Griz return to road for a ranked showdown at UC Davis

The No. 13 Montana Grizzlies (4-1, 1-1 BSC) return to the road this week fresh off a Homecoming win, looking to turn one into a streak as they get set to face the No. 18 UC Davis Aggies (3-2, 1-1) for a top 25 showdown in Davis, California.

In a conference game that hasn't been played since 2019, this matchup has a decidedly nonconference feel to it with only nine all-time meetings between the two. But in the ultra-competitive 2023 Big Sky title race, the game also has a playoff feel with both teams sitting at one conference loss apiece as the calendar flips to October.

UC Davis Health Stadium will feel like a pressure cooker on gameday as well, with temps forecasted to reach into the mid-90s in the Central Valley and kickoff scheduled for the heat of the day at 4 p.m. local time (5 p.m. MT).

At the midway point of the season, Montana enters the game with the best rushing defense in the Big Sky while UC Davis enters the game with one of the top overall rushing attacks, and the top overall rusher in the Big Sky.

Led by veteran coach Dan Hawkins (whose son Cody Hawkins was in Missoula last week as the head coach of Idaho State), the Aggies have consistently been one of the top defensive teams in the conference as well in recent years. This year is no different, with Davis allowing just 329 yards per game from opponents and preseason all-conference safety Rex Connors sitting second in the league in tackles per game.

Montana appears to have found its identity though, using a hard-nosed ground game to balance out a passing attack that produced nearly 400 yards of total offense last week against ISU to complement its always salty bend-don't-break defense.

It sets up a game between two blue collar squads in the heart of California wine country, with everything from rankings to potential playoff implications on the line.

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

This week's game at UC Davis will be shown on KPAX in Missoula and Kalispell, KTVQ in Billings, KRTV in Great Falls, KXLH in Helena, KBZK in Bozeman, and KXLF in Butte.

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.

Where to find Griz football on the Montana Television Network

	Missoula/Kalispell	Billings	Bozeman	Butte	Great Falls	Helena
at UC Davis	KPAX	KTVQ	KBZK	KXLF	KRTV	KXLH
at Idaho	ESPN2	ESPN2	ESPN2	ESPN2	ESPN2	ESPN2
vs. Northern Colorado	MTN	MTN	MTN	MTN	KTGF	KTVH
vs. Sacramento State	KPAX	KTVQ	KBZK	KXLF	KRTV	KXLH
at Portland State	KPAX	KTVQ	KBZK	KXLF	KRTV	KXLH
vs. Montana State	KPAX	KTVQ	KBZK	KXLF	KRTV	KXLH

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 leads the overall series with UC Davis 8-1, a series short in meetings but long in history, with the first matchup between the two dating back to 1926, a 21-0 win for the Griz in Missoula.

In that time Montana is 4-0 on the road in Davis, with the lone loss in the series coming in 2018 in Missoula, 49-21 to the Aggies.

LAST MEETING: Montana got redemption over UC Davis in 2019 on the road in California after falling to the Aggies at home the year before. The Griz scored three times in the first six minutes of the third quarter en route to a dominant 45-20 win at Davis.

UM used a balanced offense led by dual-threat quarterback Dalton Sneed and a big-play defense to outgain UC Davis 529 yards to 351 and control the game against the No. 4-ranked Aggies.

Sneed threw for 268 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 81 yards on 10 carries while the rest of the offense pitched in another 260 rushing yards. The Griz also received 91 yards and a score from Marcus Knight, four carries from Nick Ostmo for 28 yards, and Drew Turner with 53 yards on 4 carries.

The defense put together a gem of a performance, limiting the 2018 Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year Jake Maier and the Aggie offense to 351 yards and three scores. Montana's defense forced three turnovers, and the offense converted two of those into touchdowns in four plays or less to completely swing the momentum of the game and silence the home crowd.

Dante Olson recorded eight tackles while picking off his first pass of the season. Jace Lewis put in 13 tackles - nine of which were solo - and hurried Maier multiple times. Robby Hauck also entered double-digit tackles with 10. The defensive front didn't allow UC Davis to be comfortable all game long, holding the Aggies to just 60 rushing yards.

