Title on the line as Griz meet Cats for 124th time

Saturday, November 22

Missoula, Mont.

Noon

Montana

Montana State

Tickets From $169 - $439

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/University of Montana

11/18/2025 7:05:00 PM | Football

UM Notes MSU Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

In a rivalry 124 years deep there's never been a Brawl of the Wild quite like this, with this much at stake.

On Saturday, No. 2 Montana (11-0, 7-0 BSC) hosts No. 3 Montana State (9-2, 7-0 BSC) in the highest-ranked Griz/Cat game ever in a battle to determine the outright Big Sky Conference champion.

Two trophies, one for a league title and one for nothing but bragging rights, are on the line in a clash of FCS Titans with generations of pent-up aggression aimed straight at each other from across the Continental Divide.

It's a battle of the winningest teams in league history as the Griz enter the game looking to secure their conference-high 20^th Big Sky title, and the Cats their 18^th.

It's also a chess match of good-on-good, with Montana's Big Sky-best offense tested against MSU's conference-leading defense, and vice-versa, the Grizzlies' defense slots in second in the league as does the Bobcat offense.

It sets up a knock-down, drag-out cage match at Washington-Grizzly Stadium for all the marbles, and a spot in the driver's seat as both teams set their sights on a postseason run.

Kickoff from Missoula is set for high noon.

WATCH: The Grizzlies can be seen on Montana Television Network stations around the state again this week, with the Brawl of the Wild available on basic cable, satellite options, free-to-air channels, and online streaming.

This week's game will be shown on KPAX in Missoula and Kalispell, KTVQ Billings, KBZK Bozeman and Butte, KXLF Great Falls, and KXLH in Helena. The game will also be seen around the Western United States on LAFF in San Louis Obispo, KCDO in Denver, and "The Spot" channels in Utah, Tucson, and Phoenix. The Spot is a new independent television network that serves as the secondary home of Big Sky Conference games and will carry specific UM games in specific markets. The Spot - MTN is available around the state free-to-air for viewers with antennas. It is also available on Spectrum Cable, TCT West, Montana Opticom, Access Montana, DIRECTV, the DIRECTV streaming platform, and FUBO TV.

ESPN+ will again serve as the primary streaming home for the game.

In the booth are veteran play-by-play announcer Trey Bender, joined by former Grizzly All-American Jordan Tripp who serves as UM's analyst and former Grizzly defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak who serves and MSU's analyst. Kyle Hansen and Grace Lawrence will report from the sidelines. For complete broadcast details visit GoGriz.com/WhereToWatch.

LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran is in his tenth season behind the mic at Montana and will once again 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 featuring 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.

TITLE TIME: One of the many things on the line Saturday is an outright Big Sky championship, and Montana is no stranger to playing for a conference title.

As a founding member of the league in 1963, Montana has won more Big Sky championships (19) than any other program, and as finished second in the title race an additional 13 times. That means, the Griz have won or finished second in the conference standings in more than half of the league's 62 previous seasons at 32 times. With the implications so high this week, a first or second place finish is all but assured again in 2025.

SERIES HISTORY: Here's the basics: Saturday's matchup is the 124^th edition of the Griz/Cat game, making it the 31^st oldest rivalry in all D-I football, 11^th-oldest west of the Mississippi River, and the fourth oldest in the FCS – impressive considering the deep history of programs like Princeton and Harvard.

Montana leads the series handily, 74-43-5 since the first meeting in 1897, leads 33-18-1 in Missoula and 14-5 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The home team has fared especially well in recent years in the rivalry, winning the last five straight. Montana holds the record for longest winning streak in the series with 16 straight between 1986-2001. UM also leads the series this century 13-11 since 2000.

ONE-SIDED RIVALRY: Of all the historic and longstanding rivalries in college football, only 25 D-I teams have beaten another opponent more times than Montana has beat Montana State. Of those 25, only 10 of the teams reside west of the Mississippi River.

With a .622 win percentage in the previous 123 meetings, Montana's 74 wins in the Griz/Cat game sit just behind historic rivalries like Michigan/Michigan State (75 wins), Washington/Washington State (77 wins), Texas/Texas A&M (77 wins), and ahead of Clemson/South Carolina (73 wins), North Carolina/Wake Forest (73 wins), and Georgia/Georgia Tech (72 wins).

