(Editor's note: University of Montana media release)
MISSOULA — Following yet another dominant defensive effort at Northern Arizona, the Montana Grizzlies doubled-up on weekly honors Monday, with Robby Hauck named both the Stats Perform FCS Defensive Player of the Week and the ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
The conference and national accolades are the first of Hauck's career and come on the heels of a game-high 14-tackle performance against the Lumberjacks – his third-straight and sixth overall double-digit tackle total of the season.
He lived in the Lumberjack backfield with that season-high 14 tackles (seven solo, seven assisted), and helped seal the Griz win with a strip-sack in the third quarter that led to a scoop-and-score touchdown for Patrick O'Connell and the Grizzly defense – one of two touchdowns on the day for the unit.
He was also a key player in a defensive effort that didn't allow the 'Jacks into the UM red zone once on Saturday and is the leading tackler in a group that has now kept opposing offenses without a touchdown for 10 straight quarters – over 150 minutes of game time.
A team captain, he's also been a key part of Montana's Big Sky-best rush defense that improved it's stifling season total to an average of just 73 yards allowed after holding NAU to just 55 yards on the ground. UM's 73-yard average of rushing defense ranks third in the FCS this week as well.
Hauck's 14 tackles were the third-most in the Big Sky on Week 11, now placing him third in the conference in total tackles this season behind MSU's Troy Andersen and Cal Poly's Matt Shotwell with a team-high total of 101 stops which ranks him eleventh nationally.
Hauck now moves into sixth place on Montana's all-time leading tackler list after passing Mike Rankin (1985-88) and Jordan Tripp (2009-13) with 337 career tackles. He's also just 29 stops away from surpassing his 2019 season total of 129 tackles, and needs just 61 more stops to become Montana's all-time leading tackler – still with a year left to play.
