BILLINGS — Pick your poison.
Montana's lethal trio of quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat, running back Eli Gillman and receiver Brooks Davis is like something out of a video game. And right now, they are putting up statistical metrics that match or surpass some of the greatest individual players in program history.
The triplets' impact reverberates through every facet of the Grizzlies' explosive offense, with last week's game at Eastern Washington being another prime example.
Against EWU, Ah Yat threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns and became the first Montana QB to eclipse 300 yards in four straight games in 27 years.
Three of Ah Yat's scoring passes went to Davis, who finished with 231 receiving yards — the second time he's eclipsed 200 in a game so far this season. Davis' touchdown catch on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half was critical to the outcome.
It came as no surprise that Davis on Monday was named both the Stats Perform FCS national offensive player of the week and the Big Sky Conference offensive player of the week.
As for Gillman, he rushed for 145 yards and two TDs and also caught a scoring pass as he continues his assault on the school and FCS record books. Just another day at the office for No. 10.
All of that, combined with a badly needed defensive bounce-back, allowed Montana to hold off the Eagles 42-33 and snap a two-game losing streak.
For as maligned as the Grizzlies' defense has been this season, the offense is a juggernaut.
Entering this week's home game against Portland State, No. 12 Montana is No. 1 in the Big Sky in total offense (471.7 ypg) and passing offense (293.7 ypg), is No. 2 in scoring offense (38.2 ppg) and No. 4 in rushing offense (178.0 ypg).
Griz football has seen its share of elite playmakers, but rarely have three distinct forces coalesced so perfectly at the exact same time. What fans are witnessing is, at the risk of being hyperbolic, history in the making.
How do Ah Yat, Gillman and Davis stack up from a historical standpoint? Let's take a deeper dive into the numbers. (Thank you to UM radio play-by-play voice Riley Corcoran for his assistance and contributions to the historical context.)
End-zone Eli's record-shattering career
This has to start with Gillman, who has spent his senior season rewriting the UM record book in no small fashion. Gillman has fulfilled the promise of his Jerry Rice Award-winning freshman season in 2023 to become a "Mount Rushmore" type player, utilizing his patience, slipperiness and breakaway speed to surpass the best backs in school history.
Gillman has so far broken five career school records this season alone.
- Rushing yards: 4,838 (Yohance Humphery, 4,070)
- Rushing touchdowns: 64 (Chase Reynolds, 52)
- Total touchdowns: 74 (Chase Reynolds, 59)
- All-purpose yards: 5,694 (Marc Mariani, 5,441)
- Scoring: 444 points (Dan Carpenter, 413)
Gillman also currently leads the FCS in scoring this season with 126 total points. And he is on the verge of breaking more marks — the school record for career rushing attempts (806, held by Lex Hilliard), the school record for total offensive touches (889, held by Chase Reynolds), the school record for single-season touchdowns (25, held by Marcus Knight), and the FCS career record for total touchdowns (77, held by former Eastern Washington receiver Cooper Kupp).
Beyond that, Gillman's career rushing total of 4,838 yards is only 134 shy of Humphery's actual (but not official) rushing total of 4,972 yards. The NCAA did not include playoff statistics in a player's total until the 2002 season.
Gillman is a top candidate to win the Big Sky offensive player of the year award for the second straight season and should also make a serious run at the Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in the FCS. No running back has won the Payton since Colgate's Jamaal Branch in 2003. The last non-quarterback to win the award was Kupp in 2015.
Ah Yat: Like father, like son
Operating with precision, Ah Yat is rewriting the school's accuracy metrics. He enters this week completing 71.0% of his passes, which would be a new UM record (breaking his own mark of 69.1% from last year) and is challenging the Big Sky standard of 71.6% set last season by Montana State's Justin Lamson.
Ah Yat's ability to consistently connect with his targets has him locked at a career completion mark of 67.7%, which right now takes the No. 1 spot all-time at Montana. Earlier this year, Ah Yat set a school record by throwing 222 consecutive passes without an interception. This clinical approach to protecting the football has rapidly propelled him to fourth all-time in program history for both career passing (8,069) yards and passing touchdowns (67).
But it goes well beyond accuracy. Last week's 327-yard performance was Ah Yat's fourth in a row, which made him the first Griz quarterback to accomplish that feat since Drew Miller in 1999.
What also makes this run special is that Ah Yat is doing it in the shadow of his old man, Griz hall of famer Brian Ah Yat. Keali'i Ah Yat has 8,069 career passing yards and has been responsible for 85 total touchdowns. His father sits at No. 2 all-time in Montana history in both categories, with 9,315 passing yards and 93 total TDs.
In 1996, Brian Ah Yat set the school's single-season benchmark with 42 passing touchdowns. With three regular-season games left on the schedule plus the postseason, Keali'i Ah Yat, with 26 passing scores, is within striking distance of challenging his father's record.
The home run hitter
The biggest benefactor of Ah Yat's precision is Davis, whose blistering pace has him on track to shatter Montana's single-season receiving records.
In Davis' crosshairs is former Griz standout Samori Toure and his historic 2019 campaign. That year, Toure set the single-season marks with 1,495 receiving yards and 87 receptions.
Through nine games this year, Davis has already racked up 1,145 yards and hauled in 73 receptions. With three weeks left on the schedule and the postseason ahead, Davis is on track to completely eclipse those numbers.
Beyond that, Davis' production draws parallels to the legendary 1996 season of Joe Douglass. That year, while catching passes from Brian Ah Yat, Douglass torched defenses for actual (but not official) totals of 123 receptions for 1,966 yards and 18 touchdowns. Three decades later, Davis is the modern version of Douglass.
Davis has 12 receiving touchdowns so far this year based mostly on his speed and open-field playmaking ability. While he still has a bit of climbing to do to reach Douglass' official school record of 18, it certainly seems within reach based on his performance so far.
