Montana Grizzlies football
| Montana Grizzlies football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| First season | 1897 | ||
| Athletic director | Kent Haslam | ||
| Head coach |
Bob Stitt 2nd year, 14–10 (.583) |
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| Stadium | Washington–Grizzly Stadium | ||
| Field | John Hoyt Field | ||
| Year built | 1986 | ||
| Seating capacity | 25,203 | ||
| Field surface | FieldTurf | ||
| Location | Missoula, Montana | ||
| Conference | Big Sky Conference | ||
| Past conferences |
Independent (1962) Mountain States (1951–1961) Independent (1950) Pacific Coast (1924–1949) Independent (1897–1923) |
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| All-time record | 576–488–26 (.540) | ||
| Bowl record | 0–3 (.000) | ||
| Claimed nat'l titles | Div. I FCS: 2 (1995, 2001) | ||
| Conference titles | 18 | ||
| Rivalries |
Montana State Bobcats Eastern Washington Eagles Idaho Vandals |
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| Current uniform | |||
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| Colors | Maroon and Silver |
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| Website | GoGriz.Com | ||
The Montana Grizzlies football program (or "Griz") represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conference, where it is a founding member, since 1963. They play their home games on campus in Missoula at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where they had an average attendance of 24,380 in 2013 (2nd in FCS).
The Grizzlies had a winning season from 1986–2011. In Washington-Grizzly Stadium they have a winning percentage of .890 including playoffs. They hold the records for most playoff appearances in a row (17), Big Sky Conference titles in a row (12), and overall playoff appearances (19). Their success made them the most successful program in all college football in the 2000s (119 wins) and third most successful team in FCS in the 1990s (93 wins).
The University of Montana's first football season was in 1897 where they won a single game against future rival Montana State. The team played only schools from Montana until it helped found the Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NWIAA) in 1902. In addition to Montana, this original Northwest Conference included Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Idaho, and Whitman College. Despite the association's stated goal of increasing intercollegiate athletics, Montana continued to play only the nearest teams. More unfortunate for the team, it would not win a game against a conference opponent until a 10-0 win over Washington State in 1914.
In 1915, the Northwest Conference began to become superfluous with the creation of the Pacific Coast Conference which by 1924 already included the five public Northwest Conference schools from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho in addition to California and Stanford. Montana joined the conference in 1924 and remained through the 1949 season. Montana won only nine conferences games (8–16 against rival Idaho), and never played a home game against a team from the state of California.
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