2001 Montana Grizzlies football team

The 2001 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by second-year head coach Joe Glenn, the Grizzlies compiled an overall record of 15–1, with a mark of 7–0 in conference play, and won the Big Sky title for the fourth consecutive season. Montana advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where the Grizzlies defeated Northwestern State in the first round, Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals, and Northern Iowa in the semifinals, and Furman in the NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game. The team played home games at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana.

2001 Montana Grizzlies football
NCAA Division I-AA champion Big Sky champion
NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game, W 13–6 vs. Furman
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 1
Record	15–1 (7–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Joe Glenn (2nd season)
Home stadium	Washington–Grizzly Stadium
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 Montana $^		7	–	0					15	–	1
No. 16 Northern Arizona ^		5	–	2					9	–	4
Portland State		5	–	2					7	–	4
Montana State		4	–	3					5	–	6
Eastern Washington		3	–	4					7	–	4
Weber State		2	–	5					3	–	8
Idaho State		1	–	6					4	–	7
Sacramento State		1	–	6					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	7:00 pm	at Cal Poly*	No. 2	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	MTN	W 31–17	8,007	[1]
September 8	10:00 pm	vs. Hawaii*	No. 2	War Memorial Stadium Wailuku, HI	MTN	L 12–30	11,254	[2]
September 22	1:00 pm	Western Washington*	No. 2	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	MTN	W 30–0	18,398	[3]
September 29	1:00 pm	No. 15 Eastern Washington	No. 3	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (EWU–UM Governors Cup)	MTN	W 29–26 2OT	19,198	[4]
October 6	7:05 pm	at Sacramento State	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	MTN	W 42–7	13,586	[5]
October 13	1:00 pm	Saint Mary's*	No. 2	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	MTN	W 49–19	19,242	[6]
October 20	3:05 pm	at No. 18 Northern Arizona	No. 2	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	MTN	W 38–27	11,387	[7]
October 27	1:00 pm	Portland State	No. 2	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	MTN	W 33–13	19,238	[8]
November 3	6:35 pm	at Idaho State	No. 1	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	MTN	W 32–28	9,242	[9]
November 10	12:00 pm	Weber State	No. 1	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	MTN	W 38–23	17,062	[10]
November 17	12:00 pm	at Montana State	No. 1	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (rivalry)	MTN	W 38–27	15,238	[11]
November 24	12:00 pm	Idaho*	No. 1	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (Little Brown Stein)	MTN	W 33–27 2OT	18,056	[12][13]
December 1	12:00 pm	Northwestern State*	No. 1	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	MTN	W 28–19	17,289	[14]
December 8	12:00 pm	No. 13 Sam Houston State*	No. 1	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	MTN	W 49–24	18,125	[15]
December 15	12:00 pm	No. 6 Northern Iowa*	No. 1	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	MTN	W 38–0	18,848	[16]
December 21	3:30 pm	vs. No. 3 Furman*	No. 1	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN (NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game)	ESPN	W 13–6	12,698	[17]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Roster

2001 Montana Grizzlies football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 5 John Edwards Jr QB 16 Brandon Neill Jr WR 17 Etu Molden Sr RB 22 Yohance Humphery Sr TE 44 John Fitzgerald Sr OT 64 Dylan Brown Fr C 65 Garth Enger Fr OT 72 Dylan McFarland So G 73 Thatcher Szalay Sr OT 74 Beau Hart  Fr OT 75 Cory Procter Fr OT 76 Brad Rhoades Fr OT 77 Jon Skinner So WR 80 Brock Sunderland Jr WR 81 Rory Zikmund Jr WR 85 Randyn Akiona Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class SS 3 Trey Young Jr FS 4 David DeCoite So CB 11 Vernon Smith So CB 13 Calvin Coleman Sr CB 33 Joel Rosenburg Jr LB 45 Jacob Yoro  Jr LB 53 Joel Robinson So DT 90 Curt Colter Jr DE 37 Ciche Pitcher Jr DT 98 Jason Francis Sr DT 99 Alan Saenz Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Joe Glenn Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster