Griz return home to face Indiana State

Bolstered with confidence following a thrilling win in a top 25 showdown, the Montana Grizzlies return to the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday to face Indiana State of the Missorui Valley Football Conference.

It's the second-straight game against a team from The Valley for UM, as Montana looks to move its record to 3-0 in the nonconference portion of the season with the first Big Sky matchup of the year on deck.

Montana solidified itself as a dangerous top five contender last week, clamping down on defense in the second half and turning up the passing game to beat No. 16 North Dakota 24-23 in a playoff-like atmosphere.

The Sycamores of Indiana State (home of NBA legend Larry Bird) come to Missoula at 2-1 on the season but will be looking to get back on track after a lopsided 73-0 loss to Indiana where the Hoosiers held them to just 77 yards of total offense – most of which came in the last 10 minutes.

Don't let that loss fool you, however. ISU outscored their first two opponents by a combined 79-38 and will be eager to return to FCS play and wash that bad taste from their mouths.

Montana will once again rely on the Grizzly faithful to pack the stands for a third-straight sellout after hosting 26,492 last week against UND – the seventh biggest crowd in stadium history. Kickoff against the Sycamores is set for 1 p.m.

WATCH: The Grizzlies return to Montana Television Network stations around the state this season, with the Indiana State matchup 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 in Billings, KRTV in Great Falls, KXLH in Helena, and The Spot – MTN in Butte and Bozeman. The Spot – MTN 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 stations in Boise and Twin Falls, Idaho will also carry this week's game.

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 of Montana Athletics this season.

In the booth are veteran play-by-play announcer Trey Bender, joined by former Grizzly All-American Jordan Tripp who serves as analyst. Kyle Hansen 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 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 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.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: Fans should allow for extra time arriving to Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday. The Mountain West Track Club is hosting a high school cross country meet at the UM Golf Course with more than 3,000 participants from around the region. Due to the race, traffic along South Avenue near UM may be more congested than usual.

Fans utilizing shuttle services are encouraged to consider taking the North Shuttle (service from Missoula College and Downtown) to the Griz Game on 9/20. View the gameday shuttle website for more North Route details.

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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior Kicker Ty Morrison stepped up and gave the Griz a chance to win the FCS Game of the Week last Saturday, drilling his first field goal attempt of the season from 42-yards out to cut North Dakota's lead to six points, 23-17. One defensive stop and a TD later he delivered the game winning PAT to seal Montana's 24-23 victory in a top 25 showdown against the Fighting Hawks.

Those two clutch kicks and solid all-around day with his foot led Morrison to Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career, the league announced Monday.

Morrison single handedly scored six of Montana's 24 points in the win and went a perfect three-for-three in PATs. He added nine punts for 355 yards (an average of just under 40 yards per attempt) with two dropped inside the 20 and 1 touchback to his haul, as well as five kickoffs for 317 yards and three touchbacks.

In his second year as a Grizzly, Morrison has quietly cemented himself as one of the best to do it in maroon and silver. With 112 points scored he's on the cusp of entering the UM record books for career points, his punting average of 42.4 yards per attempt currently puts him top five all-time at UM, and his field goal percentage of 75 percent is currently a top six all-time mark.

With 12 points in two games, he's currently top 10 in the Big Sky in scoring by kick but is tied for second in the league in made PATs at 9-for-9 to date. In fact, at 57-for-58 he's only missed one PAT attempt in his career – his very first kick ever inside of Washington-Grizzly Stadium in week one of last year.

Montana is now two-for-two in Big Sky Players of the Week after Eli Gillman earned offensive honors after setting a new career-high in rushing yards against Central Washington on week one with 198.

FAST FRESMEN: Redshirt freshman receiver Brooks Davis had a breakout game for the Griz with five catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns – including the game-winner.

On Monday he earned a tip-of-the-hat for his accomplishments as an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS National Freshman of the Week. His total on the season now sits at 7 catches for 106 yards.

• In Montana's long history of standout receivers, it's rare for a freshman (true or redshirt) to make a sizeable impact on a season, let alone work his way to the top of the depth chart like Davis has in his first two games as a Grizzly.

In the last 35 years of Griz football, only 11 freshman receivers have totaled more than 200 yards in their first season of action, and only five of those have totaled more than 500 yards.

Jon Talmage has had the best freshman year in recent UM history with 689 receiving yards in 2002, followed closely by Jerry Louie-McGee with 651 yards in 2016 – the same year he set the FCS freshman record for catches in a game with 21 grabs for 155 yards at Cal Poly. Raul Pacheco totaled 621 yards in 1995, Shalon Baker "The Touchdown Maker" started his career with 606 yards in 1991, and Samori Toure had 553 yards in 2017. They are the only freshmen to top 500 yards in their first year of action at UM. Davis will be hoping to climb this list as he works through his redshirt freshman year.

