2015 Montana Grizzlies football team

The 2015 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by first-year coach Bob Stitt who took over after 15 years coaching the NCAA Division II Colorado Mines Orediggers. The Grizzlies played their home games on campus at Washington–Grizzly Stadium. Montana participated as a member of the Big Sky Conference, of which they are a charter member. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated South Dakota State in the first round before losing in the second round to North Dakota State.

2015 Montana Grizzlies football
FCS Playoffs Second Round vs North Dakota State, L 6–37
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 14
FCS Coaches	No. 14
2015 record	8–5 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bob Stitt (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ty Gregorak (4th season)
Home stadium	Washington–Grizzly Stadium (Capacity: 25,217)

2015 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 18 Southern Utah $^		7	–	1					8	–	4
No. 10 Portland State ^		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 14 Montana ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
North Dakota		5	–	3					7	–	4
Northern Arizona		5	–	3					7	–	4
Eastern Washington		5	–	3					6	–	5
Weber State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Colorado		3	–	5					6	–	5
Montana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Cal Poly		3	–	5					4	–	7
UC Davis		2	–	6					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					2	–	9
Sacramento State		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	1:30 pm	No. 1 North Dakota State*	No. 13	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (FCS Kickoff)	ESPN	W 38–35	26,472
September 5	7:00 pm	Cal Poly*	No. 13	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	CMM	L 19–20	26,065
September 19	5:00 pm	at No. 15 Liberty*	No. 8	Williams Stadium Lynchburg, VA	CMM/ESPN3	L 21–31	22,551
September 26	2:00 pm	Northern Arizona	No. 14	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTNW	W 23–14	26,136
October 3	2:00 pm	at UC Davis	No. 13	Aggie Stadium Davis, CA	RTNW	W 27–13	6,241
October 10	2:00 pm	Weber State	No. 12	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	CMM	L 21–24 ^OT	25,500
October 24	1:30 pm	North Dakota	No. 19	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTNW	W 42–16	25,014
October 31	3:00 pm	at No. 12 Portland State	No. 17	Providence Park Portland, OR	CMM	L 16–35	11,045
November 7	1:30 pm	at Idaho State	No. 22	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	CMM	W 33–27 ^OT	7,795
November 14	1:30 pm	No. 10 Eastern Washington	No. 22	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (EWU–UM Governors Cup)	RTNW	W 57–16	25,213
November 21	12:00 pm	at Montana State	No. 17	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (Brawl of the Wild)	RTNW	W 54–35	20,507
November 28	1:00 pm	No. 10 South Dakota State*	No. 16	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	W 24–17	14,575
December 5	1:30 pm	at No. 2 North Dakota State*	No. 16	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 6–37	18,232
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

• Source: Official Schedule

Despite also being a member of the Big Sky Conference, the game with Cal Poly on September 5 is considered a non-conference game.

Game summaries

North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#1 Bison	7	21	0	7	35
#13 Grizzlies	10	11	7	10	38

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	7	3	3	20
#13 Grizzlies	7	7	0	5	19

@ Liberty

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Grizzlies	0	12	7	2	21
#15 Flames	14	3	7	7	31

Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	0	0	14	0	14
#14 Grizzlies	10	6	0	7	23

@ UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Grizzlies	7	7	7	6	27
Aggies	6	7	0	0	13

Weber State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Wildcats	7	14	0	0	3	24
#12 Grizzlies	14	0	0	7	0	21

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota	7	3	0	6	16
#19 Grizzlies	7	14	14	7	42

@ Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#17 Grizzlies	0	10	0	6	16
#12 Vikings	7	14	7	7	35

@ Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
#22 Grizzlies	14	7	3	3	6	33
Bengals	7	6	0	14	0	27

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Eagles	3	6	7	0	16
#22 Grizzlies	14	16	20	7	57

@ Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#17 Grizzlies	17	20	7	10	54
Bobcats	7	7	8	13	35

FCS Playoffs

First Round–South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Jackrabbits	0	0	10	7	17
#16 Grizzlies	7	17	0	0	24

Second Round–@ North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Grizzlies	0	0	6	0	6
#2 Bison	7	14	10	6	37

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	13	8 (2)	8	14	13	12	20	19	17	22	22	17	16	14
Coaches	12	8 (3)	7	15	12	11	19	18	17	22–T	22	17	17	14

References