University of Montana Grizzly Football National Champions 1995, 2001
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA GRIZZLY FOOTBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 1995, 2001 2017 GRIZ SCHEDULE (3-2 overall, 1-1 Big Sky, 2-1 Home, 1-1 Away) @ DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT 9/2 Valparaiso W, 45-23 9/9 @ Washington L, 63-7 9/16 Savannah State W, 56-3 GAME 6 9/23 Eastern Washington* L, 48-41 Montana (3-2, 1-1) @ Idaho State (3-2, 1-1) 9/30 @ Portland State* W, 45-33 10/7 @ Idaho State* 2:30 PM Oct. 7, 2017 - Holt Arena (12,000) 10/14 North Dakota* 1 PM Pocatello, Idaho - 2:30 PM 10/28 @ Weber State* 2 PM TV: Eleven Sports | Web: WatchBigSky.com / Pluto TV 11/4 Northern Arizona* 3:30 PM Eleven Sports Network: DirecTV: 623 (HD) - AT&T U-verse: 1665 11/11 Northern Colorado* 1 PM Verizon FiOS: 597 (HD) 11/18 @ Montana State* Noon Radio: Montana Grizzly Radio Network * = Big Sky Conferece game Official Hashtag: #UMvsISU MONTANA QUICK FACTS ON THE ROAD AGAIN Location: ...................................................Missoula, Mont. Enrollment: ............................................ 11,865 (Fall 2017) The Montana Grizzlies proved they could win on the road last week with a decisive 45-33 victory over a Portland State team that hung with BYU and was on the verge of beating Oregon Founded: ......................................................Feb. 17, 1893 State earlier this season. Nickname: ....................................................Grizzlies, Griz School Colors: ...................................Copper, Silver, Gold This week, the Grizzlies (3-2, 1-1 BSC) are looking to make a habit out of winning away from as they take on the Big Sky upstart Idaho State Bengals (3-2, 1-1 BSC) on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Spirit Colors: .....Maroon (PMS 209) and Silver (PMS 8 C) 2:30 p.m. in Pocatello’s Holt Arena. Stadium/Capacity: ..Washington-Grizzly Stadium / 25,217 THE GAME: At 3-2, the Bengals enter the game looking like a different team than the one that Playing Surface: Field Turf - Revolution 360 with CoolPlay finished 1-7 last year and was thumped 62-44 by the Griz in Missoula now that first-year head President: ................................Dr. Sheila Stearns (Interim) coach (and former Montana assistant) Rob Phenicie is leading the charge. They’re looking a lot Athletic Director: .......................................... Kent Haslam like the Griz. Head Coach: .................... Bob Stitt (Doane College, 1987) Both Montana and Idaho State have registered lopsided wins over an outmatched opponent Record at Montana (Years): ............................... 17-12 (3) this season, and taken a lopsided loss from an FBS opponent as well, with the Griz falling to Overall Record (Years): .................................. 126-74 (16) the No. 7 ranked Washington, and the Bengals falling to a solid Utah State outfit 51-13. Football Office Phone: ............................. (406) 243-2969 But like Montana, ISU is coming off a big win last week, rallying from two scores down in the 2016 Record: ............................................ 6-5, 3-5 Big Sky third quarter to beat Cal Poly at home 38-34 for their first league win. Big Sky Titles* (18): ..........1969, 1970, 1982, 1993, 1995, ““They’re a good team. The big thing is the mental side of it. They’ve got some confidence, and .............................................1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, they’ve had some good wins, a nice comeback against Cal Poly,” said Grizzly head coach Bob .............................................2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, Stitt. .............................2007, 2008, 2009. *Includes shared titles “Overall, they’re a good football team that’s playing at home, they’ve got some excitement NCAA/FCS Playoff Apperances: ...........23 (FCS Record) going. I expect them to have a good crowd. I expect us to have a good crowd there; we travel NCAA/FCS Championships (2): .....................1995, 2001 so well. I think it’s going to be loud indoors, and I think it’s going to be a great environment and a great matchup.” NCAA/FCS Championship Appearances (7): 1995, 1996, ......................................................................................2000 The similarities between the two don’t stop at the schedule, either. .........................................................2001,2004, 2008, 2009 ISU quarterback Tanner Gueller has led the Bengals to the No. 23 total offense in the nation FCS Postseason Record: .....32-21 Over, 29-7 at Home (.805) with an average of 445 yards per game. Where to the Griz match up? Montana sits at No. 20 in All-time WGS Stadium Record: .................. 194-30 (.866) the nation in total offense, averaging 450.8 yards per game. All-Time Record: ................................... 