# 2017 Montana Grizzlies football team

The 2017 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by third-year coach Bob Stitt 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 7–4, 5–3 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for sixth place.
On November 20, it was announced that head coach Bob Stitt's contract would not be renewed. He finished at Montana with a three-year record of 21–14.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 1:00 p.m. | Valparaiso* | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | SWX MT | W 45–23 | 23,160 |
| September 9 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 7 (FBS) Washington* | | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | P12N | L 7–63 | 68,491 |
| September 16 | 1:00 p.m. | Savannah State* | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | SWX MT | W 56–3 | 22,228 |
| September 23 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 11 Eastern Washington | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (Governors Cup) | RTNW | L 41–48 | 25,944 |
| September 30 | 3:00 p.m. | at Portland State | | Hillsboro StadiumHillsboro, OR | SWX MT | W 45–33 | 5,012 |
| October 7 | 2:30 p.m. | at Idaho State | | Holt ArenaPocatello, ID | ELVN | W 39–31 | 7,279 |
| October 14 | 1:00 p.m. | North Dakota | No. 24 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 41–17 | 25,085 |
| October 28 | 2:00 p.m. | at Weber State | No. 24 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | SWX MT | L 27–41 | 8,912 |
| November 4 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 18 Northern Arizona | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 17–15 | 22,747 |
| November 11 | 1:00 p.m. | Northern Colorado | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 44–14 | 22,048 |
| November 18 | Noon | at Montana State | | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (rivalry) | RTNW | L 23–31 | 19,907 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Valparaiso

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Crusaders | 6 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 23 |
| Grizzlies | 10 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 45 |

### @ Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Grizzlies | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 7 (FBS) Huskies | 21 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 63 |

### Savannah State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Grizzlies | 14 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 56 |

### Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Eagles | 3 | 3 | 21 | 21 | 48 |
| Grizzlies | 14 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 41 |

### @ Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Grizzlies | 10 | 17 | 13 | 5 | 45 |
| Vikings | 7 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 33 |

### @ Idaho State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Grizzlies | 7 | 6 | 19 | 7 | 39 |
| Bengals | 7 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 31 |

### North Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Hawks | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| No. 24 Grizzlies | 7 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 41 |

### @ Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Grizzlies | 0 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 27 |
| Wildcats | 10 | 24 | 0 | 7 | 41 |

### Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 18 Lumberjacks | 3 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 15 |
| Grizzlies | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 |

### Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Grizzlies | 14 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 44 |

### @ Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Grizzlies | 3 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 23 |
| Bobcats | 0 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 31 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received 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 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 21 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |