Griz look to snap three-game skid against Hornets in ranked showdown

The month of October was very, very good to the Montana Grizzlies.

Two big-time road wins over ranked opponents, a productive bye week to rest the legs followed by a 40-0 drubbing of a conference foe to rise to No. 3 in the national poll.

But as the saying goes… The games they remember are played in November.

The business end of the season officially arrives at Washington-Grizzly Stadium this week in a prove-it moment for Montana, with two-time defending conference champion and No. 7 ranked Sacramento State coming to Missoula.

At 7-1 (4-1 BSC) for the first time since 2009 and perched atop the Big Sky standings, The Griz control their own destiny, sitting in the catbird seat to claim the program's first conference title in 14 years.

But the Hornets might have something to say about that.

Sacramento State has been one of the standard-bearers in the Big Sky over the past three seasons, with former head coach Troy Taylor (now the head man at Stanford) winning at least a share of the 2021 and 2022 conference titles.

Now with former Grizzly Andy Thompson at the helm – a man who knows first-hand what it's like to play in front of the Montana faithful – the Hornets are once again among the FCS elite.

They swarm into Missoula at 6-2 overall and 3-2 in Big Sky play sitting fourth in the league standings and needing a statement road win of their own to keep a third-straight title within reach.

Sac has the weapons to get that road win as well, operating the second-best offense in the conference that averages 433 yards per game, with 190 of those coming on the ground thanks to the dual-threat ability of QB Kaiden Bennett.

Montana is up to the task, however, buoyed by momentum with an offense that is finding its form and the best rushing defense in all of FCS football. Not to mention the added element of a night game in Washington-Grizzly Stadium where the Griz rarely lose, with temps expected in the low 40's.

Postseason implications, national rankings, conference championship implications, a losing streak to snap, potent offensive weapons and stout defenses, familiar faces squaring off on the coaching staffs, this matchup has it all. And fans are not going to want to miss a minute.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

WATCH: The Grizzlies return to Montana Television Network stations around the state this week, with the game against Sac State available on basic cable and satellite options, as well as free-to-air channels.

This week's game 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. A nationwide stream of the game is also available without blackout on ESPN+.

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.

The remainder of Montana's 2023 regular-season schedule, including the Brawl of the Wild, will be shown on the above stations.

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.

IMPLICATIONS: Just win baby. Montana controls its own postseason destiny with three games remaining on the regular season schedule, two of which are against top-10 teams.

Win on Saturday against Sac State, and the Griz are likely in the playoffs no matter what at 8-1 with three ranked FCS wins. Win two of the last three and the Griz are likely to earn a first-round bye at 9-2. Win all three and the Griz are likely to be crowned conference champions and be a top-four seed. Win zero and UM's playoff chances could be in peril.

It's all in front of the Griz, and everything is left to play for.

THE SERIES: Montana has dominated the series with Sac State since the first meeting between the two in 1993, a 57-7 win for the Griz. UM enters this week's contest holding a 20-4 all-time lead, but in recent years the Hornets have held the upper hand.

Sac State has won each of the last three meetings, dating back to a 49-22 win in Sacramento in 2019. Sac then picked up a 28-21 win in 2021 against a banged-up Griz squad, the first ever for the Hornets in Missoula.

That leads us to last year where the Griz were again without the use of their starting quarterback for a bulk of the game, but took the #2 Hornets to overtime in a 31-24 loss in Sacramento. More about that in a second.

Overall, the Griz are 20-4 in the series and 12-1 in games played both in Missoula and at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

LAST MEETING: Montana had a lead for much of the game under the lights on ESPN2 in Sacramento, not trailing in regulation on the road against the No. 3 Hornets. But 10 straight points from the hosts was enough to tie it late, and a touchdown in the extra period sealed a 31-24 win for Sac State.

The Grizzly game plan limited the second-best scoring offense in the country to just 24 points in regulation. They shut out the Hornets in two quarters, the first time all year they had been blanked in a quarter.

A touchdown on Montana's opening drive gave Sac its first deficit through six games that season, the only team in Division I football to have never trailed at that point in the year. The Grizzlies rushed for 200 yards behind good nights from Nick Ostmo (20 carries for 72 yards) and Marcus Knight (22 carries, 61 yards), who both found the endzone.

An untimely injury to starting quarterback Lucas Johnson early in the second quarter put Montana into a difficult situation. A run-heavy offense for Montana controlled the clock and allowed the Grizzlies to rely on their dominant defense.

Montana turned the Hornets over four times, and while they did allow decent yardage to Sac, they limited them to less than half of their season average in scoring. Nash Fouch, Corbin Walker and Justin Ford all intercepted a pass, while Patrick O'Connell recovered a Hornet fumble.

