Griz open conference play against Idaho

Big Sky Conference play is here, and it starts off with a bang for the Montana Grizzlies as the Idaho Vandals come to town for the 90^th meeting between the two old foes in a top 10 showdown under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday.

It's a battle for the Little Brown Stein, a traveling trophy between the schools that made its debut in 1938 and has left Missoula just once since the turn of the century, with UM wining eight of the last nine meetings.

Montana enters the contest ready for the bright lights of the ESPN 2 national broadcast at 3-0 and seemingly firing on all cylinders after dismantling the Missouri Valley's Indiana State 63-20 by putting up 647 yards of total offense.

The Griz now have the top overall offense and the No. 2 scoring defense but begin the march to a 20^th Big Sky title against a high-flying Vandal offense that has given a pair of FBS teams fits this season.

At 2-2, Idaho has yet to win on the road and has yet to deal with a venue like Washington-Grizzly Stadium so far this season. With UM fans helping cause six opponent false start penalties to date and the stein on the line, the Griz will need the crowd cranked up to 11. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m.

WATCH: The eyes of the nation descend on Washington-Grizzly Stadium this week as the Montana/Idaho game is delivered to millions of households nationwide on "The Deuce" - ESPN 2. This is the second-straight year Montana has hosted a regular season game on ESPN 2 after having been featured in road games on the network the previous three seasons following the Big Sky singing a deal with "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" in 2021.

In the booth are veteran play-by-play man Clay Matvick and analyst Chase Daniel. Matvick has some familiarity with the Griz, having called Montana's 2021 game at Eastern Washington for ESPN2. Daniel is a 14-year NFL veteran quarterback who won a Super Bowl as a backup with New Orleans in 2010. He also played in Philadelphia during UM co-Defensive Coordinator Tim Hauck's tenure as the Eagles' safeties coach.

Montana will follow the Memphis/Florida Atlantic game on ESPN 2 and will go head-to-head in the 8:15 timeslot with the Colorado/BYU game from Boulder on the ESPN mothership.

A web stream of the Griz/Vandal contest is available via the ESPN App. For complete broadcast details this season, 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.

///GRIZ TRACKS///

PLAYER(S) OF THE WEEK: For the third straight week a Montana Grizzly earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors – but this time UM doubled up with two Grizzlies being recognized by the league on Monday.

Following his second-straight 300-plus yard game and his fourth straight game setting a new passing career high, quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat was named Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.

With another stellar day with his foot, senior kicker/punter Ty Morrison was also named the Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week for a second consecutive week, and the third time in his career.

Ah Yat has been dealing in his first three games this season and is now 7-2 as a starter for the Grizzlies. Last week the sophomore completed 22 of his 27 passes (an 82 percent clip) for a personal best 313 yards and two touchdowns, all in two and a half quarters of play. He also rushed for another score to total three touchdowns against the Sycamores.

He now leads the Big Sky in average passing yards per game with 288 – the fourth-best average in the FCS this week and the most of any quarterback on a top 25 team. He's also second among the QBs in the league in completion percentage (.678) and total passing yards (863).

Ah Yat is also the league leader in total offense this week with that average of 288 yards per contest. His 313 yards were the most of any Big Sky QB in week four (again, in only 2.5 quarters of action) and are the fifth most in the conference this season.

In his last four games dating back to the 2024 season finale he's become increasingly more productive, throwing for 231 yards at SDSU, 250 vs CWU, 300 vs UND and 313 on Saturday against ISU, a total of 1,094 yards, or roughly half of his career total over his 19 appearances at UM.

Morrison filled up the stat sheet with another impressive day in the kicking game. The senior K/P went a perfect 7-for-7 on PAT attempts before being subbed out partway through the third quarter to stay a perfect 16-for-16 on the year.

He added 4 punts for 180 yards, averaging 45 per attempt with 2 inside the 20, and one that dropped at the Indiana State four-yard line and led to a scoop-and-score defensive touchdown four plays later. He also logged a long punt of 49 yards, his second-straight week hitting that number. He logged 8 kickoffs for 510 yards and 6 touchbacks as well.

