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Montana Grizzlies football
The Montana Grizzlies football (commonly referred to as the "Griz") program represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conference since 1963, where it is a founding member. They play their home games on campus in Missoula at Washington–Grizzly Stadium, where they had an average attendance of 26,978 in 2023.[2][failed verification] The Grizzlies had streak of 25 consecutive winning seasons from 1986 to 2011, and this included runs to the NCAA FCS (formerly Division I-AA) championship seven times. As of completion of the 2023 season, the 2012 season is the Montana Grizzlies' only losing season in the past 37 years. The Grizzlies play in Washington-Grizzly Stadium known as the Mecca of the FCS. It is known for its relentless crowd noise and intense passion of its fans. They have a winning percentage of .890 which includes the playoffs. In stadium journey magazine Washington Grizzly stadium was ranked #1 in all of the FCS for football game day experience and # 7 th against all college football including FBS schools. They hold the records for most playoff appearances in a row (17), Big Sky Conference titles in a row (12), and overall playoff appearances (19). Their success made them the most successful program in all of college football in the 2000s (119 wins) and third most successful team in FCS in the 1990s (93 wins).[3][4] On September 4, 2021, Montana upset the #20 (FBS) Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. HistoryEarly years (1897–1934)The University of Montana's first football season was in 1897, when the team played six games; they won a single game, against future rival Montana State. The team played only schools from Montana until it helped found the Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NWIAA) in 1902. In addition to Montana, this original Northwest Conference included Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Idaho, and Whitman College. Despite the association's stated goal of increasing intercollegiate athletics, Montana continued to play only the nearest teams. Unfortunately, the team would not win a game against a Northwest Conference opponent until a 10-0 win over Washington State in 1914. In 1915, the Northwest Conference had become superfluous with the creation of the Pacific Coast Conference, which by 1924 already included the five public Northwest Conference schools from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, in addition to California and Stanford. Montana joined the conference in 1924 and remained there through the 1949 season. Montana won only nine conferences games (8–16 against rival Idaho), and never played a home game against a team from the state of California.[5] No team was organized in 1918, due to World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic.[6] Doug Fessenden era (1935–1948)(46–40–4) Record, (9–1) vs. Cats The program was on hiatus for the 1943 and 1944 seasons, due to World War II.[7][8] Of the six teams in the northern division of the PCC, only Washington continued through the war.[9] Mountain States (Skyline) Conference era (1951–1961)In 1948, the Montana board of education announced that it was de-emphasizing athletics at the state university. Key to the university's decision was the feeling that continued affiliation with the PCC was incompatible with the goal to "keep intercollegiate athletics properly subordinated to the academic function" and they would "seek to develop competition in all sports with institutions similar in purpose, size, resources and academic standing." The conference was only "preferable to having no conference affiliation."[10] In 1951, Montana joined the Mountain States Conference, popularly known as the Skyline Conference, and competed there until the conference dissolved in the summer of 1962. The Grizzlies never had a winning season in the Skyline and never won more than three games until 1960. In 1963, Montana joined Gonzaga, Idaho, Idaho State, Weber State, and Montana State in forming the Big Sky Conference.[11][12] (Gonzaga dropped its football program after 1941 and Idaho did not compete in conference play until 1965.) Jack Swarthout era (1967–1975)(51–41–1) Record, (3–6) vs. Cats Continued success was expected, but a disappointing season in 1971 was followed by a work-study scandal that eventually led to Swarthout's resignation. In 1972, a federal grand jury returned a 32-count indictment charging five university officials and coaches (including Swarthout) with conspiring to illegally use federal-aid money to pay for fictitious jobs for athletes.[13] Though Swarthout was found not guilty, the charges hurt recruiting and the student-body government decided to withdraw financial support for athletic programs.[14][15] Despite the controversy and resultant performance decline, Swarthout is credited as being the coach that turned Montana into a winning football program.[16] Don Read era (1986–1995)(85–36) Record, (10–0) vs. Cats Mick Dennehy era (1996–1999)(39–12) record, (4–0) vs. Cats Joe Glenn era (2000–2002)(39–6) Record, (2–1) vs. Cats Bobby Hauck era (2003–2009)(80–17) Record, (5–2) vs. Cats Robin Pflugrad era (2010–2011)(13–7) Record, (1–1) vs. Cats Mick Delaney era (2012–2014)(24–14) Record, (2–1) vs. Cats Bob Stitt era (2015–2017)(21–14) Record, (1–2) vs. Cats Bobby Hauck era, part two (2018–present)(25–11) Record, (2–3) vs. Cats On September 4, 2021, Montana upset the #20 ranked Washington Huskies. It was their first win against Washington since 1920 and only their second overall win in 20 games against the Huskies. It was also the fifth occasion a FCS team beat a ranked FBS team since the 1978 FBS/FCS split.[18] Program achievementsThe Grizzlies rank among the all-time playoff appearance leaders, with appearances in 1982, 1988, 1989, and 1993–2009. The Grizzlies had a playoff streak of 17 in a row from 1993–2009, which is a record at the I-AA level, now known as Football Championship Subdivision.[19] The streak came to an end on November 21, 2010 when the Grizzlies were not selected to the FCS playoffs following a loss to in-state rival Montana State. The Grizzlies won the national championship in 1995 under Don Read when Dave Dickenson led the team to a victory over Marshall University in the national championship game. In 2001, coach Joe Glenn led the Montana Grizzlies to another national championship by defeating Furman University, 13-6. Conference affiliationsMontana has competed as both an independent and as a conference member throughout its history.[20]
ChampionshipsNational championships
Conference championshipsMontana has won 19 conference championships, all in the Big Sky Conference[21]
† Co-champions Head coaches
† Montana was penalized by the NCAA on July 26, 2013 and forced to vacate its last five wins of the 2011 season. One win was against Montana State. It was also forced to vacate its conference title and appearance in the 2011 FCS playoffs. Home venuesThe Montana Grizzlies have played their home games in Washington–Grizzly Stadium since its construction in 1986. The stadium has an official capacity of 25,203. However, its record attendance is 26,856 which was set on November 20, 2021 with a 29 to 10 smashing defeat of cross state Rivals Montana state Bobcats. Construction of the stadium closely follows the Grizzlies recent success, and since its construction the Grizzlies have a 218 - 34 record as of 2021 and have gone undefeated 11 times. Stadium journey magazine ranked Washington Grizzly Stadium #1 in the FCS , # 7 in all college football and # 65 in all sports in all countries . Before Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Grizzlies played off-campus at "new" Dornblaser Field from 1968 to 1986. Prior to 1968, Montana played on-campus at "old" Dornblaser Field from 1920 to 1967. Both stadiums were named for Paul Dornblaser, the team's captain in 1912, who was killed in World War I. Prior to 1920, Montana played its home games at a field in downtown Missoula, near the former Missoulian newspaper building. RivalriesMontana StateMontana's primary rivalry is the Brawl of the Wild (AKA: The Cat - Griz game) against the Montana State University Bobcats in Bozeman. The game has been played 121 times, and the Griz lead the series, 73-42-5. The Montana Grizzlies won the last game 37-7 on November 18, 2023. The series has three distinct periods. From 1897 to 1916, the teams didn't belong to a conference, but at times would play twice per year. Early seasons had seven games or less, with one season seeing the Grizzlies play just one game. Four of the five ties in the series came during this era. Montana won 12 games to Montana State's 7. In 1917, Montana State joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). In 1924, Montana joined what is now the Pac-12 Conference when it entered the Pacific Coast Conference. The RMAC included several teams that would become Mountain West Conference members. When MSU joined the RMAC, it included Colorado, Colorado State, Utah, Utah State, and Brigham Young. When UM joined the PCC, it included Stanford, California, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, and Idaho. The Bobcats remained in the RMAC through 1956, while the Grizzlies remained in the PCC through 1949. Montana joined the Mountain States Conference from 1951–1961. MSU was independent from 1957–1962 and UM was independent in 1950 and 1962. During this period UM, enjoyed a 30-8-1 edge in Griz-Cat games.[22] Both schools entered the Big Sky Conference as charter members in 1963, with Montana holding a 42-15-2 series lead. From 1963 to 1985, Montana State enjoyed its most successful period of the Griz - Cat rivalry. MSU won 17 games to just six for UM. Following that, Montana started "The Streak" when it won 16 straight games from 1986 to 2001. Montana holds a 31-28 lead in the series during the Big Sky era.
