The time for talk is over, and now the Montana Grizzlies officially begin the tall task of working toward a second-straight Big Sky Championship and meeting sky-high expectations after last year’s run to the national championship.
 
Talk is cheap, and to meet those expectations the Griz will have to, as the saying goes, take it one game at a time if they are to reach the same highs as they did a year ago.
 
Standing in their way this week are the Missouri State Bears, a formidable foe out of the always-salty Missouri Valley Football Conference that is set to move up to the FBS level next year and make some noise on the way out the door as they bring 20 returning starters with them on their first-ever trip to Missoula.
 
Montana head coach Bobby Hauck has his Grizzlies right where he wants them, however, with UM returning in 2024 as the defending Big Sky Champion after winning the program’s 19th league title and advancing to the FCS Championship game for the 8th time in school history.
 
With 16 starters and 35 lettermen back from that team, plus 18 players with FBS experience on their resumes, Montana has reloaded and is gunning for another shot at a title. The Griz are picked to win the Big Sky, but nowhere are expectations higher than in the locker room where the goal since Jan. 8 has been a return to Frisco.
 
Missouri State is the first of two MVFC teams UM has on the nonconference slate, and a third team lined up to come to Missoula who made a playoff appearance last season in Western Carolina. To reach their goals, the Griz will have to bring their A-game from the start this season, and Missouri State will the team’s first tough test of the new year.
 
It’s a blackout in Missoula, with the Griz and Bears set to kick off at 7 p.m. under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. It’s a venue that has been playing host to parties for the last week, with Pearl Jam, Tyler Childers, and P!nk playing sold-out shows in the home of Griz football. Montana is hoping to put on a show of its own and move to 1-0 on the season.
 
THE SERIES: In 125 seasons of Griz football and 115 for the Bears, Ursus Horribilis and Ursus Arctos have never faced each other. That changes Saturday in the first-ever meeting between the two programs, when Missouri State opens its last season of FCS play before moving up to the FBS ranks and Conference USA.
 
In fact, Missouri State has only played three games against current Big Sky Conference members, its most recent meeting a 40-8 dispatching of Northern Arizona in 2018. The Bears are 1-2 all-time against Big Sky teams, including a 1-1 record against NAU and a 1990 loss to Idaho in the playoffs.
 
MSU returns 20 starters from last year’s team that went 4-7 overall and earned three wins in the MVFC under then-first year head coach Ryan Beard. The Bears had a common opponent win over Utah Tech (59-14), the same team Montana beat 43-13 two weeks prior. They also picked up wins over Western Illinois, Murray State, No. 15 Northern Iowa.
 
WATCH: The Grizzlies return to Montana Television Network stations around the state this season, with the Missouri State game available on basic cable and satellite options, as well as free-to-air channels.
 
This week’s game will be shown on KPAX in Missoula, KAJ in Kalispell, KTVQ in Billings, KRTV in Great Falls, KXLH in Helena, KBZK in Bozeman, and KXLF in Butte. A nationwide stream of the game is also available without blackout on ESPN+.
 
Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer and former NFL head coach Marty Mornhinweg serves as the analyst on the broadcast, while longtime Montana newsman Jay Kohn will provide the play-by-play. Kyle Hansen will report from the sidelines.
 
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 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.
 
///GRIZ TRACKS///
 
MONTANA FOOTBALL TRADITION: The Griz begin their 125^th season of college football as the winningest team in Big Sky Conference history and one of the winningest in the FCS, including teams from the Ivy League that have been playing football for decades longer.
 
Montana has 637 wins since 1897, the only team in the league to total that many and one of just five teams west of the Mississippi River with 600 or more wins in program history.
 
Montana is now the winningest FCS team of the 20th century (2000-2023) with a 226-76 record in that time, passing North Dakota State’s record of 225-46 with the semifinal win in Missoula last season.
 
OH, CAPTAINS MY CAPTAINS: At the conclusion of fall camp, the Grizzlies voted for five players that will lead them into battle this season as team captains.
 
Veteran running back Nick Ostmo and all-conference tackle Brandon Casey will represent the offense, safety Ryder Meyer and All-America cornerback Trevin Gradney will represent the defense, and preseason All-Big Sky pick Isiah Childs will represent the special teams. The quintet of seniors will take the field before each game for the coin toss and handle other administrative and leadership duties among the squad.
 
GRIZ IN THE POLLS: As the unanimous pick to win the Big Sky by the league’s media and coaches, the Grizzlies start the season as the top ranked team in the conference in both the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches preseason FCS polls.
 
Montana slots in at No. 3 in both top 25 lists, with 1285 voting points in the media poll and 576 in the coaches’ poll – firmly between No. 2 NDSU and No. 4 Montana State.
 
Montana will face five teams ranked in the preseason media top 25 this year, starting at No. 24 North Dakota, followed by a visit to Washington-Grizzly Stadium by No. 20 Western Carolina. The Griz also host No. 22 Weber State on Oct. 5 and No. 18 UC Davis on Nov. 9 before capping the year against No. 4 Montana State in Bozeman. Montana will also travel to Eastern Washington on Sept. 28, which was just outside the top 25 with 14 voting points.
 
GRIZ IN THE RATINGS: Montana was consistent with the preseason polls in the preseason FCS Sagarin ratings, with the Griz slotting in at No. 3 behind South and North Dakota State. Overall, Sagarin ranks UM as the No. 86-best team in college football this week. Missouri State, meanwhile, slots in as the No. 21 team in the FCS and No. 145 overall, despite not receiving votes in either major preseason poll.
 
A LOOK AT THE TWO-DEEP: With Montana’s first game of the year comes the first look at Hauck’s projected two-deep. As always, especially this day and age in college football, there are plenty of fresh faces and future start getting ready to make their first start in maroon and silver.
 
EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Tackle Brandon Casey is the most experienced player on this year’s team, entering the week with 30 career starts to his name. Keelan White is close behind, expected make his 30^th career start on Saturday. Journey Grimsrud adds more experience to the O-line as the third-most veteran player with 20 starts.
 
FIRST TIMERS: Montana will have a first-time starter under center against Missouri State, with quarterback played partly by committee. Fresno State transfer Logan Fife (a junior who started five games for the Bulldogs) and promising redshirt freshman Keali’i Ah Yat will be a game day decision for the Griz on who takes the first snap. Hauck has alluded to the fact that both, and perhaps even Helena native Kaden Huot, will see reps as the leader of the Grizzly offensive attack.
 
Cade Klimczak, a Central Michigan grad transfer is also slated to make his first start first start for the Grizzlies at left guard following a strong fall camp.
 
The three are the only expected starters on the offensive depth chart without a start to their name, with the projected O-line itself returning 69 total starts in a highly experienced group.
 
Defensively it’s a different story. Four offseason transfers are set to make their debut for Montana, including linebacker Vie Kaho, end Andres Lehrmann, tackle Pat Hayden, and safety Chrishawn Gordon, all of whom came to UM with deep experience.
 
Of Montana’s returners Cooper Barnum is slated to make his first career start at linebacker. He’s Portland State head coach Bruce Barnum’s son, so you know he’s well-versed in what it takes to be a starter. Also slated to start for the first time at safety is Jaxon Lee, a Phillipsburg/Missoula standout who was one of UM’s best defenders last season as a backup with 49 tackles and two defensive scores.
 
All-told, Montana has 38 new faces on the roster this season, evenly split between incoming high school recruits and transfers at 19-each. Most of those players hail from the state of Montana at 10, with California providing the second-most at eight. Nine of the 38 are defensive backs, six are O-linemen and 5 are D-linemen, making up the most rebuilt position groups.
 
THE MECCA OF FCS FOOTBALL: Last Friday Montana announced a new season ticket record for Washington-Grizzly Stadium of 18,816 total packages sold and distributed. Well, that number jumped again over the weekend, with the new record of 18,854 packages sold and distributed on the books as of Tuesday of game week.
 
A robust 95 percent of last year’s season ticket holders renewed for this year’s seven game slate, helping Montana surpass 2023’s record of 18,761 sold and the previous record of 18,622 set in 2009.
 
For context, a recent report noted Oregon State had sold 15,819 season tickets for the coming season, a 96 percent renewal rate from the year prior for the Beavers. In 2022 the Idaho Statesman reported that Boise State had sold 17,403 season tickets, and the San Diego Tribune reported SDSU had sold just under 16,000 in its first year at the new Snapdragon Stadium. The Griz are even in the same ballpark as UCLA, now a Big 10 program that sold 23,077 season tickets at the Rose Bowl in 2022, according to the New York Times.
 
NIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME: The Griz kickoff the season against Missouri State under the lights in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with start time officially set for 7:05. Montana has been historically good in night games in the “Mecca of FCS Football,” with a 15-2 record since 2011.
 
Montana played an all-time high four home night games in 2023, taking home four wins over Ferris State, Sacramento State, Delaware, and Furman.
 
START STRONG AT HOME: The Griz have been equally as good in home-openers at Washington-Grizzly Stadium at 33-4 since the first home-opener at the venue in 1987. Montana is riding a 20-game winning streak in the first game at home entering the Missouri State contest, having not lost 2003.  
 
Bobby Hauck is 12-1 all-time in the home-opener with 12-straight wins. His only loss is also UM’s last, a 2003 upset by North Dakota State, 25-24.
 
HAUCK’S HOME CENTURY: The winningest coach in both Big Sky Conference and Montana history will post another milestone on his resume this week, coaching his 100^th game inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
 
Hauck, a four-time and the defending Big Sky Coach of the Year, is 88-11 in his two terms at UM in games played in Missoula. In 12 seasons he has gone undefeated at home five times, including going 9-0 at home during last year’s championship season.
 
MADE IN MONTANA: Montana born and bred players have always been at the heart of Grizzly football. This year, UM boasts 49 total Montana players on the 2024 roster, up from 47 a year ago.
 
If you want to get hyper-local, 12 of those players hail from Missoula, while 11 more come from Western Montana (the greater Flathead and Bitterroot valleys).
 
FUTURE SCHEDULES: Buckle up for plenty of home football games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in years to come. Montana will play eight regular-season home games in the fall of 2025, which is believed to be a first for any team in FCS football. With the calendar allowing for a 12-game season for the second-straight year in ’25, the Griz will spend the entire month of September at home with four-straight games. It’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory too, with rivals like North Dakota, Idaho, Eastern Washington, and, of course, Montana State all traveling to Missoula.
 
Thanks to an extra Saturday between Labor Day weekend and the week before Thanksgiving, UM plays seven regular season home games in 2024 – a first for the Griz since 2007.
 
Montana is 230-35 (.868) in Washington-Grizzly Stadium since 1986. The Griz are coming off a perfect 9-0 home season in 2023 – the 14^th undefeated home season in stadium history.
 
MORE SCHEDULE STUFF: Montana plays a seven-game home schedule for the first time since 2007 and for just the fifth time in program history this year. The Griz play three first time opponents in Missouri State, Morehead State, and Western Carolina, all at home. UM’s lone road game in the nonconference slate is at North Dakota. The Griz are 15-9 all-time against UND but hold a slight 6-5-1 advantage in Grand Forks.
 
Due to an unbalanced Big Sky schedule, 2024 marks the first time in a decade Montana will not play one of the Idaho schools (U of I or ISU). The last time it happened was 2014, when Idaho was still an FBS member.
 
PRESEASON PICKS: The Griz had six players named to eight positions on the 2024 Big Sky preseason all-conference team this year. UM’s eight selections were the second-most in the league, with honorees nearly divided evenly among the offense, defense, and special teams.
 
Returning 2023 first-team all-conference performers Junior Bergen, Brandon Casey, and Trevin Gradney were each picked to once again be some of the league’ top players in their senior seasons.
 
Reigning FCS Freshman of the Year, running back Eli Gillman, joined them on this year’s preseason team along with breakout star linebacker Riley Wilson and do-it-all running back-turned linebacker Isiah Childs for his work on Montana’s highly effective special teams.
 
ALL-AMERICA: The Montana Grizzlies had a Big Sky-best six players named to one of three Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Teams in the leadup to the season. All but one of Montana’s six honorees also earned a place on the preseason All-Big Sky team.
 
Record-setting return man Junior Bergen was UM’s lone first team selection, earning a spot on the list as a punt returner, to no one’s surprise.
 
Three Grizzlies were named to the second team, with offensive tackle Brandon Casey, linebacker Riley Wilson, and tight end Cole Grossman earning a place on the squad. Casey and Wilson were both All-Big Sky preseason honorees, while Grossman earns his first preseason accolade since returning to the fold this season following a year off due to injury.
 
All-American defensive back and the latest to wear Montana’s #37 legacy jersey Trevin Gradney earned a place on the third team. He’s joined by the 2023 winner of the Jerry Rice Award for the nation’s top freshman in running back Eli Gillman.
 
The Griz tied South Dakota State with a half-dozen honorees, second only to North Dakota State with eight. Montana State had the third-most selections with five picks.
 
ALL-CANADA: Montana senior receiver Keelan White, a native of North Vancouver, B.C., was ranked No. 10 on the list of the top 20 Canadians eligible for the 2025 CFL Draft, the league’s scouting bureau announced in August. He’s one of only three total receivers and two players from the FCS to make the list.
 
White, who was named Montana’s offensive MVP in 2023 by the Grizzly coaching staff, is coming off a breakout year, leading the team with 798 receiving yards on 54 catches with four touchdown grabs as a junior. One of those touchdowns was a school record 97-yard strike against Sacramento State – the longest play from scrimmage in Montana history.
 
He enters his senior season poised for more entries in the Grizzly record books with 104 career catches for 1,234 yards and 10 TDs, averaging nearly 12 yards per catch – all marks sitting just outside Montana’s top 20 all-time totals.
 
THE BEST OF THE BEST: A pair of Montana Grizzlies have been named players to watch for college football’s premiere postseason all-star game, with Junior Bergen and Cole Grossman named to the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl watchlist, the game’s organizers announced Wednesday.
 
Bergen, a record-setting senior receiver and return man, and Grossman, a versatile offensive threat at tight end, were two of just 13 players from the Big Sky Conference named to the list representing nearly 900 of the best players in college football and future NFL stars.
 
The Senior Bowl is considered the preeminent college football all-star game and the first stage in the NFL Draft process. The longest continual-running all-star game, it has taken place in Mobile, Alabama, for the past 75 years. The game gives elite draft prospects from around the country the chance to showcase their talent and connect with coaches and decision-makers from all 32 NFL teams.
 
BERGEN BITES: Bergen was a popular pick in the preseason prognostications. He was also named the East-West Shrine Bowl 1,000 watch list, as well as the Senior Bowl Watch List along with Grossman. He is also on this year’s Walter Payton Award watch list for FCS Offensive Player of the Year.
 
FAMILIAR FACES: Despite 1,527 miles separating Missoula and Missouri State, the two programs have several Montana connections. Former MSU head coach Bobby Petrino, a native of Lewistown and former player/coach at Carroll College, is the father-in-law of current head coach Ryan Beard. The Bears’ OC Nick Petrino is also Bobby’s son.
 
Two former Grizzlies are also on the roster at MSU. Dylan Simmons was a backup safety for the Griz and is now listed as the starting nickel back for the Bears. Iverson Young is a running back at MSU who spent a year in Missoula as a freshman.
 
Landon Molen is MSU’s backup long snapper who is a native of Great Falls and a graduate of Great Falls High, who went to Snow College out of high school.  
 
MISSOURI VALLEY VS THE BIG SKY: Montana vs Missouri State is the opening salvo in the 2024 Big Sky Conference vs Missouri Valley Challenge series, a friendly regular season contest between the two FCS power conferences now in its sixth season. The Griz play two of just four games between the two leagues this season, starting with Missouri State and continuing next week at North Dakota.
 
Montana is 5-1 in the series since 2018, with the only loss occurring that first year at Western Illinois. The Valley leads the all-time series over the Big Sky, however, 22-13.