FCS Playoffs

Weber State hosts Montana with revenge, Final Four on the line

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MISSOULA, Montana — Jay Hill did not get what he wanted.

Instead, he might’ve gotten something better.

Following his team’s 35-16 loss to Montana in Missoula on November 16, Weber State’s frustrated sixth-year head coach addressed the media for six minutes. His parting words following his team seeing its 13-game Big Sky Conference winning streak centered upon a desired rematch.

“Hopefully we can get our butts back up to this stadium,” Hill said. “Montana plays great throughout, we play great throughout and we can be back here in a couple of weeks.”

Instead, Weber State defeated rival Idaho State 38-10, Montana got blasted by rival Montana State 48-14 and the Wildcats ended up earning a third straight Big Sky title and the No. 3 seed in the FCS Playoffs. Montana’s devastating loss in Bozeman still meant the Griz earned the No. 6 seed.

After WSU beat Kennesaw State 26-20 and Montana dismantled Southeastern Louisiana 73-28, the rematch is set. And it will take place at Stewart Stadium, not Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Friday night at 8 p.m.

Montana linebacker Dante Olson (33) and safety Robby Hauck (17) meet Weber State running back Josh Davis (20) in the hole in 2019/by Brooks Nuanez

“We can feel comfortable about knowing what we like to do. But they are the same way,” Hill said on Tuesday on 102.9 ESPN Missoula. “I don’t think there is any advantage one team over the other but it does help us feel like we are prepared in understanding what’s going on.”

Weber State entered the first showdown between the two teams in Missoula with an 8-2 record that included eight straight wins over FCS teams and six straight wins over Big Sky opponents. WSU’s only losses: a 6-0 loss to San Diego State aided by having a Rashid Shaheed kickoff return for a touchdown called back for a penalty and a 19-13 loss to FBS Nevada.

In 10 games, Weber had never trailed by more than seven points. WSU was down 21-14 at halftime in a 51-28 win over Northern Arizona. But in Missoula, the Wildcats found themselves down 21-3 less than 17 minutes into the game. And with seven minutes left in the third quarter, Montana led 35-3.

The Griz set the physical tone and dictated the entirety of the action. But the mistakes made by the Wildcats (many spurred on by Montana’s aggressiveness) played a huge factor as well. Weber State’s normally exception special teams allowed Garrett Graves block a punt that led to a 30-yard UM touchdown drive less than four minutes into the game.

In the first half, Rasheed (an All-American), along with cornerback Max Anderson and wide receiver Devin Cooley went down with injuries. All-American running back Josh Davis, who went out with a head injury in the first half the week before against North Dakota, got rocked on his first carry of the game. By late in the third quarter, quarterback Jake Constantine and tight end Justin Malone got knocked out of the game.

Weber State head coach Jay Hill (L) and Montana head coach Bobby Hauck (R) in 2019/by Brooks Nuanez

“You have to give Montana credit: they were knocking our guys out and that’s football,” Hill said after the loss. “Does that affect us? Absolutely. You can’t take three of your best players out of the game and not think it’s going to effect us a little bit.”

But Hill and his team are not dwelling on the demolition in Missoula. After the loss, Hill said it was the worst his team had played in three years. But two weeks earlier, his team pounded co-Big Sky champion Sac State 36-17. And since the beat down in Missoula, Weber has won two straight.

Meanwhile, Montana came off the best win of second-year head coach Bobby Hauck’s best win of his second stint at his alma mater by getting shredded in a 48-14 loss at rival Montana State.

“It’s football, right,” Hill said on Tuesday. “They (Montana) turned around the very next week and had the same thing happen to them at Montana State. The reality is you better be ready to play each week because when you are playing elite teams, you can’t make the mistakes we made. You can’t handle business like we did and think the result is going to be any different. They won’t.”

Monday, Hauck emphasized and reemphasized how hard it is to beat an opponent twice. Hauck has played the same team twice in the same season five times in his 29-year coaching career. He lost the first matchup only to win the second three times and won the first matchup only to lose the second one twice.

During his first tenure at Montana, Hauck and the Griz lost to Sam Houston State in the non-conference portion of their 2004 schedule only to beat the Bearkats in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. In 2005, UM beat Cal Poly in the regular season and lost to the Mustangs in the first round of the playoffs. In 2008, Montana lost at Weber State before avenging the defeat in the quarterfinals of the 2008 playoffs.

Montana wide receiver Samori Toure (8) vs Montana State in 2019/by Brooks Nuanez

“We are both the same two teams,” Hauck said. “It’s not like there has been a huge influx of players or coaches in the last two weeks. We are the same two teams.

“Both teams are sound if not better than that in all three phases of the game. We have the things we like to do and they have the things they like to do. It will be a different prep for us in what we want to do in the game, schematically will be different. We can’t go in with the same game plan.”

Hauck went on to say, despite the resounding victory that he called “outstanding” following the final buzzer, that his team “made a ton of mistakes” and “didn’t execute cleanly”.

“I think you just go play,” Hauck said. “You don’t change anything week to week. We just go play. We are who we are. So we just have to go play. What we need to do is play more cleanly, execute better.”

Montana ended the first matchup against WSU with 394 yards of total offense and 17 first downs. Part of that came from the short fields the offense inherited, particularly in the first half.

UM senior quarterback Dalton Sneed completed 17-of-25 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns (all to junior Samori Toure, who caught eight passes for 193 yards) but also threw two interceptions. The Griz called off the dogs with 20 minutes left in the game (basically after Constantine was knocked out of the action) but the Griz remain hungry to improve in the second matchup.

Montana running back Marcus Knight vs Montana State in 2019/by Brooks Nuanez

“I think we have to play better in Ogden then we did the first time we beat them,” Sneed said. “I don’t think we did as well as we wanted to on offense. We just have to perform better. They have the stud defensive line they do and that’s their reputation: their defense being stout. We have to come out and perform and focus on what we have to do to win the game.”

Weber State and Montana entered Friday night’s game with identical 10-3 records. Two of WSU’s losses came to FCS opponents and the third game to the No. 5-ranked Griz. Weber State has played four teams ranked in the Top 10 and six teams ranked in the Top 22 this season, including the win last week over the No. 9 Owls. A rematch with No. 6 Montana is not intimidating despite the previous result.

“We are battle-tested, we have battled and been in some wars this year,” Hill said. “We have played as many top 10 teams this year as anybody in the country. We are battle-tested and we know what Montana is all about.

“Now we just have to go out and put it on the field. We have to execute on game day. That’s what we did not do last time.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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