MISSOULA — After leading Montana to a decisive road win over Sacramento State on ESPN2 to remain undefeated on the season, star receiver Michael Wortham was named the Stats Perform FCS offensive player of the week while the Grizzlies swept the Big Sky weekly awards, it was announced on Monday.
Wortham took both national and conference offensive player of the week honors, while linebacker Peyton Wing was named Big Sky defensive player of the week and punter/kicker Ty Morrison was named Big Sky Special teams player of the week.
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Montana has now had 10 Big Sky player of the week selections plus one Stats Perform FCS player of the week and one team of the week nod. It’s the most Big Sky players of the week for the Griz since 2011 when they had 12 picks and is tied for the second-most in program history with 2008’s total of 10 dating back to when the conference started the award in 1972.
Wortham did it all for Montana in a 49-35 road win over the Hornets with a hat trick of touchdowns and 238 all-purpose yards.
He led the Griz in rushing, receiving and combined returns as the Division I leader in all-purpose yards and made it a homecoming to remember in his native Sacramento. All told he rushed for a season- and game-high 89 yards and two touchdowns from 27 and 15 yards out, caught five passes for 80 yards that included a 64-yard strike, and returned two kickoffs for 69 yards including a long of 44.
He leads both FCS and FBS football in all-purpose yards again this week with an average of 178.75 per game. His total of 1,430 yards on the season has already cracked Montana’s all-time top 20 list with still four regular-season games left to play.
His three-TD total at Sac State ties the single-game high in the Big Sky against a D-I opponent and marks the third time this season a Grizzly has found the end zone three times with Eli Gillman doing it twice.
Last week, Wortham was graded as the No. 1 receiver in all of college football by Pro Football Focus with a 91.2 offensive grade. It’s the second time in the last month he’s been named Big Sky offensive player of the week after another 200-plus yard all-purpose day at Idaho State.
Wing tied the Big Sky single-game high this season with three sacks in the win over the Hornets, including one on a fourth-and-9 attempt that put a halt to a key Hornet drive in the third quarter that led directly to a Grizzly touchdown.
With six total tackles (four solo), half of his stops were sacks on Friday. He was a leader in a Grizzly defense that shut down the Sac run game, with the Hornets totaling just 141 yards on the ground — nearly 100 less than their season average.
Wing is now tied with Hunter Peck for the most sacks on the squad this season with 3.5 each and leads the team in TFLs with 5.5. The Buchanan Award watch list member has been a major contributor to a Grizzly defense that ranks second in the league in scoring D and third against the rush. The UM defense also leads the league and is sixth nationally in interceptions at 10, with Wing accounting for two of them.
Morrison had the usual solid day with his foot a Sacramento State, going 7-for-7 on PATs, to stay perfect on the year, totaling 429 yards on seven kickoffs with four touchbacks, and logging 112 yards on three punts. It was what he did with his arm that was special, however.
Morrison helped put the nail in Sac State’s coffin early in the fourth quarter when he completed a 28-yard pass to Ian Finch on a fourth-and-9 to convert a huge fourth down for the Griz that led directly to a Wortham touchdown one play later.
He is now seventh in the Big Sky in overall scoring this week with 56 total points, averaging seven per game. He’s also a major contributor to Montana’s strong net punt average of 40.49, this week ranked top 12 in the FCS and third in the league.
He’s been named Big Sky special teams player of the week three times now, winning in consecutive weeks following the North Dakota and Indiana State games.
Morrison shared the special teams honor with Landon Ogles of Eastern Washington.
The Grizzlies, now 8-0 overall and top of the league table at 4-0, return to the road this week for another key Big Sky Conference showdown. Montana heads south on I-15 looking to snap a three-game losing streak to Weber State and earn its first win in Ogden, Utah, since 2012. Kickoff from Stewart Stadium is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
