Griz throttle Vandals, retail the Little Brown Stein

Saturday, September 27

Missoula, Mont.

8:15 PM

Montana

4-0 , 1-0

Idaho

2-3 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Idaho

Montana

Photo by: Getty Images

Griz throttle Vandals, retail the Little Brown Stein

9/28/2025 2:51:00 AM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

With the Stein on the line, No. 4 Montana jumped out to an early lead over No. 8 Idaho and never looked back, putting up over 400 yards of offense and allowing the Vandals to score just six first half points in a dominant 41-30 win that wasn't as close as the score would indicate.

The Little Brown Stein, one of the oldest trophies in the FCS, will remain in Missoula for a third-straight year as Montana improved to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in Big Sky play while sending Idaho back to Moscow at 2-3 and 0-1.

In a playoff-like atmosphere that was nationally televised on ESPN 2, the UM faithful packed Washington-Grizzly Stadium with 27,025 fans to see the win – the second largest crowd in program history. It kept up Montana's trend of sold-out shows this season, with now four of the top 16 highest attended games occurring this season.

With its second ranked win of the season, Montana has now won 13 of the last 16 meetings in the series that dates to 1903 and has still only lost to the Vandals once this century with wins in nine of the last ten matchups.

Paced by a game-high 164 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns from Michael Wortham, 142 more rushing yards and another pair of TDs from Eli Gillman, and 17 of 23 passing for 223 yards and a score by Keali'i Ah Yat, Montana's offense continued to hum with its third 40-plus point game of the year.

In a strong overall defensive performance, Montana forced five Vandal three-and-outs on their first eight drives of the game and jumped on a fumble with just over seven minutes to play to ice the win for the Griz.

"This was a really complete win for us over a team who was ranked in the top 10. I thought going into the game we might be able to do this to them. I'm excited about where our team is right now," said head coach Bobby Hauck.

"They couldn't handle us in the kicking game, the defense was special for three quarters, and we beat them up physically. I thought we had great balance tonight offensively and I thought the guys did a good job moving the chains and making plays when they had to."

With a career-high 27 carries for 142 yards, Gillman posed his third 100-plus yard rushing game this season and the 11^th of his career, with the Griz at 11-0 when he crosses the century mark. His campaign for Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year is now in full swing, with the junior now sitting at 542 yards and eight TDs on the year and 7.6 yards per rush.

Ah Yat continued his steady emergence as one of the top passers in the FCS throwing just six incomplete passes in a 223-yard day with six chunk plays of 16-plus yards to cross the 1,000-yard barrier this season, now with 1,086 passing yards in for games.

With Idaho winning the coin toss and choosing to defer, Kicker Ty Morrison got the Griz on the board first with a 37-yard field goal on the first drive of the game.

Morrison, the two-time defending Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week made a case for another against Idaho, hitting two field goals, going five-for-five on PATs, and having a monster game punting with all four dropping inside the 20.

Following the opening-drive field goal Montana's defense forced two-straight three-and-outs of the Vandal offense. UM then extended the lead to 10-0 when Gillman punched in his first score of the day after the Griz were set up with field position in Idaho territory thanks to a 16-yard Wortham return.

Wortham struck again later in the half, this time lining up in the wildcat and rushing for a 11 touchdown in the second quarter to put the Griz up 17-3.

The Grizzlies added to the lead early in the third quarter after forcing a quick three and out and replying with a dazzling touchdown pass from an under-pressure Ah Yat to a leaping Wortham from 22 out for his second TD of the day to put UM out to a 24-6 lead with just under 10 in the third.

The Vandals would respond, however, with Joshua Wood connecting on an eight yard touchdown pass to Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar to make it a 24-14 ballgame with three minutes left in the third quarter. It was the first time this season any opponent has scored on the Grizzlies in the third.

UM would punch right back, however, with Eli Gillman cashing in from eight yards out for his second TD of the night to put the Griz back up 31-14 at the end of the third period.

The heavyweight bout of a game continued with Wood punching right back again, completing some big chunk plays downfield to put another score on the board for the Vandals, capping a five play, 78-yard drive with a four-yard rush and a two-point conversion to make it a nine-point ball game, 31-22.

But Ah Yat and the Grizzlies remained relentless, capping an 11-play, 79-yard drive with a 1-yard QB sneak to put the Griz up by three scores 38-22.

Montana would ice the game on the ensuing Vandal drive when Solomon Tuliaupupu punched the ball free on an Idaho reception and the Griz jumped on it in Idaho territory with just seven minutes to play. Morrison added a field goal from there and UM extended the lead 41-22, and the celebrations were on.

The undefeated Griz now prepare for their first road test of the year, heading to Pocatello next week to try and pull-off a Gem State sweep at Idaho State.