Saturday, November 30
Missoula, Mont.
8:15 PM
Montana
vs
Tennessee State
Photo by: John Sieber via UM Athletics
“Second season” starts for Griz as Montana hosts Tennessee State
11/26/2024 8:54:00 PM | Football
The second season start now for the Montana Grizzlies as 24 teams from around the nation begin anew at 0-0 in the 2024 edition of the FCS playoffs.
Montana enters the postseason for a record 28th time on Saturday night, under the lights in Washington-Grizzly Stadium as the Griz host Tennessee State in a first-time meeting in the opening round of the tournament.
On the heels of 2023's magical championship run, the Griz enter the 2024 postseason perhaps not where they wanted to be at 8-4. But as an old lottery commercial once said, "you gotta' be in it to win it," and all Montana needs is a shot.
Griz fans will remember back to one of the most memorable games in program history with Montana defeated North Dakota State on a foggy December night in Washington-Grizzly Stadium in the FCS Semifinal.
Well, that year the Bison entered the playoffs in virtually the same situation as this year's Griz, sitting at 8-3 and outside of a top seed, faced with hosting Drake in the first round of the tournament. Not a position they were used to being in. But playoff football is all about catching fire at the right time, and NDSU rattled off three-straight wins, including two road wins in Bozeman and Vermillion to earn a trip to Missoula, where they were a two-point conversion away from earning a third-straight road win. They got in, and dang-near won the thing.
But that was then, and this is now. Montana returns to action this week, licking its wounds from a rivalry loss, but still with everything to play for as the Tigers (9-3) come to Missoula looking for an upset.
The Griz have history on their side and one of the winningest coaches in playoff history on their sideline (more on both those points later), not to mention a team thirsty to put together a complete for perhaps the first time this season. What better time to do it than when the eyes of the nation are fixed on Missoula.
Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets cost $35 for the general public and are free to UM students.
WATCH: The eyes of the nation descend on Washington-Grizzly Stadium again this week, with "The Deuce" – ESPN 2 – broadcasting the game to millions of households around the country. It marks the second time this season the Griz have played on ESPN 2. It is also the only game in the first two rounds of the FCS Playoffs to be shown nationwide on an ESPN linear network. A nationwide stream of the game is also available on ESPN+.
Roxy Bernstein, a long-time multi-sport broadcaster and former broadcast partner of legendary Griz basketball coach Mike Montgomery, will have the play-by-play call of the game. Former NFL quarterback Jay Walker will serve as analyst.
LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran is in his ninth season behind the mic at Montana and will bring you all the Grizzly action over the airwaves on the Grizzly Sports Radio Network and its fourteen affiliate stations around the state.
"Grizzly Gameday" starts two hours before kickoff each Saturday with the official pregame radio show with Ace Sauerwein, former Grizzly Sammy Akem, and Denny Bedard before Corcoran and longtime color commentator Greg Sundberg take over 30 minutes to kickoff. Fans can watch the pregame show live on stage at the GSA tailgate party.
Griz fans outside the radio footprint can stream all of Montana's broadcasts on their mobile device LIVE and FREE of charge on the Varsity Network App and GoGriz.com/Listen.
FAMILIAR FACES: Football fans, especially those of the mid '90s to early '00s vintage, will be very familiar with TSU head coach Eddie George, who won the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State in 1995 as a running back before going on to be the NFL Rookie of the Year the following season with the Houston Oilers, who moved to Nashville in 1997. He started every game for the Titans through 2003, made the Pro Bowl four consecutive years, and helped lead them to an appearance in the 2000 Super Bowl. George returned to Nashville to coach Tennessee State in 2021.
Likely more familiar to Griz fans, however, is TSU defensive coordinator Brandon Fisher, who was a two-year starter for the Grizzlies at outside linebacker from 2006-2009 during Hauck's first term. Fisher appeared in 53 games as a four-year letterman and racked up 169 career tackles, 8.5 TFLs, and 10 pass breakups for the Griz, helping lead the team to a pair of FCS Championship games.
