The No. 8 Grizzlies (4-1) will look to improve to 2-0 in league play when they host Weber State (2-3, 1-0) at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Wildcats fell out of the Top 25 poll after losing last week.

The Griz are on a fifteen-game home winning streak and are 3-0 in Wa-Griz this year as they play seven home games in the regular season. The Wildcats are 1-2 on the road and one of those losses comes against an FBS team.

UM opened as betting favorite with 13.5 points.

“They’re a tough team,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said of Weber. “They’re disruptive on defense. Their offensive line is extremely well-coached. Adept at wide receiving and running back. It’s going to be a handful for us this weekend.”

Here are five things to watch in the game, which will air on the Montana Television Network and stream on ESPN+.

Montana’s offensive line has found its footing in run blocking in recent weeks following a change to the offensive line, and the offense had its best passing game in nearly five years last week. The Griz will now see one of the best defensive lines they have seen yet.

However, Montana’s ground game might be the best Weber has seen yet. The Griz are rushing for 283.2 yards per game, which ranks third in the FCS. The Wildcats are giving up 171.4 points per game, which is 77th in the nation.

Eli Gillman was a big threat and ranks second all-time in the NCAA with 10.09 yards per rush attempt. Nick Ostmo has also taken his share of long-term gains this season as he found openings in defense.

The Griz will want to keep a clean wallet on whoever plays quarterback, whether it’s Keali’i Ah Yat or Logan Fife. They are averaging 214.6 passing yards per game, while Weber is giving up 166 per game, which is 15th in the FCS. Their receivers should have the size advantage over cornerbacks who are both listed at 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds.

Defensive end Kemari Munier-Bailey ranks first in the Big Sky with 10.5 tackles for loss (2.1 per game) and is third with five sacks (one per game). Six of those TFLs and three sacks fueled a 39-0 win at Northwestern State as he was named the Stats Perform FCS national defenseman of the week.

Defensive end Brayden Wilson, a preseason All-Big Sky pick, ranks second on the team with 25 tackles and 2.5 TFLs. Linebacker Garrett Beck is the team leader with 27 tackles and two TFLs. Both have one pocket.

Weber has the best rushing attack in the Big Sky that doesn’t belong to a Montana State team. The Wildcats rank a distant third with 202.2 rushing yards per game, an average that also ranks 15th nationally.

Damon Bankston has been a workhorse for them with 85 carries and is picking up 6.1 yards per rush. He ranks third in the conference with an average of 103.4 rushing yards per game and is tied for fourth with five rushing touchdowns.

Davion Godley is averaging 7.2 yards on 21 carries and Clarence Butler is averaging 5.4 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Richie Munoz shows some mobility, gaining 156 yards and scoring 107 on 34 carries when sacks are included. Adrian Cormier is second with 37 rush attempts, averaging 3.9 yards.

“They have the ability to move the ball on the floor, play multiple personnel groups and give you a lot of different looks,” Hauck said. “They’re not vanilla at all when it comes to their run game. They have a lot of run game.”

Montana’s rushing defense ranks seventh in the Big Sky, allowing 138.8 yards per game. Improved tackling could help the Griz limit the ground game after they allowed big runs last week due to their failure to properly complete tackles.

Better pressure on the defensive front could help them prevent those runs from even going beyond the line of scrimmage. Weber’s five starting offensive linemen average 299 pounds.

“Everyone’s O-line is big,” Hauck said. “They are active. They have a good temperament. That applies to the entire team. But the tone is set with their front.”

Montana’s secondary, which lost two players last week, will have to limit big plays after giving up big chunks through the air the past two weeks.

Munoz is averaging 11 yards on 87 completions for 957 yards. His 191.4 passing yards per game rank third in the Big Sky. He’s not overly efficient, hitting 56.9% of his attempts, but he’s not error-prone with seven TDs and one interception.

Wide receiver Jacob Sharp was a big threat, averaging 14.1 yards per reception. His 24 receptions are fifth-most in the Big Sky, while he ranks fourth with 67.6 receiving yards per game while grabbing two touchdowns.

Sharp has totaled 338 receiving yards, which is more than the next three players on the team combined. He has the same number of catches as the No. 2 and 3 players (Jayleen Record and Jaden Thrower) combined.

UM allows 215 passing yards per game, which ranks sixth in the Big Sky and 62nd in the FCS, but has allowed an average of 331 over the past two games. The Griz were again penalized for rushing the passer and pass interference.

“There were a lot of things,” Hauck said of that play and what needs to be cleaned up. “A lot of guys are out of position. You have to play your assignment. That’s defensive football. You have to do your 1/11th, and if you don’t do that it can look bad, and sometimes it did, especially by give.” some big plays.

He added: “In terms of coverage, you have to be in your zone. We’re in zone coverage, you can’t call off your zone coverage. Men’s cover, you have to have man’s eyes, you can’t have dirty eyes. in reporting about men. And then I thought our second attempt at battle wasn’t good enough.”

Montana’s defense faced multiple long returns in Eastern Washington last week. The Griz now rank 98th in the FCS in allowing 23.61 yards per kickoff. That’s an unusual sight for a Hauck-coached team.

The Griz will be tested again as Clarence Butler ranks third in the Big Sky with an average of 26 yards per kick return. He also ranks fourth with 10.8 yards per punt return. The Griz are giving up 8.2 yards per punt return, 56th in the country.

“We have to get out of the blocks and tackle better,” Hauck said. “The point coverage was good, even though we didn’t score much. We didn’t get out of the blocks well at the point of attack and couldn’t get the man on the ground.

“We have to kick it better. We have to give those guys a better chance by pinning the ball better and creating more hang time. But we have to get rid of the blocks.”

Montana kicker Ty Morrison split his two field goal attempts last week and is 7 of 11 this season. Weber has used two kickers in Kyle Thompson, who is 6 of 11 with a long of 46, and Sloan Calder, who is 2 of 3 with a lung of 28.

Montana has improved its third-down offense, hitting 19 of 41 attempts (46.3%) in the past three games after going 6 of 22 (27.3%) in the first two games.

The Griz are now at 39.7%, which ranks sixth in the Big Sky and 44th in the nation. They will face a Weber defense that is giving up third-down conversions at a 38.8% clip, which is seventh in the league.

If the Griz can’t get a third down, they’ll be tied for second in the FCS with eleven fourth down conversions. They convert fourth downs at a rate of 78.6%, which ranks 12th in the nation but third among teams attempting at least twice per game.

On the other side of the ball, Weber’s offense was poor at converting third downs, ranking 106th in the FCS and last in the Big Sky at 29.6%. Montana’s third-down defense is 61st, allowing teams a 41.2% conversion rate.

Take the game against unlisted Morehead State and teams are grabbing 48.2% of third downs. The Griz allowed nine third-down conversions last week and a conversion rate of 64.3%, both season highs.