Idaho, Montana took different paths to top 10 showdown for Little Brown Stein

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MOSCOW, Idaho - Montana and Idaho have taken much different paths to the Little Brown Stein rivalry game.

One team is unblemished, the other has been tested. Which is better positioned for success in Big Sky play?

The 3-0 Grizzlies, ranked Nos. 4 and 5 in the FCS coaches and STATS Perform polls , had a close 24-23 win over North Dakota and blew through Division II Central Washington and Indiana State in nonconference play.

Meanwhile the Vandals (2-2, No. 10 coaches, No. 8 STATS) has frustrating three-point losses against FBS foes Washington State and San Jose State to go with wins over FCS St. Thomas and Utah Tech.

Despite their disparate journeys Saturday's game in Missoula will clarify whether Montana or Idaho is more likely to rule the Big Sky Conference.

Vandals coach Thomas Ford Jr. paid appropriate homage to the venerable tussle over the Little Brown Stein that has defined the Idaho-Montana rivalry since the team's first started playing for it in 1903. Idaho's first-year head coach was an assistant the last time Idaho brought home the trophy in 2022 and lost it in 2023.

"I know as an assistant it was pretty awesome getting that thing and taking it back to Moscow. I know, also as an assistant, it hurt pretty bad seeing them leaving with it here in Moscow back in 2023," said Ford. But a wooden beer mug is really of secondary importance.

"At the end of the day, it's our first Big Sky Conference game, and that is what matters the most," Ford says.

Respective statistics reflect the varying opponents the Vandals and Grizzlies have played.

Eli Gillman, the Big Sky's leading rusher, is averaging 133.33 yards per game for Montana and earned Big Sky offensive player of the week honors after torching Central Washington for 198 rushing yards and three touchdowns. In practice this week "we will be doing individual tackling drills. Getting posture and finish," Ford says.

Keali'l Ah Yat, the most recent Big Sky offensive player of the week, passed for 313 yards and two touchdowns for the Grizzlies against Indiana State. For the year, he has completed 67.8 percent of his passes for 863 yards and six touchdowns. Michael Wortham, a senior and transfer from Eastern Washington in 2024, is not the biggest guy at 5-10, 190. But he has caught 14 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown this season.

The Vandals don't have quite the offensive balance of Montana. But while Idaho has been committed to following a dominant offensive line for an average 203 yards on the ground this year - a statistic fattened by running back Art Williams' career-high 144 yards against Utah Tech - the Vandals can still fling it. Joshua Wood, a multiple threat quarterback who has run for 314 yards and three touchdowns has also thrown for nearly 700 yards and six scores. Big Sky co-offensive player of the week against St. Thomas, Wood rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown and passed for 231 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.

On defense, the Vandals and Grizzlies are similar. Both are giving up an average 20 points per game. Ford says Montana likes to go with guile.

"They have a tricky defense. They are nonconventional. They blitz from every angle. Sometimes I don't know if they are gap sound. But it doesn't matter."

A strong front seven have so far led the way for Idaho. Linebacker Dylan Layne leads the Vandals with 31 total tackles, and Isiah King, a versatile linebacker and edge rusher, has 27 total tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Ford sees the game shaping up as less a battle of varying styles and more a collision of similar approaches.

"It is going to be strength on strength," he predicted. "They are pretty good at stopping the run. We are pretty good at running."

If the quality of opponent upon which Montana and Idaho have employed their brand of football this season is predictive, however, the edge might go to the Vandals.