MISSOULA - It's the final non-conference game of the season — for now — for the No. 5 Montana Grizzlies, as they're set for game No. 3 on the season by welcoming Indiana State to town on Saturday.
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It's the second-ever meeting between these two programs, as back in 2022, UM went to Terre Haute, Indiana, and the Grizzlies beat the Sycamores, 49-14.
Montana jumped out fast in that contest, and they'll be looking to do the same this weekend against an Indiana State team that is 2-1 to start the season under head coach Curt Mallory.
"They're a tough-minded team," UM head coach Bobby Hauck said. "They're not afraid to lean on their defense and special teams. It's not a 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, and that's kind of who they are."
Kickoff for Saturday's game is at 1 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium and will be broadcast on Scripps Sports.
The Sycamores are another Missouri Valley opponent for the Grizzlies, and since 2019, Montana has won seven games against Missouri Valley foes, including victories over North Dakota State, North Dakota, South Dakota and Indiana State during that stretch.
The Sycamores picked up wins against NCAA Division II McKendree University and FCS Eastern Illinois to open the season before a 73-0 loss to Indiana a week ago.
So coming off of last week's thrilling comeback against ranked North Dakota, and with a big rivalry matchup with Idaho looming next week, the Grizzlies (2-0) are focused on taking care of business once again in the here and now to improve their mark to 3-0.
"I just like playing football at the end of the day. It doesn't matter what conference they're from, what state, what city, and at the end of the day, we're just a team that loves to play football," UM safety Micah Harper said. "It doesn't matter where we're playing at, but we do respect everybody at the end of the day, The Missouri Valley is a great conference. They have been producing a team to go to the (national championship) every year, and we just want to represent the Big Sky in a great way as well."
