Saturday, November 5
Missoula, Mont.
5 p.m.
at
Montana
Cal Poly Faces Cold and Wet Conditions Upon Arrival in Missoula
11/4/2022 8:29:00 PM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | MONTANA | BIG SKY
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
MISSOULA, Mont. -- When the Cal Poly football team's charter flight landed at Missoula Montana Airport on Friday afternoon, the players were greeted by light rain and a temperature of 39 degrees.
Saturday's Big Sky Conference football game between the Mustangs (1-7, 0-5 Big Sky) and Montana (5-3, 2-3 Big Sky) in Washington-Grizzly Stadium kicks off at 6:02 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time) and the weather forecast for the Grizzlies' lone night game of the season calls for a 20 percent chance of light rain or snow and a thermometer reading of 36 degrees.
It will be Montana's 13th game ever under the Washington-Grizzly Stadium lights and the Grizzlies are 10-2 in the previous 12 night games at home. One of those losses, however, was to Cal Poly in 2015 when Alex Vega's 49-yard field goal with four seconds remaining lifted the Mustangs to a 20-19 triumph.
On the flip side, Montana is 1-13 in night games on the road since 2011. That lone win was at North Dakota in 2013 and two of the losses were in San Luis Obispo in 2014 and 2016.
Why a night game in early November in Missoula? The new Big Sky television contract with Scripps called for two prime time telecasts. The two games selected were Cal Poly at Montana on Saturday and Montana State at Cal Poly next weekend.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) in San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County and KRKC (1490 AM and 104.9 FM) in southern Monterey County with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer (play-by-play) and Stephan Hodges (analyst) calling the action. Pregame show starts at 4:30 p.m. The game also will be video streamed on ESPN+. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats can be found at the top of this page as well as on the football schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Montana and Cal Poly will be meeting for the 23rd time Saturday. Cal Poly won three straight meetings from 2014-16 but the Grizzlies still have a commanding 17-5 advantage in the series dating back to 1969.
With Southern Utah moving to the Western Athletic Conference this year, the Big Sky had to redraw its football schedules, resulting in Cal Poly playing at Montana for the second straight year. The Griz won the 2021 contest 39-7, the Mustangs averting a shutout on Shakobe Harper's two-yard run with 10:12 to play.
Montana has lost three straight games after a 5-0 start, falling to Idaho at home and Sacramento State and Weber State on the road. Those three teams occupy three of the top four spots in the Big Sky standings and are in the top 15 in the FCS Stats Perform media poll this week. Montana is No. 16.
Cal Poly has lost six straight despite a No. 3 national ranking in passing offense. Quarterback Spencer Brasch, who replaced injured starter Jaden Jones in the third week, has surpassed the 300-yard mark in passing four times in the last six weeks, all four ranked in the top 20 for single-game passing yards in the Mustang record book.
Brasch's favorite target has been Chris Coleman, who caught 10 passes in last week's loss at UC Davis, the most by a Mustang receiver since Ramses Barden had 10 receptions versus Idaho State in 2007. Coleman's 50 catches for the season are the most since Barden had 67 receptions in 2008.
Montana quarterback Lucas Johnson started the first seven games of the season before a targeting call on Sacramento State knocked the signal caller out of the game two weeks ago. Johnson did not play in the 17-13 loss at Weber State last week and his status for Saturday is unknown.
In his place last week, Kris Brown completed 10 of 17 passes for 72 yards in a game in which Montana mustered just 114 total yards of offense.
In addition to Johnson, Montana also hopes to get Buck Buchanan Award candidate Patrick O'Connell back this week. The linebacker who leads the Big Sky with eight sacks among his 56 tackles missed the bulk of last week's game at Weber State with an injury.
Against Weber State, the Griz pulled to within three points, 24-21, on a 100-yard kickoff return by Malik Flowers and a two-point conversion pass with 5:43 to play. The Wildcats, however, never let the Griz get the ball back, running out the clock for the win.
Flowers now has six kickoff returns for touchdowns in his Griz career, one shy of the Big Sky and FCS record of seven held by Rashid Shaheed of Weber State. One of the six Flowers has was against Cal Poly, a 95-yard return, a year ago.
The Mustangs, four-time national leaders in rushing during the height of their run with the Triple Option, this week is third in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Sky in passing offense, averaging 320.2 yards per game. That's a direct reflection of the change in coaching staffs following the 2019 season.
Cal Poly returns home for its final two games of the 2022 season, beginning with Montana State next Saturday and Portland State on Nov. 19. Both games on Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health are set for 5:02 p.m. kickoffs.
Mustang Notes
Montana has lost three straight games just twice in 30 years ... the Griz roster includes 72 freshmen and sophomores ... Mustang head coach Beau Baldwin is 6-5 as a head coach against the Grizzlies, including a 6-4 mark while at Eastern Washington ... Montana mentor Bobby Hauck is 7-1 against Cal Poly, the lone loss coming in the 2005 FCS playoffs, 35-21, in Missoula ... the team hotel and a large part of downtown Missoula was hit by a power failure for nearly one hour Friday night ... Mustang players Thomas Bouda and Sky Ellis were stuck in an elevator the entire time and were warmly greeted as they stepped out of the conveyor ... Montana has allowed 100-yard rushers just twice this season, both in the last two games ... Cal Poly, which has produced two 100-yard rushers this season -- Harper with 106 at South Dakota and Kahliq Paulette with 122 at home versus Eastern Washington -- while allowing just one, Ulonzo Gilliam of UC Davis with 136 yards last week ... Gilliam has accomplished the feat three times against the Mustangs in his career (152 in 2019, 101 in the spring of 2021).
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
MISSOULA, Mont. -- When the Cal Poly football team's charter flight landed at Missoula Montana Airport on Friday afternoon, the players were greeted by light rain and a temperature of 39 degrees.
Saturday's Big Sky Conference football game between the Mustangs (1-7, 0-5 Big Sky) and Montana (5-3, 2-3 Big Sky) in Washington-Grizzly Stadium kicks off at 6:02 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time) and the weather forecast for the Grizzlies' lone night game of the season calls for a 20 percent chance of light rain or snow and a thermometer reading of 36 degrees.
It will be Montana's 13th game ever under the Washington-Grizzly Stadium lights and the Grizzlies are 10-2 in the previous 12 night games at home. One of those losses, however, was to Cal Poly in 2015 when Alex Vega's 49-yard field goal with four seconds remaining lifted the Mustangs to a 20-19 triumph.
On the flip side, Montana is 1-13 in night games on the road since 2011. That lone win was at North Dakota in 2013 and two of the losses were in San Luis Obispo in 2014 and 2016.
Why a night game in early November in Missoula? The new Big Sky television contract with Scripps called for two prime time telecasts. The two games selected were Cal Poly at Montana on Saturday and Montana State at Cal Poly next weekend.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) in San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County and KRKC (1490 AM and 104.9 FM) in southern Monterey County with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer (play-by-play) and Stephan Hodges (analyst) calling the action. Pregame show starts at 4:30 p.m. The game also will be video streamed on ESPN+. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats can be found at the top of this page as well as on the football schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Montana and Cal Poly will be meeting for the 23rd time Saturday. Cal Poly won three straight meetings from 2014-16 but the Grizzlies still have a commanding 17-5 advantage in the series dating back to 1969.
With Southern Utah moving to the Western Athletic Conference this year, the Big Sky had to redraw its football schedules, resulting in Cal Poly playing at Montana for the second straight year. The Griz won the 2021 contest 39-7, the Mustangs averting a shutout on Shakobe Harper's two-yard run with 10:12 to play.
Montana has lost three straight games after a 5-0 start, falling to Idaho at home and Sacramento State and Weber State on the road. Those three teams occupy three of the top four spots in the Big Sky standings and are in the top 15 in the FCS Stats Perform media poll this week. Montana is No. 16.
Cal Poly has lost six straight despite a No. 3 national ranking in passing offense. Quarterback Spencer Brasch, who replaced injured starter Jaden Jones in the third week, has surpassed the 300-yard mark in passing four times in the last six weeks, all four ranked in the top 20 for single-game passing yards in the Mustang record book.
Brasch's favorite target has been Chris Coleman, who caught 10 passes in last week's loss at UC Davis, the most by a Mustang receiver since Ramses Barden had 10 receptions versus Idaho State in 2007. Coleman's 50 catches for the season are the most since Barden had 67 receptions in 2008.
Montana quarterback Lucas Johnson started the first seven games of the season before a targeting call on Sacramento State knocked the signal caller out of the game two weeks ago. Johnson did not play in the 17-13 loss at Weber State last week and his status for Saturday is unknown.
In his place last week, Kris Brown completed 10 of 17 passes for 72 yards in a game in which Montana mustered just 114 total yards of offense.
In addition to Johnson, Montana also hopes to get Buck Buchanan Award candidate Patrick O'Connell back this week. The linebacker who leads the Big Sky with eight sacks among his 56 tackles missed the bulk of last week's game at Weber State with an injury.
Against Weber State, the Griz pulled to within three points, 24-21, on a 100-yard kickoff return by Malik Flowers and a two-point conversion pass with 5:43 to play. The Wildcats, however, never let the Griz get the ball back, running out the clock for the win.
Flowers now has six kickoff returns for touchdowns in his Griz career, one shy of the Big Sky and FCS record of seven held by Rashid Shaheed of Weber State. One of the six Flowers has was against Cal Poly, a 95-yard return, a year ago.
The Mustangs, four-time national leaders in rushing during the height of their run with the Triple Option, this week is third in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Sky in passing offense, averaging 320.2 yards per game. That's a direct reflection of the change in coaching staffs following the 2019 season.
Cal Poly returns home for its final two games of the 2022 season, beginning with Montana State next Saturday and Portland State on Nov. 19. Both games on Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health are set for 5:02 p.m. kickoffs.
Mustang Notes
Montana has lost three straight games just twice in 30 years ... the Griz roster includes 72 freshmen and sophomores ... Mustang head coach Beau Baldwin is 6-5 as a head coach against the Grizzlies, including a 6-4 mark while at Eastern Washington ... Montana mentor Bobby Hauck is 7-1 against Cal Poly, the lone loss coming in the 2005 FCS playoffs, 35-21, in Missoula ... the team hotel and a large part of downtown Missoula was hit by a power failure for nearly one hour Friday night ... Mustang players Thomas Bouda and Sky Ellis were stuck in an elevator the entire time and were warmly greeted as they stepped out of the conveyor ... Montana has allowed 100-yard rushers just twice this season, both in the last two games ... Cal Poly, which has produced two 100-yard rushers this season -- Harper with 106 at South Dakota and Kahliq Paulette with 122 at home versus Eastern Washington -- while allowing just one, Ulonzo Gilliam of UC Davis with 136 yards last week ... Gilliam has accomplished the feat three times against the Mustangs in his career (152 in 2019, 101 in the spring of 2021).
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