Montana Has Dominated Idaho Recently. The All-Time Record Tells a Different Story

Montana vs. Idaho. Former Grizzly head coach Bobby Hauck said it wasn't a rivalry. He argued the only rival Montana has is Montana State.

I disagreed. I never understood the "we only have one rival" argument. A lot of teams have multiple rivals. Florida State has Miami and Florida. Alabama has the entire SEC. Notre Dame has the entire country.

Heck, I dislike several people in real life!

Regardless of how you clarify it, Montana vs. Idaho is the battle for the Little Brown Stein. The Griz and Vandals kick off this Saturday at 1 pm. Before kickoff, let's look back at the all-time series.

Idaho has dominated the all-time series 56-32-2. There is a caveat to that, however. Most of Idaho's wins came before 2000. Thirty-two of the Vandals ' wins came before 1960.

Since 2000, Montana has dominated the series, going 9-1 against Idaho. Even in the 90s, Montana went 4-3 against Idaho.

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The 1980s were dominated by Idaho (9-3), as were the 1970s (7-2-1), and especially the 1950s (8-1).

Idaho came to Missoula last season for a nationally televised game against the Griz. It was all Montana last September, as Montana won 41-30, and it wasn't even that close.

Eli Gillman rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and Keali'i Ah Yat had a passing and a rushing touchdown.

Credit: University of Montana Athletics

2023 was an all-time classic. Montana rolled into the Kibbie Dome and defeated the Vandals 23-21. Idaho was No.3 in the country and trailed 23-7 with 11:43 left in the game. The Vandals scored twice in the final six minutes to get back within two, and had the ball in the final minutes to win the game.

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With 52 seconds left, Griz defensive end Kale Edwards stripped Idaho quarterback Gevani McCoy, and former No. 37 Levi Janacaro recovered it to seal the win.

Credit: University of Montana Athletics

Here are the last 10 meetings in the Montana-Idaho series.