ETERNAL ELI: Gillman’s loyalty makes him a Griz legend forever

MISSOULA, Montana — As Eli Gillman crossed the goal line on yet another iconic run that cemented his immortality, he collapsed to the turf, the magnitude of the moment washing over him, the emotion bringing him quite literally to his knees.

This moment … the moment he became everlasting … the moment he became eternal … the moment when time did not matter, but the place certainly did…this is the moment that affirmed why Gillman decided to stay.

When Cooper Kupp finished his career at Eastern Washington in 2016, his statistics instantly became the stuff of Big Sky Conference lore. And after Kupp affirmed his prowess in the NFL by winning the receiving triple crown, NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors and Super Bowl MVP, the common notion was that no one would ever touch the records Kupp set.

As time passed, college football evolved. It’s easy to wonder if players like Kupp and fellow NFL-bound wide receiver Kendrick Bourne would’ve stayed at EWU for four full seasons if they came along the last few years. Maybe they would stay. Or maybe they would bounce to greener pastures with greenbacks luring them to the FBS. Or maybe they wouldn’t have ended up in Cheney at all.

Somehow, Gillman not only ended up in Missoula despite a decorated high school career that saw him lead Dassel-Cokato to its first state championship and become a finalist for Minnesota’s Mr. Football Award, but he also chose to stay in the Garden City. He chose the Griz. He chose to be a Griz and only a Griz.

And for that, Montana fans and followers will choose him, forever.

Gillman’s 84-yard touchdown run against Portland State was quintessential Gillman. The 6-foot, 215-pounder has made a career by seeing openings before they happen, or when at first they don’t exist. And that was no different on his 78th trip to the end zone in his illustrious Griz career.

Gillman took a stretch handoff to the left boundary. A Portland State defender met him in the backfield, but the powerful fifth-year senior brushed off the contact, spinning out of it before cutting back to the middle of the field. Then, as has been his signature at perhaps a higher level than any other home run hitter in Big Sky history, Gillman slammed on the gas pedal.

He hit over 22 mph on the run, burning the entire Portland State defense into a pile of ashes before he collapsed in pure joy as the north end zone reached a fever pitch.

He didn’t know if the record was attainable, even when he entered his senior season with 53 career touchdowns. Kupp was so transcendent, so unstoppable, that even the most driven athletes would need lofty dreams to surpass what he accomplished.

Since Gillman set Montana’s single-game rushing record with 275 yards and four touchdowns against UC Davis in late September, anything has seemed possible. Still, the moment when he realized he was the greatest touchdown scorer in the 63-year history of a conference filled with them was enough to send Gillman to the turf.

“I still can’t really explain what’s going through my mind, but it was a surreal feeling. I don’t even know what hit me, but I was overcome by it all,” Gillman said while flashing his trademark smile. “And I was kind of in disbelief on the run it happened on, too. It was just a crazy way to do it, and something hit me. I don’t know what it was. But it brought me to my knees.”

Since the phenomenon of the NCAA Transfer Portal and loose transfer regulations that make it much easier to move schools than in the past, the winner of the Jerry Rice Award, given to the top freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision, has been as good as gone.

Shedeur Sanders followed his father, Deion, from Jackson State to Colorado after winning the award in 2021. Gevani McCoy won the award in 2022 at Idaho before embarking on a disappointing journey that’s yielded very little success after he washed out at Oregon State, Texas State and Temple. CharMar Brown won the top freshman honor in 2024 at North Dakota State before bolting to Miami, where he rushed for 474 yards and seven TDs last season. And 2025 Jerry Rice Award winner Braden Atkinson (Mercer) transferred to Oregon State, where he helped the Beavers dice the Griz in Corvallis in September. Atkinson threw for 333 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another score in boosting OSU to a 52-17 win.

In the post-pandemic era, the only Jerry Rice Award winner to finish his career where he started is Gillman.

“For him to recognize the platform that he has at Montana and in the Big Sky, that means he’s built a little bit different. He’s not just like everybody else,” Idaho State head coach Cody Hawkins said a few evenings before his team comes to Missoula to take on Gillman’s Griz. “So you know what? I bet you he watches film different. I bet you he rehabs different. I bet you he practices different. And just his outlook on things has helped him separate himself and say, ‘Hey, it’s not what everybody in the world defines as greatness. I can find greatness right here.’”

Some pundits imply that maybe Gillman didn’t have an opportunity to move to a higher level. Some whisper that he might’ve gotten Group of Six interest but that the Power 4 never came calling. That’s simply untrue, and we will leave it at that.

Idaho head coach Thomas Ford Jr. has a well-earned reputation as one of the best recruiters on the West Coast. He was an ace at Washington and Oregon State, as well as on Jason Eck’s staff at Idaho before taking over in Moscow ahead of last season. He’s seen and coached plenty of Power 4 running backs. He is certain that Gillman stacks up with anyone in the country.

“I am certain that if he would have entered the transfer portal, he would have had multiple opportunities, probably in the SEC and the Big Ten, honestly. Watching his talent level, I think he’s every bit as good as a ton of backs that I’ve watched this season in both of those conferences,” Idaho head coach Thomas Ford Jr. said. “He’s no doubt a Power Four talent.”

Hawkins, Ford, UC Davis head coach Tim Plough, Portland State head coach Chris Fisk…they all agree: Gillman’s presence in the league is an absolute headache for them but a tremendous feather in the cap for the Big Sky, a useful tool for recruiting and retaining players.

“If you’re playing at a high level and you’re an NFL player, there’s no reason you can’t do it from the Big Sky,” Ford said.

Speaking of headaches, Ed Lamb sat at the podium inside the Adams Center and couldn’t help but shake his head and rub his temple.

Northern Colorado’s defense had an explicit and specific plan to not let Gillman kill them, especially considering the hammer he dropped on UC Davis the week prior. The Bears executed that plan. And it still didn’t matter.

Once the dam breaks, nobody can slow down Gillman. And he’s perhaps the greatest “dam breaker” in the history of the Football Championship Subdivision.

In one of his seemingly countless iconic moments this fall, Gillman found himself bottled up against Northern Colorado’s stout, physical front. But he pressed the edge, came to a near standstill in the hole, then exploded back to his left, leaving an entire wave of Bears’ defenders in the dust.

By the time he was tackled, he had covered about three-quarters of the field vertically and horizontally. The 55-yard burst was the final nail in the coffin as Montana raced to a 36-14 win on homecoming in Missoula.

“Clearly, the program is built around one of the all-time greats. You and I see each other every year at the Hall of Fame induction for the Big Sky. There’s no question that Eli will be in that group. He’s pretty much already earned that, I think you could fairly say,” Lamb said before the matchup commenced.

“We knew we couldn’t let him kill us, but then 10 killed us on that play,” Lamb lamented after the loss.

Plough was the wide receivers coach and then offensive coordinator at Northern Arizona when Zach Bauman became one of the few running backs in conference history to rush for 1,000 yards four straight seasons. Plough also saw Ulonzo Gilliam and Lan Larison come through UC Davis during his time as the OC and now head coach at his alma mater.

The week after Gillman ran wild on Plough’s Aggies, Plough dubbed Gillman “an anvil.” In Montana’s 62-22 shellacking of UC Davis, Gillman broke the UM single-game rushing record, a mark that had stood since 2001. And while “the anvil” is a catchy and somewhat fitting moniker, it’s actually Advil that Gillman has caused coaches around the Big Sky Conference to need over the last four seasons.

The muscular, chiseled 22-year-old (he turns 23 on November 17) has looked like a grown man since he stepped onto campus. His burly mustache matches his burly physique. There’s no question he is strong and powerful. He certainly can run around you. He can also run past you, as he’s shown at a more prolific level than almost any player in modern college football.

