POCATELLO, Idaho-Despite an off-season coaching shake-up and a mere seven returning starters, the Montana Grizzlies are expected to continue a strong football tradition in the Big Sky Conference.
Montana shared the 2011 Big Sky title with Montana State and made it to the FCS semi-finals. They were ranked third behind Montana State and Eastern Washington with 126 votes and one first-place vote in the 2012 Big Sky pre-season coaches' poll.
Montana hosts the Bengals on Oct. 27 in Missoula, Mont. at 1:30 p.m. MST. The Grizzlies lead the overall series 41-13. Idaho State's last win over Montana came in a 43-40 double overtime victory in 2003.
Mick Delaney stepped in as interim head coach when former Head Coach Robin Pfulgrad was fired on March 29. Delaney and the Grizzlies agreed to a two-year contract earlier this summer. This is his 46th year coaching football.
Offense:
Following the suspension of returning quarterback Jordan Johnson, the Grizzlies are left with four potential starters, none of which have ever completed a pass in an NCAA football game. Redshirt freshman Trent McKinney has been leading the charge in pre-season play, but Stanford transfer Adam Brzeczek and freshmen Shay Smithwick-Hann and Brady Gustafson have also taken snaps in practice.
Returning for the Grizzlies' offense are running backs Dan Moore, Peter Nguyen and Jordan Canada who ran for a combined 1,845 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. Nguyen led with 835 rushing yards and Canada had 580 yards and nine touchdowns.
Defense:
Montana graduated 10 full- or part-time starters on the defensive side. They will return second-team All Big-Sky outside linebacker John Kanongata'a. He was their second-leading tackler with 93 stops and led in tackles-for-loss with 12.
Sacramento State was picked to finish 10th in the media preseason poll and ninth in the preseason coaches' poll. The Hornets finished with a 4-7 (3-5 Big Sky) record and tied for sixth in the conference.
The Bengals host the Hornets on Sept. 29 for Homecoming at 1:35 p.m. MST. It will be the first Big Sky Conference game for Idaho State and Sac State's third. They will previously played North Dakota and Northern Colorado in conference play. Idaho State will have taken on Air Force, Black Hills State and Nebraska.
Offense:
Sacramento State returns their two-time Big Sky honorable mention wide receiver Morris Norrise. Norrise led the Hornets with 38 receptions and ranked second with 471 yards.
Sophomore Garrett Safron finished the 2011 season as the Hornets starting quarterback after senior Jeff Fleming was injured and is looking to hold on to that position for the 2012 season. Safron threw for 394 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 286 yards and three touchdowns
Returning for the Sac State defense is Big Sky honorable mention inside linebacker Todd Davis. Davis led the Hornets with 96 tackles and had six games with tackles in the double figures. Davis was named to the preseason Big Sky All-Conference team
