MISSOULA — Montana and Indiana State will meet for only the second time on the football field this weekend.
The fifth-ranked Grizzlies (2-0) will attempt to complete the sweep of the home-and-home series at 1 p.m. Saturday in Washington-Grizzly Stadium as they try to build upon their comeback win over No. 16 North Dakota.
The Sycamores (2-1) are coming off their first loss after they started 2-0 for the first time since 1986. Like the Griz, they’re 1-0 against FCS opponents. They’re led by Curt Mallory, who has been the head coach since 2017.
“His teams compete year in, year out, week in, week out,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. “They’re a competitive bunch and we know they’re going to come in here for a fight with us on Saturday. ”
The Grizzlies won the first-ever contest with a 49-14 victory in 2022 in Terre Haute, Indiana. That win came during a 5-0 start to the season, but they finished with an 8-5 record and a second-round playoff exit.
The Sycamores went 2-9 overall and 1-7 in the Missouri Valley in 2022 and still haven’t had a winning season since 2018. However, three weeks after the Griz game, they hung with No. 1 North Dakota State in a 31-26 loss at home.
“I think that just shows how they are as a program,” Hauck said. “They don’t back down from anybody and we’ve got to be ready for that on Saturday. ”
Here are five things to watch in the game:
How fast will Montana start?
Montana has had some slow starts to the first half this season. The Griz have been outscored 33-28 in the opening 30 minutes. They have fared better after the intermission, outscoring their opponents 38-7 in the second stanza.
The former is not a trend that is conducive to success. They were able to dig out of a 17-14 first-half deficit against Central Washington and a 16-7 halftime hole against North Dakota to win behind second halves of 21-0 and 17-7.
In the first halves, UM’s defense gave up 154 rush yards to CWU but then allowed 231 pass yards to UND. Indiana State has run the ball 120 times compared to 75 pass attempts but has been rather balanced in yardage.
In their lone FCS game, the Sycamores raced out to a 17-0 halftime lead and outscored their foe 21-14 in the second half. However, against a D-II team in the opener, they led 13-12 at the break before exploding 28-12 afterward.
The Griz did start fast offensively in the opener as they built a 21-17 halftime lead. They had a 54-yard touchdown run on the third play, ran for 142 yards that half and finished with 310. They had just 68 total rush yards last week.
Eli Gillman ran for 82 yards on 16 carries last week, including 36 yards in the first half, after 198 on 15 runs in the opener. Montana has also turned it over three times in the first halves, all coming on Keali’i Ah Yat interceptions.
“He’s improving as a player,” Hauck said of his sophomore signal caller. “I think the sky’s the limit for him. I like the things he’s doing. He’s got a grand total of eight starts under his belt and he grows through every one of them.”
How well do Griz sustain drives?
Montana had 15 drives last week, excluding the game-ending kneel down. The Griz punted nine times, five of which came after a three-and-out. They were called for an offensive penalty twice, and both those drives ended in a punt.
They also went 5 of 18 on third downs, including 0 of 9 with 9 or more yards to go. Performing better on first and second downs would put them in more advantageous spots than having an average distance to go of 7.8 yards.
The Griz have turned the ball over four times on offense, all of which came on interceptions thrown by Ah Yat. Three of those four came on third down with to-go distances of 4, 7 and 10 yards. The other came in the red zone.
Going back to 2024, Ah Yat has set a career high in passing yards in the past three games. He threw six touchdowns in that stretch but was picked off six times. With those picks, UM lost the turnover battle in both games this year.
The defense he’ll be going against this week features safety Kimal Clark, a transfer from Central Connecticut State who was a third-team All-American last year. Clark and safety Jorge Valdes made the MVFC preseason watch list.
Cornerback Ahmond Glass leads the Sycamores with four of their 14 pass breakups to go with one of their three picks. They’ve allowed teams to convert third downs at 43.9 percent but held their one FCS foe to 31.3 percent.
“I really like their safety, No. 5, his last name is Clark,” Hauck said. “I think he’s kind of the straw that stirs the drink for them a little bit on defense.”
How does O-line get back on track?
UM’s offensive line gave up six sacks last week in its first game against an FCS team as it had the chance to show whether it was real or not. That came after the Griz passed the first test by allowing just one to a D-II team in the opener.
All six sacks came in the second half of the game and five were allowed in the fourth quarter. They gave up two on UM’s field goal drive to pull within 23-17 and two more on the touchdown drive that put the Griz up 24-23.
UM continued to rotate centers Dillon Botner and Cade Klimczak in the first half. Klimczak, last year’s starter, had six of the seven second-half drives, not counting the kneel down. All four scores in the game came with him at center.
Ah Yat did have some clean pockets to help him throw for a career-high 300 yards, only 94 of which came after the catch as he hit more deep shots. If flushed out, he has shown an ability to successfully find receivers on the run.
The Griz now face a defensive front in which linebackers Lucas McAllister and Braxton Sampson made the MVFC preseason watch list. McAllister is second on the team with 3.5 tackles for loss and Sampson is third with three.
Defensive lineman Logan Wilson was the MVFC defensive player of the week after he had nine tackles, three TFLs and 1.5 sacks in a 38-14 win over FCS Eastern Illinois. His 5.5 TFLs and two sacks this year are team highs.
“They got some big guys up front that show up,” Hauck said Monday. “We’ll obviously know them better as the week wears on. That’s the thing that popped off the film in terms of personnel. We kind of view them as a zone pressure team and we have to work hard on that this week.”
How much pressure can defense generate?
UM has one sack through two games, the second-lowest total and second-worst average in the Big Sky. That came when linebacker Geno Leonard and safety Kade Cutler combined for one in the second half of the opener.
The Griz have gotten some pressure even thought it’s not always showing up as sacks. They’ve had seven quarterback hurries. Peyton Wing’s interception last week came after safety Kade Boyd hit the quarterback’s arm.
Limiting the time the quarterback has in a clean pocket will help the back end. The Griz gave up six passing plays of 15 or more yards last week for a total of 200 yards. They would’ve allowed more yards if not for two TD-saving tackles.
ISU quarterback Elijah Owens, a 2024 Jerry Rice Award finalist, suffered a collarbone injury two weeks ago. Whether he’s back, the Sycamores’ offense may still look similar because backup Keegan Patterson is also a dual-threat.
“He’s really good in the RPO (run-pass option) game,” Hauck said of Owens. “He can run it. He’s not afraid to go run it. That’s the basis of their offense and it’s been good for them so far this season.”
Receiver Rashad Rochelle and running back Plez Lawrence are the leading receivers in yardage although ISU spreads the ball around. Receiver Larry Stephens, a Toledo transfer, has been the MVFC newcomer of the week.
Lawrence, who is also the leading rusher and has five total touchdowns, was the MVFC offensive player of the week earlier this year. Rochelle, Lawrence and tight end Lance Rees all made the conference preseason watch list.
How does special teams coverage hold up?
Rochelle, a Rutgers transfer, handles kickoff and punt returns. Statistically, he’s the most explosive returner UM will have faced. He’s averaged 15.6 yards on five punt returns (long 28) and 22.2 yards on 10 kickoff returns (long 39).
The Griz have allowed a total of 16 yards on three punt returns, an average of 5.3 yards, with a long of 10 yards. Opponents have averaged 17.2 yards on six kickoff returns against Montana with a long of 28 yards.
“They’re not afraid to lean on their defense and special teams,” Hauck said. “It’s not, hey, we try to outscore people or things like that or we try to hold the ball and stay in the huddle and just play to our defense. They try to be good in all three phases of the game. That’s kind of who they are.”
Montana will try to run some back themselves going up against punter Harry Traum, who made the MVFC preseason watch list, and kicker Sebastian Lopez. ISU has given up a long kick return of 34 yards and punt return of 28 yards.
The Grizzlies’ longest punt return was 41 yards by Michael Wortham, although he lost a fumble on the play. He has been the main kick returner, averaging 25.4 yards with a long of 30. Drew Deck has a team-best six punt returns.
Lopez, who has been the MVFC special teams player of the week, has made three of his four field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards. His lone miss came on a block by the opponent. He is a perfect 10 of 10 on extra points.
Montana kicker Ty Morrison made his first field goal attempt of the season last week, drilling a crucial 42-yarder. He is also 9 of 9 on extra points. Indiana State’s Logan Wilson and Nathan Gonzales have each blocked a kick attempt.
Frank Gogola is the Senior Sports Reporter at the Missoulian and 406 MT Sports. Follow him on X @FrankGogola or email him at frank.gogola@406mtsports.com.
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