MISSOULA, Mont. — It’s been colloquially referred to as the “Mecca of FCS football,” and you truly have to see it to believe it.
As someone who’s now made the obligatory pilgrimage to Washington-Grizzly Stadium, I stood there in awe Saturday afternoon while standing on crowded sidelines as more than 22,000 Montana Grizzlies fans roared their way to a resounding 52-22 triumph over South Dakota in the FCS quarterfinals.
The final tally of 22,725 fans — the largest crowd of this year’s FCS playoffs — made for a deafening environment for the visiting Coyotes, who were whistled for eight false starts throughout the contest.
But the scene itself was unlike anything I’d ever experienced at a college football game.
Granted, I’ve witnessed only a small portion of what college football has to offer during my 36 years on this earth.
When I was 8 years old, my family moved from northwest Iowa to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where I got my first-ever taste of the SEC. I can still remember watching the Crimson Tide play countless games at Bryant-Denny Stadium, where I got to witness Shaun Alexander play his final college season, but despite that impressionable time in my life, the Tide weren’t the constant juggernaut they came to be years later under Nick Saban.
By that time, my family had moved to middle Tennessee, and my allegiance to a college team no longer existed. Still, though, my love for football persisted.
I eventually graduated from Austin Peay State University, got my first big-boy job at the Kentucky New Era in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and was fortunate enough to get the chance to rekindle my love for the SEC with several trips to cover the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium.
All that to say Saturday was something like a blast from my past.
South Dakota and Montana players get warmed up while fans begin filling the stands prior to the start of an FCS quarterfinal game Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Mont.
Trent Singer / Sioux Falls Live
Nestled at the base of grassy mountains, WaGriz possesses a natural beauty that makes the game-day experience wholly unique, and on this day in particular, temperatures hovered around 50 degrees at kickoff while the sun found no place to hide, creating the perfect recipe for an impassioned Grizzlies fanbase to leave an indelible mark on the scattered Coyotes fans who also made the pilgrimage to Missoula.
The student section was there in full force, as well as a number of fans donning grizzly-bear costumes and coats, and by the time the opening kickoff arrived, it was hard to find an empty seat in the house, save for a few rows at the top of each corner section.
It made for a remarkable image for a nationally televised audience, many of whom likely witnessed it for the very first time.
“This is a special football place,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. “There aren’t that many of them in the western United States, and we’ve got one of them.”
Montana fans cheer on the Grizzlies prior to the start of an FCS quarterfinal game against South Dakota on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Mont.
Trent Singer / Sioux Falls Live
If you’re of the belief that FCS football is dead, think again. Washington-Grizzly Stadium — and Bobcat Stadium, for that matter — are proof that the upper echelon is alive and well.
During the 2025 regular season, the Griz averaged 26,464 fans (105% capacity) at WaGriz, ranking second among all FCS schools. Meanwhile, MSU was fourth in the FCS at 121.3% capacity, averaging 21,877 fans per game.
Don’t get me wrong — there are certainly glaring questions about whether or not FCS football, in its current form, is a sustainable product, and there’s plenty of merit to those questions.
The year-over-year roster turnover leads many onlookers to believe a sea change in college football is merely an inevitability, and with Power Four schools inching closer and closer to establishing a playing field of their own, a massive shakeup in the college football landscape could very well be on the horizon.
But in many ways, Montana’s 38 wins and seven losses at WaGriz in the playoffs is made evident by the passion that pours out on fall Saturdays.
Montana’s student section floats a giant flag after the Grizzlies scored a touchdown against South Dakota in an FCS quarterfinal game Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Mont.
Trent Singer / Sioux Falls Live
It’s the product of a community that treats its football program as a point of pride — the “front porch” of the university, as Hauck put it — and a culture that’s been carefully built and fiercely protected over decades.
“If they don’t know what’s here,” Hauck said, “they haven’t been paying attention.”
That sentiment extends beyond the spectacle and into the locker room, where players buy into something bigger than themselves.
For San Diego State transfer Caleb Otlewski, it didn’t take long to understand why Montana works.
“The culture here is strong,” Otlewski said. “Everyone bands together as a group, as a family. Everyone has each other’s backs, and that’s what I feel like I’ve come to find out in Montana.”
Montana’s mascot, Monte, and a Montana cheerleader ride onto the field prior to the start of an FCS quarterfinal game against South Dakota on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Mont.
Trent Singer / Sioux Falls Live
In an era where college football feels increasingly transactional, Montana’s home-field aura serves as a reminder of what still makes the sport special. The future of the FCS may be uncertain, but on a crisp December afternoon in Missoula, with 22,725 voices echoing off the mountains, it felt very much alive.
And if you’ve never made the pilgrimage, Hauck made it simple — if you don’t know what’s here, you just haven’t been paying attention.