Many dynamics that Bobby Kennedy professed throughout an off-season filled with intrigue and positivity came true for the Montana Grizzlies on Saturday night.
Eli Gillman remains one of the best players in the Football Championship Subdivision, a Hank Aaron-like home run hitter that will shatter Montana’s all-time touchdown records in short order.
Lekeldrick Bridges is an emerging standout at wide receiver after Kennedy and the UM coaching staff have spent the last six months trying to instill confidence in the speed demon from Texas.
A revamped defense playing a new scheme played with spirited effort and showed flashes as a unit Montana might be able to lean on if improvements, both individually and collectively, continue.
And despite the fact that known special teams guru Bobby Hauck bailed for the Big Ten, UM still manufactured momentum-altering plays on kick teams — Montana blocked two Southern Utah kicks on Saturday night — on the way to a 28-21 victory over Southern Utah in front of a sellout season-opening crowd to get the BK era underway with a victory.
“They almost gave me a heart attack,” Kennedy said with a laugh. “But it was exciting at the end. I’m really proud of this group. I think if we can clean up some of the mistakes that we made that were self-inflicted, we’ll continue to get better and hopefully you make your most improvement between Game 1 and Game 2.
For all those affirmations, though, the notion that Montana would carry the momentum of its record-setting offensive display in 2025 did not come true. Last season, the Griz averaged 41 points and 467 yards of total offense per contest at Gillman and quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat had All-American campaigns to pace a 13-2 finish.
Saturday, Montana certainly had its fair share of flair. Gillman ignited the crowd with an 85-yard catch-and-run for the 55th touchdown of his illustrious Griz career, reminding the 26,829 in attendance just how rare a talent the former Minnesota Player of the Year is.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Gillman again broke loose, turning a dancing in the backfield handoff into a cutback into a foot race that results in a 29-yard touchdown, the 50th rushing TD of his prolific career. Those two plays accounted for 114 of the 169 yards of total offense Gillman would rack up on Saturday night. His second score put Montana up 14-3 with 11:50 left in the first half and it looked like the Griz indeed did carry the offensive momentum from 2025.
(Gillman’s 50 rushing touchdowns rank second behind Chase Reynolds’ 52 in program history. Gillman’s 55 total touchdowns are behind only Reynolds, who scored 59 total times between 2006 and 2010.)
But the next 38 minutes of game time, the Griz hardly had the ball. And when they did, they hardly got it to their playmakers as the offense looked stuck in the mud. Ah Yat, a 6-foot-1 senior who was limited during many fall camp practices this month, did not operate with decisiveness for much of the evening, finishing 15-for-28 for 265 yards.
A good deal of Montana’s offensive issues stemmed from the fact they were hardly on offense following Gillman’s second touchdown. Southern Utah used a bruising, diverse zone-read option offense to rush 49 times for 259 yards, pile up 31 first downs and possess the ball for 43 minutes, 47 seconds.
The SUU passing game also had success as quarterback Will Burns finished with 251 yards passing and 119 yards rushing as the Thunderbirds rolled up 510 yards of total offense. Southern Utah tight end Joshua Acord scored consecutive touchdowns, including a 58-yard catch and run that exploited a broken coverage by the Montana defense, to tie the game 21-21 with 11:41 left.
But when it mattered most, Ah Yat and Bridges saved the day to help Kennedy avoid the fate of former Griz head coaches like Don Read and Joe Glenn who lost their very first games leading the Griz.
(Of course, Read went on to lead Montana to its first national title in 1995 after losing his home-opener to Nevada in 1986. And Glenn went 39-5 following a 10-9 home loss to Hofstra to begin the 2000 season, including leading UM to the 2001 national title, its most recent.)
With five minutes to play and many previously in the stands already on their way home, Ah Yat engineered the game-winning drive highlighted by the biggest play of Bridges’ young career. Ah Yat ran a play-action fake to Gillman, then rolled to the right side. Both SUU defensive backs took the underneath receiver on a flood concept, leaving Bridges wide open over the top.
Bridges did the rest, using his prodigious speed to sprint into the North end-zone to put the Griz up for good. He caught the ball about 40 yards from the end-zone, then ran right next to Brooks Davis into the end-zone.