But what Gillman does most of the time is almost beyond description. His gifts are most times without comparison, at least when compared to running backs that have played in the FCS.

“You just always know he’s going to make a big play at some point,” Montana offensive coordinator Brent Pease said. “He’ll make Superman plays here and there, but whether it’s patience, running through someone, finally hitting the hole when he sees it, you just know he’s going to pop something big at some point. Give him space, he’ll create something. That’s special for a guy that’s done that in every game, I think, his whole career.”

Coaches across the conference have a hard time putting Gillman’s skill set into perspective. Every man acknowledges he’s elite. Most acknowledge his vision and patience.

But some coaches and pundits question Gillman’s speed (how?). Others claim he’s not elite in terms of vertical quickness. Yet he can stop on a dime, stand still, and get back to full speed as rapidly as anyone in college football, contemporarily or historically.

Most everyone describes him as explosive, but few describe him as fast. Yet the fact that he hit over 22 mph indicates that he has very good if not great speed.

“You might bottle him up for a minute and then all of a sudden here comes a 60-yard run because he just slips tackles so well,” Fisk said before Portland State gave up 244 yards of total offense on nine total touches, including 196 yards and four touchdowns on eight total carries. “He’s interesting because it’s not like he’s laterally elusive, but he is just hard to tackle, and he’s got those swivel hips, and people just struggle to tackle the young man.”

Regardless of what the stopwatch says or why some struggle to describe why Gillman is unstoppable, he is undoubtedly one of the best big-play running backs, if not the best, in league history.

He enters Saturday’s game against Idaho State with 25 touchdowns of 20 yards or more (wait, it gets better). Of those gash plays, 19 have come from more than 30, 17 have come from more than 40 yards out, 15 (!!) have come from more than 50, 11 (!!) have come from more than 60, four have come from more than 70 and three have come from more than 80.

“He understands blocking schemes probably more than other running backs I’ve coached, in terms of understanding where the ball is going to fit with the blocking scheme,” Montana running backs coach Dom Daste said.

Gillman also has 12 plays of more than 34 yards that did not result in touchdowns, meaning manufactured more than three dozen gash plays in his career. Six of those non-TDs were for more than 55 yards, including a 64-yard rip against UC Davis this season.

“I think he’s got about nine or 10 of those on me,” Fisk lamented after Portland State was on the wrong end of a 57-24 thrashing. “So he’s special, man. … He’s just hard to tackle. And sometimes you feel like you’ve got him bottled up — like you’re watching the Eastern game last week, you think you’ve got him bottled up, and you think you’re going to start to have a day against him, and then bang, he hits one of those long runs again.”

When you ask Gillman who his running back idol is, he says Adrian Peterson, the soon-to-be Hall of Famer and former Minnesota Vikings stud. On the surface, it makes sense because Gillman grew up in Dassel, Minnesota (pop: 1,472). But Gillman and his younger brother, Monte (a junior receiver for the Griz) were adopted. Eli was born in Jacksonville, and he claims Florida, at least when it comes to his professional sports teams.

Gillman’s humility is both astounding and endearing. So when it’s suggested that the part of AP’s game that Gillman has studied is the patient, knifing yet dynamite style, he deflects and gets shy.

Dawn and Brian Gillman raised their five children in the small town 60 miles from the Twin Cities. Dawn is an elected member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, yet still has made time to come to every Griz home game the last few seasons.

Dassel is most well known for its wholesome values, the phenomenal public education available there (Dassel Elementary was recognized as one of 219 public schools in the nation as a National Blue Ribbon School) and for its Labor Day tradition of Red Rooster Days.

“In Dassel, everybody knows your business whether you like it or not,” Gillman said with a chuckle.

Growing up in that insular and nurturing environment, Gillman became a two-time All-District running back at Dassel-Cokato High. He totaled 1,585 yards and 21 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2019, then added 1,205 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns in eight games as a junior. As a senior, he ran for more than 1,900 yards and accounted for 43 touchdowns, leading the Chargers to their first undefeated season and state championship in program history. He was named one of 10 finalists for Minnesota’s Mr. Football Award and also lettered in basketball.

