Fall Camp

ELEVATED EXPECTATIONS: With Buss injured, Lewis rises among Griz linebackers

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Editor’s Note: This is the third installment in Skyline Sports’ ELEVATED EXPECTATIONS series profiling Griz football player who are likely to see elevated roles this season for Montana. 

PART I: Local walk-on tackle Keintz continues rapid improvement

PART II: Eastwood follows Hauck north to Montana

The uncertainty surrounding Montana senior linebacker Josh Buss’s injury status has been matched only by the uncertainty about who his replacement in the middle of the Grizzly defense might be.

There was no update on Buss’s readiness Thursday, a day before Montana’s second, and last, scrimmage of fall camp and just nine days before the Grizzlies open the season against Northern Iowa.

Buss’s absence has given a number of lesser-known linebackers the chance to step up and claim a bigger role. Junior Dante Olson is almost certain to start and take over Buss’s role as the leader of the linebackers.

Another player who will be counted on to replace the missing production is Jace Lewis,a third-year sophomore from Townsend. The former state champion quarterback had 16 total tackles last year while playing in 10 of Montana’s 11 games as a redshirt freshman.

He’s gotten plenty of looks this fall as a steady linebacker who should see his playing time shoot way up.

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About Andrew Houghton

Andrew Houghton grew up in Washington, DC. He graduated from the University of Montana journalism school in December 2015 and spent time working on the sports desk at the Daily Tribune News in Cartersville, Georgia, before moving back to Missoula and becoming a part of Skyline Sports in early 2018.

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