# 2021 Montana Grizzlies football team

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 11th-year head coach Bobby Hauck and played their home games at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana.

## 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.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Weber State | (7) |
| 2 | Montana | (3) |
| 3 | Eastern Washington | (2) |
| 4 | Montana State | (1) |
| 5 | Sacramento State | (1) |
| 6 | UC Davis | |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | |
| 8 | Idaho | |
| 9 | Idaho State | |
| 10 | Portland State | |
| 11 | Southern Utah | |
| 12 | Cal Poly | |
| 13 | Northern Colorado | |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Weber State | (14) |
| 2 | Montana | (4) |
| 3 | Eastern Washington | (3) |
| 4 | Montana State | (3) |
| 5 | Sacramento State | |
| 6 | UC Davis | |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | |
| 8 | Idaho | |
| 9 | Idaho State | |
| 10 | Portland State | |
| 11 | Southern Utah | |
| 12 | Northern Colorado | |
| 13 | Cal Poly | |

### Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Grizzlies had five players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 4 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 20 (FBS) Washington* | No. 9 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | P12N | W 13–7 | 64,053 |
| September 11 | 6:00 p.m. | Western Illinois* | No. 4 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KTMF/SWX | W 42–7 | 25,238 |
| September 25 | 1:00 p.m. | Cal Poly | No. 4 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KTMF/SWX | W 39–7 | 25,600 |
| October 2 | 8:30 p.m. | at No. 6 Eastern Washington | No. 4 | Roos FieldCheney, WA (EWU–UM Governors Cup) | ESPN2 | L 28–34 | 7,944 |
| October 9 | 1:00 p.m. | Dixie State* | No. 6 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KTMF/SWX | W 31–14 | 23,434 |
| October 16 | 1:00 p.m. | Sacramento State | No. 5 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KTMF/SWX | L 21–28 | 24,305 |
| October 23 | 2:00 p.m. | at Idaho | No. 11 | Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID (Little Brown Stein) | KTMF/SWX | W 34–14 | 6,059 |
| October 30 | 12:00 p.m. | Southern Utah | No. 11 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 20–19 | 22,587 |
| November 6 | 12:00 p.m. | at Northern Colorado | No. 11 | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | W 35–0 | 4,987 |
| November 13 | 1:00 p.m. | at Northern Arizona | No. 9 | Walkup SkydomeFlagstaff, AZ | KTMF/KULR | W 30–3 | 6,228 |
| November 20 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 3 Montana State | No. 7 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, 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 StadiumMissoula, 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 StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN2 | L 6–28 | 14,690 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At No. 20 (FBS) Washington

| 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 | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 |