At 3-0 on the season, the Griz have had at least one Player of the Week honoree following each of their three wins, with Eli Gillman winning week one. This is the first time Montana's had two Big Sky Player of the Week honorees since 2023, fittingly, after the win at Idaho.

MORE SATURDAY STARS

GO GILLMAN: Gillman could just as easily have picked up more Big Sky weekly honors after racking-up 120 yards rushing and three TDs against the Sycamores. It was his second 100-plus yard game of the season (the 10^th of his career) and his ninth game with two or more touchdown runs. Here's a breakdown of where he stands in the UM record books and around the FCS.

• With 2,537 in his career, the junior now needs just 89 more rushing yards to pass his former teammate Nick Ostmo and move into fifth on UM's all-time rushing list.

• With six touchdowns this season and three last week he's now amassed 216 points and 36 total TDs in his career, passing kicker Brandon Purdy and legendary receiver Marc Mariani's career totals of 200 points and now tied with Lex Hilliard at 36 touchdowns to slot in at No. 5 in program history.

• Gillman is now the active career leader in all of FCS in rushing TDs with 34, is third in the FCS among active players in rushing yards, and fifth in the FCS in points scored per game with an average of 6.4.

• He's leading the FCS this season in yards per carry, averaging just under a first down per-tote at 9.09 every time he touches the ball – the fourth-highest average in D-I football (FCS or FBS).

• He enters the Idaho game as the Big Sky leader in rushing TDs (6), total rushing yards (400), rush yards per game (133.3) and scoring (12 ppg), and is second in the league in all-purpose yards (138).

BE LIKE MIKE: All-around weapon Michael Wortham had this third-straight game with 99-plus all-purpose yards or more for the Grizzlies last week. After totaling 240 vs CWU, 99 vs UND, and 133 last week vs ISU, he's racked up 472 all-purpose yards this season, which ranks him first in the Big Sky and third in the FCS at large.

• Entering the Idaho game he is the active career leader in the FCS in both all-purpose yards per game (121) and kickoff return average (28.3). He's also fourth among active career leaders in total all-purpose yards with 3,155.

• With 14 catches for 215 yards (an average of 15.4 yards per grab) Wortham is also rated by Pro Football Focus this week as the top receiver in the Big Sky Conference and No. 4 in the FCS with an 87.4 offensive grade – a mark that ranks him No. 6 among all receivers in D-I football.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURTS: That was a lot of words to say one thing: The Grizzly offense is rolling. Coordinator Brent Pease along with Ah Yat, Gillman, Wortham et al have Montana ranked first in the Big Sky in rushing offense (6^th in the FCS), second in passing offense (7^th), first in total offense (4^th), and first in scoring offense (8^th).

The Griz have more than doubled-up their opponents, outscoring them 129-60, and that includes a one-point victory over North Dakota.

UM's offensive line also didn't allow a sack last week, keeping a clean pocket for Ah Yat and allowing the offense the chance to once again be uber-balanced with 303 rushing yards and 322 passing yards, while piling up 33 first downs.

DOMINANT D: Not to be outdone, Montana's defense is also made adjustments to clamp down and to help the Griz come out of the bulk of the nonconference at 3-0.

The Griz have not allowed an opponent to score in the third quarter yet this season, outscoring them 35-0 in the period. If you take away the 13 points Indiana State scored when UM had the threes on the field, the Griz have outscored their three opponents 66-7 after halftime. They've turned defense into offense as well, outscoring opponents 21-7 off turnovers.

UM hasn't allowed a fourth down conversion yet this season and ranks third in the league on all-important third down stops. The Griz have been stout in the red zone as well sitting first in the league and fourth nationally inside their own 20 with a 50 percent scoring rate.

Only one player has been able to rush for over 100 yards against the Griz this year: Nick Osho of Indiana State who totaled 134, but picked up 79 of those on a single play while Montana's 3^rd string D was in toward the end of the game.

