2020 Montana Grizzlies football team

2020 Montana Grizzlies football
2020 Montana Grizzlies football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	2–0 (0–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bobby Hauck (10th season);
Offensive coordinator	Timm Rosenbach (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Kent Baer (3rd season)
Home stadium	Washington–Grizzly Stadium
	Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

The 2020 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by head coach Bobby Hauck, in the third season of his current stint and the tenth overall season leading the team, as he previously was head coach from 2003 to 2009. They played their home games on campus at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana as a charter member of the Big Sky Conference.

2020 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 9 Weber State $^	5	–	0	5	–	1
No. 10 Eastern Washington ^	5	–	1	5	–	2
No. 14 UC Davis	3	–	2	3	–	2
Northern Arizona	3	–	2	3	–	2
Idaho State	2	–	4	2	–	4
Idaho	2	–	4	2	–	4
Southern Utah	1	–	5	1	–	5
Cal Poly‡	0	–	3	0	–	3
Montana†		–		2	–	0
Portland State†		–		0	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Big Sky suspended the fall 2020 football season. Montana State, Northern Colorado, and Sacramento State opted out of the spring season. † – Montana and Portland State opted out of the conference season, but scheduled non-conference games. ‡ – Cal Poly opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 29, 2021. Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2020, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Grizzlies were predicted to finish second in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.^[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	135 (7)
2	Montana	128 (3)
3	Montana State	121 (1)
4	Eastern Washington	118 (1)
5	Sacramento State	99 (1)
6	UC Davis	83
7	Northern Arizona	68
8	Portland State	67
9	Idaho	66
10	Cal Poly	46
11	Idaho State	37
12	Southern Utah	33
13	Northern Colorado	13

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	546 (28)
2	Montana	496 (8)
3	Montana State	493 (6)
4	Eastern Washington	438 (1)
5	Sacramento State	389
6	UC Davis	325 (1)
7	Portland State	274
8	Idaho	273
9	Northern Arizona	238
10	Cal Poly	206
11	Idaho State	133
12	Southern Utah	105
13	Northern Colorado	88

Schedule

Montana originally had a game scheduled against Central Washington (September 5), but it was canceled on July 19 due to the GNAC's decision to cancel fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] The Grizzlies' game against Morehead State (September 19) was canceled on July 27 due to the Pioneer Football League's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

Montana's April 17 game against Portland State will be counted as a non-conference game, even though both schools compete in the Big Sky Conference.^[4]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result
April 10	11:00 a.m.	Central Washington*	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	W 59–3
April 17	11:00 a.m.	Portland State*	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	W 48–7
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[5]

References

^ "Eagles Selected to Finish Fourth in the Big Sky in 2020". July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
^ Kelley, Kevin (July 19, 2020). "Idaho, Montana each have non-conference game canceled due to COVID-19". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
^ Kelley, Kevin (July 27, 2020). "Pioneer Football League to play conference-only football schedule in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
^ Kelley, Kevin (March 2, 2021). "Montana, Portland State schedule spring 2021 non-conference game". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
^ "2020 Montana Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved November 28, 2020.

[1] "Eagles Selected to Finish Fourth in the Big Sky in 2020". July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.

[2] Kelley, Kevin (July 19, 2020). "Idaho, Montana each have non-conference game canceled due to COVID-19". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.

[3] Kelley, Kevin (July 27, 2020). "Pioneer Football League to play conference-only football schedule in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.

[4] Kelley, Kevin (March 2, 2021). "Montana, Portland State schedule spring 2021 non-conference game". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved March 2, 2021.

[5] "2020 Montana Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved November 28, 2020.

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