Vandals and Grizzlies Collide For The Little Brown Stein
Montana-Idaho on 630 The Fan
The Idaho Vandal football 2018 home and Big Sky season ends Saturday with a huge showdown for the Little Brown Stein against the Montana Grizzlies in the Kibbie Dome, pre-game at 3:30 p.m. with kickoff at 4:30 p.m MST on sports radio 630 The Fan..
ABOUT MONTANA: The Grizzlies are 5-4 and coming off a 57-14 win against Southern Utah last week to snap a three-game slide. Quarterback Dalton Sneed leads a Montana offense that averages 33.6 points per game. Sneed completes 23 passes per game for nearly 240 yards and has thrown 17 touchdowns on the year. The defense is paced by Dante Olson, the nation’s leading tackler at 13.7 per game.
THE LITTLE BROWN STEIN: The rivalry between Idaho and Montana dates back to 1903, and since 1938 the teams have played for a traveling trophy - the Little Brown Stein. The Vandals lead the all-time series 55-27-2, including a 36-22-1 advantage when playing for the stein. Idaho, however, has not had possession of the trophy in the current century. Montana won the Little Brown Stein back from the Vandals in 2000, the first of four consecutive Griz wins in the series. Saturday marks the first meeting since 2003.
DOME SWEET HOME: Idaho is unbeaten at home this season. The Vandals are 15-17 in the Kibbie Dome under head coach Paul Petrino, including a 4-1 mark in 2016. That is the only time since 2004 Idaho finished a season with one loss or fewer and the best single-season home winning percentage since 1996 when the Vandals went 5-0 in the Dome - their last year without a home loss. Idaho football has recorded six unbeaten home seasons since the Kibbie Dome opened in 1975 (1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 1995 and 1996).
SENIOR DAY: Idaho will honor 11 student-athletes Saturday, playing in the final home game of their careers. Alex Boatman, Dorian Clark, Kaden Elliss, Jordan Grabski, Ed Hall, D.J. Henderson, Aaron Pue, Isaiah Saunders, Irving Schuster, Ben Taliulu and David Ungerer will be recognized prior to kickoff.
TOP-25 WIN: North Dakota entered last week ranked No. 25 in the AFCA FCS Coaches’ Poll. Idaho’s come-from-behind 31-27 victory marked its first win since 2007 over a team ranked in either poll (media or coaches) in either the FCS or FBS, when the FBS Vandals beat nationally-ranked FCS Cal Poly, 20-13. The last time Idaho beat a ranked opponent at its own level was 1995.
CLIMBING THE LIST: Kaden Elliss has recorded 272 career tackles - tied for 16th in program history. Elliss is averaging 6.3 stops per game in the last three outings, which have seen him spend more time at his customary strong-side linebacker position. If he maintains that average, Elliss will surpass Vandal legends Ryan Phillips (275) and Jeff Robinson (277) on the school’s all-time tackles list.
CARRYING ON TRADITION: Isaiah Saunders has amassed 2,032 career rushing yards, becoming the 13th Vandal in program history to break the 2,000-yard barrier. Saunders currently ranks 12th in program history for career rushing yards. Next up is former backfield mate and current student assistant coach Aaron Duckworth (2,045; 2014-17).
CAREER YEAR: David Ungerer is Idaho’s leader in receptions (59), receiving yards (575), punt return yards (177) and all-[purpose yards (895). Not only are all of those totals career highs for Ungerer, but each of them surpass his combined totals entering his senior year. Through Ungerer’s first 34 games, he had 555 receiving yards on 53 catches, 143 punt return yards and 730 all-purpose yards.