While celebrating his first career touchdown, Bridges looked up into the stands and saw his parents and family, who were up from Cedar Hills, Texas.
“When I scored and I was celebrating, I saw my little brother dancing,” Bridges said with a bright smile.
All off-season, Kennedy constantly brought up Bridges as a player who could be a breakout contributor for an offense already anchored by its stud quarterback, transcendent running back and Davis, a slick wide receiver who was a freshman All-American a year ago.
Bridges had an early drop on Saturday night and another one early in the 4th quarter. But rather than go away from him or bench, him, the Griz kept feeding him. Bridges finished with five catches for 91 yards and the game-winning score after ending the game with one catch for six yards in his career.
“I think he’s just scratching the surface of his potential,” Kennedy said. “I’m excited about the future with this guy, and I expect big things to come.”
That faith was rewarded at the most important time. But Bridges’ touchdown was only part of the closing sequence Montana needed to survive. The Griz defense, which had spent most of the evening on the field, had to make one final stand.
Southern Utah took possession with 3:06 remaining and marched from its own 14-yard line all the way to the Montana 24. Burns completed four passes and converted a pair of first downs as the Thunderbirds again threatened to steal the momentum from Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
But Montana’s defense finally came through with the defining play of the night.
With 16 seconds remaining, Burns was pressured almost immediately. Rather than taking a sack, the Southern Utah quarterback retreated and eventually launched a desperation pass toward the end zone. Montana safety Brock Beaner tracked the ball down and intercepted it near the goal line, setting off a celebration and allowing Kennedy to exhale after his first victory as a head coach.
Beaner’s interception was Montana’s only takeaway of the game, but it came at precisely the moment the Griz needed it.
That was a fitting finish for a Montana defense that was simultaneously encouraging and concerning in its first game operating under new defensive coordinator Eric Sanders’ scheme.
The Griz were on the field for nearly 44 minutes. Southern Utah ran 80 offensive plays, accumulated 31 first downs and piled up over 500 yards of offense. The Thunderbirds consistently found ways to move the chains with Burns and their collection of running backs, controlling the tempo with a physical running game and a quarterback capable of making plays with both his arm and his legs.
Montana’s defense also had several costly breakdowns, none bigger than Acord’s 58-yard touchdown that tied the game midway through the fourth quarter.
Yet the unit also showed the sort of resolve Kennedy had been praising throughout fall camp.
Southern Utah scored only three points in the first half despite moving the ball consistently. Cooper Buffington, who stood out in his first career start on the interior of Montana’s defensive line, blocked a 50-yard field goal attempt with 35 seconds remaining in the second quarter, preserving its 14-3 halftime advantage. Defensive lineman Jake Mason later blocked Southern Utah’s extra point following Acord’s first touchdown of the fourth quarter.
Those special teams plays proved enormous.
“I really thought the defense played really well in the first half, and they did some great things,” Kennedy said. “Even though they were giving up some yards they never stopped believing. And we were very basic in terms of our scheme this week because we knew how they run the ball.
“They did a great job, and Coach White and the special teams, they were as big as anything.”
Gillman’s brilliance gave the Griz an early cushion. Bridges’ emergence supplied the late heroics. The special teams produced two blocked kicks. And when Southern Utah had one final opportunity to tie the game, Montana’s defense finally delivered the takeaway it had been searching for all evening.
It was not dominant. It was not particularly clean. And it was certainly not the offensive fireworks show many expected from a Montana team returning one of the most decorated offensive backfields in program history.
But it was a win.
For Kennedy, whose first offseason as Montana’s head coach included a coaching staff overhaul, installing a new defensive system and the pressure of replacing one of the most successful head coaches in Big Sky Conference history, that was enough for one night.
“We made some silly mistakes, but we’ll fix those this week,” Kennedy said. “Credit Southern Utah because that is a really well coached team, and I think they’re going to win a lot of games.
“But I really believe we have good kids that want to do well. They wear that Montana on the front of their jersey, and they’re really proud to do it. So, I’m excited for these guys, and hopefully we make our biggest improvement from week one to week two.”
PHOTOS BY BROOKS NUANEZ. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
