Saturday, November 7
Missoula, Mont.
1 PM
Montana
vs
Portland State
Photo by: Montana Photography
11/3/2026 5:26:00 PM | Football
MISSOULA - As the old saying goes: "The games they remember are played in November."
The Montana Grizzlies return home this week to open big man month with the first of two straight games in the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Griz come roaring back on Saturday at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in league play, bolstered with the momentum of a record-setting win on the red turf at Eastern Washington, a feat UM has only managed twice in the last decade-plus.
A cathartic defensive effort that saw Montana's banged-up D log a program record 11 sacks paired with an explosive offensive afternoon that earned receiver Brooks Davis national Player of the Week accolades has helped wash away the bad taste of two straight losses.
There won't be room for too much celebration, however, as a dangerous Portland State team visits Missoula this week looking to improve on its better-than-it-looks-on-paper 2-7 overall, 2-4 Big Sky record.
Under first-year head coach Chris Fisk, the Vikings have gone toe-to-toe with virtually every one of their conference opponents this season and picked up a win against third place Weber State in Ogden at the end of September.
With an eye toward the postseason, Montana enters this week's game looking to go on a run and avoid the trap as two of the premier matchups on the calendar loom later in the month.
Kickoff against the Vikings is set for 1 p.m.
WATCH: The Grizzlies return to CBS stations on the Montana Television Network/Scripps Sports channels around the state this week, with the game against Portland State available on basic cable, satellite options, free-to-air channels, and online streaming.
This week's game will be shown around the state on local CBS stations, including KPAX in Missoula/Kalispell, Q2 in Billings, KBZK in Bozeman, KXLF in Butte, KRTV in Great Falls and KXLH in Helena. This week's game can also be seen on Rose City SportsNet in Portland.
The Griz are back on ESPN+ this week as well, with streaming available without blackout nationwide. ESPN+ serves as the primary streaming home of Montana Athletics for all sports.
Veteran play-by-play announcer Trey Bender and former Grizzly All-American Jordan Tripp return to the broadcast booth to call the game. 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 11th 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 16 affiliate stations around the state.
Joining Corcoran in the booth this season is Chase Reynolds – a Montana native, Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer, five-year NFL veteran and one of the most decorated players in UM history – who brings his knowledge of the game to the airwaves as the Grizzlies' new radio analyst.
"Grizzly Gameday" starts two hours before kickoff each Saturday with the official pregame radio show featuring Ace Sauerwein and Denny Bedard before Corcoran and Reynolds take over 30 minutes before 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.
BOBBY KENNEDY RADIO SHOW: The Grizzly Coaches show returns to The Den on Upper Miller Creek Road each Wednesday at 7 p.m. this season as Coach Kennedy and Corcoran provide an exclusive breakdown of this week's opponent and relive all the highlights of last week's win. The Coaches Show can be heard on select Grizzly Sports Radio Network stations around the state, originating from 98.3 FM and 1290 AM KGVO Missoula.
GRIZZLY INSIDER: The Grizzly Insider takes fans inside the huddle every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on The Spot – MTN. Corcoran and Scripps TV sideline reporter Kyle Hansen break down that week's game with Kennedy and a featured player each week with up-to-date features on other Grizzly sports as well.
HAPPENINGS: Saturday's game marks the start of the annual Can the Cats Food Drive, now in its 27th year helping those in need around our state have a brighter holiday season. This year's Can the Cats Food Drive runs Nov. 7-21, with a goal of gathering 600,000 pounds of food statewide. Food drop-off locations will be distributed around Washington-Grizzly Stadium. For more information, visit CantheCats.com.
• Saturday's game also marks the annual Griz for Kids Holiday Toy Drive. Volunteers will staff collection tables around Washington-Grizzly Stadium from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday to collect toys for kids in need. Visit MountainofGiving.com for more info.
///GRIZ TRACKS///
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brooks Davis swept the weekly awards on Monday after posting a career-high receiving day against Eastern Washington on Saturday with 231 yards and three touchdowns on nine catches.