587-486-23 (.535) The Griz are one of the only teams in the nation to remain perfect in the red zone, scoring on Big Sky Record: ...................................... 236-130-1 (.643) each of their 22 trips inside the opponent 20. Similarly, the Bengals are at 95 percent in the red zone, converting 18-of-19 trips. MONTANA COMMUNICATIONS With Montana averaging 38 points per game and ISU averaging 32, Saturday’s game is shap- Contact: Eric Taber ing up to be a shootout. Office: (406) 243-5402 Cell: (646) 287-7492 Email: [email protected] Website: GoGriz.com WHERE TO WATCH: The Montana/Idaho State game can be seen via the Eleven Sports Twitter: @UMGRIZZLIES_FB - @erictaber Network as part of the Big Sky Conference’s partnership with the network. Facebook: /UM-Grizzly-Athletics-Football GRIZ FOOTBALL 2017 The game can also be streamed for FREE via WatchBigSky.com, and via the Pluto TV app on nearly any over-the-top device such as Apple TV, Roku, Xbox, Google Chromecast, or on a smart TV. The Big Sky owns and manages the media rights for all teams in the conference (including Mon- tana), and has partnered with Eleven Sports to produce weekly football broadcasts for games not picked up by ROOT Sports, as well as future basketball and Olympic sports broadcasts as well. Eleven Sports Network is available nationwide on DirecTV channel 623. The network is also avail- able via AT&T U-verse cable on channel 1665, Verizon FiOS cable channel 597 in HD, and Google Fiber cable channel 251. 2017 BIG SKY FOOTBALL STANDINGS Through these platforms, the Eleven Sports Network is available in over 55 million homes nation- As of Oct. 2, 2017 wide and 21 million homes via DirecTV. Roughly 3.1 million DirecTV customers already subscribe to the package that includes Eleven Sports. SCHOOL BIG SKY OVER. Weber State 2-0 4-1 To see if Eleven Sports is available through the cable or satellite provider in your area, visit GoG- riz.com/wheretowatch for links to their handy channel finder. Eastern Washington 2-0 3-2 Northern Arizona 2-0 2-2 SERIES HISTORY: The Montana/Idaho State rivalry dates back nearly a century to the first meet- Idaho State 1-1 3-2 ing in 1921, a 25-0 win for the Grizzlies in Missoula. Montana 1-1 3-2 UC Davis 1-1 3-2 Since then, the Griz have built a 44-13 lead in the overall series, and hold a 13-10 advantage in Northern Colorado 1-1 2-2 Pocatello. Since the opening of Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 1986, however, Montana has domi- Sacramento State 1-1 2-3 nated the overall series 27-2, with the only two losses coming at ISU (1994 & 2003). Montana State 1-1 1-3 Southern Utah 0-1 2-2 LAST MEETING: To fully appreciate the tenor of this year’s UM/ISU matchup, it pays to go back Portland State 0-1 0-4 and examine the last two meetings. North Dakota 0-2 1-4 2015: A wild finish. In head coach Bob Stitt’s first year, Montana traveled to Pocatello looking to Cal Poly 0-2 0-5 redeem themselves from a soggy loss at Portland State the week prior and appeared to have the SEASON TEAM STATS game in hand with a 21-13 halftime lead. Team Statistics ..............................UM .....................ISU The Bengals clawed their way back, however, taking a 27-24 lead with 10 minutes left in the fourth FIRST DOWNS ...............................114 .....................106 quarter. UM kicker Dan Sullivan tied the game with five minutes to play, forcing overtime tied at Rushing ............................................38 ........................47 27-27. Passing .............................................64 ........................49 Penalty ..............................................12 ........................10 In the extra period, the Bengals were on the verge of causing an upset as they lined up for a chip- RUSHING YARDAGE ......................713 .....................880 shot field goal that would have won the game. But the snap sailed over the holder’s head, and JR Nelson was there to scoop it up and run it back before finally throwing a lateral to Eric Johnson for Rushing Attempts ............................195 .....................207 a Grizzly touchdown and a dramatic 33-27 win in OT. Average Per Rush ........................... 3.7 .......................4.3 Average Per Game ........................ 142.6 .................176.0 2016: A shootout. The Bengals were on the wrong end of a record-breaking day by backup quar- TDs Rushing .....................................12 ..........................9 terback Chad Chalich, who broke the school record for touchdown passes in a game with seven, PASSING YARDAGE ......................1541 ..................1345 and added another to give the senior eight TDs responsible for on the day. Comp - Att - Int ...........................125-196-7 ....... 85-151-5 Average Per Pass ............................ 7.9 .......................8.9 But with 361 passing yards and four touchdowns, the Bengals