Saturday, September 19
Corvallis, Ore.
9 PM (MT)
Montana
at
Oregon State
Photo by: Montana Photography
Griz to battle Beavers on Saturday night in Corvallis
9/15/2026 4:20:00 PM | Football
MISSOULA - Thirty years and a little over one week ago, the Montana Grizzlies and a gunslinger quarterback named Ah Yat went to Corvallis, Oregon, and returned to Missoula with a 35-14 win over Oregon State.
That game kickstarted a 1996 season of dominance for the Griz that wouldn't be derailed until they ran into a Randy Moss buzzsaw in the national championship game at Marshall in late December.
The 2026 Grizzlies will be hoping to replicate that same magic this week as Montana returns to Corvallis for the first time since that win in '96 to take on the Beavers under the lights at Reser Stadium on Saturday.
On the 30th anniversary of that fateful win, Montana prepared to take on its first FBS opponent since 2021, when the Griz marched into Seattle and took down the No. 20 Washington Huskies.
But those games are all in the past. While this year's Grizzlies head to Corvallis at 3-0 under first year head coach Bobby Kennedy, the Beavers aren't going to be caught off guard with Montana coming to town. At 0-2, OSU will be hungry to get in the win column this week following two narrow losses to top 25 teams, also under a first-year head coach in JaMarcus Shephard.
Montana is riding a two-game win streak against OSU after winning in both 1990 and 1996. Those are the only two wins against the Beavers in program history, however, with UM sitting at 2-12-2 dating back to the first meeting between the two in 1925.
Kickoff under the lights in Corvallis is set for 9 p.m. (MT).
U-S-A! U-S-A! - The Grizzlies return to the national spotlight this week with the UM/OSU game set to be broadcast to millions of televisions around the country on the USA Network, available on most basic cable, satellite, and streaming packages.
Veteran play-by-play man Ted Robinson will lead the broadcast. Former Notre Dame and NFL veteran running back Darius Walker will serve as analyst, and Dalen Cuff will report from the sidelines. The game, which is a part of a tripleheader, will have a pre-game and halftime show anchored by Lisa Kerney and Erik Coleman.
Saturday's game marks a first for Montana on USA Sports. The game broadcasts live on USA Network and is available to stream live via authentication on USA Network App, USANetwork.com & Connected TV Apps.
In November, USA Sports and the Pac-12 Conference announced a five-year partnership beginning in 2026-27, featuring regular season action for football, men's basketball and women's basketball, plus the league's men's basketball tournament live on USA Network. Pac-12 Enterprises, the broadcast production arm of the conference, will produce all 80-plus football, men's basketball and women's basketball games on USA Network in partnership with USA Sports.
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 sixteen affiliate stations around the state.
Joining Corcoran in the booth 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 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.
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: The UM Alumni Association will be holding two events to welcome Griz fans traveling to Corvallis for the game this weekend. Join your fellow fans at Sky High Brewing & Pub on Friday, Sept. 18 from 5-7 p.m. for "Griz on Tap" for an evening of Griz merriment.
The UMAA will then host the official Grizzly pregame tailgate party outside of Reser Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 5-8 p.m. on the OSU Alumni Center Lawn. Cost is $40 per adult and $20 per youth (ages 12 & under). Tailgate registration includes: A burger buffet, water and lemonade, cash bar for additional drinks (beer/wine or NA), and game day giveaways (poms, stickers, etc.). To attend, register today at GrizAlum.org.
///GRIZ TRACKS///
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Running back Eli Gillman and punter Everett O'Donnell each earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors Monday after a pair of standout performances in Montana's 35-14 victory over Utah Tech.
Gillman broke two more Montana records and posted the third-best rushing game of his career – 147 yards and three touchdowns – to earn Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors for the third time. For the second-straight week he also received an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS Offensive Player of the Week.
O'Donnell earned Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honors after pinning Utah Tech deep in its own territory with several big punts. It is the second time this season a Grizzly has earned the weekly special teams honor under first year coordinator Chris White and is the first of O'Donnell's career.
He helped flip the field for the Grizzlies, pinning the Blazers inside their own territory with an average drive starting at their own 23-yard line. The junior from Australia boomed seven punts for 299 yards to average nearly 43 yards per attempt with a long of 51 yards and three inside the 20.
• With his help, Montana's punt team now ranks No. 9 in the FCS and No. 2 in the Big Sky in net punt average at 42.85 yards per attempt. O'Donnell is also second in the Big Sky with five of his 12 punts places inside the 20 and has the longest punt of the year so far in the league at 68 yards, set against Drake two weeks ago.
GILLMAN GREATNESS: A week after setting the program record for career rushing touchdowns, Gillman established a new school record for career total touchdowns Saturday, pushing his tally to 62. He also set a new program record for career points scored among non-kickers, finishing the day with 372.
Gillman's 147-yard effort against Utah Tech marked his 18th career 100-yard rushing game and his second consecutive week with three rushing touchdowns. The performance featured a 75-yard touchdown run – the longest in the Big Sky this week and the second longest of his career.
Gillman also became just the fourth Grizzly in program history to surpass 4,000 career rushing yards, finishing the game with 4,005. He now needs just 66 yards to break Yohance Humphrey's program record of 4,070 rushing yards.
He's also within reach of UM's all-purpose yardage record, currently held by NFL All-Pro Marc Mariani at 5,441 yards. Gillman enters the week at 4,706 all-purpose yards, needing 735 more rush, reception, or return yards to surpass Mariani.
• Gillman also moved closer to breaking Big Sky records, tying Sacramento State's Charles Roberts for the conference's all-time rushing touchdown record at 56. Gillman moved into second place in Big Sky history with 62 total touchdowns as well, passing Portland State's Charles Dunn.
The only player left ahead of Gillman on the conference's all-time total touchdown list is Cooper Kupp, who finished his career at Eastern Washington with 77. Gillman now needs 16 total touchdowns to break Kupp's Big Sky record.
• For reference: the FCS record for most career rushing touchdowns is held by another NFL star in Adrian Peterson who piled up 84 at Georgia Southern. Brian Westbrook holds the FCS record for career rushing yards at 9,512 at Villanova.
• Gillman is also the active career leader in all of college football (FCS, FBS, D-II, and D-III) in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. As of Tuesday, he's ahead of Harding (D-II) running back Andrew Miller (3,880), Arizona's Ismail Mahdi (3,749) and Lehigh's Luke Yoder (3,486) in career rushing yards. He's also the career active leader for rushing TD ahead of Miller, Youngstown State QB (and last year's Payton Award winner) Beau Brungard and Michigan State's Carson Gulker who each have 50.
Gillman is also currently third among NCAA active leaders in all-purpose yards behind Mahdi (5,513), and Alfred St. (D-III) standout Noah Currier (4,874). Gillman his ahead of Colorado State's Mel Brown, who has 4,415).
OTHER SATURDAY STARS
WHAT A DAY FOR DAVIS: If Gillman wasn't Big Sky Player of the Week, receiver Brooks Davis very well could have been. The junior receiver had a PR day in an already standout career against Utah Tech, hauling in 12 catches for 151 yards, with a long catch of 42 yards.
He showcased his big play ability with four explosive plays (15+ yards) against the Blazers, hauling in passes of 22, 33, and 42 yards, and adding a 31-yard punt return on top to total 189 all-purpose yards.
• Despite Gillman's ground-game dominance, Davis has also risen to the top of the FCS over the air, now leading the nation in receptions per game with eight and sitting sixth in receiving yards with 311, an average of just over 103 per game (second in the Big Sky). He's
Davis set Montana's freshman receiving record last season with 698 on the year – the sixth-most for a freshman in the FCS.
AH YAT IS A-OK: In the middle of it all has been quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat, who has taken advantage of a clean pocket and running lanes to set guys like Gillman and Davis up for success.
He's operated coordinator Brent Pease's balanced offense efficiently, with UM sitting third in the league in both rushing and passing offense and Ah Yat himself sitting second in the conference in total passing yards with 793.
After three games, he's averaging 264 yards passing per - only seven yards behind last season's torrid pace of 271 per contest. Again, that's with Gillman chewing up record amounts of rushing yards.
Ah Yat has now passed for 6,255 career yards in his second season as a full-time starter, making him one of just 10 QBs in program history to pass the 6k mark, currently sitting at No. 8 in the UM record books with a full season-plus left to play.
His career completion percentage remains one of the tops in program history as well. In his time as a Grizzly he's completed 530 of exactly 800 attempts – a rate of 66.3 percent. That's currently the third-best percentage in program history.
