griz football @kealiiahyat!
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) October 28, 2023
TOUCHDOWN, MONTANA - the first of his career! 👏#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/b1c250Yy2h
Ah Yat had 89 passing yards and the score while completing 69 percent of his passes. McDowell threw for 81 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Fontes was Montana's leading receiver with five grabs for 66 yards while Junior Bergen and Sawyer Racanelli had 21- and 20-yard touchdown catches, respectively.
It was a balanced day for a Grizzly offense that had the ball for over 35 minutes of action.
"When you can run it, it's easier to throw. When you can throw it, it's easier to run. When you have balance, you're really hard to stop," Hauck said
The cold weather bled into the play in the game after the opening kick as both offenses struggled to warm. Montana moved the ball decently, picking up a first down on all three drives in the opening quarter but left with no points to show for it. They would miss a 44-yard field goal on the second drive.
The Grizzly defense didn't allow anything to the Bears in return, forcing a three-and-out on all three Northern Colorado drives in the opening quarter. They gave up just 16 yards in the first quarter.
Montana mixed things up on the fourth drive, putting in Ah Yat at quarterback, who completed his first career pass over the middle to Fontes for a 14-yard gain.
The drive went into Bears territory, but again stalled out to force a Grizzly field goal. This time Glasgow's kick was blocked, keeping the teams scoreless with 13 minutes left in the half.
The Grizzly offense had moved the ball but couldn't break through for the initial score to get things started. The defense decided to help them out with that.
Lee intercepted an underthrown pass over the middle on the next Bear drive, breaking a tackle during a 48-yard return for a touchdown to get Montana on the board. It was the first pick-six for Montana since Corbin Walker returned one for a touchdown in the playoff loss to NDSU last year.
Northern Colorado was able to hit on a big play for 33 yards to move it into Grizzly territory, but it was as far as the Bears would go as Montana held them in place and forced a turnover on downs. Northern Colorado had 48 total yards and just a single first down with nearly all the production coming on the single play.
McDowell reentered at quarterback and the Grizzlies again put together a solid drive into Northern Colorado territory. The 12-play drive came to an end on a fake punt as Travis Benham had a pass intercepted at the Northern Colorado 20.
The Grizzlies got a boost from the special teams unit after forcing another Bears punt. Bergen got a chance at a return for the first time on the day and made the most of it. He slid left and then found a seam up the middle for 19 yards. A Northern Colorado penalty tacked 15 more on at the end to put Montana in scoring position.
Ah Yat entered again and delivered the offensive play of the half, dropping a 21-yard touchdown into Bergen's hands to put Montana ahead 14-0 at the end of the half.
"He's been the number two guy for about four weeks, and we've kind of intended to play him each of the last three weeks and it hasn't been opportune to do that," Hauck said of Ah Yat. "Being able to play him a significant amount was really good for our team and good for his development."
The Bears moved 30 yards on penalties in one play to open the second half, but the Grizzly defense forced another turnover on downs to get the ball back in Montana territory.
McDowell found a big hole on the first offensive play going 19 yards into Northern Colorado territory. He then connected on third and short with Fontes for a first down before breaking another long run to put Montana in the red zone.
Gillman ran for 11 yards up the left side and then punched it in from six yards out for his seventh touchdown of the season.
That's ANOTHER PICK SIX for the #GrizD! 🤯@hillb32 to the 🏠#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/zaPw5Zg8av
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) October 28, 2023
Hill provided another highlight reel play for the Griz defense on the next drive, jumping in front of a pass for an interception that he returned 34 yards for a score. It's the second interception of the season, and career, for the Anaconda native and the first touchdown of his career.
Add Hill's 34 yards with Lee's 48 and Montana's defense had 82 interception return yards. Northern Colorado's offense had just 60 yards. The Grizzlies as a whole had a 316-78 advantage in total yards after the third quarter.
Come for the @soysoy_11 touchdown 🔥
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) October 28, 2023
Stay for the @_Cliff10 x @AREA__57 celly 🤝#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/HfUxfJGTvR
Montana added on to the lead with their first drive of the fourth quarter. McDowell found Sawyer Racanelli for a 20-yard score in the back corner of the end zone. It was the first career touchdown for Racanelli, an made it 33-0 in the early fourth quarter.
The rushing attack added another touchdown on the following drive after nine plays and 75 yards. Gillman scored on a run that he bounced out to the left for his second score of the day to bring it to the final score of 40-0.
It capped off the big day for Gillman, who is on the Jerry Rice Award Watch List and made a great case to be the winner of it on Saturday.
"The astounding thing, or the beauty of it, is he really didn't get going until after halftime," Hauck said. "We kind of got after him and said you have to do better at halftime, and boy he got out and ran with it literally and figuratively."
The Grizzlies return home next week for a top 10 matchup against Sacrament State under the lights. The game will kick off at 6:00 p.m.
Montana Grizzlies vs Northern Colorado Bears Post Game Press Conference https://t.co/BTMIYwI3kB
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) October 28, 2023
Saturday's split-the-pot was claimed by pink ticket #241661 for the amount of $6,596.50.
Team Stats
UNC
UM
Total Yards
94
455
Pass Yards
76
170
Rushing Yards
18
285
Penalty Yards
10
90
1st Downs
7
25
3rd Downs
1
7
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
24:44
35:16
2nd Quarter
UNC 0, UM 7
UM - Lee,Jaxon 48 yd interception (Ramos,Nico kick)
UNC 0, UM 14
UM - Bergen,Junior 21 yd pass from Ah Yat,Keali'i (Ramos,Nico kick) 4 plays, 40 yards, TOP 00:32
3rd Quarter
UNC 0, UM 20
UM - Gillman,Eli 6 yd run (), 7 plays, 68 yards, TOP 03:11
UNC 0, UM 26
UM - Hill,Braxton 34 yd interception ()
4th Quarter
UNC 0, UM 33
UM - Racanelli,Sawyer 20 yd pass from McDowell,Clifton (Ramos,Nico kick) 7 plays, 43 yards, TOP 03:24
UNC 0, UM 40
UM - Gillman,Eli 4 yd run (Ramos,Nico kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:24
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
Players Mentioned
P
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
CB
/ Football
LB
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