After graduating from Montana with a degree in business administration, Fisher started coaching under his dad Jeff Fisher, at the time the Tennessee Titan's head coach. He's since coached for the Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, and in the college ranks at Southern Utah and Auburn.
THE GAME: Montana is set to make a record 28th all-time appearance in the NCAA D-I postseason (1-AA/FCS) on Saturday and will play in the first round of the tournament for the 23rd time overall and for just the fourth time in the last decade.
The Griz have won four of their last six games and finished the year with two uncharacteristic losses at home this season at 5-2 in Missoula.
Here's a mouthful of Tiger bites to get you primed for the opponent.
• Tennessee State heads to Missoula ranked No. 19 in the latest FCS coaches poll and No. 21 in the latest FCS media poll, coming off a 28-21 win over then-No. 12 SEMO.
• TSU was named the Stats Perform HBCU+ National Team of the Week on Monday. The Tigers earned a share of the Big South-OVC Football Association championship – their first conference title since 1999. The two-time HBCU+ Team of the Week never trailed in the win, with Draylen Ellis accounting for 278 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Freshman linebacker Sanders Ellis had eight tackles (two solos) and two pass breakups, while defensive end Keandre Booker scored on a 22-yard fumble recovery.
• Eddie George was named a finalist for the 2024 Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year Award on Monday after leading the Tigers to a share of their first conference title since 1999 and first playoff bid since 2013 in his 4th season at TSU with a 9-3 overall record. He's one of 15 finalists for the award. Big Sky coaches Tim Plough (UC Davis) and Brent Vigen (MSU) were also named finalists. Bobby Hauck was a finalist in 2023. George was also named the Big South/OVC Coach of the Year on Tuesday.
• Tiger defensive back Jalen McLendon, a 6-0, 180-pound junior, was named one of 35 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award on Tuesday. McClendon has logged 53 tackles (45 solo) this season, with 12 pass breakups, 1 INT, and 1 TFL.
• Eddie George's son Eriq George is also one of TSU's top defenders this year. The sophomore D-lineman has 49 total tackles, a team-high 12 TFLs, and 5.5 sacks.
POSTESEASON PARTICULARS: Montana enters Saturday's game with a 38-25 (.603) overall playoff record, and an incredible 35-7 (.833) record in playoff games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Bobby Hauck is 17-11 in the postseason during his 13 years at Montana.
• Montana enters the postseason as the second-winningest FCS team of the 20th century, holding a 234-80 record since the year 2000. Only NDSU has more wins in that time, with 235 victories since 2004. Eastern Washington has the second-most wins among Big Sky foes in that time frame with 189, and Montana State has the third-most with 182. South Dakota State, who the Griz could face next week with a win on Saturday, also has 182.
• Montana has played five nationally ranked teams at the time of the game this season, and No. 19/21 TSU will be the fifth. Since week one, Missouri State also finished its season at No. 21 in the coaches poll with an 8-4 record, giving the Griz six ranked opponents this year. UM is 3-3 against those six ranked teams. Overall, Montana capped the regular season at 4-2 against teams who finished with a winning record, with the only two losses to UC Davis and MSU.
THE SERIES: While Saturday's game marks the first meeting between Montana and Tennessee State, the Griz do have a short history of playing against other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This will be only the fourth all-time meeting against an HBCU for Montana, and the first for a Bobby Hauck-led Griz team.
The last meeting between UM and an HBCU was in 2017 when the Griz hosted Savannah State in a nonconference game – a 56-3 win for Montana. UM played another HBCU the year prior in 2016 when Mississippi Valley State came to Missoula in the nonconference portion of the schedule – a 67-7 win for the Griz. The first time UM played an HBCU was in the then-1-AA playoffs in 1989 when Jackson State visited Missoula, with the Griz taking a 48-7 win.
The Griz have won those three previous games by a combined score of 171-17.
///GRIZ TRACKS///
GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana slipped to lucky No. 13 in both the FCS media and coaches polls this week and received the No. 14 seed in the postseason from the FCS Playoff Committee. The Griz are the top-ranked 8-4 team in the country. Tennessee State comes to Missoula ranked No. 19 in the coaches poll and No. 21 in the media poll at 9-3 on the year, and were an at-large team in the playoffs.
