Griz roll past Portland State to stay unbeaten
(Montana Sports Information) The No. 2 Montana Grizzlies improved to 11-0 on the season with a dominant 63-17 win over Portland State at Providence Park in the Rose City on Saturday.
The Griz exploded for 35 unanswered points in the second half to put the game away early and play everyone on the travel roster as UM capped the regular season with an unblemished record on the road.
"Our guys got after it today. It was good. I'm excited with the way we played. I thought all three phases played well today," said Hauck.
"Tonight was our night, and it was a good. We're excited to come here, get to 11-0, for the fourth time in school history in all these years of Griz football."
The Grizzly defense was the difference, picking off five Vikings passes – the most in a single game in the FCS this season – and harassing the signal callers with five quarterback hurries while holding PSU under 100 rushing yards until the last five minutes of play.
The Griz entered the game with a Big Sky-best 13 interceptions on the year and having scored 59 points off turnovers so far this season. Both of those numbers ballooned against PSU, with the five picks accounting for 35 combined points.
"We got our act together defensively," said Hauck after UM allowed EWU to hang around last week. "We gave up a few catches in the second quarter, but other than that we were pretty on the money. We played hard."
Montana put together a complete game, keeping the pedal down for all four quarters with 42 points in the second half alone. The Grizzlies' 63-point outburst matches their highest point total of the year against Indiana State. 63 points was also the most scored against the Vikings of an FCS team this season, and second-most only to BYU.
Montana remains undefeated at 11-0 on the year and 7-0 in Big Sky Conference play while the Vikings fall to 1-10 on the year and 1-6 in league play. The 2025 Griz are now one of just four teams in nearly 130 years of Montana football to start the year 11-0. Two of the other three teams to hit the milestone have also been coached by Bobby Hauck, with the 2007 and 2009 teams hitting the mark.
"We have a structured, detailed, and mature, competitive guys," said Hauck. "These guys, they want to win, they believe in their coaches and they listen. And I think that's probably why we're fortunate to win."
Hauck also made some personal history against PSU as well with his 86th career Big Sky Conference win. He's now the all-time conference leader in both overall wins (149) and league wins (86) in his 14 seasons at the helm in Missoula.
The win sets up a titanic battle against No. 3 Montana State, with a potential Big Sky title at stake in the 124th Brawl of the Wild game next week in Missoula.
"This is going to be a big game," Hauck said. "As big as it gets in FCS football and in all of college football next week."