Montana to host Furman in FCS Quarterfinals

Dominate and advance.

The Montana Grizzlies return to the Quarterfinal round of the FCS Playoffs for the 15^th time in program history this week after a statement win over Delaware on a snowy Saturday night in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Now the stakes get higher as the No. 2 Grizzlies get set to host the No. 7 Furman Paladins in a rematch of the 2001 National Championship game under the national spotlight with ESPN2 set to broadcast the game to millions of TV sets across the country.

The Grizzlies will be chasing the program's 11^th trip to the semifinal round when two of the winningest programs in FCS history collide in yet another night game in Missoula, with kickoff set for Friday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.

It's a contest worthy of the big stage as well.

Another spectacular night game in Wa-Griz will pit the outright winner of the Big Sky against the outright winner of the Southern Conference (Furman's first since 1990) head-to-head, with the Griz sitting at 11-1 and the Paladins at 10-2.

Two powerhouse teams who have similar stories will take the field as well. The Griz stubbed their toe against Northern Arizona en route to a conference title. Discounting a loss at FBS/SEC South Carolina, Furman put together a nice run through FCS opponents until stubbing their toe at Wofford on the final week of the regular season.

Montana has been on a tear lately, however, running through their last five opponents with the stifling defense and an offense that has continued to find more and more continuity, building up to a season-high 49-point outburst last week, despite the weather.

Furman has been near the top of the rankings all season, setting up a clash of FCS powers with a history together on the national stage.

IMPLICATIONS: It's win or go home season and with homefield advantage the Griz are looking to continue their winning ways.

A win over Furman sends Montana on to the semifinal round of the playoffs for the first time since 2011 and just the second time since 2009.

Waiting in the bracket is the winner of the South Dakota/North Dakota State game. If Montana advances, the winner of that game will travel to Missoula for the semi on either Friday, Dec. 15, or Saturday, Dec. 16.

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 quarterfinal game against Furman will be available to millions of basic cable and satellite subscribers nationwide on ESPN2 and streaming without blackout on ESPN+.

Lowell Galindo, the lead anchor for the Texas Longhorn Network and longtime ESPN Ancho will have the call in this week's game. NFL veteran and longtime FCS analyst Jay Walker will serve as color commentator and Ashley Stroehlein will report from the sidelines.

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.

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.

The Bobby Hauck Radio Show also returns this week to the banks of the Clark Fork River at FINN, inside the DoubleTree Hotel. The show will air at 6:30 Wednesday, and if the Griz advance, will air next Wednesday at 6:30 as well.

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.

A QUICK COMPARISON: Montana and Furman are two of the winningest FCS programs of all time, with Montana now at 635 wins since 1897 and the Paladins at 645 wins since 1889.

• Both defenses have been strong against the run this season, with the Griz giving up a Big Sky low 1,172 yards and Furman giving up a SoCon low 1,112 yards on the ground. Put a different way, Furman's rushing defense is allowing an average of 92.7 yards (the third fewest in the nation) while the Griz are averaging 97.7, the ninth-lowest in the nation.

• Both teams are shockingly similar in terms of total defense, however, with UM's 18^th ranked total D allowing 312.1 yards and the Paladins allowing 312.7.

• Offensively, Montana is outscoring opponents by an average of roughly 18 points, averaging 32 ppg and giving up 14.83 ppg. Furman is outscoring opponents by an average of 11 points, scoring 27 and giving up 16.

• The Griz have scored 10 more touchdowns this season than Furman - UM 49, FU 39. The Griz have allowed 24, while Furman has allowed 27.

LAST MEETING: The Montana faithful tore down the goal posts in celebration of Montana's second national championship after beating Furman 13-6 in the 2001 1-AA (now FCS) title game at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.

In a defensive slugfest, the Griz scored just one touchdown behind Yohance Humphrey and Chris Snyder added a pair of field goals, while Hall of Famer Vince Huntsberger and the defense kept the Paladins out of the endzone until the last minute.

In one of the lowest scoring championships ever, Montana put together a 99-yard drive in the second quarter, capped by a 2-yard run up the middle from Humphrey. The hall of famer had 142 yards on 30 carries, while Furman's Louis Ivory, the Southern Conference's offensive player of the year, was held to just 33 yards on 12 carries.

After Montana's touchdown, Snyder made a 35-yard field goal with 53 seconds left in the half. He missed a 38-yarder at the beginning of the fourth quarter but made one from 30 yards out with 6:17 remaining.

Montana intercepted passes by Furman's Billy Napier (now the current head coach at Florida) twice in the final minutes, but Furman ended up spoiling the shutout as time expired. James Thomas caught a 54-yard pass from Napier, but Furman didn't kick the extra point.

//GRIZ TRACKS//

PLAYOFF PARTICULARS: Here's a quick smattering of Griz football playoff facts.

• Montana has advanced to the FCS Playoffs more than any other team, now playing in the postseason for the 27^th time.

• This is the 15^th trip to the quarterfinal round for Montana, and a win Friday would mean the program's 11^th trip to the semifinal.

• The second-round game against Delaware was Montana's 60^th playoff game in program history. The Griz are now 36-24 all-time in the postseason, but has a phenomenal 33-7 record at home, a .825 win percentage.

• Seven of UM's 15 quarterfinal appearances have come under coach Bobby Hauck. Hauck currently sits at 15-10 in the postseason at Montana.

COMIN' IN HOT: Montana enters the quarterfinals as one of the hottest teams in the nation right now as winners of eight straight with five of those wins coming against ranked teams, including a playoff win, a rivalry win over Montana State and a road win at Idaho, also a quarterfinalist.