This week's FCS polls will be the last until the end of the season, following the FCS championship game on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
RECORD WATCH: Montana's two-headed monster of a rushing attack led by Eli Gillman and Nick Ostmo, has continued to produce at a record pace – one of UM's longest-standing records at that.
• With 2,412 yards rushing on 431 attempts, the Griz are averaging the second-most yards per carry in the Big Sky again this week at 5.59 per tote after a slow day rushing at MSU. That's still on pace to break a long-standing school record of 5.56 yards per carry, set all the way back in 1954 (2,114 yards on 380 attempts).
• Gillman, at one point in the season one of the top two rushers per carry in all D-I football, is still one of the tops in the FCS, this week ranked fifth in the subdivision in yards per carry with 6.98. The sophomore led UM at MSU in rushing with 35 net yards and the only TD of the day for the Griz on 10 carries. With that TD, he moved up Montana's record books and is inching closer to becoming one of the top rushers in program history.
Now with 1989 career rushing yards, Gillman passed Peter Nguyen's career total last week to move to No. 9 in Griz history in total rushing. He enters the playoffs needing just 11 more rush yards to hit the 2,000 mark. Only seven other Grizzlies in program history have rushed for 2,000 yards in their careers.
He also now has 956 rush yards this season and needs just 13 more to pass his 2023 total of 968, and 44 more to hit the 1,000 mark. Only 13 other Grizzlies have rushed for 1,000+ yards in a season, and Gillman would be the first to do it since 2019 when Marcus Knight (who recently signed with the Bay Area indoor football team) ran for 1,030, and Jordan Canada before him who ran for 1,207 in 2014.
• Gillman's TD at MSU has tied him with Ostmo and three other Grizzly greats at No. 8 on UM's career total touchdowns list, with both entering the playoffs with 28 to their name. That total of 28 is tied with Hall of Famer Joe Douglass, Shalon Baker "the touchdown maker", and Jody Farmer. Both will now need one more TD to tie Sammy Akem's career total of 29 and five more to tie Marc Mariani's career total of 33.
Both have also scored 168 career points as Grizzlies, a combined 336 points between them. For context, Montana, as a team, has scored a total of 408 points this season, while opponents have scored just 300 against UM.
HAUCK HISTORY: Bobby Hauck is seeking his 18th career playoff win on Saturday against Tennessee State and will be making his 12th appearance in the FCS playoffs as Montana's head coach.
• A win for the Griz would make Hauck the winningest active coach in FCS postseason history, passing UNI's Mark Farley (who also has 17 wins but is not participating in this year's tournament). A win would also tie Hauck with former NDSU head man Chris Kleiman (who went 18-1 in five postseason appearances) and SDSU's John Stiegelmeier who retired at 18-11 in the postseason after winning a national title.
Legendary Youngstown State coach Jim Tressel holds the record for most 1-AA/FCS postseason wins with 23, making Hauck 7 playoff wins away from becoming the winningest overall coach in the history of the tournament.
Winningest Coaches in 1-AA/FCS Postseason History
*= Active
• Hauck also finishes the 2024 regular season with 137 career wins at Montana. He's now the No. 4 winningest active head coach in the FCS today.
Most Career Wins as an FCS Head Coach (active)
• With the loss at MSU last week, Hauck finishes the 2024 regular season with 79 career wins in Big Sky Conferece play – the second most in league history. He will enter the 2025 season needing 7 more league wins to pass Jerome Souers' total of 85 at NAU to become both the winningest overall coach and winningest coach in league play in Big Sky history.
Hauck also enters the postseason with an incredible .774 winning percentage as Montana's head coach. Last week's loss at MSU was just his 40th in 177 contests with the Grizzlies, carrying a 137-40 record in 13 seasons. Including his time at UNLV, Hauck recently celebrated his 150th career victory overall, and currently holds a 152-89 (.631) record as a college football head coach.
BERGEN BITES: Junior Bergen is also etching his name all over Montana's record books. Not only is he also among Montana's all-time leaders in total touchdowns with 25 and already a record-holder for most punt return TDs in Big Sky history, his versatility places him among UM's all-time leaders in all-purpose yards.
