# 2015 Montana Grizzlies football team

The 2015 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by first-year coach Bob Stitt who took over after 15 years coaching the NCAA Division II Colorado Mines Orediggers. The Grizzlies played their home games on campus at Washington–Grizzly Stadium. Montana participated as a member of the Big Sky Conference, of which they are a charter member. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated South Dakota State in the first round before losing in the second round to North Dakota State.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 29 | 1:30 pm | No. 1 North Dakota State* | No. 13 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (FCS Kickoff) | ESPN | W 38–35 | 26,472 |
| September 5 | 7:00 pm | Cal Poly* | No. 13 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | CMM | L 19–20 | 26,065 |
| September 19 | 5:00 pm | at No. 15 Liberty* | No. 8 | Williams StadiumLynchburg, VA | CMM/ESPN3 | L 21–31 | 22,551 |
| September 26 | 2:00 pm | Northern Arizona | No. 14 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 23–14 | 26,136 |
| October 3 | 2:00 pm | at UC Davis | No. 13 | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | RTNW | W 27–13 | 6,241 |
| October 10 | 2:00 pm | Weber State | No. 12 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | CMM | L 21–24 $^{OT}$ | 25,500 |
| October 24 | 1:30 pm | North Dakota | No. 19 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 42–16 | 25,014 |
| October 31 | 3:00 pm | at No. 12 Portland State | No. 17 | Providence ParkPortland, OR | CMM | L 16–35 | 11,045 |
| November 7 | 1:30 pm | at Idaho State | No. 22 | Holt ArenaPocatello, ID | CMM | W 33–27 $^{OT}$ | 7,795 |
| November 14 | 1:30 pm | No. 10 Eastern Washington | No. 22 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (EWU–UM Governors Cup) | RTNW | W 57–16 | 25,213 |
| November 21 | 12:00 pm | at Montana State | No. 17 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (rivalry) | RTNW | W 54–35 | 20,507 |
| November 28 | 1:00 pm | No. 10 South Dakota State* | No. 16 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN3 | W 24–17 | 14,575 |
| December 5 | 1:30 pm | at No. 2 North Dakota State* | No. 16 | FargodomeFargo, ND (NCAA Division Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 6–37 | 18,232 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||
Despite also being a member of the Big Sky Conference, the game with Cal Poly on September 5 is considered a non-conference game.

## Game summaries
### North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #1 Bison | 7 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 35 |
| #13 Grizzlies | 10 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 38 |

### Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| #13 Grizzlies | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 19 |

### @ Liberty

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #8 Grizzlies | 0 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 21 |
| #15 Flames | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

### Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lumberjacks | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| #14 Grizzlies | 10 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 23 |

### @ UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #13 Grizzlies | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
| Aggies | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |

### Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| #12 Grizzlies | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 |

### North Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| North Dakota | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| #19 Grizzlies | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |

### @ Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #17 Grizzlies | 0 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| #12 Vikings | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

### @ Idaho State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| #22 Grizzlies | 14 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 33 |
| Bengals | 7 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 27 |

### Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #10 Eagles | 3 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
| #22 Grizzlies | 14 | 16 | 20 | 7 | 57 |

### @ Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #17 Grizzlies | 17 | 20 | 7 | 10 | 54 |
| Bobcats | 7 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 35 |

## FCS Playoffs
### First Round–South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #10 Jackrabbits | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| #16 Grizzlies | 7 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 24 |

### Second Round–@ North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #16 Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| #2 Bison | 7 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 37 |

## 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 | 13 | 8 (2) | 8 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 22 | 22 | 17 | 16 | 14 |
| Coaches | 12 | 8 (3) | 7 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 22–T | 22 | 17 | 17 | 14 |