“My parents raised me that if you want something, go get it,” Gillman said. “That’s how they raised us, and that’s kind of what I have in my own head. I don’t like to speak outwardly about it, but inside, that’s what I feel like.”

That drive got sharpened at home, by the brother who followed him to Missoula. Eli and Monte grew up competing with each other at just about everything.

“Growing up, we’ve always been competing with each other, and it’s like iron sharpens iron,” Monte said. “He made me as good as I am today, and I feel like I helped him get to where he’s at today as well.”

When Eli broke the record, the Griz sideline didn’t quite know what to do with itself. As he crossed the goal line, the players on the field bowed down to him like the king he has become. But the sideline seemed frozen in time.

“It was so crazy,” Monte said. “We were kind of making jokes on the sideline: have you heard of an unskippable cutscene? We were kind of stuck in one of those.”

After Gillman’s record-setter, the officials stopped the game to award him a game ball. As Bobby Kennedy presented the honor at midfield, the Washington-Grizzly Stadium crowd started chanting back and forth, one side shouting “ELI” and the other echoing “GILLMAN.”

“Anytime you can share that moment with one of the all-time greats is very special,” Kennedy said. “Not only is he a great player, but he’s a really good person. He has a really good family. I think it’s special for his brother to play with him here at Montana. So many things went into that, and so many people have poured into him so that he could have that moment. I think of (former running backs coach) Justin Green — not only his mom, his brother, his family, his teammates. It was a special moment for our team, for his teammates. I think especially the offensive line and the guys that blocked for him on the perimeter. For them to see that they were living history, I thought was really cool.”

Gillman had never been to a Montana game before he arrived on campus. All he really knew was that Bobby Hauck’s program meant hard-nosed, tough training. Then Washington-Grizzly Stadium hit him.

“I had no idea what to expect,” Gillman said. “But this place kind of blew my mind. It still honestly does, every game.”

What made Missoula stick was how much it felt like the place he came from.

“I think this place gives the same feel as Dassel, the small-town family environment,” Gillman said. “I feel like it’s the same thing with Missoula. I think that’s what resonated the most. Naturally, I kind of drifted toward this comfortability here. So I think that small-town feel definitely translated to Missoula.”

“Especially being an out-of-state kid, it’s really nice to feel at home somewhere else,” he said back in March. “And that place (Missoula) has been nothing but great to me this whole time. So I kind of want to give them nothing but loyalty in return.”

Kennedy has been around the block for nearly four decades. He’s made stops at some of the top programs in the country, coaching wide receivers at places like Washington, Texas, Iowa, Stanford and more. He’s seen NFL players at almost every stop.

Following Saturday’s game, Kennedy compared Gillman to former Texas running back Cedric Benson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.

On Thursday, Kennedy doubled down, bringing up Benson as well as Bryce Love, a 2,000-yard rusher at Stanford who went on to become a fourth-round draft pick before injuries ruined his pro aspirations.

“I definitely think he’s a next-level guy,” Kennedy said. “Now, where he goes and what round he goes in or anything like that, that’s up to the NFL people. But for me, I’ve compared him to two guys that I’ve been around. He kind of reminds me a little bit of Cedric Benson, but then also a little bit of Bryce Love at Stanford. And obviously I think the world of those guys.

“When he does transition to the next level, that team is going to get an extremely hard worker. They’re going to get a great character guy. They’re going to get a guy that his teammates will embrace, because he’s such a good person, and he is about the team. So I think there’s big, big things in the future for him.”

Many have questioned what Gillman’s raw speed looks like. But he’s run away from defenders on the same level as some of the fastest players in the conference. His only comparisons over the last decade in terms of game-breaking abilities are former Montana State quarterbacks Troy Andersen and Tommy Mellott. And Gillman has made mind-bending highlight reel rips his signature.

“His ability to accelerate and decelerate is special, and his patience,” UM first-year running backs coach Dom Daste said. “He kind of lives and dies by that, but it’s paid off far more times than not. And his ability to hit another gear — when he has an inch, he takes a mile.”

On the second play of the first game of the season, which doubled as Daste’s first game coaching the Griz since his first stint ended in 2009, Gillman took a swing pass 90 yards to the house against Southern Utah for the longest TD of his illustrious career.

“I just laughed and thought, ‘I think we’re going to be OK,’” Daste said.

“Obviously he’s physically gifted, but what I appreciate about Eli the most is his intelligence. I think I got here 10 or 12 days before spring ball started, and he could have installed the offense for me and introduced everything to the group probably better than I could have in 10 days.”

Pease has coached at places like Boise State, Washington, Florida, Kentucky, Baylor and, of course, his alma mater in Missoula. He’s seen a variety of NFL talent come through his rooms over the last three decades.

As Boise State’s offensive coordinator in 2011, he called plays for future first-round running back Doug Martin and quarterback Kellen Moore, the winningest QB in FBS history at the time. As the Broncos’ receivers coach, he developed Titus Young and Austin Pettis, both of whom became NFL draft picks. At Florida, his offense featured tight end Jordan Reed before he became a Pro Bowler in Washington. And with the Huskies, Pease coached the receivers when first-round speedster John Ross and record-setting return man Dante Pettis were still finding their footing in Seattle.

So when Pease is asked to name Gillman’s greatest gift, he has plenty of reference points. He doesn’t pick the speed. He doesn’t pick the power, either.

“I think he’s smart,” Pease said.“I always say, I don’t know if we’ll make you that much stronger. Obviously, God gave you gifts to be fast and be able to run. But he’s a smart football player. He doesn’t need a lot of reps. Michael Wortham was the same way. But we’re talking about Eli — you kind of tell him what you want, show him what you want on film, maybe give him a rep, and you know it’s going to get done that way. Has he screwed up? Yeah, he’s missed a couple protections here and there, but it’s not for lack of being consistent. Inconsistency is not part of his DNA.”

Gillman’s career accomplishments have been so prevalent, they’ve almost overshadowed what’s been one of the great single seasons by a running back in Big Sky Conference or FCS history.

Gillman has broken two versions of Montana’s career rushing record, surpassing Yohance Humphrey’s regular-season total plus the total Humphrey accumulated between 1998 and 2001 back when playoff stats did not count for career records. He surpassed Chase Reynolds’ touchdown records for rushing and total before the first month of the season was over. And last week, he not only surpassed Kupp for total touchdowns, he also became just the fifth running back in Big Sky Conference history with more than 5,000 yards in his career.

All of that has come during a campaign where he’s put many of Montana’s single-season rushing records on notice, too. His next touchdown will be his 26th, breaking Marcus Knight’s record for total touchdowns set in 2019.

Entering Saturday night’s “Big Sky After Dark” affair against the swarming Idaho State defense, Gillman has 1,357 yards on just 176 carries (7.7 yards per carry). He needs 301 more yards to surpass Humphrey’s Griz single-season record.

He needs 903 yards to catch Sacramento State phenom Charles Roberts, who set a record back in 1998 that may never be touched. If Montana were to go on a deep playoff run, Gillman would need to average 151 yards per game over the next six to get there. Implausible, but not impossible.

Gillman has 19 rushing and six receiving touchdowns this season. He needs five more to break Knight’s school record for touchdowns on the ground and seven more to surpass Archie Amerson’s Big Sky record of 25 rushing TDs set during his 1996 Walter Payton Award season.

The Big Sky record for total touchdowns in a season is 28, held by Geoff Mitchell of Weber State in 1991, Jesse Chatman of Eastern Washington in 2001 and Trevyn Smith at Weber State in 2008.

