2025 Griz Football Season Wrap

2025 Griz Football Season Wrap

It was a season that no one predicted but everyone will remember.

Picked to finish ninth in the FCS and third in the Big Sky in August, the Montana Grizzlies went on a historic and unexpected run in 2025, racking-up 13 wins with a streak of 11-straight while rewriting record books along the way.

This year's Grizzlies bucked the odds to finish the season at 13-2 and cement themselves as one of just eight teams in program history to total 13-plus wins, while finishing alone in second in the Big Sky standings at 7-1. Those two losses will sting for the UM faithful, however, with Grizzly championship dreams dashed by cross-state rival MSU.

Despite the two heartbreakers, it was a season to remember for Montana as a team with all of zero returning starters on defense and just eight on offense came together to rewrite the history books, providing thrilling moments and elite performances along the way.

Last second wins, record points scored, a turnover feast on defense and so much more. The fans that packed in for eight-straight sold-out home games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium were treated to, in many ways, one of the best years ever at UM. Wins over three of the four Dakota schools, the retention of the Little Brown Stein, revenge wins on the road, and four ranked wins all contributed to a season to remember as the Griz advanced to the semifinal round of the playoffs for the 13^th time. It was all orchestrated by the newly-minted winningest overall coach in Big Sky history and the now-winningest active coach in all the FCS.

"I'm excited about the way we played this season as a whole. I enjoyed the way we progressed through the year and all the different things we accomplished. I really thought our players were fun to coach. They worked hard at it and improved throughout the season – all the things you want as a coaching staff," said head coach Bobby Hauck.

"I told them they need to remember the fact we are one of only four teams in Grizzly history to start the season 11-0 and our 13 wins are among the most in the history of this great football program. I'm proud of their efforts and I hope they are too."

SEASON SNAPSHOT: Montana started the 2025 campaign on a tear at 11-0, one of just four Grizzly teams in program history to rattle-off that many in a streak. The 2025 Grizzlies made a habit of exacting revenge on teams that have had their number in recent years, avenging recent losses to North Dakota, Sacramento State (on the road), Weber State, and consecutive losses to South Dakota State.

Montana extended its FCS record of overall playoff appearances to 29 as the No. 3 overall seed in this year's tournament. With the win over No. 11 South Dakota in the quarterfinal, the Griz advanced to the semifinal round of the FCS Playoffs for a 13th time – the most in FCS history – and the second time in three years.

The only blemishes on the UM schedule were a pair of losses to rival Montana State in the first time the two met in the same year since 1913. After 125 meetings, the Griz lead the series with MSU 74-45-5.

Montana nearly doubled-up its opponents on the scoreboard, outscoring them 615 to 381 with a record-setting offensive attack and one of the top two overall defenses in the Big Sky.

It was an unexpected run of success, with UM slotted middle of the road in the FCS to start the season, a QB battle to start the year on offense with an unproven group of receivers, and zero returning starters on defense from the previous year.

OFFENSIVE EXCELLENCE: Led by a sophomore signal-caller with a familiar name, coordinator Brent Pease's 2025 offense cooked like the great Grizzly teams of the 90's in 2025, shattering long-standing records with a balanced attack.

Montana set new program marks and finished just shy of Big Sky Conference records in several offensive categories including total points (615, beating the 2009 record of 537), total yards (6,855 to beat the 2004 record of 6,416) and total touchdowns (84, beating the '04 & '19 record of 69). That many touchdowns equals a lot of conversions too with a new record of 78 conversions.

With a breakout star at quarterback and electric receivers, Montana's passes found their targets at a record rate, with a new team pass completion percentage of 68.9 (341-495) that bested the old record of 67.8 from 2004.

RUSHING ATTACK: In November, Eli Gillman was named Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year, Montana's first since quarterback John Edwards in 2002. He's the seventh all-time Grizzly to win offensive MVP honors but the first running back. Impressive considering UM's long history of dominant backs.

