As the winningest coach in Big Sky history, there aren’t many teams that have ever played in the conference that hold a winning record over Montana head coach Bobby Hauck. In fact, in his now-13 years in the league, there is only one: North Dakota.
While there wasn’t much overlap in UND’s five-year stint as a member of the Big Sky and Hauck’s return, it was enough to hand the Grizzlies a single loss in 2018. And don’t think it hasn’t gnawed at him since.
This week, No. 4 Montana returns to the site of that loss in Grand Forks for the first meeting between the two schools since UM took the 41-14 drubbing. While the No. 20/23 Fighting Hawks are no longer members of the Big Sky, as a top 25 tussle between premiere programs in the two FCS power conferences, this week’s game has the import of a league rivalry with added postseason implications. And It’s only week two.
The Griz and Fighting Hawks square off Saturday night at 5 p.m. (MT), indoors at the Alerus Center for UND’s home opener and first and only “night game” on their 2024 schedule – as much as you can have a night game in a dome.
As one of only two top 25 matchups across the FCS this week, the Fighting Hawk faithful will be fired up when the Griz come to town.
Montana heads east at 1-0 looking for redemption for that 2018 loss, buoyed with confidence from a week-one win. North Dakota, meanwhile, returns home after hanging tough with Iowa State in Ames where they outrushed the Cyclones 174 yards to 86, but eventually fell 21-3 to start the year 0-1.
Led by veteran head coach Bubba Schweigert, now in his 11th year as UND’s chief mentor, the Hawks were picked fifth in the preseason Missouri Valley Football Conference poll. They’ll be looking to right the ship early following the ISU loss as they continue with a brutal schedule that pits them against seven of the top 25 teams in the FCS preseason poll.
After dispatching one Missouri Valley team last week, Montana will once again be faced with another physical outfit from “The Valley” in UND, with six All-MVFC preseason picks on the Hawk roster, led by All-America receiver Bo Belquist, who also earned a place on the Senior Bowl Watch List.
It sets up a big-boy showdown against two of the biggest boys in FCS football on Saturday, with the winner set to get a big boost of confidence as the nonconference slate rolls on.
WATCH: The Griz return to the MTN Network this week, with the game at North Dakota shown over the airwaves around the state and on DIRECTV, the DIRECTV Streaming Platform, as well as FUBO TV. A nationwide stream of the game is also available without blackout on ESPN+.
UND broadcast partner MidCo Sports will produce the game from the Alerus Center. The MTN Network will simulcast the MidCo broadcast throughout Montana. Alex Heinert will have the play-by-play call, and former UND linebacker Ryan Kasowski will serve as analyst.
For complete Montana broadcast details as well as links to a channel finder for the MTN Network, visit GoGriz.com/wheretowatch.
LISTEN: “Voice of the Griz” Riley Corcoran is in his ninth 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 with Ace Sauerwein and Denny Bedard before Corcoran and longtime color commentator Greg Sundberg take over 30 minutes to kickoff.
Griz fans on the go or 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.
THE SERIES: Saturday’s matchup marks the first time Montana and North Dakota have faced each other since the Fighting Hawks left the Big Sky Conference for the MVFC after the 2018 season.
UM and UND have a long history of football between the two schools, with the first game dating back to 1915 – a 10-10 tie in Grand Forks.
Since then, the Griz have built at 15-9-1 lead in the series with a 7-2 advantage in Missoula. However, the last time the two met, UND rolled to a 41-14 win in 2018 at the Alerus Center, cutting Montana’s all-time advantage in games played in Grand Forks to a single win, with UM now holding a 6-5-1 record on the road.
ABOUT THAT LAST MEETING: Montana turned the ball over on its first three possessions, all in the opening five minutes of the game, and North Dakota took full advantage in the last meeting between the two on Oct. 13, 2018, at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.
The Fighting Hawks turned those three giveaways into a quick 21-0 lead, used another Grizzly miscue in the second quarter to build a 34-0 advantage at the half and went on to a 41-14 victory in what was counted as a Big Sky Conference game for Montana in UND’s last year in the league.
It was the second consecutive loss for the Grizzlies, the second in a row that can largely be attributed to turnovers. Montana fell at home the week prior to Portland State, 22-20, on a day when it fumbled the ball four times.
Prior to that, Montana’s previous trip to Grand Forks in 2014 was a nailbiter, with the Griz pulling out an 18-15 win on a last-second 35-yard field goal from Daniel Sullivan, a kick that remains the last game-winning field goal in program history.
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#SPECIALTEAMSU: Playing in his first-ever game at Montana, Kicker/Punter Ty Morrison introduced himself as yet another potential Griz candidate for FCS Punter of the Year with a stellar debut in maroon and silver on Saturday.
