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American college football season
The 2023 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season . The Grizzlies were led by 13th-year head coach Bobby Hauck and played their home games at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana . The Montana Grizzlies football team drew an average home attendance of 26,269 in 2023.
On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Grizzlies were predicted to finish sixth in the Big Sky by the coaches and third by the media.[ 1]
Coaches poll
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Montana State
120 (10)
2
UC Davis
96 (1)
3
Sacramento State
94 (1)
4
Weber State
91
5
Idaho
89
6
Montana
84
7
Eastern Washington
52
8
Portland State
45
9
Northern Arizona
44
10
Northern Colorado
37
11
Cal Poly
25
12
Idaho State
15
Media poll
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Montana State
447 (26)
2
Idaho
410 (8)
3
Montana
359 (2)
4
Sacramento State
334 (3)
5
UC Davis
330
6
Weber State
320
7
Eastern Washington
216
8
Northern Arizona
178
9
Portland State
167
10
Northern Colorado
109
11
Cal Poly
103
12
Idaho State
69
Preseason All–Big Sky team[ edit ]
The Grizzlies had five players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.[ 2] [ 3]
Offense
Hunter Mayginnes – OL
Defense
Alex Gubner – DT
Levi Janacaro – LB
Special Teams
Junior Bergen – PR
Trevin Gradney – ST
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 2 12:00 p.m. Butler * No. 14 KTMF /ESPN+ W 35–2025,430
September 9 7:00 p.m. at Utah Tech * No. 13 ESPN+ W 43–13 5,766
September 16 6:00 p.m. No. 1 (D-II ) Ferris State * No. 12 Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT KTMF/ESPN+ W 17–1026,978
September 23 2:00 p.m. at Northern Arizona No. 13 KPAX /ESPN+L 14–28 6,428
September 30 2:00 p.m. Idaho State No. 18 Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT KPAX/ESPN+ W 28–2026,678
October 7 5:00 p.m. at No. 20 UC Davis No. 17 KPAX/ESPN+ W 31–23 9,576
October 14 8:30 p.m. at No. 3 Idaho No. 16 ESPN2 W 23–2114,218
October 28 1:00 p.m. Northern Colorado No. 7 Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT KPAX/ESPN+ W 40–025,463
November 4 6:00 p.m. No. 7 Sacramento State No. 4 Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT KPAX/ESPN+ W 34–725,888
November 11 8:00 p.m. at Portland State No. 3 KPAX/ESPN+ W 34–10 4,578
November 18 12:00 p.m. No. 4 Montana State No. 3 Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (rivalry ) KPAX/ESPN+ W 37–727,178
December 2 7:00 p.m. No. 11 Delaware * No. 2 ESPN+ W 49–1920,580
7:00 p.m. No. 7 Furman * No. 2 Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) ESPN2 W 35–28 OT 20,884
December 16 2:30 p.m. No. 8 North Dakota State * No. 2 Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I Semifinal) ESPN2/ESPN+ W 31–29 2OT 26,544
, 202412:00 p.m. vs. No. 1 South Dakota State * No. 2 ABC L 3–2319,512
[ 4]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulldogs
3
3
14
0
20
No. 14 Grizzles
10
11
7
7
35
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 13 Grizzles
14
22
7
0
43
Trailblazers
0
0
0
13
13
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulldogs
0
10
0
0
10
No. 12 Grizzlies
3
0
14
0
17
at Northern Arizona [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 13 Grizzles
0
14
0
0
14
Lumberjacks
7
14
7
0
28
1
2
3
4
Total
Bengals
7
0
7
6
20
No. 18 Grizzles
7
0
14
7
28
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 17 Grizzles
7
14
7
3
31
No. 20 Aggies
7
13
0
3
23
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 16 Grizzles
10
10
0
3
23
No. 3 Vandals
0
7
0
14
21
1
2
3
4
Total
Bears
0
0
0
0
0
No. 7 Grizzles
0
14
12
14
40
No. 7 Sacramento State [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 7 Hornets
7
0
0
0
7
No. 4 Grizzles
7
14
0
13
34
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 3 Grizzles
7
17
10
0
34
Vikings
3
0
7
0
10
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 4 Bobcats
0
0
7
0
7
No. 3 Grizzles
14
6
10
7
37
No. 12 Delaware – Second Round[ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 12 Blue Hens
0
12
7
0
19
No. 2 Grizzles
10
25
14
0
49
No. 7 Furman – Quarterfinals[ edit ]
1
2
3
4 OT
Total
No. 7 Paladins
14
0
7
7 0
28
No. 2 Grizzles
14
6
8
0 7
35
No. 8 North Dakota State – Semifinals[ edit ]
1
2
3
4 OT 2OT
Total
No. 8 Bison
3
3
3
7 7 6
29
No. 2 Grizzles
0
10
0
6 7 8
31
vs. No. 1 South Dakota State – Championship Game[ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 2 Grizzles
0
3
0
0
3
No. 1 Jackrabbits
7
0
16
0
23
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final STATS FCS 14 13 12 13 18 17 16 9 7 4 3 3 2 Coaches 14 13 11т 11 16 13 10 6 5 3 3 3 2
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
College Division / Division II I-AA/FCS
Northern Arizona (1978)
Montana State (1979)
Boise State (1980)
Idaho State (1981)
Montana , Idaho , & Montana State (1982)
Nevada (1983)
Montana State (1984)
Idaho (1985)
Nevada (1986)
Idaho (1987)
Idaho (1988)
Idaho (1989)
Nevada (1990)
Nevada (1991)
Idaho & Eastern Washington (1992)
Montana (1993)
Boise State (1994)
Montana (1995)
Montana (1996)
Eastern Washington (1997)
Montana (1998)
Montana (1999)
Montana (2000)
Montana (2001)
Montana , Montana State , & Idaho State (2002)
Montana State , Montana , & Northern Arizona (2003)
Montana & Eastern Washington (2004)
Eastern Washington , Montana State , & Montana (2005)
Montana (2006)
Montana (2007)
Weber State & Montana (2008)
Montana (2009)
Montana State & Eastern Washington (2010)
Montana State & Montana (2011)
Eastern Washington , Montana State , & Cal Poly (2012)
Eastern Washington (2013)
Eastern Washington (2014)
Southern Utah (2015)
Eastern Washington & North Dakota (2016)
Southern Utah & Weber State (2017)
Eastern Washington , UC Davis , & Weber State (2018)
Sacramento State & Weber State (2019)
Weber State (2020)
Sacramento State (2021)
Montana State & Sacramento State (2022)
Montana (2023)
Montana State (2024)
National championships in bold