He joins a rare group of just 13 running backs in Big Sky history to earn Offensive MVP honors since 1974. He's also in elite company as one of just three players to be named Big Sky Freshman of the Year and go on to be named Offensive Player of the Year, alongside Troy Andersen and Cooper Kupp.

Gillman eared that, and a bucket load of All-America honors for good reason, capping his junior year on the precipice of shattering Montana rushing records after consecutive 1,000-plus yard seasons.

• The Dassel, Minn., native rushed for a Big Sky-best 1,540 yards (third-most in the FCS) and 21 touchdowns, the third-most ever in a single season at Montana in both categories. He averaged a league-high 102.7 yards per game, crossing the century mark eight times (including a new career-high 198 yards in the first game of the season), with an average of 6.2 yards per tote. Impressive considering UM's balanced offensive attack that also set records in the passing game.

He also caught 33 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns this year, giving him 1,780 all-purpose yards (eighth-most in program history and 7^th in the FCS), and a total of 138 points scored on 23 TDs. Both of those totals are tied with Chase Reynolds for the third-most ever in a season at UM.

• The All-America season has put Gillman in spitting distance of surpassing legends like Yohance Humprey and Reynolds at the top of the Grizzly career record books. With 3,677 rushing yards, Gilman is currently fourth on UM's all-time list but needs just 394 more yards to become UM's all-time leading rusher.

With 49 rushing TDs he's now third in program history behind Lex Hilliard (50) and Chase Reynolds (52), but with 53 total TDs he's second on that all-time list behind Reynolds' career mark of 53.

With 318 points on the board Gillman is fifth among UM's all-time scorers and needs 95 more points to pass Dan Carpenter's one-time Big Sky record of 413 to top the UM points scored list. After scoring 138 points this season Kupp's Big Sky points record of 464 is also within reach, needing a big season and 147 points to take a league record.

PASSING ATTACK: Keali'i Ah Yat was a breakout star for the Grizzlies, guiding the balanced, record-setting offense with accuracy and confidence to earn second-team All-America honors and a first team All-Big Sky nod as well – a first for the Griz since Craig Ochs in 2004.

Just a sophomore, the legacy Griz became just the second player in program history to eclipse 4,000 passing yards in a season with 4,070 that led to 33 TDs over the air – a top three season total at UM. It's also the most passing yards in the FCS at the end of the Grizzlies' season and made Ah Yat one of only two QBs in all D-I football to pass the 4k mark behind Drew Mestemaker of North Texas.

One of the most accurate seasons for a passer at UM as well, he completed 325 of his 470 attempts with just nine interceptions for a new school record .691 completion percentage, surpassing Ochs' 2004 record of .686 and just shy of the Big Sky record of .704. Those 325 completions are also a school record, beating Ochs' and Dave Dickenson's tied record of 309.

Ah Yat's accuracy led directly to a dearth of turnovers on the year, giving up just nine interceptions – tied for the fourth fewest in modern program history dating back to 1991.

• With less than a year and a half as a starter under his belt, Ah Yat is already closing in on all-time passing marks as well with 5,462 yards as a Grizzly. He's now ranked No. 11 in UM history for career passing yards behind Drew Miller's 5,900-yard career total at No. 10. He's also in UM's top 10 in passing TDs with 41 to date.

• Ah Yat is now 17-4 as a Grizzly starter, needing 11 more wins to enter UM's top five all-time starting QB wins tally. He also needs just 12 more wins to tie his dad Brian's career total of 29. Dave Dickenson holds UM's win record at 33.

STRONG UP FRONT: Montana offensive linemen Cannon Panfiloff, Dillon Botner, and freshman Colin Amick earned All-America honors to highlight a solid year up front for the Grizzlies. After all, you don't set records for points scored and yards gained without the big guys opening holes and protecting the passers.

