2018 Montana Grizzlies football team

2018 Montana Grizzlies football
2018 Montana Grizzlies football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	6–5 (4–4 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bobby Hauck (8th season);
Offensive coordinator	Timm Rosenbach (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Kent Baer (1st season)
Home stadium	Washington–Grizzly Stadium
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by first-year coach Bobby Hauck, 8th overall as he previously was head coach from 2003–2009, and played their home games on campus at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana as a charter member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 4–4 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Weber State +^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^	7	–	1	12	–	3
No. 7 UC Davis +^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 17 Montana State ^	5	–	3	8	–	5
Idaho State	5	–	3	6	–	5
Montana	4	–	4	6	–	5
Cal Poly	4	–	4	5	–	6
Northern Arizona	3	–	4	4	–	6
Portland State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Idaho	3	–	5	4	–	7
Northern Colorado	2	–	6	2	–	9
Southern Utah	1	–	7	1	–	10
Sacramento State	0	–	7	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Grizzlies were predicted to finish in seventh place in the coaches poll and fourth place in the media poll.^[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	134 (6)
2	Weber State	124 (3)
3	Northern Arizona	121 (3)
4	Idaho	101 (1)
5	Sacramento State	94
6	Southern Utah	91
7	Montana	82
8	Montana State	76
9	UC Davis	64
10	Cal Poly	40
11	Northern Colorado	30
12	Idaho State	29
13	Portland State	21

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	651 (27)
2	Weber State	636 (19)
3	Northern Arizona	535 (1)
4	Montana	496 (2)
5	Idaho	483 (3)
6	Southern Utah	449 (1)
7	Sacramento State	415
8	Montana State	391 (1)
9	UC Davis	331 (1)
10	Idaho State	170
11	Cal Poly	169
12	Northern Colorado	166
13	Portland State	103

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Grizzlies had one player selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.^[2]

Josh Buss – Sr. LB. Also selected as the preseason defensive player of the year.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Butkus Award^[3]	Josh Buss	LB	SR
Buck Buchanan Award^[4]	Josh Buss	LB	SR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	No. 13 Northern Iowa*	No. 24	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	SWX	W 26–23	25,018
September 8	1:00 p.m.	Drake*	No. 14	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	SWX	W 48–16	23,132
September 15	2:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois*	No. 15	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	L 27–31	4,011
September 22	1:00 p.m.	Sacramento State	No. 19	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTNW	W 41–34	24,060
September 29	5:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 17	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	ELVN	W 48–28	7,157
October 6	2:00 p.m.	Portland State	No. 14	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	SWX	L 20–22	25,205
October 13	12:00 p.m.	at North Dakota	No. 22	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	SWX	L 14–41	10,497
October 27	2:00 p.m.	No. 6 UC Davis		Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	SWX	L 21–49	24,141
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at Southern Utah		Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	RTNW	W 57–14	7,162
November 10	4:30 p.m.	at Idaho		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (Little Brown Stein)	RTNW	W 46–27	14,571
November 17	12:00 p.m.	No. 25 Montana State		Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (rivalry)	RTNW	L 25–29	26,508
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Game summaries

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Panthers	0	0	7	16	23
No. 24 Grizzlies	16	10	0	0	26

Drake

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	3	7	6	16
No. 14 Grizzlies	3	7	21	17	48

At Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Grizzlies	18	0	3	6	27
Leathernecks	14	3	0	14	31

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	14	14	3	3	34
No. 19 Grizzlies	14	10	7	10	41

At Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Grizzlies	17	14	10	7	48
Mustangs	0	7	14	7	28

Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	10	3	0	9	22
No. 14 Grizzlies	0	0	14	6	20

At North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Grizzlies	0	0	0	14	14
Fighting Hawks	21	13	0	7	41

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Aggies	3	0	10	36	49
Grizzlies	7	14	0	0	21

At Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Grizzlies	20	10	21	6	57
Thunderbirds	7	7	0	0	14

At Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Grizzlies	14	22	7	3	46
Vandals	3	3	7	14	27

Montana State

#25 Montana State Bobcats (6–4) at Montana Grizzlies (6–4)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Montana St	0	7	0	22	29
Montana	7	15	0	3	25

at Washington–Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, Montana

Date: November 17, 2018
Game time: 12:00 p.m.
Game weather: Sunny, 30 °F (−1 °C)
Game attendance: 26,508
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

UM – Gabe Sulser 1-yard pass from Dalton Sneed (Tim Semenza kick), 12:31. Montana 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 73 yards, 2:29.

Second quarter

UM – Adam Eastwood 1-yard run (Tim Semenza kick), 13:30. Montana 14–0. Drive: 10 plays, 58 yards, 3:41.
UM – Samuel Akem 37-yard pass from Dalton Sneed (run good), 8:15. Montana 22–0. Drive: 2 plays, 39 yards, 0:40.
MSU – Troy Andersen 3-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 0:23. Montana 22–7. Drive: 10 plays, 72 yards, 2:43.

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

MSU – Troy Andersen 1-yard run (run good), 14:24. Montana 22–15. Drive: 9 plays, 87 yards, 3:15.
UM – Tim Semenza 34-yard field goal, 7:46. Montana 25–15. Drive: 14 plays, 58 yards, 6:32.
MSU – Troy Andersen 1-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 6:01. Montana 25–22. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 1:45.
MSU – Logan Jones 13-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 2:19. Montana St 29–25. Drive: 7 plays, 35 yards, 2:57.

Top passers

MSU – Troy Andersen – 15/24, 158 yards
UM – Dalton Sneed – 22/34, 354 yards, 2 TD

Top rushers

MSU – Troy Andersen – 23 rushes, 107 yards, 3 TD
UM – Jerry Louie-McGee – 4 rushes, 43 yards

Top receivers

MSU – Travis Jonsen – 11 receptions, 101 yards
UM – Samuel Akem – 6 receptions, 147 yards, TD

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	24	14	15	19	17	14	22	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	25	16	16	20	18	15	23	RV	—	—	—	RV	RV

References

^ "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".
^ "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".
^ "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist". The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
^ "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.

[1] "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".

[2] "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".

[3] "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist". The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2018.

[4] "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.

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