You’ll forgive the junior college transfer for doinking his first kick in front of 26,000 strong at Washington-Grizzly Stadium off the uprights on a first quarter PAT attempt. After that, however, he was lights-out. Morrison posted the best punting average and longest punt in the league so far this season and scored 11 points with his foot to help lead the Griz to a 29-24 win over Missouri State in the home opener.
In doing so, Morrison was named Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week by the conference on Monday, making him one-for-one in weekly awards as a Grizzly.
Morrison averaged 45.3 yards per attempt over four punts to total 181 yards, with a long of 61 yards and two landing inside the 20. His 61-yarder is the longest punt in the Big Sky so far this season, and his average of 45.3 is also tops in the league. Even more impressive: after kicking that longest punt in the league, he was seen sprinting down field and putting his body on the line to take down the MSU returner in space, saving a potential touchdown and logging his first career tackle.
The junior was rock solid in the place-kicking department as well, going 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, hitting from 35, 22, and 38 yards out, and 2-of-3 on PATs for a personal haul of 11 points. Morrison also out-kicked Missouri State’s All-America punter Grant Burkett, an FCS Punter of the Year watch list member who averaged 42.2 yards on four attempts for 169 yards total, with a long of 52 and none inside the 20 against UM.
Morrison’s 11 points are the most per game of any kicker in the Big Sky by a country mile this week, with four other kickers in the league averaging just six or less points with the boot.
Known for putting an emphasis on special teams, Hauck has mentored two winners of the Ray Guy FCS Punter of the Year award since returning to Montana in 2018. Brian Buschini won national honors in 2021, and Kalispell’s Patrick Rohrbach repeated as the FCS’s top punter in 2022.
• Fellow kicker Grant Glasgow is back with a big leg again in 2024, handling the kickoff duties for a second-straight season. The sophomore put five of his six kickoffs into the back of the endzone for a touchback on Saturday, tied for the second most touchbacks of his career. Last season, his touchback average of 68% was the second-best in Montana history.
• Always known as a breeding ground for future stars to earn their stripes, Montana’s special teams saw six more players get their first reps of Division-I college football on Saturday in addition to Morrison. Five of the six all hail from the Treasure State as well.
Missoula Hellgate’s Ian Finch, Helena Capital’s Hayden Opitz, Billings Central’s Clay Oven, Whitehall’s Dylan Smith, Libby’s Cy Stevenson, and redshirt-freshman Washington transfer Jake Mason all played in their first college football game on special teams against Missouri State, highlighting the youth on the depth chart.
SATURDAY’S STARS: • Eli Gillman – The reining FCS Freshman of the Year started his sophomore campaign with a bang on Saturday with a game-high 89 yards rushing on 15 carries with two touchdowns, averaging a superb 5.9 yards per attempt against Missouri State. It marks the fourth time in his career he’s scored a pair of rushing TDs, and his 89 yards were the fifth-most of his career. His 37-yard touchdown scamper in the first quarter was also the third-longest rush of his career. His 12 points scored is tied for the second-most in the Big Sky this season and tied for third in the FCS.
Gillman returns to his backyard of sorts this week when UM travels to North Dakota, with his hometown of Dassel, Minnesota, just a short (by Montana standards) four-hour drive away from Grand Forks.
• Hayden Harris put in a dominant defensive effort for the Grizzlies with a career high 2.5 sacks and 3 tackles for loss – both totals that lead the Big Sky this season and are tied for the most in the FCS. His sacks were timely as well with the second coming on Missouri State’s final drive of the game, helping ice the win for the Griz. All told the senior logged 5 tackles (3 solo), with his 2.5 sacks totaling 20 lost yards for the visitors.
Harris, who transferred from UCLA a year ago, picked up steam as the season went on in 2023, saving his best performances for the playoffs in UM’s run to the FCS championship. In the first three rounds of the playoffs, he logged 15 total tackles and three TFLs, highlighted by a career-high eight stops against Delaware and 1.5 TFLs against NDSU. Both totals in that three-game stretch were nearly as much as he totaled the entire rest of the season combined.
FRESH FACES: Montana got some more big performances against Missouri State from other newcomers to the program as well.
• Senior linebacker Vai Kaho, a transfer from San Diego State, also had a breakout day in his first game as a Grizzly with seven tackles and 2.5 TFLs, none bigger than a sack on UM’s final defensive play of the game that iced the win.
• Another youngster playing in his game of college football (and another San Diego State transfer) was freshman linebacker Caleb Otlewski, who joined the program over the summer after a season spent as the Aztec’s Scout Team Player of the Year. He finished his first game as a Grizzly with six tackles, a half-sack and a quarterback hurry.
• Safety Chrishawn Gordon also impressed in his first game at UM. The Fresno State transfer was UM’s second-leading tackler on Saturday with seven stops, and had the most solo tackles with five.