The leading receiver in the FCS had 75-yard and 61-yard touchdowns where he caught the ball at the line of scrimmage, carved up the defense and took it to the house. He also scored on a 51-yard Hail Mary on the final play of the first half.
Davis' 231 yards added up to the fifth-most single-game receiving yards in Grizzly history, the most for a receiver in the Big Sky this season and the third-most in the FCS this season.
His explosive day earned him both the Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week and the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
• Davis also surpassed 1,000 receiving yards on the season, sitting at an FCS-best 1,145 yards and 12 touchdowns. His total yardage is the most in all Division I football, with Davis now leading Heisman Trophy candidates Jesse Legree of Oregon State, Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State and Malachi Toney of Miami as the only four receivers to cross the 1,000-yard mark this season.
• He is just 350 receiving yards shy of breaking Samori Toure's 2019 program record of 1,495 yards in a season with three regular season games left to play. He is currently averaging 127.2 yards per game – the most in the FCS.
• At EWU, He scored three TDs for the third time this season and second straight game. He has now topped 200 receiving yards twice this year and had more than 100 yards in seven of the last eight games. Davis has 12 touchdown catches this season and is on track to chase down Joe Douglass' 1996 record of 18 TD catches in one season.
• He is averaging an FCS-best 8.1 catches per game this season – the second-most in program history behind Jerry Louis-McGee's 2016 program record of 9.1.
GILLMAN GREATNESS: Eli Gillman continued his relentless march to the top of the record books in nearly every category with 145 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 24 hard-earned carries against the Eagles. He also caught one pass for a touchdown to bring his personal haul to 18 points.
• That brings his career totals to an eye-watering 64 rushing TDs, 74 total TDs, 444 points scored, 4,838 rushing yards and 5,694 all-purpose yards. He has already set five new career school records and one Big Sky record. He's also top five in FCS history in total TDs and top 10 in rushing TDs.
• Gillman is now 4 TDs shy of breaking NFL All-Pro Cooper Kupp's Big Sky Conference record of total touchdowns scored with 74. Kupp scored 77 total TDs at EWU (73 receiving, 1 rushing and 3 punt return). That puts Gillman three away from tying Kupp's mark and four away from breaking that record of 77. Gillman is currently tied with Kupp in offensive touchdowns at 74.
Kupp also threw 4 touchdown passes, giving him 81 touchdowns responsible for (passing, rushing, receiving). Gillman is responsible for 74 TDs, Grizzly QB Keali'i Ah Yat is currently responsible for 85 in his career, his dad Brian Ah Yat was responsible for 93 TDs, and Dave Dickenson holds the UM school record, responsible for 117.
Gillman has also moved into fifth in FCS history in total touchdowns and points scored. He trails only Kupp (77 TDs, 464 points), Terrence West of Towson (86 TDs, 516 points), Adrian Peterson of Georgia Southern (87 TDs, 524 points), and Brian Westbrook of Villanova (89 TDs, 544 points).
• To break all these Gillman needed to put together a stellar senior season, and he's doing just that. He's already one of just 10 players to ever rush for 1,000-plus yards as a Grizzly and four to do it twice (or more) and currently has 1,161 yards to his name this year – the ninth-most in program history with three games to play in the regular season.
• Gillman has also scored 21 total TDs this season, putting him close to breaking Marcus Knight's 2019 record of 25 in a single year.
• Heading into the PSU game Gillman leads all D-I football (FBS & FCS) in scoring at 14 PPG and 126 total points, as well as total touchdowns at 21.
• With 4,838 rushing yards, Gillman only needs 162 more to become one of just four players to ever cross the 5k barrier in Big Sky history.
• Gillman is the NCAA active career leader (all levels of NCAA football) in rushing yards and all-purpose yards. He's second this week in rushing TDs behind Harding's (D-II) Andrew Miller with 69.
