(Editor's note: UM athletics press release)
MISSOULA--The eyes of the college football world will once again fall on the Montana Grizzlies when UM travels to Cheney on Oct. 2 to take on Eastern Washington under the lights at Roos Field.
ESPN announced Monday that the broadcast of the game will be bumped up from ESPN U to ESPN 2, putting the Grizzlies in front of millions more fans on basic cable and satellite packages nationwide. The game now marks the first time ever a regular season Big Sky Conference contest will be shown on the network.
With kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. (MT), Montana versus Eastern Washington is set to be one of the last college football games in the nation that weekend. As of 2018, approximately 86 million television households in America – over 93-percent of households with pay TV – have ESPN 2 as part of their cable or satellite package.
Montana (2-0) and Eastern Washington (3-0) have been two of the highest-profile FCS teams in the nation this season, with the Grizzlies upsetting the No. 20 Washington Huskies in Seattle and the Eagles beating UNLV in Las Vegas on week one.
The Grizzlies lead the all-time series with the Eagles 28-17-1 dating back to the first meeting in 1938, but only lead the series 11-10 in games played at Eastern Washington. Montana, however, is winless in Cheney after EWU installed red turf at Roos Field with an 0-5 road record since 2010. The Griz won the last meeting between the two rivals 34-17 in Missoula in 2019.
Montana will first host Cal Poly on Sept. 25 in Missoula to open Big Sky play, while Eastern Washington travels to Cedar City to take on Southern Utah.
