Montana Football

Andrew Harris, a defensive end at the University of Montana, died in an apparent suicide on Tuesday at the age of 22.

The school confirmed Harris' death with a statement from athletic director Kent Haslam. 

"All of us in Grizzly Athletics were saddened to hear of Andrew's passing," Haslam said. "On behalf of our department and the more than 300 student-athletes here at UM, we send our deepest condolences and heartfelt thoughts to the Harris family, and all those who knew and loved Andrew."

Missoula Police Sgt. Travis Welsh told Seaborn Larson of the Montana Standard Harris' death is being investigated as a suicide after he was found in his home. 

In its statement about Harris' death, the school announced a moment of silence will be observed in his memory prior to Thursday's men's basketball game against Idaho State at Dahlberg Arena. 

Harris recently completed his redshirt junior season with the Grizzlies. He appeared in eight games primarily on special teams in 2018. 

 

OH MY GOODNESS. @jlooo10 front flipping into the end zone, someone needs to tell him it's just a scrimmage! #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/vltYjYRaFy

— Shaun Rainey (@ShaunRainey) April 7, 2017

University of Montana wide receiver Jerry Louie-McGee put his body on the line to score against teammates in a scrimmage.

During an intrasquad contest, the redshirt sophomore performed a front flip and landed inside the end zone for six points. While Louie-McGee avoided one potential tackler before the pylon, another defender gave him a shove on the way down.

Louie-McGee led the team with 651 receiving yards in just eight games last year, yet he still went all-out to procure a practice touchdown that only counted for unofficial style points.

[Shaun Rainey of ABC Fox Montana]    

The Big Sky Conference race is proving to be a difficult one to get a handle on this season.  There is no clear-cut favorite and six of the conference's 13 teams have a record of at least 3-1 or better in conference play.

This weekend, there are a couple matchups featuring teams in those top six in the Big Sky. None is bigger than the game between traditional powerhouse No. 10 Montana and rising FCS power, No. 3 Eastern Washington.

Let's preview that matchup, which could have a profound impact as to which Big Sky team takes home the conference championship this season.

When: Saturday, Oct. 26, 3:30 p.m. ET

Where: Washington-Grizzly Stadium; Missoula, Mont.

Eastern Washington's Season So Far

The Eagles are 5-3, with a 2-2 record on the road and a 3-0 record in conference play .  They started their season by pulling off arguably the biggest upset in college football since Appalachian State beat Michigan, traveling to Corvallis and defeating Pac-12 team Oregon State, 49-46.

The Eagles then handily dispatched Division II Western Oregon before dropping two games in a row.  First came a 33-21 loss to Toledo of the FBS, in which the Eastern Washington offense looked vulnerable for the first time. That was followed by a 49-34 loss to two-time FCS runner-up Sam Houston State, in which the Eagles' offense got back on track while the defense looked quite hapless.

EWU then started off conference play with three straight wins, taking down Weber State, North Dakota and Southern Utah with relative ease.

Montana's Season So Far

The Grizzlies are 6-1, with a 4-0 record at home and a 3-1 record in conference play. They began their season with a 30-6 dismantling of traditional FCS powerhouse Appalachian State, which is in the process of transitioning to the FBS.

Montana began its conference play by avenging last year's loss to North Dakota with a 55-17 drubbing in Grand Forks, N.D.  That was followed up with an easy win over Division II Oklahoma Panhandle State.

The Grizzlies then went into Flagstaff, Ariz., and suffered their first loss of the season against a surprisingly stout Northern Arizona team, 34-16.

The Grizzlies bounced back with three consecutive conference wins against Portland State, UC Davis and Cal Poly.

Major Storylines For the Game

Does the EWU defense have the personnel needed to slow down Montana's offense?

Overall, Montana's specialty is defense and Eastern Washington's is offense.  But with the exception of two games apiece, Montana's offense and Eastern Washington's defense have both been quite solid. 

Each obviously has its flaws. Montana's offense was stifled by both Northern Arizona and Cal Poly while Eastern Washington's defense was torched by both Oregon State and Sam Houston State.  The real question is whether or not Eastern Washington's defense is a good matchup against Montana's offense.  While both of those units can be exploited, it takes the right type of opponent to do so.

Which quarterback will have the bigger game?

 Both quarterbacks have been the centerpieces of their offenses this season. Montana's Jordan Johnson has thrown for 1,564 yards and 18 touchdowns with only one interception while rushing for an additional 69 yards.  His running ability has been utilized much less this season than in the past. Adams meanwhile, has been a true dual threat. He has thrown for 2,189 yards, with 24 touchdowns against only six interceptions. Eastern Washington's Vernon Adams has 318 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.  This game could very well turn into a duel between two of the top FCS quarterbacks.