AH YAT ACCURACY: Not lost among all these stellar seasons and careers is the play of Keali'i Ah Yat, who continues to keep the Grizzly offense humming like a well-oiled machine and is making his way to the top of Montana's record books as well.
His first pass of the game this coming Saturday against PSU will be the 1,000th of his career, entering the week having completed 679 of 999 passes with 67 passing touchdowns to just 19 interceptions. That's a career pass attempt to INT ratio of .019, which would be a school record if his career ended today. Dave Dickenson holds the current record at .022. Ah Yat's career completion percentage of 67.7% would also be a school record if the season ended today.
He is now top four in Grizzly history in career passing yards at 8,069, trailing Jordan Johnson by 543 yards and his dad Brian by 1,246 yards. Dickenson again holds the program record at 11,080 passing yards.
All that production boils down to one thing: wins. And Ah Yat has plenty of those. Following the victory at EWU he's now led UM to 23 victories as the starting QB – the fifth-most in program history. With three regular season games remaining and a potential deep playoff run left to go this year he could surpass Johnson's career mark of 28 wins under center for the Grizzlies. Dickenson holds the record with 33.
• Entering Saturday's game against PSU Ah Yat leads the Big Sky in passing efficiency, Passing TDs, passing yards, passing yards per game, and points responsible for, with each of those totals sitting top five in the FCS.
• Ah Yat threw five touchdown passes in two of the last four games and four at EWU last week. The last time he threw four in a game was last season against South Dakota State in the FCS Playoffs.
• Ah Yat has also now posted four straight games with 300-plus yards passing – a rare feat among Grizzly signal callers. The last Grizzly to put together a four-game streak going over 300 yards? Drew Miller in 1999 when he started the year with games of 354, 377, 498, and 402 yards passing.
Only two players have ever passed for 300-plus in five consecutive games. Brad Lebo went six straight in 1991 and Dickenson went five straight two different times in 1995.
KEEPING HIM CLEAN: Ah Yat, Gillman and Davis continue to do their thing in no large part thanks to the stellar play of Montana's offensive line, which entered the season with all of zero returning starters.
Montana leads the Big Sky this week and is top 10 in the FCS in sacks allowed, giving up an average of just one per game.
STACKS OF SACKS: Montana's defense had a banner day at EWU with a program record 11 total sacks. The Griz became the first team from the Big Sky to log 11 sacks in a game and one of just 22 teams in the FCS to total 11 sacks since the NCAA began tracking the statistic in 2000.
• 10 different Grizzlies got in on at least one of those 11 sacks, with three players doubling up with two. Linebackers Clay Oven and Peyton Wing each had a pair, as did D-end Tyler King.
• As he has for most of the season, King leads the Big Sky in sacks again this week with 8.5 on the year, eight of which have been solo sacks.
• Oven logged multiple sacks in a game for the first time in his career with two on Saturday. The last time he posted a sack? 2025 against the same EWU Eagles when UM totaled 8 in the game.
• As a team, Montana also leads the Big Sky in sacks and is No. 7 in the FCS with 25 on the season.
FCS Single Game Sack Record
Oct. 10, 2009, Alcorn (Mississippi Val.): 14
Nov. 4, 2000, Illinois St. (Western Ill.): 12
Oct. 9, 2010, Sam Houston (Nicholls): 12
Nov. 7, 2015, Stony Brook (Howard): 12
Nov. 20, 2021, UNI (Western Ill.): 12
Oct. 31, 2026, Montana (E. Washington): 11
16 More Teams: 11
PILES OF PICKS: Montana's defense picked off three of quarterback Nate Bell's passes against the Eagles last week. Safety Kade Boyd, linebacker Tanner Williams, and big man Zekiel Seumalo (a DE), each logged an INT to help Montana win the turnover battle.
The last time the Grizzly defense picked off three or more passes in a single game? In 2025 UM pulled in five picks against this week's opponent, Portland State.