CANADIAN CONNECTION: Fast forward to 2023 and former Aggie QB Jake Maier is now the starting signal caller for the Calgary Stampeders under head coach and Grizzly legend Dave Dickenson.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana climbed three spots to No. 13 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and one spot to No. 17 in the Stats Perform Media Poll this week after dispatching Idaho State.

In a volatile week of FCS football the Big Sky Conference held strong with seven ranked teams in the medial poll, with Montana State (2), Idaho (3), Sacramento State (4), Weber State (13), UC Davis (20), and Eastern Washington (22) all ranked.

Northern Arizona nearly caused more chaos in the rankings a week after beating UM, throwing an interception in the end zone on a play that would have sealed another upset win at Sacramento State

• Montana begins its gauntlet run of facing four of the six ranked Big Sky teams this week at No. 20/18 UC Davis, The Griz must travel to face the Aggies and Idaho in the next two weeks but getting home-field advantage against Sac State and MSU in November. Due to an unbalanced league schedule, the Griz won't face Weber State or Eastern Washington again in the regular season until 2024.

• Montana has been ranked in the FCS media top-25 now for 33 consecutive weeks, tied for the third-longest streak in the subdivision. Only North Dakota State (178 weeks) and South Dakota State (150 weeks) have been in longer.

• Montana rose four spots to No. 12 in this week's Massey ratings, now the fifth highest rated team in the Big Sky at 6.67. The Massey Ratings are a computer-generated ranking system that accounts for strength of schedule among other factors to rate teams and is used in various tiebreaking scenarios.

///GRIZ TRACKS///

WA-GRIZ IS THE PLACE TO BE: After selling-out its first three home games and packing-in two of the three biggest crowds ever in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Montana leads the FCS in average attendance at the midway point of the season. Let's take a deep dive.

The Griz have averaged 26,362 fans to date this season, selling and distributing 104 percent of the stadium's capacity. UM set a new stadium record with 26,978 fans at the Ferris State game and 26,678 fans at homecoming against Idaho State, the third-biggest crowd in program history.

• To put that in perspective, Montana's average attendance of 26,362 places the Griz in the top two-thirds of all D-I football teams (FCS and FBS), ranked No. 80 among 133 FBS programs.

That puts the Griz ahead of every team in the MAC and Conference USA in average attendance. It also places UM in the top half of teams in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), the top third of the Mountain West, and the top quarter of the Sun Belt.

Montana is ahead of notable program like Tulane (24,979), James Madison (24,910), and Air Force (24,471), each of whom received votes in the AP Top 25 this week, as well as San Diego State (25,401), Army (25,153), Vanderbilt (24,013), and Wyoming (23,804), among others.

Montana only trails two AP Top 25 teams by a few thousand fans each, with No. 13 Washington State averaging 29,910 and No. 19 Duke averaging 27,007.

In the head-to-head with the AAC, the Griz sit only behind Memphis (27,516), Navy (29,794), UTSA (38,240), ECU (39,400), and South Florida (43,591) in average attendance. Against the Mountain West, UM only sits behind Colorado State (29,715), Boise State (36,029), and Fresno State (39,668). Montana is also amongst some familiar names in the Sun Belt, only trailing Marshall (26,409), Troy (26,979), and App State (38,122).

• Montana also set a new program record for season tickets in 2023, with 18,761 sold and distributed, beating the previous record of 18,622 set in 2009.

For context, Boise State reportedly sold 17,403 season tickets in 2022, while San Diego State reportedly sold just under 16,000 in its first season at the new Snapdragon Stadium. James Madison announced it sold out of 2023 season tickets with 8,718 claimed, a new record for the Dukes by more than 1,000 in their second season at the FBS level.

East Carolina of the AAC also announced it had sold 14,200 season tickets this year, and Houston announced in April it had sold 15,000 season tickets ahead of its inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference, a record for the Cougars.

