Griz seek third national title against Jackrabbits

Montana's magical postseason run reaches its zenith this week as the 2023 Griz have the chance to etch themselves in the history books as national champions.

The Griz head to Frisco, Texas in search of the program's third FCS/1-AA title. They'll take on the No. 1 ranked South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Kickoff from Frisco is set for noon, mountain time.

The championship game will be broadcast live and free of charge to millions of TV sets nationwide on ABC, with a stream available on ESPN+. The game marks Montana's first-ever appearance on national network TV.

Roy Philpott will have the play-by-play call, Roddy Jones will serve as the analyst and Taylor McGregor will report from the sidelines at Toyota Stadium.

Ranked No. 2 in the nation after rattling off 10 straight wins, six of which were over ranked opponents, Montana (13-1) enters the title match with a full head of steam, buoyed by a pair of epic overtime wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal.

They'll need all that momentum in Frisco, however, as they collide with the No. 1 seed and undefeated South Dakota State Jackrabbits (14-0, 8-0 MVFC), the defending national champions and winners of 28 straight games. Their last loss was in the 2022 season opener – a 7-3 battle royale against the Big 10's Iowa Hawkeyes.

At times, the Jackrabbits have made it look easy this season as well, pitching three shutouts and averaging nearly 40 points per game. They also eked out a win over Montana State 20-16 at home in September, the same Bobcat team the Griz trounced 37-7 in Missoula.

It sets up a national championship game between two of the bluest of FCS blueblood programs and a heavyweight bout that pits strength on strength in all three phases of the game.

SDSU is led by star QB Mark Gronowski who leads the nation in pass efficiency at 182.7 and is averaging an FCS-best 10.08 yards per completion. He'll have to contend, however, with Montana's pass efficiency defense which is third in the FCS at 110.25. And consider this: the last four starting QB's Montana has faced, arguably some of the best in the FCS, have completed an average of just 28 percent of their passes and none have passed for more than 200 yards.

Montana's defense has also been stellar on third down, forcing NDSU to go 3-for-13, helping lead to UM's third-ranked third down percentage which allows opponents to convert just 29 percent of their opportunities. SDSU, however, leads the nation in third down conversion percentage, moving the chains 55 percent of the time.

Offensively the Griz are ultra-balanced, are veteran up front, have weapons at receiver and in the run game, and are guided by a dual-threat QB that keeps defenses honest with his arm and his legs. 

Special teams? Well, more on that later but every Griz fan knows the name Junior Bergen by now and there's a reason he leads the nation in return TDs. Counterpoint: the Jackrabbits enter the game with the third-best punt return defense in the FCS, allowing just under three yards per return.

A HISTORY OF EPIC SHOWDOWNS

Montana has never lost to South Dakota State with an 8-0 all-time record against the Jackrabbits, but there have been plenty of thrilling moments in the series.

The two teams played one of the greatest playoff games ever in 2009. SDSU came to Missoula in the first round and jumped out to a 34-14 lead at halftime and 48-21 with 5:40 left in the third quarter. Grizzly Hall of Famer and NFL All-Pro Marc Mariani then sparked a comeback for the ages, running back the ensuing kickoff 98 yards en route to help the Griz score 40 unanswered points and six TDs to pull off a 61-48 win.

The Griz and Jackrabbits last squared-off in 2015 in the first round of the FCS Playoffs in Missoula. The Griz built a 24-0 halftime lead and held on to win 24-17. Brady Gustafson threw a pair of TDs, one to Jamaal Jones in the first quarter and one to Ellis Henderson in the second for the bulk of Montana's points while John Nguyen led UM in rushing with 107 yards.

HAUCK'S HISTORY

Montana head coach Bobby Hauck became the winningest coach of all time in the Big Sky Conference in 2023, now sitting at 129-35 in 12 seasons with the Grizzlies. He broke former Northern Arizona coach (and Montana assistant) Jerome Souers' record of 123 wins against Sac State.

He was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career this season, the AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year for the third time in his career, and a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award for the second time after winning his eighth Big Sky Championship in November.

Hauck, who serves as head coach and special teams coordinator, has seen his units excel in the third phase this season with the Griz totaling 16 returns for touchdowns since returning to UM in 2018.

ALL-AMERICANS

The Grizzlies had a pair of standouts named to the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America team on Dec. 28. Center AJ Forbes and cornerback Trevin Gradney were two of just 27 players to earn recognition. The team was voted on by sports information directors across the FCS.

Gradney earned the honor after leading the FCS in interceptions for much of the year with a Big Sky-best 5 picks to date.

Alex Gubner has been named to three All-America teams this season, the Associated Press and the AFCA named him a first teamer, while Stats Perform tabbed him a second teamer.

Bergen is an All-America twice over, landing on the AP and Stats second team lists. Braxton Hill also landed on a pair of teams, a third team pick by the AP and a second team pick by Stats Perform. Eli Gillman, the Jerry Rice Award winner, was named a freshman All-American by Stats Perform as well to give UM six players with All-America honors.

BERGEN BITES

Speaking of Bergen… the Billings native has been nothing short of electric on special teams during the playoffs.

After running back two punts and one kickoff for touchdowns – not to mention throwing the game-winning two-point conversion against NDSU – he now holds school record and is tied for the Big Sky record with five career punt returns for touchdowns with MSU's Corey Smith. He's now chasing the FCS record of eight set by LeRoy Vann of Florida A&M.

Bergen has done a bit of everything for the Griz in his career. He's racked up 499 all-purpose yards in this year's playoffs alone and is sitting at 1,604 all-purpose yards this season, just one yard shy of a top-10 season in program history.