Name	Fr. Yr	Tot. Rec	Tot. Yds
Jon Talmage	2002	50	689
Jerry Louie-McGee	2016	73	651
Raul Pacheco	1995	52	621
Shalon Baker	1991	48	606
Samori Toure	2017	31	553
Matt Wells	1992	31	373
Ellis Henderson	2012	23	360
Jimmy Farris	1997	17	275
Mike Erhardt	1993	14	231
Junior Bergen	2021	21	230
Samuel Akem	2017	18	207
Scott Gurnsey	1991	13	190
Travis Walker	1996	17	188
Mike Ferriter	2005	20	182
Brooks Davis	2025	7	106
Jeremy Watkins	1996	8	102
Tate Hancock	2001	7	101

MORE SATURDAY STARS: Elijawah Tolbert led Montana in tackles with 9 (3 solo) and logged a pass breakup while applying continuous pressure on North Dakota QB Jimmy Kaminski. He was a leader on a Grizzly defense that held UND to just 165 second-half yards and earned Montana's nomination for Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week. He's on top of UM's total tackle count this season with 13.

• Sophomore cornerback Kyon Loud once again established himself as a physical difference maker in the defensive backfield. He set a new personal best with six tackles against UND with a QB hurry and logged a pair of pass breakups – including one that sealed the win for the Griz. Loud now sits second in the Big Sky and top 12 nationally in passes defended with three this season.

DOMINANT D: Montana's defense has been strong overall in two games, leading the Big Sky this week in first down defense (7^th nationally) allowing the sticks to move just 40 times, second in the league in 3^rd down D, and second in the nation in red zone defense, allowing teams to score on just 4 of 8 opportunities.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURSTS: Even though the fourth quarter pass from Keali'i Ah Yat to Davis received all the headlines, it was another solid outing for running back Eli Gillaman who averaged 5.1 yards per tote for 82 yards on the ground.

Gillman is second in the FCS and leads the Big Sky this week in yards per carry and yards per game, averaging just under a first down every time he touches the ball at 9.03 yards per carry and 140 yards in two games.

• Montana has a 1-2 punch when it comes to all-purpose yards this week, with Michael Wortham and Gillman ranked first and second in the league. Wortham is second in the FCS and leads the Big Sky with an average of 169.5 per game and Gillman is second in the league averaging 145.5.

• At 550 yards over the air this season Ah Yat sits third this week in overall passing in the Big Sky, but leads the league in per game passing at an average of 275 in two contests – a number that ranks seventh nationally. He's also second in the league in yards per completion, pushing the ball down field an average of 14.1 yards per clip.

• Despite taking some sacks to deplete his rushing yards, Ah Yat is also third in the Big Sky in total offense, averaging 259 yards per game – a top 20 mark in the FCS.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana is the consensus No. 5 team in the FCS this week in virtually every poll every Tom, Dick, and Harry published. The Griz rose from No. 7 to the top five in this week's AFCA Coaches' Poll and is the highest ranked of six Big Sky Conference teams listed. UM stayed at No. 5 for a second-straight week in the Stats Perform Meida Poll.

Indiana State entered the year receiving votes in the preseason coaches' poll and built on that momentum with a 2-0 start to the season. The Sycamores have since fallen off pollsters' radar after a 73-0 drubbing at the hands of the Indiana Hoosiers.

GRIZ IN THE RATINGS: The Griz moved up a spot in this week's Massey Ratings to No. 5 in the FCS and remains the second-highest rated Big Sky team.

UM jumped way up the Sagarin Ratings from No. 95 to 88 in this week's poll – the second highest rated Big Sky teams and the fifth-rated FCS team. Just for fun: the Griz rank higher than several high profile FBS teams in the Sagarins including Purdue, Wake Forest, Utah State, Oklahoma State, and Colorado State. Indiana State is ranked No. 211 in the Sagarin poll and No. 57 in the FCS Massey poll.

The Massey and Sagarin ratings are computer calculations that rank teams based on several factors including strength of schedule and can be used as tools in various tiebreaking scenarios at the end of the year.

VERSUS THE VALLEY: For the second-straight year Montana will be the only team from the Big Sky Conference to earn a regular season win over a team from the Missouri Valley Football Conference in the annual BSC/MVFC Challenge Series following last week's win over North Dakota. Heading into the UM/Indiana St. game (the final game in the series this season) The Valley leads the series overall 29-15.

The Griz and Coach Hauck remain the wins leader for the Big Sky in the series, however, with UM now at 7-2. Including FCS playoff games, the Griz still lead The Valley 8-5 in that time as well.

Montana has had the most wins over teams from the MVFC in the series by far, with Weber State the only other Big Sky team to earn more than two wins since 2018 with three. Indiana State has only participated in the series once, when UM traveled to Terre Haute in 2022 and came away with a 49-14 win.

HAUCK HISTORY: Montana's win over North Dakota and first year head coach Eric Schmidt was another notch in long history of wins for Hauck over first year college coaches. In his 14 seasons at Montana Hauck is now 19-6 overall and 12-3 at home against first year head coaches.

Hauck and the Griz will have the chance to add to that tally later this season when UM takes on Sacramento State and the Hornets' first year head man Brennan Marion.

NICE ROUND NUMBERS: The UND win was also No. 60 for Hauck since he returned to UM in 2018 and win No. 140 overall as the Grizzly head coach. As the winningest coach in Big Sky history, he's now 60-24 in his second term and 140-41 overall as Grizzly head coach. Including his time at UNLV, he's now 155-90 as a head coach.

THE SERIES VS INDIANA STATE: Saturday's game marks just the second meeting all-time against Indiana State, marking the tail end of a home-and-home series between the programs. Montana leads 1-0 after dispatching the Sycamores 49-14 in Terre Haute in 2022.

• Saturday's game also marks just the fourth meeting all-time for the Griz against teams from the state of Indiana, with Montana sitting at 3-0 in previous meetings against the Hoosier State. Montana beat Butler 35-20 to open the 2023 season and opened the 2017 season with a 45-23 win over Valparaiso.

SEND 'EM BACK EAST: Zooming out even more, the Griz have a 41-7 record against teams from east of the Mississippi River inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium and are riding a 15-game winning streak against visitors from the east. Montana will get one more shot to send a team back east in the 2025 regular season when Sacred Heart comes to Missoula all the way from Fairfield, Connecticut.

LAST MEETING: Montana made a rare trip to the eastern time zone and earned a decisive 49-14 win over Indiana State in the first-ever meeting between the two programs three years and one day ago on Sept. 17, 2022.

Montana's defense got the Griz on the board first with a fumble recovery for a touchdown and went on to allow ISU just one offensive touchdown and forcing the home team to punt on seven-straight drives through the second, third, and fourth quarters.

Offensively, Lucas Johnson was hyper-productive at quarterback throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another for a personal haul of 236 yards. He led Montana to, fittingly, 406 yards of total offense. The Grizzly offense was also efficient in the red zone, scoring on each of their five trips into the Indiana State 20.

The Griz improved to 3-0 on the season, and like they are hoping to this year, got their second-straight win over a Missouri Valley opponent after beating South Dakota on week one that year.

SCOUTING THE SYCAMORES: Indiana State comes to Montana in the middle of a tough three-game road swing at 2-1 on the season but having been trounced by the Indiana Hoosiers in their last outing.

ISU is led by Curt Mallory, a 22-year coaching veteran now in his ninth season in Terre Haute and entering the game with a 26-56 record. He is the son of Indiana University's all-time winningest head coach Bill Mallory, who coached the Hoosiers from 1984-96.

The Sycamores are 2-1 after opening the year with two home wins: 41-24 over D-II McKendree on week one and 38-14 over Eastern Illinois on week two. However, they come to Missoula licking their wounds from a 73-0 demolition at the hands of the Indiana Hoosiers and former JMU head coach Curt Cignetti.

Quarterback Elijah Owens leads the ISU offensive attack, completing a MVFC-best 75 percent of his passes (28-37-1) for 317 yards so far this season and averaging 56 yards per game rushing as well. Plez Lawrence offers a 1-2 punch in the rushing game with 37 carries for 154 yards.

Following the demolition at Indiana, the Sycamores' schedule doesn't let up from here with UM being the first of eight consecutive opponents currently ranked in the FCS top 25 including No. 1 North Dakota State, No. 2 South Dakota State, No. 6 Illinois State, No. 13 Southern Illinois, No. 15 South Dakota, No. 16 North Dakota, and No. 24 Youngstown State.

Defensively, D-lineman Logan Wilson and linebacker Lucas McAllister currently lead the Valley in tackles for loss 5.5 and 3.5, respectively, to date this season. D-end Brandon Amaniampong and DB Ahmond Glass are also tied for second in the MVFC in passes defended with five each.

ISU posted an 4-8 overall record and went 3-5 in MVFC play last season, knocking off North Dakota 35-31 in the same year UND beat UM in Grand Forks.

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Players Mentioned

Keali'i Ah Yat

Junior Bergen

Brooks Davis

Eli Gillman

Kyon Loud

Ty Morrison

Elijawah Tolbert

Michael Wortham

University of Montana Athletics