The Griz gave up just 23 sacks this year, the second fewest in the last decade. That equates to just over. 1.5 per game, allowing UM to rack-up over 457 yards of offense per game.

FAST FRESHMAN: Brooks Davis was also a breakout star for the Grizzlies and capped his first season of action as Montana's most productive freshman receiver of all-time.

Davis, a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award for FCS Freshman of the Year, was UM's second-leading receiver and had the 11^th-most receiving yards in the Big Sky with 54 catches for 698 yards. That yardage total is the most by a freshman in the conference and the sixth most for a freshman in the FCS.

His totals are also a school record for a freshman receiver. Davis passed Jon Talmage's 2002 total of 50 grabs for 689 yards to become the most productive freshman receiver in UM program history. It's also one of the top 50 overall receiving seasons in school history.

ALL-TIME FRESHMAN RECEIVERS (500+ Yards)

Name	Fr. Yr	Rec	Yds	TD
Brooks Davis	2025	54	698	5
Jon Talmage	2002	50	689	5
Jerry Louie-McGee	2016	73	651	3
Justin Calhoun	2016	42	625	6
Raul Pacheco	1995	52	621	6
Shalon Baker	1991	48	606	5
Samori Toure	2017	31	553	5

MR. ALL-PURPOSE: Payton Award finalist Michael Wortham etched his name atop Montana's record books with a huge season in his lone year in Missoula. The electric senior receiver totaled 1,224 receiving yards, 345 rushing yards, and 862 combined return yards to finish the year with 2,431 all-purpose yards. That total broke Hall of Famer Marc Mariani's 2008 record of 2,265 single-season all-purpose yards and finished less than 90 yards shy of a Big Sky record.

• Wortham caught 85 passes for 1,224 yards this year, the second-most catches in a season ever at UM (shy of Samori Toure's record by two grabs) and the sixth-most total yards receiving.

• Wortham's 782 yards of kickoff returns are also near a school record as the third most ever at UM and making him one of just five players with more than 700 in a year.

CAN'T WIN WITHOUT THE BALL: Montana finished the year at +14 in the all-important turnover differential thanks to an FCS top three total of 25 takeaways, paced by 21 interceptions. Those 21 picks are the most for the Griz since 2009 when UM had 26 – the most in modern program history. Only the 1995 (21), 1996 (23), 2004 (24), and 2009 (26) Grizzly defenses have had had equal or more interceptions.

Surprisingly, no one player racked up all the picks for the Griz, with 12 total players logging a pick, six coming up with 2-plus INTs, Rausch with three, and Peyton Wing with four.

The Griz turned all those turnovers into points as well, scoring a whopping 111 of the team's record 615 points directly off takeaways.

BALL SECURITY: As good as the Grizzlies were at taking the ball away, they were even more historically good at not giving it away. With just 13 giveaways the 2025 Griz gave the ball up less than any team minus one in modern program history and had the third-fewest turnovers in the Big Sky this season. Only the 2014 Griz gave up less turnovers with 11 on the season.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Despite finishing the year with a case of the yips, kicker/punter Ty Morrison quietly finished his career as one of the best to do it at UM. His career average of 43.2 yards per punt is the second-best in program history. He only missed one PAT in his career going 107/108, and his career field goal percentage of 67.75 (23/34) ranks in UM's all-time top 10.

"The offense produced at a record rate in terms of points, and that's what matters. We went up and down the field and scored a lot, which is the objective. Defensively we played hard. We were great in the takeaway area and our rush defense was terrific. Then on the other side our special teams area was good in nearly every game," said Hauck

"Then we had a Doris Robinson Award winner for the FCS scholar athlete. So, we took care of business in all areas of the program."

HAUCK HISTORY: Bobby Hauck became the winningest coach in Big Sky history in both overall and league wins in 2025, capping the season with 151 as Grizzly head man. As such, he climbed up the list of the winningest active coaches in all of Division-I football.