CAN'T WIN WITHOUT THE BALL: Montana has now won or been even in the turnover battle in six games this season and sits at +5 in the all-important turnover differential – the third-best margin in the Big Sky this week.
The Grizzlies have been making their 14 total takeaways count, outscoring opponents 34-27 in points off a turnover.
EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE: With touchdown strikes of 75, 51, 68, and 61 yards against EWU, the Grizzly offense has made explosive plays a habit this season, totaling 49 plays of 20-plus yard gains.
Conversely, the Grizzly defense has been solid against the explosive play with only 38 given up on the season and just two scores given up on explosives against EWU, an offense that lives and dies by the big play ability.
GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana bumped up to No. 12 in the Stats Perform FCS media poll this week and No. 13 in the coaches' poll. UM had fallen to No. 14 following the loss to Idaho on week 7.
Montana is the third-highest of five teams from the Big Sky in this week's poll. Idaho State, UM's opponent next week, is currently ranked No. 22, setting up a potential top 25 showdown under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
DEPLETED DEFENSE: Montana's injury woes continue to hamper the defense, specifically. Last week at EWU the Grizzly D was down four linemen and 8 players who have started at least one game. Despite that, the Grizzly defense ranks second in the Big Sky this week in rush defense, giving up an average of just 127 yards per game on the ground.
WELCOME BACK: One bright spot on the defense was the return of linebacker/D-end Solomon Tuliaupupu, who was welcomed back in the locker room after taking a personal leave of absence.
SERIES HISTORY: Montana and Portland State prepare to do battle for the 50th time in series history this week, dating back to the first meeting between the two programs in 1965. Montana holds a 36-13 all-time advantage over PSU, is 20-4 in games played in Missoula and is 12-2 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Griz enter the game having won eight of the last 10 meetings, and 19 of 23 meetings this century. Former PSU quarterback and legendary college coach June Jones passed away last week at the age of 73. Jones and his college coach Mouse Davis (who pioneered the run and shoot offense) led the Vikings to a 50-49 win over the Grizzlies at Portland in 1976.
The Montana Grizzlies return home this week to open big man month with the first of two straight games in the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Griz come roaring back on Saturday at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in league play, bolstered with the momentum of a record-setting win on the red turf at Eastern Washington, a feat UM has only managed twice in the last decade-plus.
A cathartic defensive effort that saw Montana's banged-up D log a program record 11 sacks paired with an explosive offensive afternoon that earned receiver Brooks Davis national Player of the Week accolades has helped wash away the bad taste of two straight losses.
There won't be room for too much celebration, however, as a dangerous Portland State team visits Missoula this week looking to improve on its better-than-it-looks-on-paper 2-7 overall, 2-4 Big Sky record.
Under first-year head coach Chris Fisk, the Vikings have gone toe-to-toe with virtually every one of their conference opponents this season and picked up a win against third place Weber State in Ogden at the end of September.
With an eye toward the postseason, Montana enters this week's game looking to go on a run and avoid the trap as two of the premier matchups on the calendar loom later in the month.
Kickoff against the Vikings is set for 1 p.m.
WATCH: The Grizzlies return to CBS stations on the Montana Television Network/Scripps Sports channels around the state this week, with the game against Portland State available on basic cable, satellite options, free-to-air channels, and online streaming.
This week's game will be shown around the state on local CBS stations, including KPAX in Missoula/Kalispell, Q2 in Billings, KBZK in Bozeman, KXLF in Butte, KRTV in Great Falls and KXLH in Helena. This week's game can also be seen on Rose City SportsNet in Portland.
The Griz are back on ESPN+ this week as well, with streaming available without blackout nationwide. ESPN+ serves as the primary streaming home of Montana Athletics for all sports.
Veteran play-by-play announcer Trey Bender and former Grizzly All-American Jordan Tripp return to the broadcast booth to call the game. 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 11th 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 16 affiliate stations around the state.
