Montana begins the playoff tournament at home against Tennessee St.

MISSOULA, Mt. — The FCS playoff season is finally here, and while Montana won’t have the home court advantage they had last year through the postseason, the Grizzlies are guaranteed a first-round matchup this year.

After a Week 12 blowout at the hands of Montana State, the Grizzlies’ hopes of securing a first-round bye went out the window. Montana was assigned the 14th seed in the FCS selection show and was paired with Tennessee State in a first-round playoff game.

Tennessee State and Montana have never played a game together before, but there is plenty of familiarity between the two sidelines.

Brandon Fisher, son of former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher, is the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. Brandon Fisher spent his playing days at linebacker for the Grizzlies from 2005 to 2009 during coach Bobby Hauck’s first tenure with Montana.

In that time frame, the Grizzlies made two FCS championship appearances.

“Obviously, Brandon Fisher is the defensive coordinator, he played for us here. So it’s a team we haven’t played, we don’t have any crossover with, but we know a lot about them because of their personnel,” Hauck said.

Tennessee State’s head coach will also be familiar with an older generation of football fans. After winning a Heisman at Ohio State, Eddie George spent the next eight years tearing it up in the NFL with the Houston/Tennessee Oilers/Titans and one year with the Dallas Cowboys, earning four trips to the Pro Bowl along the way.

Now, George has been the head coach of the Tigers since 2021. This season, he led the Tigers to their first share of the Big South Conference title since 1999.

Another similarity these two teams share is their focus on special teams. This year, Junior Bergen became the Big Sky’s all-time punt return touchdown leader.

Tennessee State has already returned two kicks this season. In the kicking game, the Tigers have not missed a field goal all year. Kicker James Lowry is 10-10 on his field goal attempts this year, while going 39-41 on his extra point attempts.

The Tigers are also a pass-happy team. Quarterback Draylen Ellis has thrown for over 2,700 yards with 21 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

Montana’s defense has certainly struggled with the deep ball this year, and this game could provide another challenge for their up-and-down pass defense.

The Tigers also defend the pass well. By 2024, they have given up less than 200 passing yards per game. game and surrendered 17 passing touchdowns. Their rushing defense is more middle of the pack, so Montana will likely lean on their double-headed running game of Nick Ostmo and Eli Gillman early, despite their lack of success over the past month.

Despite an up-and-down season, Montana enters the playoffs with a refreshed mentality — go 1-0 each week and take it one game at a time.

If Montana takes down Tennessee State, the Grizzlies will go to South Dakota State, which took down Montana in the FCS championship last season.

However, the Grizzlies find motivation from another Dakota school that Montana took down when they were in the Grizzlies’ current position last year.

“You just have to focus on one game at a time every single week. NDSU did that last year. They were one or two plays away from finishing at the same record, so hopefully we can bounce back and go 1-0 every week, ” Montana senior safety Jaxon Lee said.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 PM at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.