He enters the postseason – home of some of his most electric moments – with 4,220 career all-purpose yards, needing 330 more to pass Levendar Seagars and move into UM's top-five all-time in the category.
POSSESSION, POSSESSION, POSSESSION: You can't win without the ball, and Montana is holding onto possession at a record rate as the Griz head to the postseason.
UM is currently +7 in the turnover margin – the best rate in the Big Sky and a top 25 mark nationwide. The Griz have totaled 17 takeaways while suffering just 10 giveaways (6 INTs, 4 fumbles) – to date, the fewest giveaways in modern program history. Montana's previous record low giveaway total was 11 in 2014 (7 INTs, 4 fumbles), and before that had never given up fewer than five fumbles in a season since 1990.
Montana has also been making the most of its turnovers, scoring 50 points off takeaways and giving up only 10 points to giveaways.
STOPS WHEN IT MATTERS: Montana's defense has been getting stops when it matters this season as the Griz lead the nation in 4th down conversion defense. Against 18 attempts, UM's opponents have only managed to convert on four 4th down attempts, a .222 percentage.
Conversely, UM is second in the Big Sky in offensive 4th down conversions, moving the chains 14 times on 25 attempts.
Montana is also top four in the Big Sky in third down defense, allowing teams to convert just 38 percent of the time (60/157).
FIFE FACTS: Quarterback Logan Fife, despite not starting nearly half of the season, is closing in on one of UM's best years ever in the "touchdowns responsible for" category – a combination of passing and rushing TDs. With three passing and one more rushing against Portland State, he's now got 21 TDs this year and needs five more to rank among the program's top 15 of all time.
FALSE START FRENZY: Montana returns home this week and welcomes TSU into one of the loudest environments in FCS football. The Grizzly faithful have helped cause opponents to jump for a false start penalty a total of 21 times this season. In 2023, opponents totaled 26 false starts, with 10 of those coming in the playoffs (NDSU famously jumped five times).
With the second season starting on Saturday, Griz fans have a chance to break last year's record.
COWBOY UP: Junior safety Jace Klucewich – a rancher at the family spread near Frenchtown in his spare time – is in the midst of the best two-month stretch of his career. Not only has he started four of the last five games (his first four career starts), he's picked-off four passes this season, three of which have come in the last month.
He was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career last week with two picks at the goal line and a near-solo goal line stand against Portland State.
His season total of four picks leads the Big Sky and is tied for the eighth most in the FCS.
HARRIS' HITS: Despite only playing in his second year at Montana, defensive end Hayden Harris has already entered Montana's top 30 list of all-time leaders in tackles for loss. Harris enters the week ranked third in the Big Sky and top 15 nationally with 15 TFLs this season, and with 19.5 on his career ranks No. 30 all time at UM. He's also totaled 7.5 sacks this season, enough to rank him third in the league and top 25 in the FCS.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: With the conclusion of the regular season, the Montana Grizzlies capped the year with six Big Sky Player of the Week honorees. It's the most for the Griz in a single season since seven got honored in 2019 and six before that in 2015. Only five Grizzlies earned a weekly honor in the 2023 championship season. Montana's record for most player of the week honorees in a season is 12, set in 2011.
This year's players of the week are:
Special Teams: Ty Morrison (Missouri St. 8/31), Junior Bergen (Cal Poly, 11/2)
Offensive: Eli Gillman (W. Carolina 9/21), Logan Fife (EWU 9/28)
Defensive: Jaxon Lee (UNC 10/26), Jace Klucewich (PSU 11/16)
Montana enters the postseason for a record 28th time on Saturday night, under the lights in Washington-Grizzly Stadium as the Griz host Tennessee State in a first-time meeting in the opening round of the tournament.
On the heels of 2023's magical championship run, the Griz enter the 2024 postseason perhaps not where they wanted to be at 8-4. But as an old lottery commercial once said, "you gotta' be in it to win it," and all Montana needs is a shot.