SOLO STATS: Solomon Tuliaupupu was a menace last week, putting in a strip sack that led directly to a fumble return for a touchdown for TJ Rausch – Montana's first defensive TD in over a year. He totaled 1.5 TFLs and added a pass breakup to go along with three stops in the win over Indiana State and earned Montana's nomination for Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week.

ET: Elijawah Tolbert led Montana in tackling last week for the second time in his three games as a Grizzly with nine total stops and a half-sack against the Sycamores. He leads UM in stops after three games with 22 total, a top 15 total in the Big Sky.

CAN'T WIN WITHOUT THE BALL: The Griz enter this week's game even in the turnover differential after starting the year -2 in the first two games. Montana gave up zero turnovers against ISU and secured two takeaways but has totaled five giveaways on the season.

The 2024 and 2023 seasons have seen UM give up the fewest turnovers in the past decade with 15 giveaways each year – historically low totals. There have been only three other seasons since 1994 where the Griz gave up fewer than 15 turnovers, with 44 giveaways being the most in 1996 – the same year the Griz played for a national title.

WELCOME WING: Peyton Wing grabbed his second interception of the season against ISU last week. He's now tied for the second most in the Big Sky.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana rose a spot to No. 4 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and stayed put at No. 5 in the Stats Perform FCS Media Poll, differentiated with the No. 4 team by a single point in the voting, 1,190 points to UM's 1,189.

It sets up a top 10 showdown at Washington-Grizzly Stadium this weekend with Idaho slotting in at No. 8 in the media poll and No. 10 in the coaches.

GRIZ IN THE RATINGS: Montana bumps up a spot to No. 88 and remains the No. 2 Big Sky team and the No. 5 FCS team in this week's Sagarin Ratings with a 65.32. UM stays put in the Massey Ratings similarly at Nos. 2/5 as well.

Just for fun, Montana ranks above other prominent programs in this week's Sagarin's like UCLA, Colorado State, Oregon State and San Diego State. Notably, North Dakota is ranked right behind UM in the same ranking at No. 90.

Idaho comes to Missoula ranked No. 10 in the FCS Sagarin Ratings (No. 120 overall) and 11 in the Massey's.

NICE ROUND NUMBERS: A win over the Vandals would be No. 240 for the Griz inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium since the venue opened in 1986. UM is currently 239-37 (.866) at "The Mecca of FCS Football", one of the best home field advantages in the game.

A win would also be the 650^th in program history. UM sits at 649-518-26 since 1897 (.555), a tradition of success unlike most FCS teams in the west. Montana is the only team in the Big Sky and one of just six FCS teams west of the Mississippi that have passed the 600 win mark.

HAUCK HISTORY: Already the winningest coach in Big Sky Conference history, with the start of league play on the horizon Bobby Hauck now begins his climb to the top of the all-time conference wins list. Hauck enters the game at 79-22 against Big Sky opposition, needing seven conference wins this season to pass Jerome Souers' career total of 85.

PACK THE PLACE: Four weeks into the 2025 season and Montana is once again the FCS leader in attendance after announcing sold out season ticket sales in the leadup to kickoff. Montana has averaged 26,331 fans at Washington-Grizzly Stadium over three games, that's over 104 percent capacity of the venue and more than 13,000 more cumulative fans than the second-place program (MSU). Limited seats remain for Saturday's clash with Idaho at GrizTix.com.

VERSUS THE VALLEY: For the second-straight year Montana is 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 UM's wins over North Dakota and Indiana State.

At 8-2 since the series started in 2018, the Griz and Coach Hauck have won more games against the MVFC than every other Big Sky team combined. Including FCS playoff games, the Griz still lead The Valley 9-5 in that time as well. The Valley leads the series with the Big Sky overall, 29-16.

SEND 'EM BACK EAST: After the win over Indiana State, the Griz now have a 42-7 record against teams from east of the Mississippi River inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium and extended their winning streak to 16 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.

NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME: After opening the season under the lights Montana will play its second home night game of the year on Saturday with an 8:15 kickoff against the Vandals. Night games have been particularly kind to the Griz inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with UM sitting 18-3 since 2011. The last time ESPN came to town in the regular season was the last night loss for UM, however, with UC Davis handing the Griz their first night loss under Hauck.

STEIN STATS (SERIES HISTORY): Idaho is the only team in the Big Sky Conference that holds a winning all-time record over Montana, with the Griz trailing 33-56-2 since the first meeting all the way back in 1903.

It was a different time back then, with that first meeting in Moscow (a 28-0 win for Idaho) the first ever game Montana traveled out of state to play.

But it's a different time now as well, with the Grizzlies holding the upper hand in the series since the early 90s. Montana enters the week having won 12 of the last 15 meetings between the neighboring programs dating all the way back to 1991 and has only lost to Idaho once this century – a 30-23 upset in 2022.

That loss remains one of only four total and two since '91 inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where the Griz hold a 6-4 advantage, including wins while Idaho competed at the FBS level.

Zoom in even further and as head coach of the Grizzlies Hauck is 5-1 in his career against the Vandals, with the lone loss coming in 2022. Hauck became UM's all-time winningest coach after a 2021 win at Idaho, passing the great Don Read's record.

LAST MEETING: Montana hit the road to a sold-out Kibbie Dome to face off against No. 3 Idaho and controlled the game from the opening kick to upset the Vandals 23-21 in a win that kick-started Montana's championship season in 2023.

The Grizzlies used a big first half offensively to jump ahead 20-0 and were able to withstand a late surge from the Idaho offense to seal the victory. Montana's defense forced three turnovers in the game, none bigger than the forced fumble by Kale Edwards that was recovered by No. 37 Levi Janacaro to put the game on ice.

The big first half allowed Montana to keep it on the ground for much of the second and control the clock, relying on a stout defense to deliver the win. They held an Idaho offense that was third in the Big Sky with over 200 yards per game on the ground to just 58 rushing yards. It's the first time all year they have been held under 100 yards rushing.

Ryder Meyer led the team with eight tackles and added an interception in the Montana end zone to deny Idaho a score. The Montana front combined for six sacks, the most in a game since the 2021 meeting with Idaho. Riley Wilson and Tyler Flink each had 1.5 sacks.

Clifton McDowell led the Grizzly offense with a balanced and composed performance in the hostile environment. He completed 61 percent of his passes for 176 yards and a score and added 38 yards on the ground with another score. Junior Bergen had a big day as the primary receiving target and Gillman (then a freshman) ran for 84 yards on 12 carries for a 7.0 average.

SCOUTING THE VANDALS: The Big Sky's two leading rushers collide this week when Gillman and the Griz face QB Joshua Wood and the Vandals. With 400 yards on the year, Gillman is tops in the conference, followed by the dual-threat Wood, a Fresno State transfer who keeps defenses honest with his legs to the tune of 314 yards this season.

Idaho is coached by first year mentor Thomas Ford whose career win total matches this year's Vandal team at 2-2. UI has suffered two losses to FBS teams by a combined total of just six points, falling at Washington State 10-13 and at San Jose State last week 28-31. Their two wins have come at the Kibbie Dome over unranked FCS opponents, getting past non-scholarship St. Thomas 37-30 and Utah Tech 20-6.

The Vandals lead the FCS in time of possession, sticking with their tried and tested game plan of controlling the clock to the tune of 35:04 per game. Montana is third in the Big Sky in the same category with its balanced offense, averaging 30:32 TOP per game.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Keali'i Ah Yat

Junior Bergen

Eli Gillman

Ryder Meyer

Ty Morrison

Nick Ostmo

TJ Rausch

Elijawah Tolbert

Solomon Tuliaupupu

Riley Wilson

Peyton Wing

Michael Wortham

University of Montana Athletics