Griz host Fighting Hawks in top 25 showdown

Saturday, September 13

Missoula, Mont.

1 PM

Montana

North Dakota

Photo by: Montana Photography

9/9/2025 5:23:00 PM | Football

UM Notes UND Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The FCS Game of the Week comes to Missoula on Saturday in a top 25 showdown as the No. 5/7 Montana Grizzlies host the No. 16/17 North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.

Montana enters the contest riding high after pulling away for a dominant 42-17 win over Central Washington to improve to 1-0. North Dakota is also riding high after knocking off Portland State 50-20 at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks last week. It's a venue that has seen its fair share of big performances by UND, including a come-from-behind 27-24 win over the Grizzlies on week two of the 2024 season.

Now it's Montana's turn to avenge that loss, but it won't be easy. The Fighting Hawks put the FCS world on notice on week one, nearly pulling off one of the biggest upsets in program history at Kansas State.

After 26,000-plus fans crammed into WGS to see the Griz win the first of their eight regular season home games, Montana will once again turn to the maroon and silver faithful this week as North Dakota comes to town looking for its first ever win inside "The Mecca of FCS Football."

As fellow Big Sky Conference opponents from 2013-2018, UND enters the matchup having won two straight over UM in 2018 and 2024 – both played in Grand Forks.

This week's contest is shaping up to be an old school knock-down, drag-out Big Sky vs the Missouri Valley tussle, and if UM is to remain unbeaten at home for a 15^th time in stadium history, UND might be one of the biggest hurdles all season.

WATCH: The Grizzlies return to Montana Television Network stations around the state this season, with the North Dakota game available on basic cable, satellite options, free-to-air channels, and online streaming.

This week's game will be shown on KPAX in Missoula and Kalispell, KTVQ in Billings, KRTV in Great Falls, KXLH in Helena, and The Spot – MTN in Butte and Bozeman. The Spot – MTN is a new independent television network that serves as the secondary home of Big Sky Conference games and will carry specific UM games in specific markets. The Spot stations in Boise and Twin Falls, Idaho will also carry this week's game.

The Spot - MTN is available around the state free-to-air for viewers with antennas. It is also available on Spectrum Cable, TCT West, Montana Opticom, Access Montana, DIRECTV, the DIRECTV streaming platform, and FUBO TV. ESPN+ will again serve as the primary streaming home of Montana Athletics this season.

In the booth this season will be veteran play-by-play announcer Trey Bender, joined by former Montana defensive All-American Jordan Tripp who will serve as analyst. Kyle Hansen will once again report from the sidelines.

For complete broadcast details visit GoGriz.com/WhereToWatch.

LISTEN: "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran is in his tenth 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 featuring 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///

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Eli Gillman broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run on his first carry of the game vs CWU and went on to rush for a career high three touchdowns and 198 yards – the 12th-highest single game total in Grizzly history and a Big Sky high this season.

It was the best day rushing in the conference this season, so it was no surprise that Gillman was named Big Sky co-Offensive Player of the Week, the league announced Monday. It was just his second weekly honor from the league of his career.

Gillman single handedly put up 18 of Montana's 42 points against the Wildcats and now leads the FCS in scoring by TD after just one game. He started with a 54-yard run and broke away for five chunk plays of over 10 yards, including a 61-yard carry where he was tripped up just short of the goal line.

His 198-yard day is the third-best rushing total in all D-I football this season, his three rushing TDs are also the most of any back in the Big Sky, and his 13.2 yards per carry average is also a new single game career high and leads the league among backs with 6-plus carries.

With the nearly 200-yard day, Gillman continues his march up Montana's rushing record books, bringing his career total yards to 2,335 to pass Hall of Famer Rocky Klever and move into sixth place in program history. His three scores also tie him with another Hall of Famer in Marc Mariani with 33 career total touchdowns.

WELCOME WORTHAM: Michael Wortham also got a tip-of-the-hat for a huge game in his first appearance in maroon and silver. The grad transfer from Eastern Washington was an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS Special Teams Player of the Week as an all-purpose player. It's a fitting accolade because Wortham now leads the nation in all-purpose yards – the combined total of rushing, receiving, and returns.