Joining Corcoran in the booth this season is Chase Reynolds – a Montana native, Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer, five-year NFL veteran and one of the most decorated players in UM history – who brings his knowledge of the game to the airwaves as the Grizzlies' new radio analyst.
"Grizzly Gameday" starts two hours before kickoff each Saturday with the official pregame radio show featuring Ace Sauerwein and Denny Bedard before Corcoran and Reynolds take over 30 minutes before 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.
BOBBY KENNEDY RADIO SHOW: The Grizzly Coaches show returns to The Den on Upper Miller Creek Road each Wednesday at 7 p.m. this season as Coach Kennedy and Corcoran provide an exclusive breakdown of this week's opponent and relive all the highlights of last week's win. The Coaches Show can be heard on select Grizzly Sports Radio Network stations around the state, originating from 98.3 FM and 1290 AM KGVO Missoula.
GRIZZLY INSIDER: The Grizzly Insider takes fans inside the huddle every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on The Spot – MTN. Corcoran and Scripps TV sideline reporter Kyle Hansen break down that week's game with Kennedy and a featured player each week with up-to-date features on other Grizzly sports as well.
HAPPENINGS: Saturday's game marks the start of the annual Can the Cats Food Drive, now in its 27th year helping those in need around our state have a brighter holiday season. This year's Can the Cats Food Drive runs Nov. 7-21, with a goal of gathering 600,000 pounds of food statewide. Food drop-off locations will be distributed around Washington-Grizzly Stadium. For more information, visit CantheCats.com.
• Saturday's game also marks the annual Griz for Kids Holiday Toy Drive. Volunteers will staff collection tables around Washington-Grizzly Stadium from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday to collect toys for kids in need. Visit MountainofGiving.com for more info.
///GRIZ TRACKS///
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brooks Davis swept the weekly awards on Monday after posting a career-high receiving day against Eastern Washington on Saturday with 231 yards and three touchdowns on nine catches.
The leading receiver in the FCS had 75-yard and 61-yard touchdowns where he caught the ball at the line of scrimmage, carved up the defense and took it to the house. He also scored on a 51-yard Hail Mary on the final play of the first half.
Davis' 231 yards added up to the fifth-most single-game receiving yards in Grizzly history, the most for a receiver in the Big Sky this season and the third-most in the FCS this season.
His explosive day earned him both the Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week and the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
• Davis also surpassed 1,000 receiving yards on the season, sitting at an FCS-best 1,145 yards and 12 touchdowns. His total yardage is the most in all Division I football, with Davis now leading Heisman Trophy candidates Jesse Legree of Oregon State, Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State and Malachi Toney of Miami as the only four receivers to cross the 1,000-yard mark this season.
• He is just 350 receiving yards shy of breaking Samori Toure's 2019 program record of 1,495 yards in a season with three regular season games left to play. He is currently averaging 127.2 yards per game – the most in the FCS.
• At EWU, He scored three TDs for the third time this season and second straight game. He has now topped 200 receiving yards twice this year and had more than 100 yards in seven of the last eight games. Davis has 12 touchdown catches this season and is on track to chase down Joe Douglass' 1996 record of 18 TD catches in one season.
• He is averaging an FCS-best 8.1 catches per game this season – the second-most in program history behind Jerry Louis-McGee's 2016 program record of 9.1.
GILLMAN GREATNESS: Eli Gillman continued his relentless march to the top of the record books in nearly every category with 145 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 24 hard-earned carries against the Eagles. He also caught one pass for a touchdown to bring his personal haul to 18 points.
• That brings his career totals to an eye-watering 64 rushing TDs, 74 total TDs, 444 points scored, 4,838 rushing yards and 5,694 all-purpose yards. He has already set five new career school records and one Big Sky record. He's also top five in FCS history in total TDs and top 10 in rushing TDs.