Still, it would prove to be not quite enough against one of the best teams in the country. Sacramento State closed the game on a 17-0 scoring run. Despite Montana possessing the ball for nearly 40 minutes, it was the quick-play offense of the Hornets that found just enough plays to win the game. They had three touchdown drives, each taking up less than 2:15 of game clock.

The Grizzlies held the Hornets scoreless on seven of their first eight drives, but Sacramento State rallied in the fourth quarter. The injury to Johnson was particularly frustrating as he had 81 combined yards in under two drives, looking sharp from the word go. Kris Brown filled in for him, completing 16-of-31 passes for 141 yards. They relied on the big games from Ostmo and Knight, who helped the Grizzlies eclipse 200 yards on the ground.

Montana had five drives of at least 10 plays, converted 50 percent of their third down attempts and ran 95 total plays for nearly 400 yards. They held Sacramento State to 5-of-12 on third down and also stuffed the Hornets on fourth-down once. The two fourth down completions, including one late in the game on a play that was reviewed and ultimately stood, were difference-makers.

FAMILIAR FACES: Sac brings two familiar faces with it to Missoula, with a pair of former Grizzlies donning headsets on the Hornet coaching staff.

Head coach Andy Thompson helped the Grizzlies win the 2001 national championship as a four-year letterman between 1999 and 2003. He won five conference titles in that time, and played in 44 games at UM, totaling 103 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss.

Defensive line coach Kraig Paulson of Plentywood played fullback for the Griz from 1983-86 and, along with current UM defensive analyst Tim Hauck, started Montana's revered #37 jersey tradition when he passed his number down to Hauck.

Paulson also started his coaching career at UM as a GA in 1987 before coaching the linebackers, D-line, and secondary before eventually serving as the defensive coordinator in two different stints: 1998-1999 and 2004-2009 under Bobby Hauck. He also coached under Hauck at UNLV from 2010-14.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana returned to the top three in the national polls this week for the first time since Week 6 of the 2022 season.

The Griz rose from 5th to 3rd in the AFCA Coaches poll this week with 577 points in the voting. UM is the highest-ranked of four Big Sky teams and the second-highest ranked 7-1 team on the list behind Furman. The Paladin's only loss came on Sept. 9 at FBS South Carolina in a game that was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Montana moved from 7^th to 4^th in the Stats Perform media poll with 1,190 points, 28 points behind No. 3 Idaho, who the Griz beat in Moscow 23-21 on Oct. 14.

In the only poll that truly matters though, UM slotted in at No. 6 the week before the UNC win in the Division I FCS Committee's Top-10 rankings, which offer a snapshot as to which teams it thinks could earn playoff seeds if the postseason were to start the next day. Since that top 10 was published, No. 6 Montana won 40-0, No. 2 MSU lost, as did No. 4 South Dakota.

• Montana has now been ranked in the Stats Perform media poll for 38 consecutive weeks, tied with MSU for the third-longest streak in the nation behind South Dakota State (155 weeks) and North Dakota State (183 weeks).

///GRIZ TRACKS///

ON THE VERGE OF HISTORY: Bobby Hauck is now one single win away from cementing his name at the top of the conference record book as the Big Sky's winningest coach of all time.

At 123-35 overall and 71-19 in Big Sky Conference play in his 12 years at Montana Hauck is UM's winningest coach of all time. His next victory will break the overall conference win record set by former Northern Arizona head coach (and long-time UM assistant) Jerome Souers (123).

With a 71-19 record in conference games, Hauck is also No. 3 on the Big Sky's all-time win list in league contests, 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 Souers, who totaled 85 conference wins.

• Northern Colorado is still the only Big Sky team to never earn a win over Hauck's Grizzlies at 0-8 all-time against him as a head coach.

• Sac State, meanwhile, is 3-8 all-time against him, with the three wins coming in the last three seasons.

DOMINANT D: There really is no better word to describe Montana's defensive performance against Northern Colorado than DOMINANT. Like, historically dominant.

The Griz allowed the Bears just 94 yards of total offense with 18 rushing yards. Numbers almost unheard of in modern college football. You have to go back to 2010 when Montana beat D-II Western State (now named Western Colorado) 73-2 to find the last time UM held a team to under 100 yards of total offense. The Griz held the Mountaineers to just 39 rush yards and 55 passing yards in that game to total, coincidentally, 94 yards of total offense.

• The Griz scored on two pick-sixes against UNC last week. That 2010 win against Western State was also the last time the Griz returned more than one interception for a touchdown in a single game with a Big Sky record four (!) in one game, three of which came in the first quarter (!!).

