# 2019 Montana Grizzlies football team

The 2019 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by second-year head coach Bobby Hauck, ninth overall as he previously was head coach from 2003–2009, and played their home games on campus at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana as a charter member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 10–4, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where, after a first round bye, they defeated Southeastern Louisiana in the second round before losing to Weber State in the quarterfinals.

## Preseason
### Big Sky preseason poll

The Big Sky released their preseason media and coaches' polls on July 15, 2019. The Grizzlies were picked to finish in fifth place by the media, and in fourth place by the coaches.
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 536 (25) |
| 2 | UC Davis | 510 (13) |
| 3 | Weber State | 472 (4) |
| 4 | Montana State | 417 |
| 5 | Montana | 396 (1) |
| 6 | Northern Arizona | 302 |
| 7 | Idaho State | 285 |
| 8 | Idaho | 248 |
| 9 | Cal Poly | 196 |
| 10 | Portland State | 178 |
| 11 | Southern Utah | 160 |
| 12 | Sacramento State | 125 |
| 13 | Northern Colorado | 90 |
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 140 (10) |
| 2 | UC Davis | 127 (2) |
| 3 | Weber State | 124 |
| 4 | Montana | 104 (1) |
| 5 | Montana State | 100 |
| 6 | Northern Arizona | 88 |
| 7 | Idaho State | 72 |
| 8 | Idaho | 65 |
| 9 | Cal Poly | 56 |
| 10 | Portland State | 42 |
| 11 | Sacramento State | 40 |
| 12 | Southern Utah | 38 |
| 13 | Northern Colorado | 19 |

### Preseason All–Big Sky team

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

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 1:00 p.m. | at South Dakota* | No. 25 | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | KTMF | W 31–17 | 5,193 |
| September 7 | 7:00 p.m. | North Alabama* | No. 22 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KTMF | W 61–17 | 24,033 |
| September 14 | 8:45 p.m. | at No. 15 (FBS) Oregon* | No. 20 | Autzen StadiumEugene, OR | P12N | L 3–35 | 49,098 |
| September 21 | 1:00 p.m. | Monmouth* | No. 19 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | KTMF | W 47–27 | 23,119 |
| September 28 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 4 UC Davis | No. 18 | UC Davis Health StadiumDavis, CA | RTNW | W 45–20 | 10,011 |
| October 5 | 1:00 p.m. | Idaho State | No. 8 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 59–20 | 25,023 |
| October 19 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 15 Sacramento State | No. 5 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | KTMF | L 22–49 | 15,140 |
| October 26 | 12:00 p.m. | Eastern Washington | No. 10 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (EWU–UM Governors Cup) | RTNW | W 34–17 | 24,072 |
| November 2 | 3:00 p.m. | at Portland State | No. 8 | Hillsboro StadiumHillsboro, OR | KTMF | W 38–23 | 6,191 |
| November 9 | 1:00 p.m. | Idaho | No. 6 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (Little Brown Stein) | RTNW | W 42–17 | 22,333 |
| November 16 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 3 Weber State | No. 5 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 35–16 | 22,682 |
| November 23 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 8 Montana State | No. 3 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (rivalry) | RTNW | L 14–48 | 19,827 |
| December 7 | 1:00 p.m. | Southeastern Louisiana* | No. 7 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 73–28 | 16,550 |
| December 13 | 8:00 p.m. | at No. 4 Weber State* | No. 7 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN2 | L 10–17 | 6,422 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Grizzlies | 0 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 31 |
| Coyotes | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### North Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 22 Grizzlies | 10 | 6 | 24 | 21 | 61 |

### At Oregon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 15 (FBS) Ducks | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

### Monmouth

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 0 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 27 |
| No. 19 Grizzlies | 0 | 21 | 12 | 14 | 47 |

### At UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 18 Grizzlies | 7 | 10 | 21 | 7 | 45 |
| No. 4 Aggies | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 |

### Idaho State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
| No. 8 Grizzlies | 0 | 24 | 14 | 21 | 59 |

### At Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Grizzlies | 7 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 22 |
| No. 15 Hornets | 18 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 49 |

### Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 10 Grizzlies | 3 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 34 |

### At Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Grizzlies | 7 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 38 |
| Vikings | 0 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 23 |

### Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vandals | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| No. 6 Grizzlies | 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 42 |

### Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Wildcats | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 16 |
| No. 5 Grizzlies | 14 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 35 |

### At Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Grizzlies | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| No. 8 Bobcats | 17 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 48 |

## FCS Playoffs

The Grizzlies entered the postseason tournament as the number six seed, with a first-round bye.

### Southeastern Louisiana–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| No. 7 Grizzlies | 10 | 28 | 20 | 15 | 73 |

### At Weber State–Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Grizzlies | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| No. 4 Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | 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 | 13 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 25 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| Coaches | RV | 23 | 18–T | 19 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 6 |