# 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team

The 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by first-year coach Bobby Hauck, 8th 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 6–5, 4–4 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Grizzlies were predicted to finish in seventh place in the coaches poll and fourth place in the media poll.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 134 (6) |
| 2 | Weber State | 124 (3) |
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 121 (3) |
| 4 | Idaho | 101 (1) |
| 5 | Sacramento State | 94 |
| 6 | Southern Utah | 91 |
| 7 | Montana | 82 |
| 8 | Montana State | 76 |
| 9 | UC Davis | 64 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 40 |
| 11 | Northern Colorado | 30 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 29 |
| 13 | Portland State | 21 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 651 (27) |
| 2 | Weber State | 636 (19) |
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 535 (1) |
| 4 | Montana | 496 (2) |
| 5 | Idaho | 483 (3) |
| 6 | Southern Utah | 449 (1) |
| 7 | Sacramento State | 415 |
| 8 | Montana State | 391 (1) |
| 9 | UC Davis | 331 (1) |
| 10 | Idaho State | 170 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 169 |
| 12 | Northern Colorado | 166 |
| 13 | Portland State | 103 |

### Preseason All-Conference Team

The Grizzlies had one player selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.
Josh Buss – Sr. LB. Also selected as the preseason defensive player of the year.

### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Butkus Award | Josh Buss | LB | SR |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Josh Buss | LB | SR |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 13 Northern Iowa* | No. 24 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | SWX | W 26–23 | 25,018 |
| September 8 | 1:00 p.m. | Drake* | No. 14 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | SWX | W 48–16 | 23,132 |
| September 15 | 2:00 p.m. | at Western Illinois* | No. 15 | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN+ | L 27–31 | 4,011 |
| September 22 | 1:00 p.m. | Sacramento State | No. 19 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | W 41–34 | 24,060 |
| September 29 | 5:00 p.m. | at Cal Poly | No. 17 | Alex G. Spanos StadiumSan Luis Obispo, CA | ELVN | W 48–28 | 7,157 |
| October 6 | 2:00 p.m. | Portland State | No. 14 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | SWX | L 20–22 | 25,205 |
| October 13 | 12:00 p.m. | at North Dakota | No. 22 | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | SWX | L 14–41 | 10,497 |
| October 27 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 6 UC Davis | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | SWX | L 21–49 | 24,141 |
| November 3 | 1:00 p.m. | at Southern Utah | | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | RTNW | W 57–14 | 7,162 |
| November 10 | 4:30 p.m. | at Idaho | | Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID (Little Brown Stein) | RTNW | W 46–27 | 14,571 |
| November 17 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 25 Montana State | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (rivalry) | RTNW | L 25–29 | 26,508 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Panthers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 23 |
| No. 24 Grizzlies | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 26 |

### Drake

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| No. 14 Grizzlies | 3 | 7 | 21 | 17 | 48 |

### At Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 15 Grizzlies | 18 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 27 |
| Leathernecks | 14 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 31 |

### Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hornets | 14 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 34 |
| No. 19 Grizzlies | 14 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 41 |

### At Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 17 Grizzlies | 17 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 48 |
| Mustangs | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |

### Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vikings | 10 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 22 |
| No. 14 Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 20 |

### At North Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Fighting Hawks | 21 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 41 |

### UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Aggies | 3 | 0 | 10 | 36 | 49 |
| Grizzlies | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |

### At Southern Utah

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Grizzlies | 20 | 10 | 21 | 6 | 57 |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### At Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Grizzlies | 14 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 46 |
| Vandals | 3 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 27 |

### Montana State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Montana St | 0 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 29 |
| Montana | 7 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 25 |
at Washington–Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, Montana
* Date: November 17, 2018
* Game time: 12:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Sunny, 30 °F (−1 °C)
* Game attendance: 26,508
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
UM – Gabe Sulser 1-yard pass from Dalton Sneed (Tim Semenza kick), 12:31. Montana 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 73 yards, 2:29.
Second quarter
UM – Adam Eastwood 1-yard run (Tim Semenza kick), 13:30. Montana 14–0. Drive: 10 plays, 58 yards, 3:41.
UM – Samuel Akem 37-yard pass from Dalton Sneed (run good), 8:15. Montana 22–0. Drive: 2 plays, 39 yards, 0:40.
MSU – Troy Andersen 3-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 0:23. Montana 22–7. Drive: 10 plays, 72 yards, 2:43.
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
MSU – Troy Andersen 1-yard run (run good), 14:24. Montana 22–15. Drive: 9 plays, 87 yards, 3:15.
UM – Tim Semenza 34-yard field goal, 7:46. Montana 25–15. Drive: 14 plays, 58 yards, 6:32.
MSU – Troy Andersen 1-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 6:01. Montana 25–22. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 1:45.
MSU – Logan Jones 13-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 2:19. Montana St 29–25. Drive: 7 plays, 35 yards, 2:57.
Top passers
MSU – Troy Andersen – 15/24, 158 yards
UM – Dalton Sneed – 22/34, 354 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
MSU – Troy Andersen – 23 rushes, 107 yards, 3 TD
UM – Jerry Louie-McGee – 4 rushes, 43 yards
Top receivers
MSU – Travis Jonsen – 11 receptions, 101 yards
UM – Samuel Akem – 6 receptions, 147 yards, TD :

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked 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 | 24 | 14 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 22 | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | |
| Coaches | 25 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 23 | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | |