Griz to host Blue Hens in second round of FCS Playoffs

The Montana Grizzlies have three football goals listed in black and white to consider 365 days a year. One: Win the state championship. Two: Win the conference championship. Three: Win a national championship.

Check, Check, and this week the Griz get the chance to work towards checking off goal number three.

Riding high at 10-1 with a dominant win in the rivalry game and the program's league-record 19^th Big Sky Conference title, Montana now enters the FCS playoffs for a record 27^th time, set to host the Delaware Blue Hens in a second-round matchup at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

With the No. 2 overall seed in this year's playoff bracket and momentum to spare, the Griz are seemingly in the Catbird Seat to make a deep postseason run with one of the nation's most stingy defenses and an offense that has grown more lethal each week.

Montana has outscored its previous four opponents 145-24 heading into the playoffs about as hot as a team can get, heading to the postseason with home field advantage through until Frisco if the wins keep coming.

The Grizzlies have held their opponent under 300 yards for the fourth consecutive game against MSU and are outgaining opponents by an average of 480-224 yards per game over the last four.

Home has been good to the Griz in the playoffs as well with Montana sitting at 35-24 (.593) all-time in the postseason, but 32-7 (.820) in playoff games inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The Griz welcome a Delaware squad to town that has been one of the tops in the FCS in recent years and comes to Missoula for the second time in program history sitting at 9-3 on the season and 6-2 in Coastal Athletic Conference play.

The Blue Hens also come to Montana with momentum in the second round after earning a wild win over Lafayette last week where they turned the ball over three times in the first half but rebounded to take a 36-34 win.

The Blue Hens have been here before as one of the few programs to beat the Griz in Missoula in the postseason. Big and physical, they'll get that chance again this week in a battle of FCS blue bloods.

Kickoff at Washington-Grizzly Stadium is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2.

IMPLICATIONS: It's win or go home time in the FCS. Montana faces Delaware in the second round of this year's 24-team playoff bracket as the No. 2 overall seed, ensuring the Grizzlies home field advantage through the semifinal round.

The winner of the Montana/Delaware game will go on to face the winner of the No. 7 Furman/Chattanooga rematch. Furman snuck past Chattanooga 17-14 in Tennessee on Nov. 4, but lost to one-win Wofford in the final match of the regular season to springboard UM into the No. 2 seed.

From there, things get interesting in the bracket with the likes of Montana State, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and Sacramento State all in the mix for a potential quarterfinal matchup against the Griz.

Of course, each is competing for a chance at playing for a national championship. This year's FCS title game is set for Sunday, Jan. 7, in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff is set for noon mountain time.

WATCH: Montana's second-round playoff game against Delaware will be shown nationwide and without blackout exclusively on the ESPN+ streaming service. No linear television broadcast will be available.

The NCAA owns and manages the broadcast rights to all FCS playoff games, and partners with ESPN to show each game on its family of networks, including ESPN+. Neither Montana nor the Big Sky Conference have input in where playoff games are broadcast.

Longtime ESPN play-by-play man Shawn Kenney will have the call in this week's game. Former All-Big Ten safety at Michigan and Oakland Raider Marcus Ray will serve as analyst.

LISTEN: It's business as usual in the playoffs for Montana's radio crew. "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.

LAST MEETING: The Blue Hens bested the Griz in the first and only meeting between the two programs, a back-and-forth battle in the first round of the 1993 D1-AA playoffs in Missoula.

In frigid temps, Delaware scored on a late 32-yard touchdown pass that would give the visitors a 49-48 win after the PAT to take the upset.

In a game that saw over 1,000 yards of total offense combined, sophomore Dave Dickenson went 37-for-44 passing for 409 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Scott Gurnsey.

With one of the wildest finishes in Grizzly history, the two teams exchanged blows with three touchdowns each in the fourth quarter. The PAT on Montana's final touchdown – an 80-yard kickoff return from Damon Boddie – would sail wide, however, and that would be the difference maker as the Grizzlies' season would come to an end at 10-2.

ABOUT THAT LAST WIN: In arguably the biggest game ever between old rivals, No. 3 Montana beat Montana State 37-7 in a game with both teams ranked inside the top five nationally for the first time to win the outright Big Sky Conference Championship and a No. 2 seed in the FCS Playoffs.

It was the first Big Sky title for Montana since 2009 and 19th overall in the program's history, the most of any team in the league. It's the ninth conference title for the Big Sky's winningest head coach of all-time Bobby Hauck.

The Griz didn't just win, they dominated, scoring the first 20 points of the game, and leaving absolutely no doubt in front of a stadium record crowd of 27,178 fans.

A Bobcat offense that led the country with an average of 43.8 points per game was held completely in check, scoring just a single time while going 1-for-10 on third down and being stopped on all four of their fourth down attempts.

The Grizzly defense held them nearly 100 yards under their season average for rushing, and the secondary held the pair of Bobcat quarterbacks to just 4-of-16 through the air for 67 yards.

The offense, meanwhile, continued the balanced attack that has been so key to the Grizzlies seven-game winning streak. Montana passed for 228 yards and ran for another 202 to outgain Montana State 430-280 in the game. Montana's offense went 5-for-5 in the red zone. The Grizzlies also didn't turn the ball over all day, controlling the clock to a 34:44-to-25:16 advantage.

Clifton McDowell made big-play after big-play, passing for 200 yards and a score on 77 percent passing while also running for 69 yards and another score while converting 7-of-14 third downs, keeping several drives alive with his legs while also passing for a few conversions.

His favorite target on the day was Junior Bergen, who caught six passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Bergen also had a big kick return and one punt return to finish the game with 144 total yards.

Nick Ostmo ran for 85 yards and a score on seven attempts while Eli Gillman also found the end zone. The Grizzlies runners were breaking tackles all day long, and the receivers made plays after completions. The Grizzlies had 111 yards after the catch on offense.

Trevin Gradney has battle injuries over the past couple of weeks but returned and made a huge play defensively, picking of Mellott in the fourth. It's the fifth interception of the season for the Billings native. Braxton Hill and Tyler Flink shared the team-lead with eight tackles. Kale Edwards had the lone sack of the day for Montana, coming on a crucial fourth down and leading directly to three points for Montana. They had five tackles for loss in the game.

NATIONAL HONORS: At the conclusion of the regular season, Montana posted three finalists for FCS national awards presented by Stats Perform and FedEx Ground.

• After delivering Montana its first Big Sky Conference championship since 2009, head coach Bobby Hauck was named one of 20 finalists for the 2023 Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year Award.

Hauck, now the winningest coach in Big Sky Conference History in his 12th season at UM, was also a finalist for the Robinson Award the last time the Grizzlies won a league title during his first tenure at Montana.

• Linebacker Braxton Hill was named a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award for the Defensive Player of the Year in the FCS. Hill is one of 30 finalists from around the nation and one of just three from the Big Sky Conference.

The senior from Anaconda finished the regular season with the second-most tackles in the league with 91, 33 of which were solo, to average 8.3 total stops per game to date. He's also tallied 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, picked off two passes (one of which he returned 34 yards for a touchdown against UNC), broken up five passes, and recovered a fumble.

• Running back Eli Gillman was also named one of 22 finalists for the 2023 Jerry Rice Award honoring the national freshman player of the year.

With 857 on the season, Gillman has rushed for more total yards than any other freshman in FCS football and the third-most in all of D-I football. He's also second among all players in the Big Sky Conference in rushing yards per game, averaging just under 78 per contest and is No. 8 in the league in all-purpose yards with 103 receiving yards to go along with his 10 touchdowns.

Gillman has already entered Montana's record books, breaking free for the longest touchdown run in program history at UC Davis from 85 yards out. His 857 rushing yards currently stand as 21st-most in program history among all players and are the most of any freshman in program history.

ALL-BIG SKY: Montana cleaned up in the Big Sky postseason honors, winning four of the five individual awards and placing 13 players in 14 spots on one of three all-conference teams.

• Hauck was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his illustrious career, a unanimous selection as voted by his peers across the league. His four Coach of the Year awards are more than any other coach in Grizzly history passing greats Don Read and Joe Glenn with three each.

He is just the third coach in Big Sky Conference history to win Coach of the Year four times in his career. College Football Hall of Famer Chris Ault won in 1983, 1986, and back-to-back years in 1990 and 1991. Mike Kramer was a four-time winner with three different teams starting at EWU in 1997, MSU in 2002 and 2005, and Idaho State in 2014.

• Tackle Alex Gubner capped another dominant regular season at UM as the conference's Defensive MVP and a second-straight first-team all-conference pick, which was also unanimous.

Gubner is the first Grizzly tackle to ever be named the league's Defensive MVP, but Montana has a long history with the award. Gubner is now the 14^th Grizzly to be named DPOY since Ron Rosenberg in 1974. A rare occurrence with generaly few statistics, only seven interior defensive linemen (tackle/nose guard) have ever been named Defensive MVP by the conference.

He is now a three-time all-conference honoree and a two-time first-team selection. In his 49 games as a starter for the Grizzlies he's totaled 157 tackles, 10.5 sacks, and 27 TFLs – currently the 17th-most in program history. He also logged 4 interceptions his freshman year.

• After leading the Griz to seven-straight wins as a starter in his first season under center, quarterback Clifton McDowell was named the league's Newcomer of the Year. McDowell is the sixth Grizzly ever to be named newcomer of the year, and the third quarterback.

• Gillman's impressive season also earned him the league's Freshman of the Year award. In a program that has enjoyed so much sustained success, he's the first Grizzly to ever be named Freshman of the Year, with few other players getting the opportunity to play in their first season. He also earned a place on the second team for offense.

MORE FROM AWARDS SZN: Montana was also well-represented on the two all-conference teams and the honorable mention list with 13 total players earning 14 selections.

The Griz had seven players earn eight spots on the All-Big Sky first-team, the most for UM since the last championship season in '09, with Junior Bergen landing on the first team for offense and special teams.