Jordan Tripp, Erik Stoll, and Trumaine Johnson each had a pick-six in the opening 15 minutes, with Sean Murray adding another in the fourth quarter.

• Montana allowing just 18 rushing yards is also a historic achievement. It's the fewest allowed by the Griz since SELA had just 22 yards on the ground in the 2019 FCS playoffs. Before that it's the fewest since Mississippi Valley State was in negative territory with -61 rushing yards in 2016. Even Western State gained 39 yards rushing back in 2010.

Against a Big Sky Conference opponent, it's the fewest allowed since Weber State gained just 6 yards rushing against the Griz in 2013.

• Montana's two most recent opponent lows in total offense that are even in the same ballpark include the game at NAU in 2021, who gained just 154 yards of total offense, and Mississippi Valley State who tallied just 146.

PITCHING SHUTOUTS: In the Bobby Hauck era 2.0, Montana has pitched more shutouts than any other team in the Big Sky Conference with four – all against D-I opponents – since 2018.

Hauck's Grizzlies have blanked Northern Colorado twice, once last week (40-0) and once in 2021 (35-0). Montana also handed out goose eggs to Northwestern State (47-0) and Cal Poly (57-0) in 2022.

Portland State, Idaho, and Sacramento State are the only other Big Sky teams to post more than one shutout in the last five seasons with two each since 2018. However, at least one of those for each team was against a non-D-I opponent, meaning the Griz are the only team in the league with more than one D-I shutout in the last five years.

Montana has also kept two additional teams out of the endzone in that time, with NAU only managing a field goal in 2021 (30-3), and Central Washington only kicking a field goal in the spring of 2021 (59-3).

UM also held Western Illinois' offense out of the endzone in a 2021 matchup, with a pick-six being the only points of the day for the Leathernecks in a 42-7 Grizzly win.

The Grizzly defense has allowed just one touchdown against it in five other games since 2018 as well, including the 13-7 win over No. 20 Washington in 2021.

STOP THE RUN: After allowing those 18 yards rushing last week, Montana firmly leads the nation in rushing defense, allowing just 76 yards per game on the ground and four rushing touchdowns after eight games this season.

In fact, only three other teams in all D-I football are allowing less yardage on the ground, and they're all in the College Football Playoff Top-25 release Tuesday afternoon. UCLA is allowing just 63 yards per game, while Air Force is giving up just 66 and Penn State just 74. That's it.

The Griz are getting stops when it matters as well with the best red zone defense in the Big Sky as well, a top-10 national average with opponents scoring just over 68 percent of the time.

SATURDAY'S STARS: Riley Wilson spearheaded Montana's dominant defensive day against UNC with an impressive stat line of six tackles, three sacks, and four tackles for loss. For his effort, the Big Sky Conference named him the league's Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. He also received an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS Defensive Player of the Week.

Wilson's stats alone made up the bulk of a big day for UM against UNC this week, with the team totaling six sacks for a second-straight game and a season-high 12 TFLs.

In his first year in maroon and silver, the linebacker is already putting up some league-leading stats. His three sacks were the most in the Big Sky on Saturday and tied for the second-most in the FCS over the weekend. The three sacks are tied for the second most in a single game in the league this season, and his four TFLs are the second-most of any player in the conference.

Wilson is now second overall in the Big Sky in sacks with 5.5 on the year, five of those being solo sacks. His 5.5 sacks are a top-10 total in the FCS. He's also second in the league in total TFLs with 8.5, seven of which are solo. That's a top-20 total in the FCS.

As a team, the Griz have now gone three straight active weeks earning a conference Player of the Week award. Ryder Meyer was the Defensive Player of the Week and Grant Glasgow earned the Special Teams award following UM's win at Idaho. Aaron Fontes was the Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7 after the win at UC Davis.

• Eli Gillman carried the ball 14 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns against Northern Colorado, averaging 7.6 yards per carry and not losing a single yard in the process.

Gillman has the most rushing yards of any freshman in FCS football again this week, extending his season total to 614 yards. It's also the third-most rushing yards of any freshman in all of D-I football. He is currently second among all players in the Big Sky in rushing this season as well, averaging 76.8 yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry.

He earned Montana's nomination for Offensive Player of the Week and the FCS Freshman of the Week as well. He's adding impressively to his resume for the 2023 Jerry Rice Award that goes to the nation's top freshman.

He and fellow running back Nick Ostmo paired up for nearly 200 combined yards. Ostmo totaled 86 yards on the day, 14 shy of giving the Grizzlies two, 100-yard rushers in a game since 2013 when Travon Van and Jordan Canada combined for 238 against Portland State.

