# 2022 Montana Grizzlies football team

The 2022 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by 12th-year head coach Bobby Hauck and played their home games at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Grizzlies were predicted to finish first in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana | 111 (3) |
| 2 | Sacramento State | 110 (4) |
| 3 | Montana State | 109 (5) |
| 4 | Weber State | 84 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 82 |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 76 |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 62 |
| 8 | Idaho | 45 |
| 9 | Portland State | 42 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 33 |
| T-11 | Idaho State | 19 |
| T-11 | Northern Colorado | 19 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana | 356 (14) |
| 2 | Montana State | 352 (13) |
| 3 | Sacramento State | 335 (4) |
| 4 | Weber State | 261 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 255 (1) |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 236 |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 191 |
| 8 | Portland State | 146 |
| 9 | Idaho | 142 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 85 |
| 11 | Northern Colorado | 71 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 66 |

### 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 3 | 1:00 p.m. | Northwestern State* | No. 3 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KTMF/ESPN+ | W 47–0 | 24,096 |
| September 10 | 1:00 p.m. | South Dakota* | No. 3 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KTMF/ESPN+ | W 24–7 | 24,204 |
| September 17 | 11:00 a.m. | at Indiana State* | No. 3 | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN+ | W 49–14 | 5,929 |
| September 24 | 2:00 p.m. | Portland State | No. T–2 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KPAX/ESPN+ | W 53–16 | 26,087 |
| October 1 | 1:00 p.m. | at Idaho State | No. 3 | Holt ArenaPocatello, ID | KPAX/ESPN+ | W 28–20 | 6,659 |
| October 15 | 1:00 p.m. | Idaho | No. 3 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (Little Brown Stein) | KPAX/ESPN+ | L 23–30 | 26,314 |
| October 22 | 9:00 p.m. | at No. 2 Sacramento State | No. 7 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | ESPN2 | L 24–31 $^{OT}$ | 15,927 |
| October 29 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. T–5 Weber State | No. 11 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | KPAX/ESPN+ | L 21–24 | 11,722 |
| November 5 | 6:00 p.m. | Cal Poly | No. 16 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KPAX/ESPN+ | W 57–0 | 25,684 |
| November 12 | 1:00 p.m. | Eastern Washington | No. 16 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (EWU–UM Governors Cup) | KPAX/ESPN+ | W 63–7 | 25,403 |
| November 19 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 3 Montana State | No. 13 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (rivalry, College GameDay) | KPAX/ESPN+ | L 21–55 | 22,047 |
| November 26 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 14 Southeast Missouri State* | No. 19 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN2/ESPN+ | W 34–24 | 13,390 |
| December 3 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 4 North Dakota State* | No. 19 | FargodomeFargo, ND (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN+ | L 26–49 | 12,929 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Northwestern State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Demons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 3 Grizzles | 13 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 47 |

### South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Coyotes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 3 Grizzles | 13 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 24 |

### At Indiana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Grizzles | 14 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
| Sycamores | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

### Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vikings | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| No. 2T Grizzles | 14 | 25 | 0 | 14 | 53 |

### At Idaho State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Grizzles | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| Bengals | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 20 |

### Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vandals | 3 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 30 |
| No. 3 Grizzles | 6 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 23 |

### At No. 2 Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| No. 7 Grizzles | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
| No. 2 Hornets | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 31 |

### At No. 5т Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Grizzles | 3 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 21 |
| No. 5T Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

### Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 16 Grizzles | 14 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 57 |

### Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 16 Grizzles | 21 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 63 |

### At No. 3 Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Grizzles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| No. 3 Bobcats | 21 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 55 |

## FCS Playoffs
### No. 14 Southeast Missouri State – First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Redhawks | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
| No. 19 Grizzlies | 0 | 3 | 21 | 10 | 34 |

### At No. 4 North Dakota State – Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Grizzlies | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 26 |
| No. 4 Bison | 14 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 49 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = 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 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2т (6) | 3 (7) | 3 (6) | 3 (7) | 7 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 19 | |
| Coaches | 2 | 2 | 2 (1) | 2 (5) | 2 (4) | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 7 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 17 | |