• Ah Yat is now 20-4 as a starting QB for the Grizzlies after a 3-0 start this season. He needs just nine more victories to match his dad Brian's career total of 29, with Dave Dickenson holding the program record of 33. Ah Yat is set to make his 25th start this week.
KEEPING HIM CLEAN: Ah Yat has had plenty of opportunity to get Montana's offense going, taking the fewest sacks in the Big Sky so far this season behind UM's debutant O-line. Now three games into the season, the Grizzly offensive line has performed well under pressure for a group of new faces that only has 15 combined career starts across the front.
EXPLOSIVENESS: With a three-headed monster of an attack, Montana's offense has been explosive this season, with four of UM's 15 touchdowns coming from 50-yards out, and the average drive taking just 2:11 off the clock. 10 of those 15 drives have taken less than three minutes total, with UM's home run hitters piling on the points.
CAN'T WIN WITHOUT THE BALL: Montana moved to +3 in the all-important turnover margin this week after two takeaways against Utah Tech. After starting the year in the negative after game one, the Griz now rank fourth in the Big Sky and top 20 in the FCS in turnover margin, giving up just one INT and one fumble in the first game.
UM currently leads the Big Sky and is 12th nationally in intercepted passes with just one on the season… on the very first play from scrimmage of the year as Pease looked to start the season with a bang.
Montana has come out on the plus side of turnovers on the scoreboard this season, scoring seven points off turnovers and giving up none.
STOPS WHEN IT COUNTS: Coordinator Eric Sanders' Grizzly defense and cornerback Chris Johnson II forced a fumble at the goal line last week for a touchback turnover. It was just another stop in the red zone for the Griz, who lead the Big Sky and are third nationally this week in red zone D, allowing teams to convert points on less than half of their trips inside the 20.
SPECIAL TEAMS: With O'Donnell's Player of the Week award, the Grizzlies have continued to shine in third phase under White.
Junior kickoff specialist Ryder Barinowski of Whitefish has now gone two-straight games without allowing a kickoff return, tallying 14-straight touchbacks, totaling 910 kickoff yards without a return.
BACK TO THE PAC: Montana has faced Oregon State a total of 16 times in program history, with the majority of the meetings occurring when the two were co-members of the old Pacific Coast Conference from 1924-50.
That's tied for the second-fewest meetings of any member of the new Pac-12 Conference, which features two former Big Sky members in Boise State and Gonzaga, whom UM has faced 25 and 24 times in program history, respectfully. Montana has faced Washington State and Utah State a total of 34 times each in program history, with Oregon State and Colorado State each meeting 16 times. Texas State has faced UM one time in football in the 2008 FCS Playoffs.
FIRST TIME OUT: While both the Griz and Beavs enter the game under first year head coaches, the Griz have historically fared well under new mentors. Since 2003 Montana is 18-6 overall against new coaches and 7-1 on the road when facing them.
GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana held firm at No. 2 in the AFCA Coaches Poll this week and No. 3 in the Stats Perform FCS Media Poll.
Montana is the second-highest rated of five Big Sky teams in the media poll and seven that received votes in the poll, including week one opponent Southern Utah.
GRIZ IN THE RATINGS: Montana slid to No. 128 among all college football teams in this week's Sagarin Ratings, surprisingly, the 11th-highest rated FCS team at a score of 59.04 after beating Utah Tech, ranked No. 229 out of 267 teams. Oregon State sits at No. 91 with a score of 64.81.
Montana slid to No. 4 in the FCS Massey ratings behind South Dakota State and Illinois State, which picked up an FBS win last week.
The Sagarin and Massey ratings are computer calculations that take into account strength of schedule, among other variables, to rank teams, and can be used in tiebreaking scenarios for championships and the postseason.
FALSE START FRENZY: Montana fans rose to the occasion again on Saturday and helped Utah Tech commit three false start penalties. That brings the season total of false starts by UM opponents inside WGS to nine. Opponents have jumped a total of 75 times over the last three seasons, roughly 25 times each year. With four regular season home games remaining, UM's opponents will need to jump an average of four times per game to reach that average.
LAST MEETING AGAINST THE BEAVERS: Brian Ah Yat finished 20 for 36 for 177 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions to lead Montana to a 35-14 victory at OSU in the 1996 season opener for both schools.
The Grizzlies started quickly behind Ah Yat, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Montana scored on its first three possessions, building a 21-0 lead.
