On Saturday, our University of Montana Grizzlies will look to remain undefeated as they face Idaho State at 1:00 p.m. This is the first Big Sky Conference road game for the Griz and the 60th all-time meeting between the two founding members of the league. 

The Griz are 4-0 on the season after beating Portland State last week 53-16. The Griz have outscored their first four opponents by a combined total of 173-37, which is the highest margin of victory in the Big Sky Conference. Montana is also currently ranked No. 2 in the AFCA Coaches’ Poll, but confusingly slid back to No. 3 in the Stats Perform media poll.  

The Bengals are 0-4 to start the year. They lost their first conference game to Northern Colorado 35-14 last week after giving up 21 points in the fourth quarter.

 

Montana has dominated Idaho State in the overall series history. The Griz lead the Bengals 46-13 dating all the way back to 1921. However, Montana only has a 15-10 advantage in games played at Holt Arena. Not only is the record close, but a handful of games have come down to the wire as well.  

Trouble in Pocatello

In 2003, the Griz lost to the Bengals 43-30 in double-overtime in Pocatello. That loss is also significant because it is the only time coach Bobby Hauck has been defeated by Idaho State. He enters this week with a 7-1 record. 

In 2009, Montana barely beat the Bengals 12-10 and that Griz team went on to play for a national championship. 

In 2015, the Griz escaped with a win by blocking a would-be game-winning field goal in overtime and returning it 40 yards for a touchdown to steal a victory.
 
The most recent game in Pocatello was in 2017 and the Griz needed 26 second-half points to win 39-31. 

With all that being said, this Montana team has national championship aspirations and these are the games they need to win in order to make that happen. 

How to Watch and Listen

Saturday’s game will be shown on the Montana Television Network as part of the Big Sky Conference's new partnership with Scripps Television. In Missoula, the game will be shown on The CW. ESPN+ will also stream the game nationwide with no blackouts.

"Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran and analyst Greg Sundberg will bring you the action live from Missoula right here on KGVO, the flagship station of the Grizzly Sports Radio Network. You can listen to the game on 98.3 FM, AM 1290, online at newstalkkgvo.com, or on the FREE KGVO App.

"Grizzly Gameday" starts two hours before kickoff each Saturday with the official pregame radio show featuring our own Denny Bedard and Scott Gurnsey, who then throw to Corcoran and Sundberg 30 minutes before kickoff. Bedard and Gurnsey will also host the official post-game show.

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