IdahoMontana formerly played a rivalry game against the Idaho Vandals for the Little Brown Stein. The Grizzlies trail in the 84-game series 28-55-2 (.333), but have won the last five meetings (2000–03, 2018). (Idaho moved up to Division I-A (now FBS) in 1996.) The Montana-Idaho rivalry resumed during the 2018 season when Idaho returned to the Big Sky Conference as a full member. Montana won the game at Idaho, 46-27.[23] Eastern WashingtonThe Grizzlies also have an annual rivalry game in conference with the Eastern Washington Eagles, called the EWU–UM Governors Cup. Montana leads the series 27-16-1. The teams are not scheduled to meet in 2018, ending an annual series that dates from 1982 to 2017. UniformsColorsThe official school colors of the University of Montana are copper, silver, and gold; these were chosen in recognition of the state's mining history. Contrary to popular perception, these colors have never changed, with the confusion stemming from the university's decision to represent "copper" with either maroon or "Texas orange" at various times in its history. When the university was founded in 1893 and its colors were chosen, a lack of copper dye led the school to use maroon, and occasionally other colors, to represent copper. This had the effect of having the school's athletic teams not always being represented across the board by the same uniform colors. In 1967, head football coach and athletic director Jack Swarthout, who personally preferred the maroon and silver used by the football team, sought to make the schools colors more consistent and held a vote among UM coaches. They selected Texas orange (burnt orange to represent copper) and yellow gold to be used on the school's uniforms and it remained for the next 30 years. The maroon was brought back in 1993 as part of the university's centennial celebrations and a student survey in 1995 showed support for a return to maroon and silver uniforms. Despite some vocal opposition, by 1997, the colors began to phase into the maroon and silver that are used.[24][25][26] #37 JerseyThe #37 Jersey is a tradition that began in 1987 by then-running back Kraig Paulson. The tradition holds that whoever wears the #37 jersey selects an in-state recruit and leading defensive player to wear it next.
Postseason resultsCollege Division / Division IIFormerly in the University Division, Montana moved down to the College Division for football in 1963 with the formation of the Big Sky Conference. The College Division concluded the season with four regional bowls, played in December after the final polls were released. The undefeated Grizzlies played in the Camellia Bowl in 1969 and 1970, but lost both to North Dakota State in Sacramento, California.[27][28]
Division II debuted in 1973 and introduced a playoff system; Montana and the Big Sky moved to the new Division I-AA in 1978. Division I-AA/FCS PlayoffsThe Grizzlies have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs 28 times with a record of 38–25. However, their 2011 appearance has been vacated, reducing their official playoff record to 36–24 in 27 appearances. With seven trips to the title game in fifteen seasons, they were national champions twice (1995, 2001) and runner–up six times (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2023).
All-Americans
College Football Hall of Fame
"Wild Bill" Kelly was a masterful open field runner who darted and dodged his way to electrifying gains. During his junior and senior seasons he had five kickoff returns for touchdowns, two on runs of more than 90 yards. In 1971 Kelly was named quarterback for the Shrine Game's College All-Star All-time Team. Individual awards and honorsRetired numbers
National honors—players
National honors—coaches
Big Sky Conference honors
Other awards and honors
Program alumni who played professionallyFuture non-conference opponentsSchedule as of August 11, 2024.[36]
See alsoReferences
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