For South Dakota State to rise to the top of the Football Championship Subdivision, they had to take down one of the most dominant programs in the history of college football.
With nine national championships in 11 years, North Dakota State was the program that everyone including the Jackrabbits wanted to be. But long before NDSU served as the measuring stick of the FCS, they had their own bar to reach.
That bar was Montana, a program with a rich history that is looking to be revived when the Grizzlies take on Jacks for the national championship in Frisco, Texas on Jan. 7. While Montana is making its first appearance in the title game since 2009, the program and head coach Bobby Hauck has deep roots established in FCS football and have rebuilt a program that had fallen on tough times.
The first year of Montana football took place in 1897 and it went on a strange ride across multiple conferences. After spending its infancy in the Pacific Coast Conference, the Grizzlies entered the Mountain States Conference before joining the Big Sky Conference in 1963.
Outside of winning back-to-back conference championships in 1969 and 1970 and making their first Division I-AA (now FCS) playoff appearance in 1982, Montana didnt have a lot of success until Don Read took over the program in 1986.
Read posted a 12-9 record in his first two seasons with the Grizzlies but led them to the playoffs in 1988 and their first playoff victory in a 48-7 win over Jackson State in 1989. After missing the playoffs in each of the next three seasons, Montana returned in 1993 and began a string of 17 straight playoff appearances a record at the FCS level.
Read began the string with a first-round exit in 1993 and lost in the semifinals in 1994 before defeating Marshall 22-20 for the schools first national championship in 1995.
Mick Dennehy took over after Read retired in 1995 and led the Grizzlies to four playoff appearances including a berth in the national title game in 1996 before leaving for Utah State in 2000.
Joe Glenn compiled a 31-5 record over the next three seasons and won a national title in 2001 before he left for Wyoming, paving the way for Hauck to take over before the 2003 season.
Haucks first stint with the Grizzlies was successful, compiling an 80-17 record, winning seven Big Sky titles and making back-to-back national championship appearances in 2008 and 2009 before leaving to become the head coach at UNLV.
Haucks departure was the end of Montanas run as the Grizzlies missed the playoffs under Robin Pflugrad in 2010. Although Montana returned with an 11-1 record, a share of the Big Sky title and an appearance in the FCS semifinals in 2011, those wins were vacated due to multiple NCAA infractions and a rape scandal.
Mick Delaney took over for three seasons (2012-14) and led the Grizzlies to a pair of playoff appearances after Pflugrads dismissal but retired in 2014 after Montana was found guilty of more infractions during Pflugrads tenure. The Grizzlies returned to the playoffs under Bob Stitt in 2015 but he lasted just three seasons before Hauck returned to Montana in 2018.
Haucks latest tenure has lasted six seasons with four playoff appearances in the last five years. While the Grizzlies didnt make it past the quarterfinals in the previous six years, Montana finally broke through this season, posting a 13-1 record and earning the second seed in the FCS Playoffs.
Montanas success has been fueled on both sides of the ball as they rank 16th with 32.2 points per game and fifth with 16.7 points allowed per game. Defensively, the Grizzlies are led by their rushing defense that ranks 12th in the nation with 102.8 yards allowed per game and linebacker Braxton Hill, who leads Montana with 116 total tackles this season.
The Grizzlies pass rush also poses a challenge with Riley Wilson leading the team with 8.5 sacks this season but Montana has enough firepower on offense to keep up as well.
Montanas rushing offense ranks 21st in the nation with 186.1 yards per game and is led by a stable of playmakers including running back Eli Gillman (950 yards, 12 touchdowns), dual-threat quarterback Clifton McDowell (751 yards, 9 TD) and running back Nick Ostmo (637 yards, 8 TD).
The Grizzlies have also shown a willingness to get creative offensively by giving the ball to their receivers on jet sweeps and screens. Montanas biggest weapons in the passing game include Keelan White, who leads the team with 779 receiving yards this season and Junior Bergen, who has a team-high 55 catches to go with 766 yards and five touchdowns.
While Bergen is a threat every time he touches the ball, he also poses a challenge on special teams. Bergen has four special teams touchdowns including three punt return touchdowns this season and is a major focus of any team trying to stop Montana.
This has made the Grizzlies one of the top teams in the FCS this season. After dropping a game to Northern Arizona last September, Montana has rattled off 10 straight wins to make their way to Frisco.
The Grizzlies run to the playoffs has also been entertaining, defeating Delaware 49-19 in a snowy second-round matchup and overtime thrillers in a 35-28 win over Furman in the quarterfinals and a 31-29 double-overtime win over NDSU that saw Bergen throw the game-winning two-point conversion.
All of this has put Montana on the doorstep of re-establishing itself as a national power ahead of the matchup in Frisco. But just like NDSU chased them to become the top team in the FCS years ago, theyll have to chase the Jackrabbits to make that happen.
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