• Gillman is now 4 TDs shy of breaking NFL All-Pro Cooper Kupp's Big Sky Conference record of total touchdowns scored with 74. Kupp scored 77 total TDs at EWU (73 receiving, 1 rushing and 3 punt return). That puts Gillman three away from tying Kupp's mark and four away from breaking that record of 77. Gillman is currently tied with Kupp in offensive touchdowns at 74.
Kupp also threw 4 touchdown passes, giving him 81 touchdowns responsible for (passing, rushing, receiving). Gillman is responsible for 74 TDs, Grizzly QB Keali'i Ah Yat is currently responsible for 85 in his career, his dad Brian Ah Yat was responsible for 93 TDs, and Dave Dickenson holds the UM school record, responsible for 117.
Gillman has also moved into fifth in FCS history in total touchdowns and points scored. He trails only Kupp (77 TDs, 464 points), Terrence West of Towson (86 TDs, 516 points), Adrian Peterson of Georgia Southern (87 TDs, 524 points), and Brian Westbrook of Villanova (89 TDs, 544 points).
• To break all these Gillman needed to put together a stellar senior season, and he's doing just that. He's already one of just 10 players to ever rush for 1,000-plus yards as a Grizzly and four to do it twice (or more) and currently has 1,161 yards to his name this year – the ninth-most in program history with three games to play in the regular season.
• Gillman has also scored 21 total TDs this season, putting him close to breaking Marcus Knight's 2019 record of 25 in a single year.
• Heading into the PSU game Gillman leads all D-I football (FBS & FCS) in scoring at 14 PPG and 126 total points, as well as total touchdowns at 21.
• With 4,838 rushing yards, Gillman only needs 162 more to become one of just four players to ever cross the 5k barrier in Big Sky history.
• Gillman is the NCAA active career leader (all levels of NCAA football) in rushing yards and all-purpose yards. He's second this week in rushing TDs behind Harding's (D-II) Andrew Miller with 69.
AH YAT ACCURACY: Not lost among all these stellar seasons and careers is the play of Keali'i Ah Yat, who continues to keep the Grizzly offense humming like a well-oiled machine and is making his way to the top of Montana's record books as well.
His first pass of the game this coming Saturday against PSU will be the 1,000th of his career, entering the week having completed 679 of 999 passes with 67 passing touchdowns to just 19 interceptions. That's a career pass attempt to INT ratio of .019, which would be a school record if his career ended today. Dave Dickenson holds the current record at .022. Ah Yat's career completion percentage of 67.7% would also be a school record if the season ended today.
He is now top four in Grizzly history in career passing yards at 8,069, trailing Jordan Johnson by 543 yards and his dad Brian by 1,246 yards. Dickenson again holds the program record at 11,080 passing yards.
All that production boils down to one thing: wins. And Ah Yat has plenty of those. Following the victory at EWU he's now led UM to 23 victories as the starting QB – the fifth-most in program history. With three regular season games remaining and a potential deep playoff run left to go this year he could surpass Johnson's career mark of 28 wins under center for the Grizzlies. Dickenson holds the record with 33.
• Entering Saturday's game against PSU Ah Yat leads the Big Sky in passing efficiency, Passing TDs, passing yards, passing yards per game, and points responsible for, with each of those totals sitting top five in the FCS.
• Ah Yat threw five touchdown passes in two of the last four games and four at EWU last week. The last time he threw four in a game was last season against South Dakota State in the FCS Playoffs.
• Ah Yat has also now posted four straight games with 300-plus yards passing – a rare feat among Grizzly signal callers. The last Grizzly to put together a four-game streak going over 300 yards? Drew Miller in 1999 when he started the year with games of 354, 377, 498, and 402 yards passing.
Only two players have ever passed for 300-plus in five consecutive games. Brad Lebo went six straight in 1991 and Dickenson went five straight two different times in 1995.
KEEPING HIM CLEAN: Ah Yat, Gillman and Davis continue to do their thing in no large part thanks to the stellar play of Montana's offensive line, which entered the season with all of zero returning starters.
