1997 Montana Grizzlies football team

1997 Big Sky Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant; Cal State Northridge record includes two losses by forfeit; Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1997 Montana Grizzlies football
1997 Montana Grizzlies football
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 14–19 vs. McNeese State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 11
1997 record	8–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Mick Dennehy (2nd season);
Home stadium	Washington–Grizzly Stadium; (Capacity: 18,845)
	Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

The 1997 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Grizzlies were led by second-year head coach Mick Dennehy and played their home games at Washington–Grizzly Stadium.^[1]

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 13	1:05 pm	No. 14 Stephen F. Austin*	No. 1	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	KPAX	W 24–10	18,730
September 20	1:05 pm	Saint Mary's (CA)*	No. 1	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT		W 35–14	18,384
September 27	1:05 pm	Sacramento State	No. 1	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT		W 52–10	19,046
October 4	1:00 pm	at Wyoming*	No. 1	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY		L 13–28	18,608
October 11	2:05 pm	at Idaho State	No. 2	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	KPAX	W 48–0	7,596
October 18	1:05 pm	Eastern Washington	No. 2	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (Governors Cup)		L 35–40	19,019
October 25	4:05 pm	at No. 11 Northern Arizona	No. 6	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KPAX	L 24–27	15,417
November 1	12:05 pm	Cal State Northridge	No. 15	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT		W 21–13	16,775
November 8	8:05 pm	at Portland State	No. 13	Civic Stadium Portland, OR	KPAX	W 37–7	12,387
November 15	12:05 pm	Weber State	No. 11	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT		W 38–13	15,972
November 22	12:05 pm	at Montana State	No. 11	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT (Brawl of the Wild)	KPAX	W 27–25	13,507
November 29	6:00 pm	at No. 6 McNeese State*	No. 11	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (First Round, Division I Championship)		L 14–19	13,681
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Division I-AA Poll poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

v t Montana Grizzlies football
Venues	Dornblaser Field (I) (1912–1967) (alternate (Butte), 1938–1950) Dornblaser Field (II) (1968–1986) Washington–Grizzly Stadium (1986–present)
Bowls & rivalries	EWU–UM Governors Cup (Eastern Washington) Little Brown Stein (Idaho) Montana State
Culture and lore	Monte "Up With Montana" University of Montana Grizzly Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
National championship seasons in bold

1997 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
No. 6 E Washington $^		7	–	1		12	–	2
No. 11 Montana ^		6	–	2		8	–	4
Montana State		5	–	3		6	–	5
Northern Arizona		4	–	4		6	–	5
Weber State		4	–	4		6	–	5
Cal State Northridge		4	–	4		4	–	8
Portland State		3	–	5		4	–	7
Idaho State		2	–	6		3	–	8
Sacramento State		1	–	7		1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Cal State Northridge record includes two losses by forfeit Rankings from The Sports Network poll

v t 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants
Colgate Delaware Eastern Kentucky Eastern Washington Florida A&M Georgia Southern Hampton Hofstra Jackson State McNeese State Montana Northwestern State Villanova Western Illinois Western Kentucky Youngstown State
Champion – Youngstown State Penguins