Griz fans will remember back to one of the most memorable games in program history with Montana defeated North Dakota State on a foggy December night in Washington-Grizzly Stadium in the FCS Semifinal.
Well, that year the Bison entered the playoffs in virtually the same situation as this year's Griz, sitting at 8-3 and outside of a top seed, faced with hosting Drake in the first round of the tournament. Not a position they were used to being in. But playoff football is all about catching fire at the right time, and NDSU rattled off three-straight wins, including two road wins in Bozeman and Vermillion to earn a trip to Missoula, where they were a two-point conversion away from earning a third-straight road win. They got in, and dang-near won the thing.
But that was then, and this is now. Montana returns to action this week, licking its wounds from a rivalry loss, but still with everything to play for as the Tigers (9-3) come to Missoula looking for an upset.
The Griz have history on their side and one of the winningest coaches in playoff history on their sideline (more on both those points later), not to mention a team thirsty to put together a complete for perhaps the first time this season. What better time to do it than when the eyes of the nation are fixed on Missoula.
Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets cost $35 for the general public and are free to UM students.
WATCH: The eyes of the nation descend on Washington-Grizzly Stadium again this week, with "The Deuce" – ESPN 2 – broadcasting the game to millions of households around the country. It marks the second time this season the Griz have played on ESPN 2. It is also the only game in the first two rounds of the FCS Playoffs to be shown nationwide on an ESPN linear network. A nationwide stream of the game is also available on ESPN+.
Roxy Bernstein, a long-time multi-sport broadcaster and former broadcast partner of legendary Griz basketball coach Mike Montgomery, will have the play-by-play call of the game. Former NFL quarterback Jay Walker will serve as analyst.
LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran is in his ninth season behind the mic at Montana and will bring you all the Grizzly action over the airwaves on the Grizzly Sports Radio Network and its fourteen affiliate stations around the state.
"Grizzly Gameday" starts two hours before kickoff each Saturday with the official pregame radio show with Ace Sauerwein, former Grizzly Sammy Akem, and Denny Bedard before Corcoran and longtime color commentator Greg Sundberg take over 30 minutes to kickoff. Fans can watch the pregame show live on stage at the GSA tailgate party.
Griz fans outside the radio footprint can stream all of Montana's broadcasts on their mobile device LIVE and FREE of charge on the Varsity Network App and GoGriz.com/Listen.
FAMILIAR FACES: Football fans, especially those of the mid '90s to early '00s vintage, will be very familiar with TSU head coach Eddie George, who won the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State in 1995 as a running back before going on to be the NFL Rookie of the Year the following season with the Houston Oilers, who moved to Nashville in 1997. He started every game for the Titans through 2003, made the Pro Bowl four consecutive years, and helped lead them to an appearance in the 2000 Super Bowl. George returned to Nashville to coach Tennessee State in 2021.
Likely more familiar to Griz fans, however, is TSU defensive coordinator Brandon Fisher, who was a two-year starter for the Grizzlies at outside linebacker from 2006-2009 during Hauck's first term. Fisher appeared in 53 games as a four-year letterman and racked up 169 career tackles, 8.5 TFLs, and 10 pass breakups for the Griz, helping lead the team to a pair of FCS Championship games.
After graduating from Montana with a degree in business administration, Fisher started coaching under his dad Jeff Fisher, at the time the Tennessee Titan's head coach. He's since coached for the Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, and in the college ranks at Southern Utah and Auburn.
THE GAME: Montana is set to make a record 28th all-time appearance in the NCAA D-I postseason (1-AA/FCS) on Saturday and will play in the first round of the tournament for the 23rd time overall and for just the fourth time in the last decade.
The Griz have won four of their last six games and finished the year with two uncharacteristic losses at home this season at 5-2 in Missoula.
Here's a mouthful of Tiger bites to get you primed for the opponent.
• Tennessee State heads to Missoula ranked No. 19 in the latest FCS coaches poll and No. 21 in the latest FCS media poll, coming off a 28-21 win over then-No. 12 SEMO.