Montana leads the Big Sky this week and is top 10 in the FCS in sacks allowed, giving up an average of just one per game.
STACKS OF SACKS: Montana's defense had a banner day at EWU with a program record 11 total sacks. The Griz became the first team from the Big Sky to log 11 sacks in a game and one of just 22 teams in the FCS to total 11 sacks since the NCAA began tracking the statistic in 2000.
• 10 different Grizzlies got in on at least one of those 11 sacks, with three players doubling up with two. Linebackers Clay Oven and Peyton Wing each had a pair, as did D-end Tyler King.
• As he has for most of the season, King leads the Big Sky in sacks again this week with 8.5 on the year, eight of which have been solo sacks.
• Oven logged multiple sacks in a game for the first time in his career with two on Saturday. The last time he posted a sack? 2025 against the same EWU Eagles when UM totaled 8 in the game.
• As a team, Montana also leads the Big Sky in sacks and is No. 7 in the FCS with 25 on the season.
FCS Single Game Sack Record
Oct. 10, 2009, Alcorn (Mississippi Val.): 14
Nov. 4, 2000, Illinois St. (Western Ill.): 12
Oct. 9, 2010, Sam Houston (Nicholls): 12
Nov. 7, 2015, Stony Brook (Howard): 12
Nov. 20, 2021, UNI (Western Ill.): 12
Oct. 31, 2026, Montana (E. Washington): 11
16 More Teams: 11
PILES OF PICKS: Montana's defense picked off three of quarterback Nate Bell's passes against the Eagles last week. Safety Kade Boyd, linebacker Tanner Williams, and big man Zekiel Seumalo (a DE), each logged an INT to help Montana win the turnover battle.
The last time the Grizzly defense picked off three or more passes in a single game? In 2025 UM pulled in five picks against this week's opponent, Portland State.
CAN'T WIN WITHOUT THE BALL: Montana has now won or been even in the turnover battle in six games this season and sits at +5 in the all-important turnover differential – the third-best margin in the Big Sky this week.
The Grizzlies have been making their 14 total takeaways count, outscoring opponents 34-27 in points off a turnover.
EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE: With touchdown strikes of 75, 51, 68, and 61 yards against EWU, the Grizzly offense has made explosive plays a habit this season, totaling 49 plays of 20-plus yard gains.
Conversely, the Grizzly defense has been solid against the explosive play with only 38 given up on the season and just two scores given up on explosives against EWU, an offense that lives and dies by the big play ability.
GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana bumped up to No. 12 in the Stats Perform FCS media poll this week and No. 13 in the coaches' poll. UM had fallen to No. 14 following the loss to Idaho on week 7.
Montana is the third-highest of five teams from the Big Sky in this week's poll. Idaho State, UM's opponent next week, is currently ranked No. 22, setting up a potential top 25 showdown under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
DEPLETED DEFENSE: Montana's injury woes continue to hamper the defense, specifically. Last week at EWU the Grizzly D was down four linemen and 8 players who have started at least one game. Despite that, the Grizzly defense ranks second in the Big Sky this week in rush defense, giving up an average of just 127 yards per game on the ground.
WELCOME BACK: One bright spot on the defense was the return of linebacker/D-end Solomon Tuliaupupu, who was welcomed back in the locker room after taking a personal leave of absence.
SERIES HISTORY: Montana and Portland State prepare to do battle for the 50th time in series history this week, dating back to the first meeting between the two programs in 1965. Montana holds a 36-13 all-time advantage over PSU, is 20-4 in games played in Missoula and is 12-2 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Griz enter the game having won eight of the last 10 meetings, and 19 of 23 meetings this century. Former PSU quarterback and legendary college coach June Jones passed away last week at the age of 73. Jones and his college coach Mouse Davis (who pioneered the run and shoot offense) led the Vikings to a 50-49 win over the Grizzlies at Portland in 1976.
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/ FootballMonday, November 02
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