Idaho looks to reclaim the battle of the Little Brown Stein

After losing in dramatic fashion against San Jose State University last week, the Vandals will continue their road trip, playing in arguably the hardest FCS stadium to play in as an opponent, Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, home of the no. 4 Montana Grizzlies. 

“It is a different animal. You know, it’s probably one of the loudest places in all of FCS football,” said head coach Thomas Ford Jr. in a weekly press conference. “I’ve coached in power four stadiums that are much quieter than that place.” 

This Battle of the Little Brown Stein rivalry matchup, featuring two top ten FCS teams, is the Big Sky Conference game of the week. Montana won the most recent matchup in 2023, but Idaho has won 56 of the 89 all-time meetings. The Vandals also have a 23-16 record against the Grizzlies in Missoula. 

This is likely to be a defensive battle, as both teams are tied for second in the conference in scoring defense, and both defenses have a knack for causing turnovers. However, Idaho and Montana are the top two rushing teams in the Big Sky. 

The matchup to look for in this game will ultimately be the high-powered Montana offense against Cort Denison’s defense. Montana is first in the conference in yards per game, and Idaho is third in yards allowed per game. 

For the Grizzlies, this will be their fourth consecutive home game to start the season. Similar to Idaho, they are always extremely difficult to beat at home. They dominated Central Washington University and Indiana State University, but their biggest win of the season was in a 24-23 week two ranked win over University of North Dakota. 

Redshirt junior running back Eli Gillman has rushed for Big Sky leads of 400 yards and six touchdowns in three games this season. 

“I think he is a very good player,” Ford said in a weekly press conference. “One of the better players probably in all of FCS football.” 

Keali’i Ah Yat has thrown for 863 yards and six touchdowns. Redshirt senior Michael Wortham has caught 14 passes for 215 yards and a score. 

“They’re going to be physical on offense,” Ford said. 

For Idaho’s Joshua Wood, aside from the fact that he has the most rushing yards in the conference behind Gillman, he has continued to gain chemistry with his receivers each week. Ryan Jezioro and Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar each have 15 catches or more and are both nearing 200 receiving yards on the season. Art Williams has 291 rushing yards and two touchdowns this season. 

The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 7:15 p.m. 

Liam Bradford can be reached at [email protected].