TROPHY TURNS 25: For the 25^th year, Montana and Montana State will play for the Great Divide Trophy, a 306-pound brass monolith created in 2001 by Dave Samuelson modeled after rock formations found at the top of Homestake Pass along the Continental Divide between Missoula and Bozeman.

The trophy is now a quarter of the way through its scheduled lifespan, designed to remain the traveling prize for a total of 100 years. The winner of the most games in the series in that time will retain permanent possession.

Montana was the first to hold the trophy after the win in 2001. It has since swapped hands an even amount of times, with the series tied 11-11 in that time (not including a vacated 2011 Montana win).

AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: No. 2 Montana takes on No. 3 Montana State in the highest-ranked meeting between the two rivals in series history on Saturday. The undefeated Griz are 2-0 against then-top 25 teams this season with wins over No. 16 North Dakota and No. 8 Idaho.

Washington-Grizzly Stadium as proven to be a happy hunting ground for the Grizzlies against ranked teams and has set up some of the most memorable wins in program history. Starting with a 2015 win over No. 1 NDSU, Montana enters this week's game at 19-4 against ranked teams in the last decade, including 2023's win over No. 4 MSU. A win Saturday against the No. 3 Cats would make that an even 20.

LAST MEETING: Big plays and third down conversions helped MSU to a 34-11 victory in Bozeman in 2024. The second-best rushing offense in the country carried the day as the Cats ran for 326 yards. Montana totaled 234 yards in the game, struggling on third down in particular at just 2-for-12.

Montana held the Bobcats to nearly 100 yards and a full touchdown under their season averages. Outside of an 88-yard rush, they the big-play offense in check. But the Grizzly offense just never got things going as it took until the fourth quarter for Montana to finally find the end zone.

LAST TIME IN MISSOULA: Déjà vu all over again. The No. 3 Griz dominated the No. 4 Cats 37-7 in the first and only other Brawl of the Wild ever that featured two top five teams to win the outright Big Sky Conference Championship in 2023.

They accomplished the goal in dominating fashion, scoring the first 20 points of the game and leaving absolutely no doubt. The offense passed for 228 yards and ran for another 202 to outgain Montana State 430-280 in the game.

A Bobcat offense that led the country coming into the game by averaging 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.

///GRIZ TRACKS///

HAUCK HISTORY: Head coach Bobby Hauck made college football history last week, becoming the winningest coach of all time in the Big Sky Conference in both overall and league wins with his 86^th conference win in 14 seasons at UM with the win over PSU. He passed former UM assistant and NAU head coach Jerome Souers at the top of both lists. Souers was in Missoula on Monday to congratulate him.

Hauck is now 149-41 overall and 86-22 in two terms as the Grizzlies' head coach. His win percentage in conference games of .796 is the best percentage of the top 10 winningest coaches in league history, meaning year-over-year he's won more games than any other coach in a shorter amount of time.

• A win Saturday would make for some nice, round numbers for Hauck. It would be his 165^th win as a head coach at any program, his 150^th overall win at Montana, the 70^th overall win and 40^th conference win of his second term in Missoula.

• A win Saturday would also give Hauck his 10^th Big Sky Conference title, the most of any other coach in league history.

• Hauck is also one of the top five winningest coaches in all D-I football at his current school with 149 victories at Montana. He's also now one of the top 10 winningest active coaches overall in D-I football with Brian Kelly of LSU and Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State no longer active. Above him on both lists are notable coaches like Kirk Ferentz of Iowa, Dabo Swinney at Clemson and Kyle Wittingham at Utah.

MADE IN MONTANA: With Montana born and raised players always at the heart of UM's recruitment strategy and a top priority of Hauck's Grizzlies, the 2025 roster features a robust 32 Treasure State natives this season. A total of 10 players from Missoula make up the bulk of UM's Montana boys, with another 10 hailing from either the greater Flathead Valley or Bitterroot Valley.

11-AND-OH-YEAH: Montana extended its unbeaten streak against Portland State and enters the rivalry game at 11-0 overall and 7-0 in Big Sky play, with the 2025 team now sitting in truly rarified air in the annals of Griz football.