How will Travon Van's injury affect the Montana offense? 

Part of the reason that Johnson has needed to run so sparingly this season is that the Grizzlies had one of the best running back tandems in the country, with Jordan Canada and Travon Van combining for 1,018 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns this season.

Unfortunately for Montana, Van sustained a high ankle sprain against Cal Poly last week and will miss this game. His absence could make the offense much less dynamic because he was also the best receiving running back on the roster, totaling 172 yards with a touchdown catch. The Grizzlies will turn to Joey Counts to provide the complement to Canada, and it remains to be seen whether Counts can fill Van's shoes, especially in such a big game.

How much of a home-field advantage will Montana get? 

Washington-Grizzly Stadium is one of the most difficult places to play in the FCS, and the stadium is sure to be packed for this one. 

The stands are steep and the field is set down in the ground, causing crowd noise to flood onto the field and stay there.  In addition, few FCS teams have as raucous a fanbase as Montana, ensuring that the Eagles will be walking into an incredibly hostile environment. 

Eastern Washington, however, already proved that it can handle loud, boisterous crowds this season with its win at Oregon State.  It will be interesting to see whether or not the Grizzlies' home crowd can shake the Eagles.

Prediction: Eastern Washington 31, Montana 27

Van is such an integral part of Montana's offense that the Grizzlies will inevitably have some hiccups in their offense without him.  Although Montana's defense will likely hold Eastern Washington well below its season scoring average, Montana's offense isn't likely to be able to keep up without Van.

The FCS Quarterfinals got started Friday night, with the UNI Panthers traveling to Missoula to take on the Montana Grizzlies. UNI was coming off a defeat of Wofford, the Panthers' only previous game of the postseason because they had received a first-round bye.

By the time the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs come around, the remaining teams are usually fairly evenly matched. With the Panthers ranked No. 5 and the Griz ranked No. 4, it appeared that Friday's game would be a close one.

Except Friday's game between Montana and UNI turned out not to be one of those matchups of evenly matched teams, as the Griz absolutely demolished the Panthers en route to a 48-10 victory.

The Panthers got on the scoreboard first with a touchdown pass from Tirrell Rennie to Jarred Herring with about 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter. That would be the only time in the game that UNI had the lead. From that point on, Montana outscored UNI 48-3.

On a frigid night in front of over 23,000 fans at Washington-Grizzly stadium, the Montana defense stood firm, limiting the Panthers to 257 yards of offense while forcing three turnovers, all interceptions.  UNI QB Rennie was largely contained, as he managed only 93 passing yards and was held to a 2.2 yards-per-carry average in the rushing game.

The Montana offense was also clicking on all cylinders, as Griz QB Jordan Johnson threw for three touchdowns and no interceptions, while averaging almost ten yards per attempt. He also added 86 yards and a touchdown on the ground on only 10 attempts, for a yards per carry average of 8.6. 

The rest of the Montana offense also played well, with an extremely balanced effort. Peter Nguyen, Jordan Canada, Dan Moore and Brett Kirschner all had over 20 yards rushing apiece, which allowed the Griz to rack up 267 yards on the ground.

Even the Montana special teams played at a high level, as punter/kicker Brody McKnight pinned the Panthers inside their own 5-yard line on multiple occasions. Perhaps the only mistake he made all night was missing an extra point when the Griz were already up by over 30 points.

The Griz players showed an intense amount of focus and determination. In the fourth quarter, with Montana already up big, Johnson scrambled out of the pocket on a 3rd-and-long near his own goal line. Running back Dan Moore followed him out of the pocket and proceeded to lay down a huge block that allowed Johnson to get the first down.

In the last five minutes of the game, the Griz faced 4th-and-4 at the Panther 28-yard line. Instead of attempting the field goal or using a pass in order to run up the score, the Grizzlies ran the ball up the middle in order to show good sportsmanship and give the Panthers a good shot at getting the ball back. 

Running back Brett Kirschner was met almost immediately, but still almost picked up the first down as he kept his legs pumping and lunged and twisted in order to make the mark. He came up barely short, but not for lack of effort on what was an otherwise meaningless play.

Montana didn't just beat UNI, they absolutely dominated them. When combined with the Griz's dominating 41-14 victory over Central Arkansas in Round 2 of the playoffs, the performance paints a picture of an extremely dangerous Montana team that has a lot of focus and determination, one that now must surely be the favorite to win the FCS championship.