2016 Montana Grizzlies football team

The 2016 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by second-year coach Bob Stitt and 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 6–5, 3–5 in Big Sky play to finish in eighth place.

2016 Montana Grizzlies football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
FCS Coaches	No. 25
2016 record	6–5 (3–5 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bob Stitt (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jason Semore (1st season)
Home stadium	Washington–Grizzly Stadium (Capacity: 25,217)

2016 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Eastern Washington +^		8	–	0					12	–	2
No. 12 North Dakota +^		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 25 Weber State ^		6	–	2					7	–	5
No. 24 Cal Poly ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Southern Utah		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Colorado		4	–	4					6	–	5
Northern Arizona		4	–	4					5	–	6
Montana		3	–	5					6	–	5
Montana State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Portland State		2	–	6					3	–	8
UC Davis		2	–	6					3	–	8
Sacramento State		2	–	6					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 PM	Saint Francis (PA)*	No. 13	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	SWX	W 41–31	26,002
September 10	3:00 PM	at No. 3 Northern Iowa*	No. 14	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ALT	W 20–14	12,346
September 24	2:00 PM	at Cal Poly	No. 6	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	RTNW	L 41–42	8,156
October 1	2:30 PM	Southern Utah	No. 11	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	CMM	W 43–20	26,092
October 8	2:30 PM	Mississippi Valley State*	No. 10	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	CMM	W 67–7	24,607
October 15	2:30 PM	Sacramento State	No. 10	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	CMM	W 68–7	25,351
October 22	5:00 PM	at Northern Arizona	No. 10	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	CMM	L 34–45	7,197
October 29	1:35 PM	at No. 3 Eastern Washington	No. 16	Roos Field Cheney, WA (Governors Cup)	RTNW	L 16–35	10,931
November 5	5:00 PM	Idaho State	No. 19	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTNW	W 62–44	24,027
November 12	12:00 PM	at Northern Colorado	No. 18	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	CMM	L 25–28	5,128
November 19	12:00 PM	Montana State	No. 22	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (Brawl of the Wild)	RTNW	L 17–24	26,182
*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

Game summaries

Saint Francis (PA)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Flash	0	10	7	14	31
#13 Grizzlies	3	3	14	21	41

See also: 2016 Saint Francis Red Flash football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

@ Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Grizzlies	10	10	0	0	20
#3 Panthers	7	0	0	7	14

See also: 2016 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–0	2011 FCS Playoffs	MONT, 48–10

@ Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Grizzlies	7	17	7	10	41
Mustangs	7	21	7	7	42

See also: 2016 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–4	2015	POLY, 20–19

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	7	7	0	6	20
#11 Grizzlies	9	13	14	7	43

See also: 2016 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–2	2014	MONT, 35–17

Mississippi Valley State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Delta Devils	7	0	0	0	7
#10 Grizzlies	14	29	14	10	67

See also: 2016 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	0	0	0	7	7
#10 Grizzlies	14	27	20	7	68

See also: 2016 Sacramento State Hornets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–1	2014	MONT, 31–13

@ Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Grizzlies	3	17	0	14	34
Lumberjacks	14	14	17	0	45

See also: 2016 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
35–13	2015	MONT, 23–14

@ Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Grizzlies	7	3	6	0	16
#3 Eagles	7	14	14	0	35

See also: 2016 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
27–15–1	2015	MONT, 57–16

Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	14	17	0	13	44
#19 Grizzlies	20	21	0	21	62

See also: 2016 Idaho State Bengals football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
43–13	2015	MONT, 33–27 ^OT

@ Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Grizzlies	3	9	0	13	25
Bears	14	0	7	7	28

See also: 2016 Northern Colorado Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–1	2014	MONT, 38–13

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	7	7	10	0	24
#22 Grizzlies	7	0	3	7	17

See also: 2016 Montana State Bobcats football team and Brawl of the Wild

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
72–37–5	2015	MONT, 54–35

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	14	7	6	11	10	10	10	16	19	18	22	RV	RV
Coaches	13	15	9	6	11	10	10	10	16	20	17	21	22	25

References