Wide receiver Joe Douglass, a transfer from Oregon State, caught six passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns against his former school. Mike Erhardt added five catches for 58 yards.
Montana outgained the Pac-10 Beavers in total offense 173-95 in the first half. Oregon State came back for a 327-278 edge by the end of the game.
That game kickstarted a 1996 season of dominance for the Griz that wouldn't be derailed until they ran into a Randy Moss buzzsaw in the national championship game at Marshall in late December.
The 2026 Grizzlies will be hoping to replicate that same magic this week as Montana returns to Corvallis for the first time since that win in '96 to take on the Beavers under the lights at Reser Stadium on Saturday.
On the 30th anniversary of that fateful win, Montana prepared to take on its first FBS opponent since 2021, when the Griz marched into Seattle and took down the No. 20 Washington Huskies.
But those games are all in the past. While this year's Grizzlies head to Corvallis at 3-0 under first year head coach Bobby Kennedy, the Beavers aren't going to be caught off guard with Montana coming to town. At 0-2, OSU will be hungry to get in the win column this week following two narrow losses to top 25 teams, also under a first-year head coach in JaMarcus Shephard.
Montana is riding a two-game win streak against OSU after winning in both 1990 and 1996. Those are the only two wins against the Beavers in program history, however, with UM sitting at 2-12-2 dating back to the first meeting between the two in 1925.
Kickoff under the lights in Corvallis is set for 9 p.m. (MT).
U-S-A! U-S-A! - The Grizzlies return to the national spotlight this week with the UM/OSU game set to be broadcast to millions of televisions around the country on the USA Network, available on most basic cable, satellite, and streaming packages.
Veteran play-by-play man Ted Robinson will lead the broadcast. Former Notre Dame and NFL veteran running back Darius Walker will serve as analyst, and Dalen Cuff will report from the sidelines. The game, which is a part of a tripleheader, will have a pre-game and halftime show anchored by Lisa Kerney and Erik Coleman.
Saturday's game marks a first for Montana on USA Sports. The game broadcasts live on USA Network and is available to stream live via authentication on USA Network App, USANetwork.com & Connected TV Apps.
In November, USA Sports and the Pac-12 Conference announced a five-year partnership beginning in 2026-27, featuring regular season action for football, men's basketball and women's basketball, plus the league's men's basketball tournament live on USA Network. Pac-12 Enterprises, the broadcast production arm of the conference, will produce all 80-plus football, men's basketball and women's basketball games on USA Network in partnership with USA Sports.
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 sixteen affiliate stations around the state.
Joining Corcoran in the booth 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 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.
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: The UM Alumni Association will be holding two events to welcome Griz fans traveling to Corvallis for the game this weekend. Join your fellow fans at Sky High Brewing & Pub on Friday, Sept. 18 from 5-7 p.m. for "Griz on Tap" for an evening of Griz merriment.
The UMAA will then host the official Grizzly pregame tailgate party outside of Reser Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 5-8 p.m. on the OSU Alumni Center Lawn. Cost is $40 per adult and $20 per youth (ages 12 & under). Tailgate registration includes: A burger buffet, water and lemonade, cash bar for additional drinks (beer/wine or NA), and game day giveaways (poms, stickers, etc.). To attend, register today at GrizAlum.org.
///GRIZ TRACKS///
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Running back Eli Gillman and punter Everett O'Donnell each earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors Monday after a pair of standout performances in Montana's 35-14 victory over Utah Tech.
Gillman broke two more Montana records and posted the third-best rushing game of his career – 147 yards and three touchdowns – to earn Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors for the third time. For the second-straight week he also received an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS Offensive Player of the Week.
O'Donnell earned Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honors after pinning Utah Tech deep in its own territory with several big punts. It is the second time this season a Grizzly has earned the weekly special teams honor under first year coordinator Chris White and is the first of O'Donnell's career.
He helped flip the field for the Grizzlies, pinning the Blazers inside their own territory with an average drive starting at their own 23-yard line. The junior from Australia boomed seven punts for 299 yards to average nearly 43 yards per attempt with a long of 51 yards and three inside the 20.
• With his help, Montana's punt team now ranks No. 9 in the FCS and No. 2 in the Big Sky in net punt average at 42.85 yards per attempt. O'Donnell is also second in the Big Sky with five of his 12 punts places inside the 20 and has the longest punt of the year so far in the league at 68 yards, set against Drake two weeks ago.