He needs 12 more touchdowns to break the FCS record of 89 held by former Villanova star Brian Westbrook. The FCS record for rushing touchdowns in a career is 84, held by Terrance West of Towson & Adrian Peterson (the other one) of Georgia Southern.

Records are one thing. But Gillman’s NFL prospects remain a slight mystery. He’s run away from people his entire career yet some wonder if he’s fast enough. Previously, some wondered if Gillman could catch the ball out of the backfield. But he’s put that notion to rest by snaring 24 catches for 289 yards and six touchdowns this season.

While Kennedy references Benson and Love, Daste said Gillman reminds him of Le’Veon Bell, the former Michigan State standout who went on to star for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In his prime, Bell was one of the most punishing, yet elusive running backs in the NFL, making waves because he could run between the tackles and catch out of the backfield.

More than his size, speed or elusiveness, it’s how he approaches the game that makes him an NFL prospect, according to his coaches. Pease said very few players he’s ever coached can absorb, retain and replicate coaching like Gillman. He compared him Wortham, a 2025 All-American in his lone season at Montana who’s now with the Jacksonville Jaguars: he’s a one-rep guy.

Daste sees the same thing on a daily basis.

“As he approaches the next chapter, I know it’s something he’s excited about. I think he’s going to excel just because of how he approaches the game and how he prepares,” Daste said. “He has some friends and has talked to some people, and he knows what it takes. I think he just needs the opportunity to show what he can do.”

Before speed training and dream chasing begins, though, Gillman has unfinished business at Montana. He was a standout freshman on UM’s 2023 Big Sky championship team that won 10 in a row before losing to South Dakota State in the national title game.

He was the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year a year ago as Montana went 13-2 again, this time getting eliminated in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs.

Montana State eliminated them, 48-23, in Bozeman. Gillman ran for 106 yards and a touchdown that day. Just over two weeks later, the Bobcats beat Illinois State 35-34 in overtime for their first national title since 1984.

Gillman hasn’t forgotten.

“It kind of shows that the work we did last year can get us this far, but we’ve got to keep going,” Gillman said in the spring. “So we know how to get that far, but our goal is not to just get that far. Our goal is to finish everything we wanted to start.”

The rest of the league has noticed that too.

“They were so close to winning a national championship during his time there, and he seems like a guy that really wants to finish the job,” Ford said in mid-October.

Three days later, Ford’s Vandals beat the Griz 42-35 in Missoula.

It hasn’t been a smooth final season. Montana is in its first year under Kennedy after Bobby Hauck “retired”. The Griz took a 52-17 beating at Oregon State, lost a 49-44 shootout at Northern Arizona and then lost to Idaho at home. Since then, they’ve won two straight: 42-33 at Eastern Washington, and 57-24 over Portland State on the day Gillman broke the record. Montana is 7-3 overall, 5-2 in the Big Sky and No. 12 in the STATS Perform poll with No. 21 Idaho State coming to town.

On Saturday night, Idaho State visits Washington-Grizzly Stadium for senior night, on national television. A week later comes the Brawl of the Wild in Bozeman, against the defending national champions who ended last season for Gillman’s Griz.

“I keep thinking about how it’s the last guaranteed home game this weekend, which is crazy to me,” Gillman said. “I just think about how it flew by.”

Gillman is the second-leading rusher in the country. One more win for the Griz will mean a playoff berth, and two more wins will almost certainly secure a top-eight seed.

The personal legacy of an all-time great is already solidified. The rest of Gillman’s senior season is yet to be written. The impact he’s made on the University of Montana, Missoula and the Treasure State is unquestionable. For the modern-day Great One of Griz football, the feeling is mutual.

“I’ll never forget the love I felt from this place,” Gillman said. “There’s no place I’d rather spend my whole career … every decision I made, up to this point, I haven’t regretted. And it’s all led me to this.

“This place truly is something special to me, and it’ll be special for my whole life.”

Photo gallery: Eli Gillman through the years