Wortham totaled 240 yards in three quarters of play with 29 rushing, a game-high 120 receiving, 50 kickoff return and 41 punt return yards. His 240 yards are the most of any player in all of D-I football (FCS or FBS).

GOOD GROUND GAME: Gillman wasn't the only one pounding the rock for UM. Montana leads the FCS in rushing this week after the Grizzly offensive line paved the way for 310 total yards on the ground, with Stevie Rocker Jr. adding 72 more and a TD. The O-line helped convert when it matters, too, with UM leading the Big Sky and ranked third in the FCS in third down conversion after going 7-of-12 (58%) and 1-of-2 in fourth down conversions.

MORE SATURDAY STARS: Cornerback Kyon Loud set the physical tone for Montana defensively and helped setup a key second-half interception in the endzone with a pass breakup that fell into the hands of Grizzly teammate Kade Boyd. Loud finished the game with 5 tackles, one for loss, and a pass breakup to help keep CWU scoreless in the second half.

Drew Deck was electric in the return game with two punt returns for 41 yards and a long of 21. He would have been even more electric, but a 60-plus yard punt return touchdown was called back for holding penalty on the Griz.

NATIONAL NUMBERS: • Thanks in part to big play receptions from Wortham, Deck, Blake Bohannon and more, Keali'i Ah Yat now leads the Big Sky and is fourth in the FCS in passing yards per completion after going 14-for-24 for 250, bringing his average to 17.76 yards per catch.

• Despite having a touchdown called back, Deck remains third in the FCS in average yards per punt return after averaging 20.5 each.

• Sophomore linebacker Caleb Otlewski was one of several standouts for the Griz defensively against CWU, totaling five tackles (four solo), three of which were for a loss. He is now tied for the most TFLs per game in the FCS this week with three, and his total TFLs are the second-most in the Big Sky.

• With Montana's O-line giving up just one against CWU, the Griz lead the FCS in TFLs allowed this week.

• In a typically balanced Brent Pease offensive attack, the Griz lead the Big Sky and are second in the FCS in total offense this week after putting up 567 yards, split with just 53 yards between the rush and pass games (310/257).

GRIZ IN THE RANKINGS: Montana continued its march up the polls this week, rising a spot to No. 5 in the Stats Perform FCS media poll and three spots to No. 7 in the AFCA coaches' poll. The Griz are the second-highest ranked team in the Big Sky in both polls.

The UM/UND clash is both the Stats Perform FCS and Big Sky Game of the Week, with a top 25 matchup on tap as the Fighting Hawks come to Missoula ranked No. 16 in the media poll and No. 17 in the coaches' poll.

GRIZ IN THE RATINGS: The Griz moved up a spot in this week's Massey Ratings to No. 6 and will face a top six showdown according to the computers with North Dakota rated No. 5, up five spots from the previous week. UM slid down a spot to No. 95 in the Sagarin Ratings but is the No. 5 FCS team. Just for fun: the Griz still rank higher than several high profile FBS teams in the Sagarins including Oklahoma State, Wyoming, Purdue, Colorado State, and Oregon State.

The Griz are the second-highest rated team from the Big Sky in both rating systems. The Massey and Sagarin ratings are computer calculations that rank teams based on several factors including strength of schedule and can be used as tools in various tiebreaking scenarios at the end of the year.

STARTING STRONG: Montana extended hits FCS-best win streak in the season opener to 11 straight games on Saturday, a run dating back to 2015 when the Griz beat a Carson Wentz-led NDSU team 38-35. In his 14 seasons at Montana Hauck is now 14-1 in season opener games (including 2020-21 two game spring), with his only loss in the first game of the year occurring at Iowa in 2006.

Montana also extended its streak of wins in the home opener to 22, a run dating back to a 2003 loss to NDSU when the Bison were still a D-II program.

NICE ROUND NUMBERS: The win over Central Washington was, appropriately, the 237^th for the Griz in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Montana holds an astounding (and again appropriate) 237-37 record (.865) inside "The Mecca of FCS Football."

• A win over North Dakota would be No. 60 for Hauck since he returned to UM in 2018 and win No. 140 overall as the Grizzly head coach. As the winningest coach in Big Sky history, Hauck enters the game 59-24 in his second term and 139-41 overall as Grizzly head coach.

2025 REVENGE TOUR: North Dakota represents the first of three chances Montana has in 2025 to avenge losses from the 2024 season. The Griz lost at North Dakota last year (more on that later), at home against Weber State, and at Montana State. UM travels to WSU on Nov. 1 and hosts MSU on Nov. 22.

FRESH STARTS: 12 Grizzlies made their first ever start in maroon and silver last week, they are: Blake Bohannon, Brooks Davis, Kellen Detrick, Josh Gale, Micah Harper, Kenzel Lawler, Patrick Matan, Hunter Peck, Solomon Tuliaupupu, Diezel Wilkinson, Peyton Wing, an Michael Wortham.

Left guard Liam Brown is the most experienced Grizzly on the team, having made his 30^th career start last week. Gillman is a close second with now 25 starts to his name, Cannon Panfiloff and Evan Shafer each made start No. 16, and Ah Yat made his seventh start.

VERSUS THE VALLEY: The Montana Grizzlies and Coach Hauck are the wins leader for the Big Sky in the annual Big Sky vs the Missouri Valley Challenge series, entering the contest against North Dakota at 6-2 in regular season meetings against teams from the MVFC since the series began in 2018 – Hauck's first season back at UM. Including FCS playoff games, the Griz still lead the valley 7-5 in that time as well. Montana has had the most wins over teams from the MVFC in the series by far, with Weber State the only other Big Sky team to earn more than two wins since 2018 with three.

THE SERIES VS UND: Dating back to the first meeting in 1915, Montana and North Dakota have been at it for over a century but have only played a total of 26 times in that stretch with no meetings between 1973 and 2010.

The Griz lead the overall series with UND 15-10-1 and lead 7-2 in games played in Missoula. UM has also never lost to UND in Washington-Grizzly Stadium at 3-0, with the Fighting Hawks not playing their first game at the venue until that 2010 season.

The last time UND came to Missoula was 2017, a resounding 41-17 win for the Griz on homecoming, and the day UM celebrated the opening of the Washington-Grizzly Champions Center.

LAST MEETING: It was a tale of two halves in Grand Forks last season as the Fighting Hawks used a big comeback in the second half to upset No. 8 Montana 27-24. The 23rd ranked North Dakota team scored 20 unanswered points in the second half for the win.

Montana dominated the opening period, taking a 24-7 lead into the break, but were stymied in the second half offensively as the ground game of the hosts picked up momentum and UND won their 38^th-straight home opener.

Montana scored 21 points in the first quarter behind a hot start from Ah Yat and Eli Gillman. They totaled 195 yards in the first 15 minutes alone but couldn't recreate the success the rest of the way. In his second start Ah Yat ended the game 20-of-28 for 145 yards and a touchdown. Gillman had 86 yards on eight carries while Nick Ostmo had 45 yards on eight carries. Xavier Harris had five catches for 56 yards and touchdown.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS: After dispatching Montana 27-24 in Grand Forks and winning four of the next five last year, the Fighting Hawks faltered at the end of the season to finish 5-7 overall in the final season under Bubba Schweigert.

Now under first year head coach Eric Schmidt, UND is again off to a strong start to the season and has been rapidly climbing the national polls as a result as the Hawks come to Missoula ranked No. 16/17 in the FCS at 1-1.

Don't let that one loss fool you though… it was five seconds away from being a very big win. A near-miss at No. 17/20 Kansas State in Manhattan on week one has turned heads in Missoula after the Hawks led the Wildcats 35-31 with 1:49 to play before a two-minute drill touchdown put KSU in front for good.

North Dakota returned home last week and dispatched the Big Sky's Portland State 50-20 and comes to town this week with the second-best scoring offense in the Valley behind NDSU – a top six mark in all the FCS averaging 42.5 points per game.

Quarterback Jerry Kaminski has done it all for UND, sitting eighth in the nation in passing TDs and seventh in rushing scores with 48 points in two games – the second most in the FCS.