GILLMAN GREATNESS: A week after setting the program record for career rushing touchdowns, Gillman established a new school record for career total touchdowns Saturday, pushing his tally to 62. He also set a new program record for career points scored among non-kickers, finishing the day with 372.
Gillman's 147-yard effort against Utah Tech marked his 18th career 100-yard rushing game and his second consecutive week with three rushing touchdowns. The performance featured a 75-yard touchdown run – the longest in the Big Sky this week and the second longest of his career.
Gillman also became just the fourth Grizzly in program history to surpass 4,000 career rushing yards, finishing the game with 4,005. He now needs just 66 yards to break Yohance Humphrey's program record of 4,070 rushing yards.
He's also within reach of UM's all-purpose yardage record, currently held by NFL All-Pro Marc Mariani at 5,441 yards. Gillman enters the week at 4,706 all-purpose yards, needing 735 more rush, reception, or return yards to surpass Mariani.
• Gillman also moved closer to breaking Big Sky records, tying Sacramento State's Charles Roberts for the conference's all-time rushing touchdown record at 56. Gillman moved into second place in Big Sky history with 62 total touchdowns as well, passing Portland State's Charles Dunn.
The only player left ahead of Gillman on the conference's all-time total touchdown list is Cooper Kupp, who finished his career at Eastern Washington with 77. Gillman now needs 16 total touchdowns to break Kupp's Big Sky record.
• For reference: the FCS record for most career rushing touchdowns is held by another NFL star in Adrian Peterson who piled up 84 at Georgia Southern. Brian Westbrook holds the FCS record for career rushing yards at 9,512 at Villanova.
• Gillman is also the active career leader in all of college football (FCS, FBS, D-II, and D-III) in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. As of Tuesday, he's ahead of Harding (D-II) running back Andrew Miller (3,880), Arizona's Ismail Mahdi (3,749) and Lehigh's Luke Yoder (3,486) in career rushing yards. He's also the career active leader for rushing TD ahead of Miller, Youngstown State QB (and last year's Payton Award winner) Beau Brungard and Michigan State's Carson Gulker who each have 50.
Gillman is also currently third among NCAA active leaders in all-purpose yards behind Mahdi (5,513), and Alfred St. (D-III) standout Noah Currier (4,874). Gillman his ahead of Colorado State's Mel Brown, who has 4,415).
OTHER SATURDAY STARS
WHAT A DAY FOR DAVIS: If Gillman wasn't Big Sky Player of the Week, receiver Brooks Davis very well could have been. The junior receiver had a PR day in an already standout career against Utah Tech, hauling in 12 catches for 151 yards, with a long catch of 42 yards.
He showcased his big play ability with four explosive plays (15+ yards) against the Blazers, hauling in passes of 22, 33, and 42 yards, and adding a 31-yard punt return on top to total 189 all-purpose yards.
• Despite Gillman's ground-game dominance, Davis has also risen to the top of the FCS over the air, now leading the nation in receptions per game with eight and sitting sixth in receiving yards with 311, an average of just over 103 per game (second in the Big Sky). He's
Davis set Montana's freshman receiving record last season with 698 on the year – the sixth-most for a freshman in the FCS.
AH YAT IS A-OK: In the middle of it all has been quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat, who has taken advantage of a clean pocket and running lanes to set guys like Gillman and Davis up for success.
He's operated coordinator Brent Pease's balanced offense efficiently, with UM sitting third in the league in both rushing and passing offense and Ah Yat himself sitting second in the conference in total passing yards with 793.
After three games, he's averaging 264 yards passing per - only seven yards behind last season's torrid pace of 271 per contest. Again, that's with Gillman chewing up record amounts of rushing yards.
Ah Yat has now passed for 6,255 career yards in his second season as a full-time starter, making him one of just 10 QBs in program history to pass the 6k mark, currently sitting at No. 8 in the UM record books with a full season-plus left to play.
His career completion percentage remains one of the tops in program history as well. In his time as a Grizzly he's completed 530 of exactly 800 attempts – a rate of 66.3 percent. That's currently the third-best percentage in program history.
• Ah Yat is now 20-4 as a starting QB for the Grizzlies after a 3-0 start this season. He needs just nine more victories to match his dad Brian's career total of 29, with Dave Dickenson holding the program record of 33. Ah Yat is set to make his 25th start this week.
