Sacramento State Hornets head to noisy Missoula for top-10 showdown with Montana Grizzlies

The speakers blared with crowd noise this week at Hornet Stadium, roaring cheers and then a cascade of boos, all of it loud enough to to wince.

There was no live crowd or even bodies in the seats, just taped audio in an effort to simulate a glimpse of the frenzied FCS football scene expected Saturday night in Missoula. That is where the storied No. 4-ranked Montana Grizzlies will host the three-time defending Big Sky Conference champion Sacramento State Hornets in another meeting of top-10 programs, this one kicking off at 5 p.m.

It’s this sort of showdown that has made FCS football so entertaining in recent years with the Hornets engaged in quite a bit of that action. Saturday marks the sixth time Big Sky teams are engaged in a top-10 showdown. The Big Sky remains the deepest FCS conference in the land with four teams ranked in the top seven. No. 7 Sacramento State is 0-2 in top-10 matchups this season, both of them in conference play, with a last-play loss at No. 3 Idaho and a 12-point shootout loss to No. 6 Montana State.

The Hornets are 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Sky, a half game behind Montana (7-1, 4-1), Idaho (6-2, 4-1) and Montana State (6-2, 4-1). A victory in the drizzly, 40-degree chill of the Treasure State would fire up the Hornets, who need a win to remain in Big Sky title contention with two conference games remaining against Cal Poly and UC Davis. A Hornets victory would be the program’s fourth in a row over the Grizzlies, which would keep them solidly ranked in the top five, an ideal position come FCS playoff seeding time.

To defeat a Montana program that seeks its 19th Big Sky championship would provide another Hornets program boost. For years, the Hornets had only glimmers of moral victories against one of the elite programs in the FCS. Montana won the first 16 meetings between the programs, starting in 1993. Sacramento State beat Montana in 2011 and the Grizzlies claimed the next four games. The Grizzlies lead the series 20-4, including 6-4 in the last 10 meetings.

A victory in Missoula would also please three Hornets coaches to no end. Sacramento State first-year head coach and fifth-year defensive coordinator Andy Thompson is a 2004 Montana graduate. He played everything from quarterback to linebacker, competing in 44 games, and was part of five Big Sky title teams. He was on Montana’s 2001 FCS national championship club.

Sacramento State defensive line coach Kraig Paulson was a fullback at Montana. In 1987, he started a tradition by wearing No. 37 and then handing that number down to the next Grizzlies player who is an in-state recruit born and raised in Montana. Former Montana offensive tackle Jeremy LaPan is Sacramento State’s special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

Hornets coach has roots in Montana

For as long as Thompson coaches in the Big Sky, a trip to Missoula will mean something. He was the Hornets defensive coordinator in 2021 when they stunned No. 4 Montana 28-21 in Missoula, halting an 0-12 road streak against the Grizzlies. That 2021 effort happened on a day in which members of the 2001 national championship team were introduced before kickoff.

Last season, Sacramento State beat No. 5 Montana 31-24 in overtime at Hornet Stadium on ESPN2.

Thompson first visited Missoula some 30 years ago when his brother, Matt, went for a recruiting visit out of Walla Walla, Washington before signing with the Grizzlies. Thompson has a singular goal of preparing his Hornets for a loud environment at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, which opened in 1986 and remains one of the gem venues in the FCS. But he’s also human and people like him, so he draws a crowd. Thompson will greet a lot of friendly people in Missoula.

“I always get to see people I’m familiar with when I go back,” Thompson said, adding that his wife, Mikal, was born and raised there.

“All of her family is there — a lot of aunts and uncles, a big Catholic family, eight siblings on one side, seven on the other,” Thompson said. “So a lot of familiar faces. It’s always enjoyable to go up there, but my focus is so much on the preparation for our players and what I’m doing.”

Thompson said his time from Montana player to Sacramento State’s head coach has been a blur.

“When you coach, the seasons go from one to the next, and the next thing you know, you’re married, got three kids,” Thompson said with a laugh. “It’s been great.”

Thompson’s final playing season at Montana was 20 years ago, under coach Bobby Hauck, who is now in the seventh year of his second stint with the Grizzlies. He previously coached Montana from 2003-09.

Hauck is one victory away from becoming the winningest coach in Big Sky history, a mark he shares with former Northern Arizona coach Jerome Souers. Hauck is Montana to the core with Missoula his hometown and the university his alma mater. He seeks his eighth Big Sky crown and has his 11th FCS playoff team. He has remains in touch with Thompson and appreciates the man from afar.

“Andy’s gone from being a player for us to a good friend and a colleague in coaching,” Hauck said this week during his weekly media session. “He’s been doing a really nice job. He’s got Kraig on his staff, who knows us pretty intimately, too. Those guys do a great job. There’s a reason why they’re winning games. They know what they’re doing.”

Bennett the QB backer

Sacramento State quarterback Kaiden Bennett said the Hornets are deeper than they have been all season and that it will take all comers to move the ball against Montana, which leads the FCS in run defense. The Hornets rushed for nearly 300 yards and scored the final 37 points in beating Idaho State 51-16 last week.

Sacramento State has the second-best offense statistically in the Big Sky, averaging 433 yards and nearly 200 yards rushing. The Hornets have used backs Marcus Fulcher, the starter, and reserves Zeke Burnett, Ezra Moleni and Elijah Tau-Tolliver. When Fulcher has missed time with a lingering ankle injury, the other backs have stepped up.

“Our running back depth is incredible — they can all play,” Bennett said.

There’s also depth at quarterback. Bennett is the starter, but the Hornets found out just how good true freshman Carson Conklin is. He came off the bench against Idaho State in a designed move by the coaches to get a look at him and to spell a sore-bodied Bennett. Conklin completed 14 of 21 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns.

Bennett led the sideline cheer by racing out to greet Conklin after his scoring tosses.

“I’m excited any time any of our guys play well like that, and Carson gave us a boost. It was great to see,” Bennett said. “It’s part of being a leader. I want all of our guys to do well.”

Bennett said Thompson and the Hornets coaches have long stressed “gratitude and being grateful.”

“That’s big here,” Bennett said. “I know coach Thompson is grateful as he goes back to Montana.”