• TSU was named the Stats Perform HBCU+ National Team of the Week on Monday. The Tigers earned a share of the Big South-OVC Football Association championship – their first conference title since 1999. The two-time HBCU+ Team of the Week never trailed in the win, with Draylen Ellis accounting for 278 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Freshman linebacker Sanders Ellis had eight tackles (two solos) and two pass breakups, while defensive end Keandre Booker scored on a 22-yard fumble recovery.
• Eddie George was named a finalist for the 2024 Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year Award on Monday after leading the Tigers to a share of their first conference title since 1999 and first playoff bid since 2013 in his 4th season at TSU with a 9-3 overall record. He's one of 15 finalists for the award. Big Sky coaches Tim Plough (UC Davis) and Brent Vigen (MSU) were also named finalists. Bobby Hauck was a finalist in 2023. George was also named the Big South/OVC Coach of the Year on Tuesday.
• Tiger defensive back Jalen McLendon, a 6-0, 180-pound junior, was named one of 35 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award on Tuesday. McClendon has logged 53 tackles (45 solo) this season, with 12 pass breakups, 1 INT, and 1 TFL.
• Eddie George's son Eriq George is also one of TSU's top defenders this year. The sophomore D-lineman has 49 total tackles, a team-high 12 TFLs, and 5.5 sacks.
POSTESEASON PARTICULARS: Montana enters Saturday's game with a 38-25 (.603) overall playoff record, and an incredible 35-7 (.833) record in playoff games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Bobby Hauck is 17-11 in the postseason during his 13 years at Montana.
• Montana enters the postseason as the second-winningest FCS team of the 20th century, holding a 234-80 record since the year 2000. Only NDSU has more wins in that time, with 235 victories since 2004. Eastern Washington has the second-most wins among Big Sky foes in that time frame with 189, and Montana State has the third-most with 182. South Dakota State, who the Griz could face next week with a win on Saturday, also has 182.
• Montana has played five nationally ranked teams at the time of the game this season, and No. 19/21 TSU will be the fifth. Since week one, Missouri State also finished its season at No. 21 in the coaches poll with an 8-4 record, giving the Griz six ranked opponents this year. UM is 3-3 against those six ranked teams. Overall, Montana capped the regular season at 4-2 against teams who finished with a winning record, with the only two losses to UC Davis and MSU.
THE SERIES: While Saturday's game marks the first meeting between Montana and Tennessee State, the Griz do have a short history of playing against other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This will be only the fourth all-time meeting against an HBCU for Montana, and the first for a Bobby Hauck-led Griz team.
The last meeting between UM and an HBCU was in 2017 when the Griz hosted Savannah State in a nonconference game – a 56-3 win for Montana. UM played another HBCU the year prior in 2016 when Mississippi Valley State came to Missoula in the nonconference portion of the schedule – a 67-7 win for the Griz. The first time UM played an HBCU was in the then-1-AA playoffs in 1989 when Jackson State visited Missoula, with the Griz taking a 48-7 win.
The Griz have won those three previous games by a combined score of 171-17.
///GRIZ TRACKS///
GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana slipped to lucky No. 13 in both the FCS media and coaches polls this week and received the No. 14 seed in the postseason from the FCS Playoff Committee. The Griz are the top-ranked 8-4 team in the country. Tennessee State comes to Missoula ranked No. 19 in the coaches poll and No. 21 in the media poll at 9-3 on the year, and were an at-large team in the playoffs.
This week's FCS polls will be the last until the end of the season, following the FCS championship game on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
RECORD WATCH: Montana's two-headed monster of a rushing attack led by Eli Gillman and Nick Ostmo, has continued to produce at a record pace – one of UM's longest-standing records at that.
• With 2,412 yards rushing on 431 attempts, the Griz are averaging the second-most yards per carry in the Big Sky again this week at 5.59 per tote after a slow day rushing at MSU. That's still on pace to break a long-standing school record of 5.56 yards per carry, set all the way back in 1954 (2,114 yards on 380 attempts).
• Gillman, at one point in the season one of the top two rushers per carry in all D-I football, is still one of the tops in the FCS, this week ranked fifth in the subdivision in yards per carry with 6.98. The sophomore led UM at MSU in rushing with 35 net yards and the only TD of the day for the Griz on 10 carries. With that TD, he moved up Montana's record books and is inching closer to becoming one of the top rushers in program history.