This year's Griz are now one of only four UM teams to ever start the year 11-0. Those teams: the '96 Griz that started 14-0 and finished at 14-1, the '07 Griz that started 11-0 and finished 11-1, and the '09 Griz that started 14-0 and finished 14-1. They're also one of just seven teams in program history that have gone on an 11-game win streak during the season, adding the 2000, 2001, and 2006 teams to the list. Bobby Hauck has now coached four of those seven teams.

• The '96 Griz were led by Keali'i Ah Yat's dad Brian Ah Yat at QB, a season where he passed for 3,640 yards (fourth-most in program history). Keali'i currently leads the Big Sky in passing with 2,960 yards. (More on that later)

THE GAMES IN NOVEMBER… Are the ones they remember. As the Grizzlies barrel toward the end of big man month undefeated on the season, the 2025 squad has added to a sparkling history of success in November. Under Hauck, Montana enters the rivalry game at 45-10 in November and 27-5 at home in the final month of the regular season. Hauck himself enters the game at 7-6 all-time against MSU.

CAN'T WIN WITHOUT THE BALL: With five interceptions last week at Portland State (UM's 7^th game this season with 2+ picks) the Griz now have the best turnover margin in the Big Sky and the sixth-best margin in FCS at +11 on the season. The 2025 Grizzlies' turnover margin is now one of the tops in modern program history with only nine other teams in the last 40 years having a bigger margin.

UM's 22 takeaways are the second-most of any FCS team and a top six total of all D-I teams.

The Griz picked off five passes against Portland State, the most in a game in the FCS this season. Interceptions now make up 18 of UM's 22 takeaways, the second most in the FCS and a total that would also be second most in the FBS. Only Tarleton and Southern Miss have picked off more passes in all D-I football.

BALL SECURITY: With 11 giveaways in 11 games, UM's average of 1 per contest is tied for the second lowest for any Griz team since 1991 and the fewest since 2014. Montana is having an historic season in terms of holding onto the ball – paramount to any team's success.

Over the past 30 years the Griz have averaged 12 picks thrown per season, or roughly one per game. Heading into the regular season finale, UM has thrown just seven in 11 games and three in the last nine games, a mark trending toward one of the best in program history.

The fumble count is where the Griz are really shining. Despite dropping two fumbles at PSU, the Griz have only had four fumbles on the season, currently tied for the fewest in a year in modern program history.

DEFENSE TO OFFENSE: Montana scored 35 (more than half) its points off turnovers at Portland State last week, something the Grizzlies have been exceedingly good at this season. UM enters the rivalry week having scored 94 points off 22 turnovers, just under a quarter of their total points scored this season (462).

STRENGTH UP FRONT: Under new O-line coach Cameron Norcross, Montana's offensive line has been protecting the quarterbacks at one of the best rates in recent history, and the Grizzly offense is flourishing because of it.

UM's QBs have been sacked just 17 times in 11 games this season, a rate of just 1.55 given up per game – the seventh lowest average in modern program history dating back to 1991 and currently tied for the second-fewest total in that 30-plus year span. For reference, the Griz gave up 29 sacks in 14 games in 2024, 41 in 15 games 2023's national title game run, 20 in 2022, and 33 in 2021 to round out the last five years.

That's equated to an offense ticking off more than 467 total yards per game – the sixth-highest per-game average since 1991 and a total of 5,143 yards.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURSTS: Keali'i Ah Yat led an explosive Montana offense that scored a season-high 63 points at Portland State on Saturday.

In less than three full quarters of play Ah Yat passed for three touchdowns and ran for another to be responsible for four TDs and 24 total points before being subbed out when the game was in hand. He completed 14 of 21 passes for 184 yards and added 21 on the ground for 201 yards of total offense, converting short fields into points on four of his seven drives.

• With 2,968 yards passing, Ah Yat is on the cusp of a historic season, just 32 yards shy of becoming just the 16^th quarterback to every throw for 3,000+ yards in a season.

Like father, like son, Keali'i has already thrown for more yards this season than his dad – Hall of Famer Brian Ah Yat – did in both his 1997 and 1998 seasons, and is just 647 yards shy of passing his 1996 mark of 3,615 yards – one of the top four seasons in program history. With Keali'i averaging 270 yards per game in the air, he could get to that mark in the next three games.

