MISSOULA — The pageantry from Montana's season opener is officially in the books. And now the No. 3 Grizzlies can look at their first game and see what they can correct as they head into game two this weekend against Drake inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Montana weathered a tough test from Southern Utah in the opener, a game that saw self-inflicted mistakes hurt the Griz while the Thunderbirds capitalized.
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Now with a game under their belts, it's been about turning the page and correcting mistakes.
"We're taking the lessons that we learned from that and we're improving on them," UM offensive lineman Dyllan Drummond said. "But I mean, it's a new opponent, new week, new day. We don't focus on the past, we're just moving forward with the present."
Now, the Griz welcome Drake, an FCS team in the non-scholarship Pioneer League that fell to NCAA Division II South Dakota Mines in its opener. The Bulldogs are under first-year head coach Matt Walker who led Wisconsin River Falls to the Division III title a year ago. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m., and Scripps Sports will carry the broadcast.
High-flying offense is the name of the Bulldogs' game, as they threw for 535 yards in their loss.
"I definitely think our DBs will be tested this week," UM head coach Bobby Kennedy said. "And we've got to see how they hold up. But there's a lot to clean up. Any time you go through a football game, nothing's ever perfect. But hopefully you play well enough that the result ends up the right way."
Drake's defense also gave up 527 yards, and while the Griz escaped in a close contest, the Bulldogs got caught, so it serves as a reminder of what can happen in any game.
"Anybody can beat anybody on any given day, right?" Kennedy said. "And so it's our job as coaches to prepare the guys, to get them in the right frame of mind, to make sure they're excited, that they're going to execute their assignments. Your guys got to come ready to play.
"And so I think they'll be a much better team this week in a number of aspects, and trust me, when they come into Washington-Grizzly Stadium, they'll be ready."
The last time these teams met was in 2018 in Missoula where the Griz soundly won 48-16.
Now, they clash again, as Drake looks for the upset, the Griz aim to take a step forward and improve to 2-0.
"Every game for me, my whole career, it's like we're playing the '85 Bears, right?" Kennedy said. "And what we have to do is we have to show up and have great energy and control what we can control and play hard."