KEEPING HIM CLEAN: Ah Yat has had plenty of opportunity to get Montana's offense going, taking the fewest sacks in the Big Sky so far this season behind UM's debutant O-line. Now three games into the season, the Grizzly offensive line has performed well under pressure for a group of new faces that only has 15 combined career starts across the front.
EXPLOSIVENESS: With a three-headed monster of an attack, Montana's offense has been explosive this season, with four of UM's 15 touchdowns coming from 50-yards out, and the average drive taking just 2:11 off the clock. 10 of those 15 drives have taken less than three minutes total, with UM's home run hitters piling on the points.
CAN'T WIN WITHOUT THE BALL: Montana moved to +3 in the all-important turnover margin this week after two takeaways against Utah Tech. After starting the year in the negative after game one, the Griz now rank fourth in the Big Sky and top 20 in the FCS in turnover margin, giving up just one INT and one fumble in the first game.
UM currently leads the Big Sky and is 12th nationally in intercepted passes with just one on the season… on the very first play from scrimmage of the year as Pease looked to start the season with a bang.
Montana has come out on the plus side of turnovers on the scoreboard this season, scoring seven points off turnovers and giving up none.
STOPS WHEN IT COUNTS: Coordinator Eric Sanders' Grizzly defense and cornerback Chris Johnson II forced a fumble at the goal line last week for a touchback turnover. It was just another stop in the red zone for the Griz, who lead the Big Sky and are third nationally this week in red zone D, allowing teams to convert points on less than half of their trips inside the 20.
SPECIAL TEAMS: With O'Donnell's Player of the Week award, the Grizzlies have continued to shine in third phase under White.
Junior kickoff specialist Ryder Barinowski of Whitefish has now gone two-straight games without allowing a kickoff return, tallying 14-straight touchbacks, totaling 910 kickoff yards without a return.
BACK TO THE PAC: Montana has faced Oregon State a total of 16 times in program history, with the majority of the meetings occurring when the two were co-members of the old Pacific Coast Conference from 1924-50.
That's tied for the second-fewest meetings of any member of the new Pac-12 Conference, which features two former Big Sky members in Boise State and Gonzaga, whom UM has faced 25 and 24 times in program history, respectfully. Montana has faced Washington State and Utah State a total of 34 times each in program history, with Oregon State and Colorado State each meeting 16 times. Texas State has faced UM one time in football in the 2008 FCS Playoffs.
FIRST TIME OUT: While both the Griz and Beavs enter the game under first year head coaches, the Griz have historically fared well under new mentors. Since 2003 Montana is 18-6 overall against new coaches and 7-1 on the road when facing them.
GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana held firm at No. 2 in the AFCA Coaches Poll this week and No. 3 in the Stats Perform FCS Media Poll.
Montana is the second-highest rated of five Big Sky teams in the media poll and seven that received votes in the poll, including week one opponent Southern Utah.
GRIZ IN THE RATINGS: Montana slid to No. 128 among all college football teams in this week's Sagarin Ratings, surprisingly, the 11th-highest rated FCS team at a score of 59.04 after beating Utah Tech, ranked No. 229 out of 267 teams. Oregon State sits at No. 91 with a score of 64.81.
Montana slid to No. 4 in the FCS Massey ratings behind South Dakota State and Illinois State, which picked up an FBS win last week.
The Sagarin and Massey ratings are computer calculations that take into account strength of schedule, among other variables, to rank teams, and can be used in tiebreaking scenarios for championships and the postseason.
FALSE START FRENZY: Montana fans rose to the occasion again on Saturday and helped Utah Tech commit three false start penalties. That brings the season total of false starts by UM opponents inside WGS to nine. Opponents have jumped a total of 75 times over the last three seasons, roughly 25 times each year. With four regular season home games remaining, UM's opponents will need to jump an average of four times per game to reach that average.
LAST MEETING AGAINST THE BEAVERS: Brian Ah Yat finished 20 for 36 for 177 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions to lead Montana to a 35-14 victory at OSU in the 1996 season opener for both schools.
The Grizzlies started quickly behind Ah Yat, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Montana scored on its first three possessions, building a 21-0 lead.
Wide receiver Joe Douglass, a transfer from Oregon State, caught six passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns against his former school. Mike Erhardt added five catches for 58 yards.
Montana outgained the Pac-10 Beavers in total offense 173-95 in the first half. Oregon State came back for a 327-278 edge by the end of the game.
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