2021 Montana Grizzlies football team

2021 Montana Grizzlies football
2021 Montana Grizzlies football
NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, ; L 6–28 at James Madison
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 6
FCS Coaches	No. 6
Record	10–3 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bobby Hauck (11th season);
Offensive coordinator	Timm Rosenbach (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Kent Baer (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Washington–Grizzly Stadium
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by head coach Bobby Hauck, in the fourth season of his current stint and the eleventh overall, as he was head coach from 2003 to 2009.^[1] The team played their home games at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana.

2021 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Sacramento State $^	8	–	0	9	–	3
No. 2 Montana State ^	7	–	1	11	–	3
No. 7 Eastern Washington ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 6 Montana ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 17 UC Davis ^	5	–	3	8	–	4
Weber State	5	–	3	6	–	5
Northern Arizona	4	–	4	5	–	6
Portland State	4	–	4	5	–	6
Idaho	3	–	5	4	–	7
Northern Colorado	2	–	6	3	–	8
Cal Poly	1	–	7	2	–	9
Idaho State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Southern Utah	0	–	8	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Grizzlies were predicted to finish second in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.^[2]

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Grizzlies had five players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.^[3]

Offense

Samuel Akem – WR

Conlan Beaver – OT

Defense

Jace Lewis – LB

Robby Hauck – S

Special teams

Matthew O'Donoghue – LS

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	6:00 p.m.	at No. 20 (FBS) Washington*	No. 9	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	P12N	W 13–7	64,053
September 11	6:00 p.m.	Western Illinois*	No. 4	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	KTMF/SWX	W 42–7	25,238
September 25	1:00 p.m.	Cal Poly	No. 4	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	KTMF/SWX	W 39–7	25,600
October 2	8:30 p.m.	at No. 6 Eastern Washington	No. 4	Roos Field Cheney, WA (EWU–UM Governors Cup)	ESPN2	L 28–34	7,944
October 9	1:00 p.m.	Dixie State*	No. 6	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	KTMF/SWX	W 31–14	23,434
October 16	1:00 p.m.	Sacramento State	No. 5	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	KTMF/SWX	L 21–28	24,305
October 23	2:00 p.m.	at Idaho	No. 11	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (Little Brown Stein)	KTMF/SWX	W 34–14	6,059
October 30	12:00 p.m.	Southern Utah	No. 11	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTNW	W 20–19	22,587
November 6	12:00 p.m.	at Northern Colorado	No. 11	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	W 35–0	4,987
November 13	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	No. 9	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KTMF/KULR	W 30–3	6,228
November 20	12:00 p.m.	No. 3 Montana State	No. 7	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (Brawl of the Wild)	RTNW	W 29–10	26,856
December 3	7:00 p.m.	No. 4 Eastern Washington*	No. 5	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 57–41	24,065
December 10	5:00 p.m.	at No. 2 James Madison*	No. 5	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN2	L 6–28	14,690
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[4]

Game summaries

At No. 20 (FBS) Washington

Montana Grizzlies vs Washington Huskies – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Grizzlies	3	0	0	10	13
No. 20 (FBS) Huskies	7	0	0	0	7

at Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA

Date: September 4, 2021
Game time: 5:00 p.m. PDT
Game weather: 77 °F (25 °C) Sunny
Game attendance: 64,053
Referee: Matthew Richards
TV announcers (P12N): J. B. Long (play-by-play) and Max Browne (analyst)

Game information

First quarter

UW – Dylan Morris 1-yard run (Peyton Henry kick), 10:09. Washington 7–0. Drive: 9 plays, 78 yards, 4:45.
MONT – Kevin Macias 26-yard field goal, 7:08. Washington 7–3. Drive: 8 plays, 66 yards, 3:01.

Second quarter

No scoring.

Third quarter

No scoring.

Fourth quarter

MONT – Camron Humphrey 4-yard run (Kevin Macias kick), 10:35. Montana 10–7. Drive: 10 plays, 69 yards, 5:00.
MONT – Kevin Macias 22-yard field goal, 2:54. Montana 13–7. Drive: 11 plays, 42 yards, 6:05.

Top passers

MONT – Camron Humphrey – 12/23, 105 yards
UW – Dylan Morris – 27/46, 226 yards, 3 int

Top rushers

MONT – Xavier Harris – 15 rushes, 70 yards
UW – Richard Newton – 17 rushes, 62 yards

Top receivers

MONT – Mitch Roberts – 2 receptions, 29 yards
UW – Cade Otton – 8 receptions, 82 yards

The Grizzlies upset Washington 13-7, becoming the 5th FCS team to beat a Top-25 FBS team.

Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	0	7	0	0	7
No. 4 Grizzlies	7	14	14	7	42

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	0	0	7	7
No. 4 Grizzlies	15	3	21	0	39

At No. 6 Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Grizzlies	7	7	7	7	28
No. 6 Eagles	7	3	0	24	34

Dixie State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trailblazers	0	0	0	14	14
No. 6 Grizzlies	0	3	14	14	31

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	7	7	14	0	28
No. 5 Grizzlies	0	6	15	0	21

At Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Grizzlies	7	13	13	7	40
Vandals	7	0	0	7	14

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	3	13	3	19
No. 11 Grizzlies	0	10	7	3	20

At Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Grizzlies	14	7	14	0	35
Bears	0	0	0	0	0

At Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Grizzlies	0	13	7	10	30
Lumberjacks	0	0	3	0	3

No. 3 Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Bobcats	3	0	0	7	10
No. 7 Grizzlies	10	6	10	3	29

No. 4 Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Eagles	14	7	7	13	41
No. 5 Grizzlies	10	10	24	13	57

FCS Playoffs

No. 4 Eastern Washington–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Eagles	14	7	7	13	41
No. 5 Grizzlies	10	10	24	13	57

At No. 3 James Madison–Quarterfinal

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Grizzlies	3	0	0	3	6
No. 3 Dukes	7	7	7	7	28

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	9	4 (5)	4 (3)	4 (2)	4 (3)	6	5	11	11	11	9	7	5	6
Coaches	9	5 (1)	5	4	4	6	6	12	11	10	9	7	5	6

References

↑ "Coaching History 2025" (PDF). University of Montana. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
↑ "Griz picked second in preseason polls". July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
↑ "Five Griz named to Preseason All-Big Sky Team". University of Montana. July 26, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
↑ "2021 Football Schedule". University of Montana Athletics. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

This college football 2020s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

[coach-1] "Coaching History 2025" (PDF). University of Montana. Retrieved March 1, 2026.

[2] "Griz picked second in preseason polls". July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.

[3] "Five Griz named to Preseason All-Big Sky Team". University of Montana. July 26, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.

[4] "2021 Football Schedule". University of Montana Athletics. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

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2021 Montana Grizzlies football

NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 6–28 at James Madison
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 6
FCS Coaches	No. 6
Record	10–3 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bobby Hauck (11th season)
Offensive coordinator	Timm Rosenbach (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Kent Baer (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Washington–Grizzly Stadium
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →