By DAVE GUFFEY for GoGriz.com
The University of Montana Grizzly football team will once again play a 12-game schedule in 2014, with six home games, including the 114th Grizzly-Bobcat “Brawl of the Wild” clash against long-time rival Montana State, UM’s Director of Athletics Kent Haslam announced today (Wednesday, Dec. 18).
Third-year Griz head coach Mick Delaney and his staff return 14 starters from a team that went 10-3 overall and 6-2 (third) in the Big Conference last year. Montana, which won seven of its final eight regular-season games, was ranked fourth in the nation in the Sports Network’s final regular-season poll.
Montana returns seven starters on offense, five on defense, and its punter and kicker. The Griz are expected to have a total of 51 lettermen back (26 defense, 22 offense, two kickers, and a punter).
UM begins its 2014 slate in a formidable way, opening the season against the University of Wyoming from the Mountain West Conference on Aug. 30. Three weeks later the Griz make a trip just as challenging, as they face the current top-ranked FCS team and two-time defending divisional national champion North Dakota State Bison (13-0) on Sept. 20.
After the trip to Laramie, Montana hosts back-to-back non-league games, playing the Central Washington Wildcats on Sept. 6, and the Joe Glenn-coached South Dakota Coyotes come to Missoula a week later on Sept. 13.
The Grizzlies’ first league game of 2014 will also be their annual homecoming game, which is on Sept. 27, against the Northern Colorado Bears.
After its homecoming contest, Montana will make its third trek in a row to Grand Forks, N.D., playing North Dakota on Oct. 4. An open week on Oct. 11 will be followed by a Big Sky encounter against the UC Davis Aggies in UM’s annual “Cancer Awareness/Pink Game” in Missoula on Oct. 18.
Next up is a road game against the Cal Poly Mustangs, a team the Griz battled back to defeat 21-14 in Missoula in overtime. UM will then match-up against its third opponent in a row from California, as Sacramento State visits Missoula on Nov. 1.
Back-to-back league road trips against two FCS playoff teams in 2013 are next up for the Griz, as they play long-time rival Eastern Washington in Cheney on Nov. 8, and they will make their first trip ever to Cedar City, Utah, to play Southern Utah on Nov. 15.
The 114th Griz-Cat showdown in Missoula, wraps up Montana’s regular-season slate on Nov. 22.