Now with 1989 career rushing yards, Gillman passed Peter Nguyen's career total last week to move to No. 9 in Griz history in total rushing. He enters the playoffs needing just 11 more rush yards to hit the 2,000 mark. Only seven other Grizzlies in program history have rushed for 2,000 yards in their careers.
He also now has 956 rush yards this season and needs just 13 more to pass his 2023 total of 968, and 44 more to hit the 1,000 mark. Only 13 other Grizzlies have rushed for 1,000+ yards in a season, and Gillman would be the first to do it since 2019 when Marcus Knight (who recently signed with the Bay Area indoor football team) ran for 1,030, and Jordan Canada before him who ran for 1,207 in 2014.
• Gillman's TD at MSU has tied him with Ostmo and three other Grizzly greats at No. 8 on UM's career total touchdowns list, with both entering the playoffs with 28 to their name. That total of 28 is tied with Hall of Famer Joe Douglass, Shalon Baker "the touchdown maker", and Jody Farmer. Both will now need one more TD to tie Sammy Akem's career total of 29 and five more to tie Marc Mariani's career total of 33.
Both have also scored 168 career points as Grizzlies, a combined 336 points between them. For context, Montana, as a team, has scored a total of 408 points this season, while opponents have scored just 300 against UM.
HAUCK HISTORY: Bobby Hauck is seeking his 18th career playoff win on Saturday against Tennessee State and will be making his 12th appearance in the FCS playoffs as Montana's head coach.
• A win for the Griz would make Hauck the winningest active coach in FCS postseason history, passing UNI's Mark Farley (who also has 17 wins but is not participating in this year's tournament). A win would also tie Hauck with former NDSU head man Chris Kleiman (who went 18-1 in five postseason appearances) and SDSU's John Stiegelmeier who retired at 18-11 in the postseason after winning a national title.
Legendary Youngstown State coach Jim Tressel holds the record for most 1-AA/FCS postseason wins with 23, making Hauck 7 playoff wins away from becoming the winningest overall coach in the history of the tournament.
Winningest Coaches in 1-AA/FCS Postseason History
| Coach | Team | W | L |
| Jim Tressel | Youngstown St. | 23 | 6 |
| Jerry Moore | Appalachian St | 22 | 15 |
| John Stiegelmeier | South Dakota St. | 18 | 11 |
| Chris Klieman | North Dakota St. | 18 | 1 |
| Bobby Hauck* | Montana | 17 | 11 |
| Mark Farley* | Northern Iowa | 17 | 13 |
| Erk Russell | Georgia Southern | 16 | 2 |
| Roy Kidd | Eastern Kentucky | 16 | 15 |
| Matt Entz | North Dakota St. | 15 | 3 |
| Jim Donnan | Marshall | 15 | 4 |
• Hauck also finishes the 2024 regular season with 137 career wins at Montana. He's now the No. 4 winningest active head coach in the FCS today.
Most Career Wins as an FCS Head Coach (active)
| Wins | Coach | Team | Seasons |
| 188 | Kevin Callahan | Monmouth | 31 |
| 183 | Mark Farley | UNI | 23 |
| 151 | Greg Gattuso | Albany | 22 |
| 137 | Bobby Hauck | Montana | 13 |
| 127 | Danny Rocco | VMI | 17 |
• With the loss at MSU last week, Hauck finishes the 2024 regular season with 79 career wins in Big Sky Conferece play – the second most in league history. He will enter the 2025 season needing 7 more league wins to pass Jerome Souers' total of 85 at NAU to become both the winningest overall coach and winningest coach in league play in Big Sky history.
Hauck also enters the postseason with an incredible .774 winning percentage as Montana's head coach. Last week's loss at MSU was just his 40th in 177 contests with the Grizzlies, carrying a 137-40 record in 13 seasons. Including his time at UNLV, Hauck recently celebrated his 150th career victory overall, and currently holds a 152-89 (.631) record as a college football head coach.