• Braxton Hill picked off the second pass of his career against UNC and took this one to the house 34 yards for his first career touchdown. It's not his first career score, however. Hill got on the board against South Dakota in 2022, sacking QB Carson Camp for a safety.

Hill, from Anaconda, leads the team and is third in the Big Sky in total tackles this week with 67 to his name.

• Jaxon Lee of Missoula/Phillipsburg got his second pick in as many games and his first six last week against UNC, taking one back 48 yards for a score that broke the dam loose for the Griz. He had his first career pick against Idaho and nearly returned it for six as well, but was tripped up by one of the last defenders.

• Quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat made his college debut for the Grizzlies Saturday, much to the delight of the Montana fans and one former player in particular. Ah Yat, a true freshman from Oahu, is the son of Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer Brian Ah Yat, and is in his first season at UM.

The legacy QB impressed in his debut as well, completing nine of 13 passes for a game-high 89 yards and his first career touchdown pass, connecting with Junior Bergen from 21 yards out.

Ah Yat is eligible to compete in the final three remaining regular season games and any playoff games UM may have and still retain his redshirt status per new rules from the NCAA. He's currently listed as the No. 2 QB on this week's depth chart.

• Sawyer Racanelli has waited a long time to get into the endzone as a Grizzly. After transferring to UM from Washington in the spring of 2022, he sustained an injury in spring ball that kept him off the field all season.

On Saturday he caught the first touchdown of his career, connecting with Clifton McDowell on a 20-yard fade route. Earlier this season he threw a touchdown pass as well on a reverse against Idaho State.

POSESSION, POSESSION, POSESSION: Montana enters the week tied for the third-best turnover margin in FCS football and the best in the Big Sky at +9 on the season with 18 total takeaways to just 9 giveaways.

With two picks on Saturday, 13 of those 18 takeaways have been interceptions, the second-most of any team in the FCS.

Trevin Gradney is still tied for the most picks in the FCS this season with four, despite not hauling one in since Sept. 23 at NAU.

Montana has also made hay while the sun was shining, outscoring opponents 53-30 off of turnovers this year.

WA-GRIZ IS (STILL) THE PLACE TO BE: Now after four home games and four sellout crowds (25,463 against UNC), Montana leads the FCS in accumulated attendance with 104,549 fans having crossed the turnstiles this season. For fun… that's almost equal to the entire population of Billings.

UM is now second in average FCS attendance behind Jackson State thanks to one big crowd of nearly 31,000 in one of just two home games so far this season. After two games JSU is averaging 27,313 and after four games Montana is averaging 26,137, that's over 103 percent capacity of Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

UM set a new stadium record this season 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.

Montana's average attendance remains above that of AP Top 25 teams like Air Force, Tulane, and James Madison, as well as notable names like Marshall, Vanderbilt and Wyoming. It is only 2,834 fans shy of Washington State's average as well.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: Montana's win over Northern Colorado was the 225^th for the Grizzlies inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium since the venue opened in 1986.

With a .865 winning percentage and 13 undefeated seasons, Wa-Griz remains one of the hardest places for visitors to win at any level of college football.

The Grizzlies enter the game against Sac State having won seven-straight home games and 13 of the last 14, dating back to the 2021 loss to… Sacramento State.

Montana is 28-5 at home in Hauck's second tenure, highlighted by a 7-0 season in 2019.

THE NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME: Making things more difficult for the visitors this week is the 6 p.m. kickoff. Montana 12-2 in night games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium including the 17-10 win over Ferris St earlier this season.

• The Griz have outscored their last two Big Sky opponents 114-41 in night games at home, beating EWU in 2021 57-41 and Cal Poly in 2022 57-0.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Senior safety Nash Fouch is set to make his 30^th career start against Sac State this week, while cornerback Corbin Walker is set to make his 25^th. Fouch is the third-most experienced player behind center AJ Forbes (scheduled to make his 36^th career start), and Alex Gubner (set to make his 47^th).

Griz look to snap three-game skid against Hornets in ranked showdown

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Players Mentioned

Keali'i Ah Yat

Junior Bergen

Kris Brown

Aaron Fontes

AJ Forbes

Justin Ford

Nash Fouch

Eli Gillman

Grant Glasgow

Trevin Gradney

Alex Gubner

Braxton Hill

Lucas Johnson

Jaxon Lee

Clifton McDowell

Ryder Meyer

Patrick O'Connell

Nick Ostmo

Sawyer Racanelli

Corbin Walker

Riley Wilson

University of Montana Athletics