• Keali'i leads the Big Sky and is top six in the FCS in both passing yards, passing touchdowns, and pass

GILLMAN GOES OFF: Eli Gillman enters the game as the Big Sky's leading rusher this week, set to make a case for offensive player of the year in the midst of a historic season with 1,129 yards on the ground (his second-straight 1,000-yard season). That's seventh most in the FCS this season, which is saying something because Montana also has a top three passing attack. He enters Saturday's rivalry averaging 102.6 yards rushing per game, the only player in the league averaging over 100.

• Now with 3,266 rushing yards and 44 career rushing TDs to his name, the junior has bumped ahead of Hall of Famer Yohance Humphrey on UM's all-time rushing TDs list with 44 and is now tied with Humphrey on the total TDs list with 48 – sitting third in both categories.

PAIR OF PICKS: Missoula Sentinel grad TJ Rausch picked off two passes at Portland State last week in a dominant UM win. That's the first time a Grizzly has had two INTs in a single game since 2024, when Jace Klucewich, another Sentinel alum, picked off a pair against… Portland State.

• Playing against his former team, linebacker Peyton Wing led a defensive effort that resulted in five total interceptions. Wing had one of those picks (returned for 34 yards), a team-high six tackles (five solo) a TFL, and one QB hurry. He earned Montana's Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week nomination for this effort.

SENIOR SATURDAY: Montana will celebrate the careers of 27 outgoing seniors on Saturday with Senior Day festivities prior to kickoff. Those 27 players: #2 Drew Deck, #2 Micah Harper, #4 Blake Bohannon, #6 Prince Ford, #6 Michael Wortham, #8 Kenzel Lawler, #10 TJ Rausch, #11 Elijawah Tolbert, #16 Jake Jensen, #21 Stevie Rocker Jr., #29 Tanner Huff, #31 Geno Leonard, #36 Ty Morrison, #43 Grayson Pibal, #47 Kellen Detrick, #56 Hunter Peck, #58 Solomon Tuliaupupu, #60 Dillon Botner, #62 Everett Johnson, #69 Cannon Panfiloff, #72 Cade Klimczak, #76 Patrick Matan, #79 Liam Brown, #81 Josh Gale, #84 Evan Shafer, #87 Jake Olson, #98 Matai Mata'afa

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana remained No. 2 in both major national FCS polls for a third-straight week on Monday, and for the second straight week picked up a first-place vote in the FCS coaches' poll. Montana State sits right behind Montana at No. 3 in both polls as well setting up a two versus three battle for a Big Sky trophy.

Postseason implications are, as usual, heavy in the Griz/Cat game. A win for either team this week would likely solidify them at No. 2 in the playoff race (pending a win for No. 1 NDSU) and homefield advantage for the next three games. A loss for either UM or MSU is still likely to keep both teams in the hunt for a top eight seed and a first round bye in the playoffs.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS: As the regular season comes to a close, a look back at the preseason polls shows Montana was picked to finish third in the Big Sky title race by the league's coaches and second by the league's media. The Griz also started the year seventh and ninth, respectively, in the national polls, but have climbed and stayed in the top two for three-straight weeks. No matter the outcome of Saturday's game, the season has surpassed expectations.

ATTENDANCE LEADER: Heading into the final week of the regular season, Montana remains the FCS leader in both average and accumulative attendance after selling-out Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the seventh-straight time this season against EWU.

With 184,374 people crossing the turnstiles in Missoula this season, UM has averaged 26,339 fans per game (104 percent capacity), both FCS highs by a country mile. With an expected sellout for the MSU game, the Griz are likely to finish the regular season having sold-out 23 of the last 24 regular season games in Missoula, a streak dating back to Sept. 10, 2022, against South Dakota. The only outlier: a mid-hunting season non-sellout against Portland State last year.

LET'S GET LOUD: Washington-Grizzly Stadium has earned a reputation as being one of the loudest places to play football in the country at any level. And rightly so, with Griz fans helping visiting teams commit over 50 false start penalties in the last two seasons.

With the implementation of coach-to-player in-helmet communications this season, however, that number has plummeted. With one regular season game remaining, Grizzly opponents have jumped the gun for just 10 false starts in 2025, less than half of the two previous year's total.