• Montana has finished first or second in the FCS in average attendance each year of the last decade. UM led the FCS from 2013 to 2018 and was second only to Jackson State and the Deion Sanders effect in 2021 and 2022.

SATURDAY'S STARS: In just his second start for the Grizzlies, quarterback Clifton McDowell led Montana in both rushing and passing to help beat Idaho State 28-20. McDowell carried the ball 20 times for a net total of 66 yards and the game's opening TD. He was also efficient with his arm, completing 13 of 20 passes for 160 yards and another TD, while taking only one sack.

In a player of the game performance, he put in a personal haul of 226 yards to earn UM's nomination for Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week.

He's currently fourth in the Big Sky in rushing yards among QBs with 176 yards, an average of 35.2 per game.

• Right there with McDowell in terms of offensive output was Junior Bergen, who hauled in seven catches for a career high 100 yards against the Bengals, the most receiving yards by a Grizzly this season and the most for UM since Malik Flowers had 108 against SEMO in last year's FCS Playoffs.

Bergen leads the team and is currently sixth in the Big Sky in receiving and all-purpose yards with an average of 62.2 yards per game and 311 total yards.

• Braxton Hill added to his team-high tackle count against the Bengals with eight total stops, one for a loss, a half-sack, and a pass breakup that nearly led to his second-straight game with an interception to earn UM's nomination for Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week.

Hill, of Anaconda, leads the squad, is second in the Big Sky, and is top-11 in the nation in total tackles this season with 45 stops. He also has two of Montana's nine takeaways with a fumble recovery and an interception.

• Punter Travis Benham totaled 123 yards on four attempts for an average of 30.8 yards per punt, with a long of 37 and 1 dropped in the ISU 20.

More importantly though, Benham, a former high school quarterback and junior college pitcher on the baseball diamond, completed a 15-yard pass to Garrett Graves on a fake punt play to convert a crucial fourth-and-one that led directly to UM's game-sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter to earn the Grizzlies' nomination for Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week.

MORE BERGEN BITES: Despite UM not having much in the way of opportunity in the return game (seven total attempts in each category as a team) Bergen leads the Big Sky in both punt return yards and average per return with of 16.1 per attempt and 113 total – a top-10 average in the FCS.

SHAFER'S START: Evan Shafer, a junior tight end in his first year at UM after transferring in from D-II Hillsdale, made his first start for the Griz against ISU and was rewarded with his second career touchdown catch. He caught a 15-yard pass from Sawyer Racanelli on a reverse to put the Griz up 21-14. He caught his first TD as a Grizzly on the road at Utah Tech. Two career catches, two career touchdowns.

Shafer has been a jack of all trades for the Griz, regarded by the staff as a hard-nosed athlete with the ability to play both ways. In addition to getting a start at tight end, he's also seen reps on the D-line, where he filled in on injury reserve at nose guard.

A FIRST FOR RJ: Montana needed a turnover coming out of the locker room at halftime to recapture momentum against Idaho State, and cornerback Ronald Jackson was the man for the job. The sophomore aired out to intercept a Jordan Cooke pass on the first play of the third quarter, leading directly to a touchdown for the Montana six plays later to go up 14-7.

It was the first pick of RJ's career as a Grizzly, with the speedy transfer from Akron seeing expanded minutes on defense on top of starting special teams reps with the coverage teams.

POSESSION, POSESSION, POSESSION: You can't win without the ball, and the Grizzlies lead the FCS with nine interceptions this season after adding two against ISU, a mark that would place them third in the FBS as well.

Montana's total of 11 takeaways against six giveaways puts the overall Grizzly turnover margin at +5, ranked No. 1 in the Big Sky and No. 6 in the FCS for turnovers gained.

Corbin Walker was responsible for icing the game against the Bengals with his first pick of the season late in the fourth quarter – his fifth career INT.

With touchdown scored off RJ's pick, Montana now leads opponents in points off turnovers 37-30 so far this season.

