MISSOULA - It took a total team effort for the Montana Grizzlies to dismantle the No. 8 Idaho Vandals 41-30 with the eyes of the nation watching on ESPN2 Saturday night in Missoula.
While there were certainly standout performances in all three phases of the game for the Griz, no one individual on offense, defense, or special teams racked up numbers that jumped off the stat sheet.
So, in recognizing the team’s combined performance on the biggest stage in a top-10 battle for the Little Brown Stein, the Grizzlies were named the Stats Perform FCS national team of the week. The FCS arm of the NCAA also named the Grizzlies its national team of the week on Monday as well.
Montana (4-0) led the game from bell to bell, never trailing Idaho in the Big Sky game of the week to claim a bigger win than the score would indicate in the series dating back to 1903 to make it nine victories in the last 10 meetings against the Vandals.
Offensively, Eli Gillman carried the ball a career-best 27 times for 142 yards and a pair of scores, while Michael Wortham added 164 all-purpose yards with a rushing and receiving touchdown on top of 90 return yards in the kicking game.
Keali’i Ah Yat was again tremendous, passing the ball, completing 17 of 23 passes (a 73.9% rate, his second-best of the season) for 223 evenly distributed yards, while throwing for one score and rushing for another.
Drew Deck led the team with a career-high 67 receiving yards, hauling in all five of his targets, even if it meant getting caught in a kicker's net on the sideline. Brooks Davis continued his breakout freshman season, as well, with 63 yards on four catches to give the Griz three players over 55 yards receiving, including Wortham’s total.
Defensively, no one player totaled more than six tackles in an all-around smothering game for the unit. UM held Idaho to just six points in the first half and 191 yards of total offense in the game if you take out four long pass completions in the second half, as the Vandals tried to overcome a lead of as many as 19 points.
Sophomore safety Kade Boyd led the Griz with six tackles and a key fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter that helped ice the game for Montana. Elijawah Tolbert added five tackles (one for a loss) and one of UM’s six pass breakups that helped keep the Vandal air attack in check.
Despite those long chunk plays, it was a solid day for the defensive secondary in general, with safety Micah Harper breaking up two passes and nearly picking off a third and corner Kenzel Lawler adding four tackles and a pair of breakups in his best game as a Grizzly to date. Former Vandal safety Diezel Wilkinson also broke up a Hail Mary attempt and added four tackles to his total.
Defensive end Hunter Peck was also a major disruptive force, filling the stat sheet with four tackles, one of which was a sack, with two for a loss, and adding a forced fumble.
Ty Morrison was again lights-out in a dominant kicking game performance. He hit on two field goals from 37 and 26 yards out while going five-for-five on point-after tries to total 11 points with his foot. He also flipped the field for Montana, pinning Idaho inside its own 20 on all four of his punts that averaged 40.8 yards apiece. In the kickoff department ,he totaled eight attempts for 504 yards and four touchbacks.
With so many standout games from so many different players, it’s no wonder head coach Bobby Hauck called it a “complete win” for his team after moving to 1-0 in Big Sky play and remaining unbeaten on the year.
"We are not the most experienced team, but we are a high-effort team that's willing to work to improve, and I think we took another step forward (Saturday)," Hauck said. "So, it was a good win for the Grizzlies and we’re glad to be 4-0."
Montana will now hit the road for the first time this season as the Griz attempt a Gem State sweep, taking on the Idaho State Bengals in Pocatello on Saturday evening. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. inside the ICCU Dome.