• Senior defensive end Andres Lehrmann also produced in his first game in maroon and silver. He had two tackles, one of which was one of the last three sacks of the game that iced the win, to go along with a half TFL and two quarterback hurries in his debut out of Youngstown State.
REALLY FRESH FACES: The only true freshman to see the field outside of the special teams was cornerback Kyon Loud, who not only played, but registered his first tackle – a solo stop on an MSU receiver in the first quarter. Loud, a 6-foot-2, 172-pounder out of Junipero Serra in San Mateo, Calif., impressed during fall camp, and could be a regular in the cornerback rotation.
• Add it all up and eight players made their first-ever start at Montana, while a total of 19 players made their first appearance.
SACKS AND TFLs: Montana racked up five sacks and 10 tackles for loss against Missouri State. Kaho was originally credited with a TFL on the final MSU offensive play of the game, but it was later reviewed and changed to a sack. The Grizzly D only had two games in 2023 where they posted more than four sacks (six vs Idaho and Northern Colorado), and one game where they logged more than 9 TFLs (12, Northern Colorado).
STREAKS ALIVE: Montana kicked-off the 2024 season with a 29-24 win that kept multiple streaks rolling for Coach Hauck and the Grizzlies. Here’s a breakdown:
• It was Montana’s 13th-straight win in the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium, a streak dating back to the midway point of the 2022 season. The Griz have a 231-35 (.829) overall record and have played 14 undefeated seasons inside “The Mecca of FCS Football.”
• With 26,482 fans in attendance, it was Montana’s 11th-straight regular season sellout in WGS, and the 12th in the last 14 games played inside the building, including the program’s first playoff sellout against North Dakota State last year.
• It was UM’s 10th-straight win in a season-opener, a streak dating back to 2015’s win over No. 1 NDSU in Missoula. Montana’s streak of 10 season-opening wins is the longest in the FCS. Prior to week one, NDSU was right on Montana’s heels with 8 first game wins, but lost at Colorado to start this season.
• It was also UM’s 21st-straight win in the home-opener, a streak that dates back to 2003 when the Griz lost to, you guessed it, NDSU in Hauck’s first home game as a Grizzly head coach.
• The nighttime is still the right time for the Griz, having won 11-straight night games in Missoula and is 16-2 overall in night games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The last night loss for UM was against EWU way back in 2017, meaning Bobby Hauck has never lost a night game at WGS.
• Speaking of Hauck, the Grizzly mentor coached his 100th home game inside WGS against Missouri State. He now holds an 89-11 record in Missoula over his two terms as UM head coach, going 55-6 from 2003-2009 and 34-5 from 2018 to now. In 12 seasons he’s gone undefeated at home five times, including going 9-0 during last year’s championship run.
Hauck will get the chance to hit one more milestone this week at UND as he seeks his 50th overall win since returning in 2018. He heads to Grand Forks at 49-18 in his second tenure at UM. A win at the Alerus center could put him over the half century mark.
GRIZ VS. THE VALLEY: With the win over Missouri State Montana is now 6-1 in the Big Sky/Missouri Valley Challenge and has a chance to go 7-1 next week when the Griz head to UND.
Including playoffs, the Griz are 7-3 against the Valley during Hauck’s second term, and Hauck is 11-5 in his career against teams that currently reside in the Valley.
FALSE START TRACKER: The Grizzly faithful came up big time once again for Montana against Missouri State, helping the visitors cause four false start penalties. A new in-stadium feature this season rewards Griz Nation with free McDonalds if opponents jump four or more times in a game.
Last season, fans helped away teams to 26 false start penalties. NDSU was famously flagged five times in the FCS Semifinal – the second-most of any team to enter Washington-Grizzly Stadium all year.
GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana dropped a spot from third to fourth in both the Stats Perform FCS media poll and the AFCA Coaches poll this week, swapping places with Montana State, who got an FBS win at New Mexico on week zero and at Utah Tech last week.
North Dakota moved up to No. 20 in the coaches’ poll and 23 in the media poll after hanging tough at Iowa State. UND is one of five Grizzly opponents this season to sit in the rankings, with EWU also sitting just out of the top 25 after a week one win.
THE TURNOVER BATTLE: You can’t win a game without the ball, and Montana came away from the Missouri State game even in the turnover differential – always a key metric in winning football. The Griz gaveth away a fumble on a punt return early in the game, but tooketh away when captain Ryder Meyer got his second career interception.
Montana was +9 in the turnover battle last season with 17 total interceptions and seven fumble recoveries.
FAMILIAR FACE: At least one Grizzly will be fully aware of UND, their players and tendencies. Montana offensive line coach Joe Pawlak returns to Grand Forks where he served as the Hawk’s O-line coach for five seasons prior to being hired in Missoula in February.