GRADNEY'S GRABS: Billings native and UM junior Trevin Gradney is making the most of his first year as a starting cornerback, leading the nation in interceptions with four after five games. Gradney's four picks are tied for the most in all of D-I football with Jeremiah Cooper of Iowa State, Carlton Johnson of Fresno State, and Jaylin Simpson of Auburn.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Three players on offense are set to make their 20^th career start at UC Davis. Junior receiver Keelan White, UM's second-leading receiver, will likely hit 20 starts, as will junior tackle Brandon Casey. Senior tackle Chris Walker will also make his 20^th start, having started every game in his two years at UM.

HAPPY HOMECOMING: Montana improved to 68-33-1 all time and 33-4 inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Homecoming with the 28-20 win over Idaho State. Head Coach Bobby Hauck is now 11-1 on the day, with his and the Grizzlies last loss coming in 2018 against Portland State.

HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE: Montana is now riding a six-game home win streak, dating back almost exactly a year to 2022's loss to Idaho on Oct. 15.

Montana's win over Idaho State kept the Bengals winless inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium, dating all the way back to 1986 in the first game played at the "Mecca of FCS Football." UM is now 20-0 over ISU in Wa-Griz and improved the overall series to 48-13 since 1921 with 14-straight wins dating back to 2004.

HAUCK'S RECORD: After beating Idaho State, Hauck is now tied with College Football Hall of Famer Chris Ault of Nevada at No. 3 on the Big Sky's win list in conference games at 68-19. He's 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.

Hauck is also getting closer to becoming the Big Sky's overall winningest coach of all time. At 120-35 at UM, he needs just 4 victories to break the league win record set by Souers of 123.

The win over ISU was also Hauck's 40^th since returning to coach the Grizzlies in 2018 and his 120^th at Montana in both tenures. A win at UC Davis would give him 80 conference wins in his career as a head coach, a number that includes his five seasons at UNLV. He's currently 79-47 in overall league play.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES: Like Father, like Son. Davis head coach Dan Hawkins coached his son and ISU head coach Cody at the University of Colorado from 2006-2009 where he threw for nearly 2,700 yards in one season (2007).

Before taking the head job at ISU, Cody was the offensive coordinator and QBs coach under his dad at UC Davis in 2021 and 2022, and coached the Aggie receivers from 2017 to 2020.

• Davis enters he game at 3-2 and 1-1 in conference play with nonconference wins over Texas A&M Commerce and Southern Utah, and will face UM coming off a 31-13 win at Cal Poly. The Aggies took an OOC loss at Oregon State to the chin, falling 55-7 to former UM OC Jonathan Smith's Beavers. Davis also suffered its first home loss two weeks ago when Eastern Washington upset them in a 27-24.

• It's not known if UC Davis standout Lan Larison will play this week after suffering an injury in the loss to EWU, but what is known is that he's a baller.

Despite missing a game and a half, Larison leads the Big Sky in rushing, averaging 119.8 yards and totaling 479 yards in just four games played – the second-most in the conference. He's also caught 13 passes for 126 yards and leads the league in all-purpose yards with an average of 151.3 per contest. Not only that, with five total touchdowns is fifth in the conference in scoring.

• In addition to Rex Connors, Davis had two other preseason all-conference players who both play up front. The Aggies will have one of the best offensive and defensive lines in the league this season, led by OL Jake Parks and DL Zach Kennedy, who each earned preseason accolades.

Griz return to road for a ranked showdown at UC Davis

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Travis Benham

Junior Bergen

Brandon Casey

Malik Flowers

Trevin Gradney

Garrett Graves

Robby Hauck

Braxton Hill

Ronald Jackson

Clifton McDowell

Nick Ostmo

Sawyer Racanelli

Evan Shafer

Chris Walker

Corbin Walker

Keelan White

University of Montana Athletics

Griz return to road for a ranked showdown at UC Davis

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Travis Benham

Junior Bergen

Brandon Casey

Malik Flowers

Trevin Gradney

Garrett Graves

Robby Hauck

Braxton Hill

Ronald Jackson

Clifton McDowell

Nick Ostmo

Sawyer Racanelli

Evan Shafer

Chris Walker

Corbin Walker

Keelan White

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