BUTTE — The countdown is on.
Coming off its best season yet under coach Kyle Samson, Montana Tech football is set to open its 2026 campaign with its annual Copper Game on Thursday against Ottawa (Ariz.) in what will be the first meeting between the programs. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
"Excited for the opportunity, the challenge. It should be a lot of fun," said Samson, who is heading into his seventh season guiding the Orediggers. "Our guys are really excited for the atmosphere, we're going to have a tremendous crowd and we have a great challenge ahead of us."
WATCH THE VIDEO:
OUAZ is a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference and finished the 2025 season as conference co-champions alongside Texas Wesleyan and Louisiana Christian, with all three teams finishing with 8-1 records.
Texas Wesleyan earned an at-large bid to the playoffs while OUAZ and Louisiana Christian did not. OUAZ carried a perfect 8-0 record into the regular-season finale before falling to Louisiana Christian to set up the three-way tie.
"The opportunity is we're playing a great team to open up the season and challenging yourself right away in that first game," said Samson. "I think its a great gauge for where we're at. When you're trying to schedule non-conference games we always want to play the toughest game we can play."
That's been the case the past three seasons with Tech playing ranked opponents to open its season. Last season saw the Orediggers upset a fifth-ranked Montana Western team and in 2024 Tech opened its campaign by upending No. 3 Georgetown (Ky.). OUAZ received votes in the preseason coaches poll.
"We like scheduling tough opponents because we believe in ourselves and we want to start the season off with an impressive win," said senior linebacker Kellan Beller. "I think (OUAZ) is going to be solid but I'm confident in what we can do."
The Orediggers are coming off a season that saw them go undefeated in the regular season for the first time ever, win the inaugural Frontier Conference East title and then win a postseason game for the first time since 2016. Tech put together one of its best seasons ever last year and the quest to do reach even greater heights begins Thursday evening.
"The atmosphere is going to be electric," said veteran wide receiver Levi Torgerson. "We want everyone in Butte, America, to come, surrounding towns to come check out the Copper Game. We're super excited. We know there's going to be a lot of people. Come show out, have fun and let's party."
