MISSOULA — Things started a little inauspiciously for No. 3-ranked Montana against Drake on Saturday. But the day definitely belonged to the Griz — and All-America running back Eli Gillman.
Drake scored first in the opening quarter as QB Riley Warzynski found Willis Nofsinger with a 67-yard catch and run, which led to a 22-yard field goal. Gillman, though, answered with three rushing touchdowns in the first half to push to the top of UM's career record and help push Montana to a 45-10 win.
Gillman had TD runs of 1, 3 and 3 yards as Montana built a three-score lead. He also caught a short touchdown pass from Keali'i Ah Yat in the third quarter for a four-touchdown day. Gillman now has 53 career rushing scores, which puts him in front of Chase Reynolds on the all-time list.
In all, Gillman now has 59 total end zone visits to tie Reynolds for the school's all-time mark.
With the victory, Montana improved to 2-0 under first-year head coach Bobby Kennedy.
ELI RECORD WATCH: Gillman has ticked one career record off his list, but he has more that he's chasing.
Gillman's next touchdown will give him 60 for his career, which will break the school's total TD record of 59, also owned by Reynolds. On Saturday, Gillman had 105 rushing yards to give him 3,858 for his career. He is now 213 away from breaking Yohance Humphery's career mark of 4,070.
4TH DOWN FACTOR: Drake had zero problem going for it on fourth down. The Grizzlies had zero problem making that strategy futile.
On their second possession, the Bulldogs went for it twice on fourth down on their side of the 50. The second attempt failed, and that eventually led to Gillman's second TD run of the first quarter and a 14-3 Griz lead. And then in the third quarter, with a chance to make it a two-possession game, Drake was stuffed by Montana's defense on a fourth-down play near the goal line and was unable to cut the deficit.
Drake, of the non-scholarship FCS Pioneer Football League, was 1 for 5 on its fourth-down attempts.
KEEPING THE QB IN CHECK: Drake's Warzynski, a week after throwing for a school-record 535 yards in a 38-35 upset loss to NCAA Division II South Dakota Mines, showed his toughness on Saturday by surviving sustained pressure and several big hits in the pocket.
In this game, Warzynski completed 31 of 60 passes for 252 yards and a late touchdown as the Grizzlies kept the Bulldogs' gunslinger from truly breaking out.
PENALTY PROBLEM: About the only difficulty Montana had on Saturday was in the penalty department. The Grizzlies incurred 16 flags for a whopping 138 yards — something Kennedy and the coaches will undoubtedly address this week.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Grizzlies (2-0) step back into conference play this coming Saturday against a new member of the Big Sky, Utah Tech. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.
The Trailblazers were scheduled for an in-state clash against BYU of the FBS Big 12 Conference this week. Utah Tech suffered a 54-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Montana State in its Big Sky debut on Aug. 29.