Griz open league slate at NAU

The previews are over. It's time for the feature film.

Season two, the season that counts toward a championship, starts on Saturday for the Montana Grizzlies, and they're entering the Big Sky Conference season right where they want to be: 3-0. The only thing better is 4-0.

The Griz look to stay undefeated this week as they head south to Northern Arizona, set to face the Lumberjacks in a clash of two of the longest-serving members of the league in the thin air of Flagstaff.

Montana will look to build on the momentum it gathered by gutting out a 17-10 win over a physical Ferris State to enter the conference season on top of the league standings. The win came on one of the most electric nights Washington-Grizzly Stadium has ever seen, with a sold-out record crowd of nearly 27,000 screaming fans.

After cruising in the first two wins of the season, the gut-check win could be just what the doctor ordered as the Griz face the well-coached team of Chris Ball's Lumberjacks.

Despite an 0-3 start, the Jacks are dangerous, entering the contest with the league's leading receiver in Coleman Owen. The home team will be fired up to defend its home territory as well, coming off a home loss to Utah Tech that saw the Jacks give up five turnovers.

Kickoff from Flagstaff is set for 2 p.m. Montana time, 1 p.m. local time.

TAILGATE WITH THE GRIZ: The Grizzly Scholarship Association will host its first road game tailgate of the season on Saturday, with all Griz fans invited to attend. The GSA tailgate opens at 11 a.m. local time in Flagstaff and is located in parking lot 45, about a 4-minute walk southwest of the Walkup Skydome. Beverages are provided free of charge, but fans are asked to make a donation to the GSA in lieu of payment.

WATCH: Saturday's contest in Flagstaff marks the first game this season to be broadcast free-to-air statewide on the Montana Television Network, originating from KPAX in Missoula. 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 is back to serve as the analyst on the MTN 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 (other than the game at Idaho, shown on ESPN2) will be broadcast around the state on local MTN stations with streaming on ESPN+.

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 MATCHUP: Montana enters Saturday's road showdown on a three-game win streak after dispatching a game Ferris State 17-10 in Missoula last week to come out of the nonconference slate unscathed. NAU, meanwhile, struggled in the OOC season, taking three losses – two on the road and one at home. But all that is behind us.

The Griz enter conference play as a team on the rise, looking to surpass the pundits' expectations of a third-place finish on the league table in the preseason poll and complete a team goal of a 19th Big Sky championship.

NAU enters the game licking their wounds after road losses to the Pac-12's Arizona Wildcats (who the Jacks beat in the 2022 opener) in Tucson and the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks.

More telling, but not an apples-to-apples comparison, was last week's 36-50 Lumberjack loss to Utah Tech in Flagstaff – the same Utah Tech squad the Griz beat 43-13 in St. George two weeks ago. The Jacks turned the ball over five times against the Trailblazers, two of which were returned for touchdowns. That statistic alone would make winning a college football game difficult for any team.

What is known, however, is that NAU head coach Chris Ball's squad fights till the last snap, and Flagstaff is always a challenging environment to play in at 7,000 feet above sea level. With over a half-century of history between these two programs, the Jacks will be ready to start the new season on a high note at home.

THE SERIES: Montana leads the all-time series against NAU 37-14 overall and holds a 17-9 advantage in games played in Flagstaff in a series that dates back to 1966.

The Walkup Skydome opened on Sept. 15, 1977, and the first game played there was a 25-24 win for the Lumberjacks over Montana. Since that day, Montana has only lost five games in Flagstaff, with two occurring in the last decade, 2013 and 2016 – two of the last three meetings.

Another telling stat in the series: UM head coach Bobby Hauck has never lost a game to NAU, entering the contest at 8-0 all-time against the Lumberjacks while coaching the Grizzlies. He's also familiar with the Skydome, having coached the NAU linebackers early in his career in the 1993-1994 seasons.

LAST MEETING: Montana's defense put in one of its most dominant performances of the 2021 season against the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff, leading the Griz to a 30-3 win while allowing just 154 total yards to the home team. In fact, the final score was Montana's offense 16, Montana's defense 14, and Northern Arizona just three points.

Patrick O'Connell and Garret Graves both scored defensive touchdowns, one a fumble recovery and the other an interception return. Justin Ford also added his nation-high eighth interception, marking eight straight games that he has picked off the opposing quarterback.