BERGEN BITES: Junior Bergen is also etching his name all over Montana's record books. Not only is he also among Montana's all-time leaders in total touchdowns with 25 and already a record-holder for most punt return TDs in Big Sky history, his versatility places him among UM's all-time leaders in all-purpose yards.
He enters the postseason – home of some of his most electric moments – with 4,220 career all-purpose yards, needing 330 more to pass Levendar Seagars and move into UM's top-five all-time in the category.
POSSESSION, POSSESSION, POSSESSION: You can't win without the ball, and Montana is holding onto possession at a record rate as the Griz head to the postseason.
UM is currently +7 in the turnover margin – the best rate in the Big Sky and a top 25 mark nationwide. The Griz have totaled 17 takeaways while suffering just 10 giveaways (6 INTs, 4 fumbles) – to date, the fewest giveaways in modern program history. Montana's previous record low giveaway total was 11 in 2014 (7 INTs, 4 fumbles), and before that had never given up fewer than five fumbles in a season since 1990.
Montana has also been making the most of its turnovers, scoring 50 points off takeaways and giving up only 10 points to giveaways.
STOPS WHEN IT MATTERS: Montana's defense has been getting stops when it matters this season as the Griz lead the nation in 4th down conversion defense. Against 18 attempts, UM's opponents have only managed to convert on four 4th down attempts, a .222 percentage.
Conversely, UM is second in the Big Sky in offensive 4th down conversions, moving the chains 14 times on 25 attempts.
Montana is also top four in the Big Sky in third down defense, allowing teams to convert just 38 percent of the time (60/157).
FIFE FACTS: Quarterback Logan Fife, despite not starting nearly half of the season, is closing in on one of UM's best years ever in the "touchdowns responsible for" category – a combination of passing and rushing TDs. With three passing and one more rushing against Portland State, he's now got 21 TDs this year and needs five more to rank among the program's top 15 of all time.
FALSE START FRENZY: Montana returns home this week and welcomes TSU into one of the loudest environments in FCS football. The Grizzly faithful have helped cause opponents to jump for a false start penalty a total of 21 times this season. In 2023, opponents totaled 26 false starts, with 10 of those coming in the playoffs (NDSU famously jumped five times).
With the second season starting on Saturday, Griz fans have a chance to break last year's record.
COWBOY UP: Junior safety Jace Klucewich – a rancher at the family spread near Frenchtown in his spare time – is in the midst of the best two-month stretch of his career. Not only has he started four of the last five games (his first four career starts), he's picked-off four passes this season, three of which have come in the last month.
He was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career last week with two picks at the goal line and a near-solo goal line stand against Portland State.
His season total of four picks leads the Big Sky and is tied for the eighth most in the FCS.
HARRIS' HITS: Despite only playing in his second year at Montana, defensive end Hayden Harris has already entered Montana's top 30 list of all-time leaders in tackles for loss. Harris enters the week ranked third in the Big Sky and top 15 nationally with 15 TFLs this season, and with 19.5 on his career ranks No. 30 all time at UM. He's also totaled 7.5 sacks this season, enough to rank him third in the league and top 25 in the FCS.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: With the conclusion of the regular season, the Montana Grizzlies capped the year with six Big Sky Player of the Week honorees. It's the most for the Griz in a single season since seven got honored in 2019 and six before that in 2015. Only five Grizzlies earned a weekly honor in the 2023 championship season. Montana's record for most player of the week honorees in a season is 12, set in 2011.
This year's players of the week are:
Special Teams: Ty Morrison (Missouri St. 8/31), Junior Bergen (Cal Poly, 11/2)
Offensive: Eli Gillman (W. Carolina 9/21), Logan Fife (EWU 9/28)
Defensive: Jaxon Lee (UNC 10/26), Jace Klucewich (PSU 11/16)
Players Mentioned
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/ FootballGriz vs Indiana State Highlights
Tuesday, September 23
Griz football weekly press conference 9/15/25
Monday, September 22
Montana vs Indiana St. Highlights
Sunday, September 21
UM vs ISU postgame press conference
Saturday, September 20