Four offensive linemen also earned recognition, with tackle Brandon Casey landing on the first team, center AJ Forbes on the second team, and Chris Walker and Journey Grimsrud earning honorable mentions.

The Griz also had a pair of cornerbacks earn first-team defensive honors. Billings native Trevin Gradney led the nation in interceptions per game with five on the season, despite missing two games to injury. Corbin Walker led the team in pass breakups and picked off a pass to land on the first team.

Montana, known around the FCS as "Linebacker U", had three earn all-conference honors, with Braxton Hill, a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, landing on the first team, and Levi Janacaro and Riley Wilson landing on the second team.

THE LOUDEST FANS IN THE FCS: Message to any team coming to Washington-Grizzly Stadium: Enter the North Endzone at your own risk. The Montana faithful have helped cause a total of 16 false start penalties on visiting opponents this season, with seven of those committed by Ferris State and three committed by Montana State.

Delaware is no stranger to playing in front of rowdy crowds, however. The Blue Hens took a 63-7 loss at Penn State in early September in front of 108,000 at Beaver Stadium and didn't give up one false start. Delaware comes to Missoula as one of the least-penalized teams in the CAA with just 54 flags on the season.

THE NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME: With kickoff against Delaware set for 7 p.m. MT, Montana is set to play its seventh night game of the season this week – the most in program history.

Night games have been good to the Griz this season, entering their first playoff contest at 6-0 this year.

Games under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium have been especially good to the Griz, with UM going 2-for-2 this season (Ferris State & Sac State) and now sitting at 13-2 in night games since 2011.

Montana has hosted two playoff night games in the last two seasons, each a banger. In 2021 the Griz hosted EWU in a shootout under the lights, beating the Eagles 57-41 despite over 500 yards passing by the visitors. In 2022 the Griz hosted Southeast Missouri under the lights in the first round of the playoffs and rattled-off 31 unanswered points to beat SEMO 34-24 in a comeback for the ages.

Four of UM's six night wins this year came on the road, which marks an impressive reversal of fortune for the Griz in recent years. Montana entered the season at 1-13 in road night games since 2011, and now sits at 5-13 under the lights away from home.

SEND 'EM BACK EAST: Equally as difficult for visitors in night games, Washington-Grizzly Stadium is also a house of terrors for teams from "back east" against Montana.

Since the venue opened in 1986, the Griz are 36-7 against teams from east of the Mississippi River, and 2-0 so far this season with wins over Butler (Indiana), and Ferris State (Michigan).

Notably, one of those seven losses for Montana was at the hands of Delaware back in 1993. 22 of those 43 total games have come in the FCS/1-AA Playoffs.

POSESSION, POSESSION, POSESSION: Montana native Trevin Gradney picked off his FCS-best fifth pass to help seal the win over Montana State and give the Griz another win in the turnover battle.

Montana is now +9 on the season in turnovers with 19 total takeaways. The Grizzlies enter the contest against Delaware with the best turnover margin in the Big Sky and the No. 9 overall margin in the FCS.

The Griz have also made the most of their opportunities, now having doubled their opponents points off turnovers this season 60-30. UM remains undefeated at 5-0 on the year when winning the all-important turnover battle.

START FAST: Montana jumped out to a 20-0 first-half lead over Montana State en route to a blowout win over their rivals – a common theme for the Griz this season. UM has outscored opponents 201-81 in the first half, sitting undefeated at 8-0 when leading at the half and 8-0 when scoring first.

Montana's had plenty of opportunity to get on the board early and made the most of it with a perfect 6-0 record when losing the coin toss and forced to put the offense on the field first.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Montana has kept a mostly consistent cast of characters in the two-deep this season with little change in the starting lineup from week to week.

The Big Sky's DPOY Alex Gubner has been the most consistent, getting ready to make his 50^th career start – that's four seasons in the starting lineup. Fellow defender TraJon Cotton has also been a constant for the Griz in recent years, getting set to make his 30^th start, while on offense receiver Keelan White made his 25^th start against MSU.

Clifton McDowell is set to make his ninth start for the Griz, remaining undefeated at 8-0 as a starter in his short time at Montana.

NICO NAILS 'EM: Kicker Nico Ramos has been money since stepping back into the starting role for the Grizzlies. He's gone 5-for-5 on field goal attempts and 8-for-8 in PAT attempts in the last two games for a personal haul of 23 points.

He kicked three field goals against MSU, the second Grizzly this season to slot three in a game with Grant Glasgow hitting a triple at Idaho.

Griz to host Blue Hens in second round of FCS Playoffs

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Players Mentioned

Junior Bergen

Brandon Casey

TraJon Cotton

Kale Edwards

Tyler Flink

AJ Forbes

Eli Gillman

Grant Glasgow

Trevin Gradney

Journey Grimsrud

Alex Gubner

Braxton Hill

Levi Janacaro

Clifton McDowell

Nick Ostmo

Nico Ramos

Chris Walker

Corbin Walker

Keelan White

Riley Wilson

University of Montana Athletics