MISSOULA – The Montana football team gave its head coach a reason to smile with a perfect start to conference play, especially because it wasn’t easy.
Montana fought through a back-and-forth contest with Sacramento State, including an 11-point deficit in the first half, and that’s exactly what head coach Bobby Hauck wants to see.
Many remember Hauck’s fantastic record a decade ago in Montana, but he didn’t pile up all of those wins with a ton of blowouts. The Griz often fought through difficult conference games, finding a way to make the key plays down the stretch.
Coming through in those tight games is a difficult trait to define and teach, but Hauck has praised how quickly his young team has shown resilience and resolve when needed.
“To develop that you have to put people in adverse situations and encourage them to fight their way out of those,” said Hauck. “We do that all year long around here. From a reward standpoint as a coach, we’re starting to see some of that on the field.”
The next test the Grizzlies need to pass is winning on the road. Going back to last year, they’ve lost three straight away from Missoula. Now they go to Cal Poly on Saturday.