Robby Hauck lived in the backfield, forcing the fumble on O'Connell's defensive touchdown and finishing with a season-high 14 tackles. Jace Lewis put in a great shift as well, recording 10 tackles, two sacks and four tackles for loss.

Northern Arizona never entered the red zone against the Grizzlies and converted just 4-of-19 third downs. The Lumberjacks picked up a large chunk of their yards on a fake punt, as the offense managed just 129 yards outside of that play.

All told, the Grizzlies outgained the Lumberjacks 427-154 and picked up 13 more first downs than their opponents. The Grizzlies primarily used the passing attack offensively, as Cam Humphrey threw for 280 yards while completing 57 percent of his passes. It was, surprisingly, Montana's first win in Flagstaff in a decade.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana held firm at No. 11 in this week's AFCA FCS Coaches poll with 353 points, just four ahead of New Hampshire, who was tied with the Griz at No. 11 last week.

In the Stats Perform media poll, UM dropped a spot to No. 13, the fifth of five undefeated teams in this week's top-25.

The Big Sky Conference once again placed six teams in the Stats Perform Top 25 this week, with Montana State (3), Sacramento State (4), Idaho (7), Weber State (10) and UC Davis (15) making the cut. Eastern Washington also received votes in the poll after a win over Southeastern Louisiana.

• Montana will face four of the six ranked Big Sky teams in this year's conference slate, having to travel to face UC Davis and Idaho but getting home-field advantage against Sac State and MSU. 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 31 consecutive weeks, tied for the third-longest streak in the subdivision. Only North Dakota State (176 weeks) and South Dakota State (148 weeks) have been in longer.

• The Griz were picked to finish third by the league's media and sixth by the coaches at the annual Big Sky Kickoff in the league's annual preseason polls, announced in July from the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane. Montana State was selected to win the title race in both polls.

• Montana moved up a spot to No. 6 in the FCS in this week's Massey Ratings, a computer-generated raking system for all D-I teams. Sac St. (3), Weber St. (5), MSU (7), Idaho (8), and UC Davis (9) are the other Big Sky teams making up the top 10, and all except Weber appear on Montana's schedule this season.

///GRIZ TRACKS///

SATURDAYS STARS: Braxton Hill was dominant in Montana's win over Ferris State, posting a career-high 15 tackles (8 solo), and two big sacks for a combined loss of 20 yards to the visitors. One of those sacks looked like it would go down on the stat sheet as a forced fumble that led to a scoop-n-score TD from Tyler Flink but was eventually called back when the FSU QB was ruled down before the ball came out.

The senior from Anaconda's 15 stops are the most of any player in the Big Sky Conference so far this season and the most for the Griz since Marcus Welnel tallied 16 against Idaho in 2022.

For his effort, he was given an honorable mention for the Stats Perform National FCS Defensive Player of the Week and earned Montana's nomination for the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week. He sits at No. 3 in the Big Sky it total tackles this week with 65 to his name.

Hill has shined particularly bright under the lights, with his previous personal best of 14 stops in a single game coming against SEMO in a 2022 playoff night game.

• Offense: Freshman running back Eli Gillman was strong once again in the ground game for Montana, totaling 78 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries to average 4.1 yards per tote against Ferris State to earn Montana's nomination for Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week.

In his second-straight game with exactly 78 rush yards, he's now totaled 275 yards on 54 carries this year, an average of over 5 per run. He's also been a primary scoring threat for the Griz with 4 TDs.

Gillman currently ranks in the top 10 nationally and fourth in the league with those four rushing TDs and is second in the Big Sky in total rushing yards with his 2755 total.

• Special Teams:
Junior Bergen played a key role in setting Montana's offense up for success in the punt return game. The junior from Billings returned three FSU punts for 51 yards with a long of 33, putting two into the visitor's territory, two of which led to the game-winning touchdowns for the Griz. His effort led to Montana's nomination for the league's special teams Player of the Week award.

Bergen is one of just 12 players around the country who have returned a punt for a TD this season. He leads the league and slots in No. 7 nationally, averaging 18 yards per return as well.

RATING THE RANKINGS: Here are some quick-hits on how Montana is stacking up around the FCS and Big Sky.

• Montana enters Saturday's contest in Flagstaff with the best red zone defense in the nation, allowing opponents to score enter the UM 20 just seven times, with only four scores coming away from those trips.

• Similarly, the Griz lead the league and are top-nine nationally in rushing defense and scoring defense. The Griz have allowed an average of just 91 yards on the ground over three games (compared to their own 192-yard average) and are allowing an average of just 14 points per game (compared to their own 32 yards per-game average).

• UM is also getting stops when it matters with the best third-down conversion defense in the Big Sky and 12th best in the FCS, allowing teams to convert just 26 percent of their third downs. The Griz allowed just five of 15 third downs against the Bulldogs last week but converted just 6 of their 13 opportunities.

TURNOVERS MATTER: You can't win a game if you don't have the ball, and Montana has had plenty of it so far this season.

The Griz remain +3 in the turnover differential this week after holding even against FSU with a 1-to-1 ratio. It's the second-best turnover margin in the Big Sky and a top-20 mark nationally.

• Cornerback Trevin Gradney has been a no-fly zone in his first season as a starter. The junior from Billings has been a big reason the Griz are +3 in the turnover ratio, collecting three interceptions in as many games and forcing a fumble at Utah Tech.

He leads the Big Sky and is tied for second nationally with one pick in each of UM's first three games, and also leads the conference in passes defended, averaging nearly two per game.

MAKE 'EM COUNT: After Ferris State scored a TD following their lone interception last week, UM's opponents are just one point behind them in the points off turnover comparison. The Griz have scored 24 points this season off their 7 total takeaways, and opponents have scored 23 off their 4 total takeaways.

BEAT THE EAST: Montana is now 36-7 all-time against teams from east of the Mississippi River inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium after knocking off Butler (IN) and Ferris State (MI) to start the year. It's a .837 win percentage that won't change until the possibility of a home playoff enters the picture.

THE NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME: The Griz improved to 12-2 all-time in night games played in Washington-Grizzly Stadium last week. UM is playing two regular season home night games this season (Ferris St. and Sac St.) and six overall on the year. Two of Montana's three games so far have been night games, with Utah Tech kicking off at 7 p.m.

HAUCK'S RECORD: Montana's win over Ferris State moves Coach Hauck one game closer to becoming the Big Sky Conference's winningest coach of all time. At 119-34 overall at UM he needs just 5 victories to break the overall win record set by former Northern Arizona head coach (and longtime UM assistant) Jerome Souers (123).

With a 67-18 conference record, Hauck also has the chance to move up the Big Sky win's ladder, needing two more in league play to pass Nevada Hall of Famer Chris Ault at No. 3 on the league's win list. He's chasing Tim Walsh (Portland State/Cal Poly) who posted 74 wins, and Souers, who totaled 85 conference wins. Montana opens league play on Sept. 23 at NAU.

MORE MILESTONES: Hauck heads to Flagstaff looking for his 40th win at UM since returning to coach the Griz in 2018. A win over NAU would also give him a nice, round, 120 overall wins as the Grizzly head coach in combined tenures.

QUICK HITS: Montana has remained a primarily first-half scoring team, outscoring opponents 60-16 in the first 30 minutes so far this year. After a 14-point scoring spree against FSU, the Griz have outscored opponents 28-14 in the third quarter. In the first two games when Montana's twos and threes were on the field, the Griz have been outscored 13-7 in the fourth.

• UM hasn't trailed in the first quarter yet this season, and trailed for the first time at halftime this year against Ferris State when the visitors took a 10-3 lead into the locker room.

JACK STATS: The Lumberjacks lost starting 2022 QB RJ Martinez to the transfer portal, who completed a Big Sky-best 294 passes for 2,877 yards and 16 touchdowns last season before moving on to Baylor last year.

There to replace him is incumbent starting QB Kai Millner, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Cal who leads the Jacks in passing with 458 yards on a near-60 percent completion rate, averaging 153 yards per contest.

Millner splits time with freshman Adam Damante, who came off the bench for Millner and completed 22 of 31 passes for 247 yards, two TDs, and two picks against Utah Tech last week in his second appearance of the year.

Also on the roster at QB is former Grizzly Daniel Britt, who hasn't seen any action so far with his new team.

No matter who's under center, their favorite target has been receiver Owen Coleman, who leads the Big Sky with an average of 87 yards per game, 261 total on 18 catches.

Defensively, the Griz will look to key on D-lineman Eloi Kwete, a preseason all-conference pick who was second in the league sacks last year behind Patrick O'Connell with seven.

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Players Mentioned

Junior Bergen

Daniel Britt

Tyler Flink

Justin Ford

Eli Gillman

Trevin Gradney

Robby Hauck

Braxton Hill

Patrick O'Connell

Marcus Welnel

University of Montana Athletics