He's also now the 3rd-winnigest active coach at his current school in D-I football, only behind Iowa's Kirk Ferentz and Clemson's Dabo Swinney.

Among the overall career wins by active D-I coaches Hauck sits at No. 8 behind KC Keeler of Temple, Ferentz, Willie Fritz of Houston, Chris Chreighton of Eastern Michigan, Rich Rodriguez of West Virginia, Swinney, and Lance Liepold at Kansas.

• The win over South Dakota was the 20th playoff win for Hauck in his 14 years at Montana, placing him third in all-time tournament wins behind legendary mentors Jim Tressel of Youngstown State (23 wins) and App State's Jerry Moore (22 wins).

HOME SWEET HOME: It was a season of new records for the fans at UM this year as well, as Grizzly Athletics sold out of season tickets for the first time ever with 19,737 ticket packages sold and distributed. That led to eight-straight sold-out games this year, culminating with a new Washington-Grizzly Stadium attendance record against Montana State of 27,340 fans in "The Mecca of FCS Football."

Montana finished the year as the FCS overall attendance leader in both average and accumulated attendance, with 252,636 total fans in 10 games to average a sold-out 25,264 per contest.

The Griz finished 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.

FALSE START FRENZY: The Montana faithful piled on the pressure in the final home game of the season and helped South Dakota jump for an amazing eight false start penalties in one game. Those eight brought Montana's opponent tally to 24 false starts this season at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. 2024 saw opponents jump 25 times, and 2023 had 26 false starts for a total of 76 in three years. Well done Griz Nation.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE: Stats Perform named Whitefish Native Dillon Botner its winner of the 2025 Doris Robinson Award that honors the FCS student-athlete who best personifies the ideals of excellence on the field, in the classroom, and across the community in early December. It's the first time a Grizzly has been named FCS Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Botner overcame adversity and injury to earn a starting job at center on one of the greatest offenses in program history. He's did it all while completing three Bachelor of Science degrees with Magna Cum Laude honors in each, specializing in Biochemistry (Health Professions), Biology (Human Biological Sciences) and Neuroscience (Cellular and Molecular), as well as a minor in Physics and a professional certificate with an eye toward becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

He also logged nearly 50 hours of community service in the precious few spare moments he has in his life, with volunteer hours put in at everything from high school sporting events to neighborhood leaf raking.

ALL-AMERICANS: The annual parade of postseason honors has steadily rolled in since the end of the regular season with several Grizzlies being recognized for their efforts this season. Michael Wortham was noted as a consensus All-America honoree after being named to the first team on at least half of the recognized All-America lists published annually. A total of nine Grizzlies earned All-America honors to date, the most since 2021.

AFCA
First Team Special Teams
AP – Michael Wortham
Second Team Offense
RB – Eli Gillman

Walter Camp Foundation
RB – Eli Gillman

Stats Perform
First Team Special Teams
AP – Michael Wortham
Second Team Offense
QB – Keali'i Ah Yat
RB – Eli Gillman
OL – Cannon Panfiloff

Associated Press
First Team Offense
AP – Michael Wortham
Second Team Offense
RB – Eli Gillman
Honorable Mention
QB – Keali'i Ah Yat
OL – Cannon Panfiloff
OL – Dillon Botner
TE – Evan Shafer
LB – Peyton Wing

FCS Football Central / Sports Illustrated
First Team Offense
RB - Eli Gillman
First Team Special Teams
AP - Michael Wortham
Second Team Offense
QB - Keali'i Ah Yat
Second Team Defense
LB - Peyton Wing
Third Team Offense
OL - Cannon Panfiloff
Third-Team Special Teams
PR - Drew Deck
Freshman
WR – Brooks Davis
OL – Colin Amick

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Keali'i Ah Yat

Colin Amick

Dillon Botner

Brooks Davis

Drew Deck

Eli Gillman

Ty Morrison

Cannon Panfiloff

Evan Shafer

Peyton Wing

Michael Wortham

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