Including the win over Delaware, the Griz have outscored their last five opponents 194-43, and if you take out the fourth quarter against Idaho have outscored them 214-50. In total, Montana has more than doubled-up its opponents this season with 385 points for, and 178 points against.

• Montana is the only team in the Big Sky Conference to hold its opponents to under 200 points on the season following the second round of playoff games last Saturday.

• Delaware was the first team out of Montana's previous five opponents to put up more than 300 yards of total offense, dating all the way back to the October 28 game against Northern Colorado where the Griz allowed just 94 total yards.

A BLUE HEN BLOWOUT: Here's a few more quick facts about Montana's 49-19 win over Delaware.

• 49 points scored by UM is the highest scoring output for the Griz this season, and the most since beating Eastern Washington 63-7 in November of 2022 and is one of the program's top 10 highest scoring playoff games of all time.

• 49 points is also the same number of points scored by Delaware against the Griz in the only previous meeting between the two, a 49-48 heartbreaking loss for Montana in 1993.

• Montana has relied on a balanced offense this season that is rooted in a strong run game. The Griz outrushed Delaware 203-111 in the snowy conditions last week and improved to 9-0 when outrushing an opponent.

THE LOUDEST FANS IN THE FCS: With the So-Con champion Paladins coming to town, Montana will need Washington-Grizzly Stadium to once again be the loudest venue in FCS football this week.

After two more against Delaware, Griz fans have now helped cause a total of 18 false start penalties on visiting opponents this season.

Furman committed two false starts playing in front of 78,000 fans at South Carolina in September, far in a way the biggest crowd of the year for the Paladins. The second biggest? A 28-14 win over The Citadel at Paladin Stadium in front of 12,157.

Furman is the second-least penalized team in the SoCon with 60 flags thrown against them this season. Montana is 8-0 when committing more penalties than its opponents this season after last week, with UM flagged eight times, and UD seven.

POSESSION, POSESSION, POSESSION: Montana has one of the best turnover margins in the nation at +10 this week after going +1 against Delaware with a Jaxon Lee scoop 'n score and a Corbin Walker pick.

The Griz are No. 9 in the FCS in turnover margin with 21 total takeaways to 11 giveaways, while Furman leads the FCS with a +17 turnover margin.

• Montana's Trevin Gradney picked off his fifth pass of the season against Montana State, he's now tied for second in the FCS for most picks on the year with Furman's Cally Chizik, who also has 5 this season.

• Montana has made the most of their turnovers, scoring 14 points off its two takeaways against Delaware to make its season total 74-30.

• Grizzly quarterback Clifton McDowell has been efficient with the pass this season, throwing only his second interception of the year against Delaware on a deflected ball after 174 attempts. McDowell is undefeated as a starter for the Griz at 9-0 this season.

THE NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME: Montana extends its program record to eight night games this season on Friday with kickoff set for 7 p.m. for the second-straight week against Furman.

Night games have been good to the Griz this season, entering the quarterfinal contest at 7-0 this year.

Games under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium have been especially good to the Griz, with UM going 3-for-3 this season (Ferris State & Sac State) and now sitting at 14-2 in night games since 2011.

Montana has hosted three 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.

Appropriately, win over Delaware was the 37^th against teams from east of the Mississippi in the stadium. Furman (South Carolina) will be the 45^th game against an eastern team and the fourth this season, tied for the most in program history with the 2000 season.

Since the venue opened in 1986, the Griz are 37-7 against teams from back east, and 3-0 so far this season with wins over Butler (Indiana), and Ferris State (Michigan).

MONTANA VS THE SO-CON: The Griz are 1-1 all-time against current members of the Southern Conference with a 2001 win over Furman and a 2007 loss to Wofford but have a rich history against SoCon teams who have moved on.

Montana and Appalachian State played some of the most epic games in Grizzly history when the Mountaineers were in the SoCon, with the Griz holing a 3-1 record in that series. Likewise, Marshall was in the SoCon when the Griz split the 1995 and 1996 national championship games with them, and Georgia Southern butted heads with the Griz three times in the playoffs before moving up.

Established in 1921, the SoCon is the fifth-oldest major college athletic conference in the nation, and lists the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee among its former members.

Furman and The Citadel are the longest standing full members of the SoCon, with both joining the league in 1936 and continuing to this day.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Montana is making some starting milestones this week. Alex Gubner, the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, made his 50^th career start against Delaware to pass the half-century mark. Starting center AJ Forbes will make his 40^th start this week, and TraJon Cotton will make his 30^th.

NICO NAILS 'EM: Kicker Nico Ramos has been money since stepping back into the starting role for the Grizzlies. He's now gone 7-for-7 on field goal attempts and 13-for-13 in PAT attempts after another perfect day against Delaware for a personal haul of 35 points in the last three games.

FAMILIAR FACE: Former Montana quarterback Justin Roper returns to Missoula this week as Furman's Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach. Roper played at Montana in 2009 and 2010 after transferring from Oregon and helped lead the Griz to the 2009 national title game.

After his time at UM, he spent time in the Arena Football League before getting into coaching. He's in his second season at Furman after spending the previous two seasons at Holy Cross where he helped the Crusaders to back-to-back Patriot League Championships and FCS playoff appearances.

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Players Mentioned

TraJon Cotton

AJ Forbes

Trevin Gradney

Alex Gubner

Jaxon Lee

Clifton McDowell

Nico Ramos

Corbin Walker

University of Montana Athletics