MISSOULA — World, meet Ty Morrison, Grizzly punter and kicker.
Playing in his first-ever game at Montana, Morrison introduced himself as yet another potential Griz candidate for FCS punter of the year with a stellar debut in maroon and silver on Saturday.
You’ll forgive the junior college transfer for doinking his first kick in front of 26,000 strong at Washington-Grizzly Stadium off the uprights on a first-quarter PAT attempt.
After that, however, he was lights out.
Morrison posted the best punting average and longest punt in the league so far this season and scored 11 points with his foot to help the Griz to a 29-24 win over Missouri State in the home opener.
In doing so, Morrison was named the Big Sky Conference special teams player of the week on Monday, making him one-for-one in weekly awards as a Grizzly.
Morrison averaged 45.3 yards per attempt over four punts to total 181 yards, with a long of 61 yards and two landing inside the 20.
His 61-yarder is the longest punt in the Big Sky so far this season, and his average of 45.3 is also tops in the league. Even more impressive: After kicking that longest punt in the league, he was seen sprinting down field and putting his body on the line to take down the MSU returner in space, saving a potential touchdown and logging his first career tackle.
The junior was rock solid in the place-kicking department as well, going 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, hitting from 35, 22, and 38 yards out, and 2-of-3 on PATs for a personal haul of 11 points.
Morrison also out-kicked Missouri State’s All-America punter Grant Burkett, an FCS punter of the year watch list member who averaged 42.2 yards on four attempts for 169 yards total, with a long of 52 and none inside the 20 against UM.
The native of Valencia, Calif., started his career in 2022 at a community college near his hometown — the College of the Canyons. There he earned first-team All-Northern Conference honors and helped lead the Cougars to a conference championship.
He made an impression that year, playing in 10 games as a freshman and totaling 2,026 yards on 57 punting attempts, an average of 35.5 yards per punt with a long of 52. He dropped 22 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line with 16 resulting in a fair catch. As a kicker he made 12 of 15 field goal attempts with a long of 41 yards and made 30 of 32 PATs for 66 total points, a team high.
He was on the squad at College of the Canyons in 2023 but did not see action. He transferred to Montana following the spring semester in 2024 in time for summer training after being spotted at a camp by head coach Bobby Hauck.
He was a highly rated specialist coming out of high school where he was named a 4.5-star prospect by Chris Sailer Kicking. He played three years on the varsity squad as both a kicker and a punter and totaled 1,702 yards on 51 attempts, an average of 33.4 yards per punt. As a kicker he went 73 for 79 on PAT attempts and made 11 of 19 field goal attempts with a long of 41 yards to finish his career with 106 points.
Known for putting an emphasis on special teams, Hauck has mentored two winners of the Ray Guy FCS punter of the year award since returning to Montana in 2018. Brian Buschini won national honors in 2021, and Kalispell’s Patrick Rohrbach repeated as the FCS’s top punter in 2022.
Morrison and the Grizzlies hit the road this week for another test against a strong team from the Missouri Valley Conference, traveling to Grand Forks to play the No. 23 North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
