ISU coach Curt Mallory said during his weekly press availability that the quarterback rotation would likely continue when FCS No. 3 Montana visits Memorial Stadium at 1 p.m. on Saturday. "I think they all give us something. We have three capable quarterbacks and you may see all three of them throughout every game for the rest of the season," Mallory said. Olaes, a Colorado State transfer, first came in when ISU had 2nd-and-7 at the Purdue 11 in the first quarter after the Boilermakers had already built a 21-point lead.
After an incomplete pass, Screws re-entered. After a seven-yard completion to Dante Hendrix, Chambers entered the game for two goal line running plays that netted the Sycamores two yards. Chambers re-entered again in the second quarter in another short yardage situation only for Screws to come back in for passing downs. Olaes came back in the third quarter with ISU down 49. This time, ISU took a longer look as he finished the game. Statistically? No one stood out. Screws completed 6 of 14 for 83 yards and two interceptions, including a pick-six. Olaes completed 6 of 11 for just 11 yards. Chambers did not attempt a pass. "Gavin is our starting quarterback. The other two are very capable of coming in to give us a spark," Mallory said. None of ISU's quarterbacks could get ISU into the end zone and clearly that has to change against a stout Montana team. "We have to be able to score when we get inside the red zone," Mallory said. "It's something we work on everyday. We have to execute and put our players in better positions. We have to come away with touchdowns, not field goals."
The Grizzlies (2-0) have flashed excellence on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Lucas Johnson has completed 71.2% of his passes for 388 yards and five touchdowns. He's also rushed for 151 yards. However, it's the Grizzlies' defense that has really stood out. Montana has given up just seven points in its wins against Northwestern State and ISU's fellow MVFC partner, South Dakota. The Grizzlies rate sixth overall in FCS in total defense, having only given up 216.5 yards per game.
"I've seen some good players and some good defenses. They have a player that's as good as I've seen — [linebacker] Patrick O'Connell. Of the players I've seen in this conference? One is starting for the Carolina Panthers [former Southern Illinois defensive back Jeremy Chinn] and the other is starting for the Denver Broncos [former ISU linebacker Jonas Griffith] and he's just as good."
Montana's excellence was expected. The Grizzlies are a national championship contender and one of several components of the toughest schedule ISU has played in recent memory. Montana begins a six-game stretch in which the Sycamores (1-1) will play all three of the top-three ranked teams in FCS. The other games in that gauntlet aren't easy either — Northern Iowa, Youngstown State and Illinois State with only the Redbirds coming to Terre Haute. Montana is also ISU's introduction into the Big Sky-MVFC Challenge series. The series began in 2017 with partial representation from schools in both leagues. This is ISU's first time as a participant. The Sycamores will play at Montana in 2025. Regardless of the caliber of opponent, Mallory wants to see the Sycamores get on a track where all can fell confident about the progress of the team once conference games begin. "You have to get better from week one to week two and I don't know if we did, to be quite honest. You get beat 56-0? It's hard to gauge whether you got better. You want to feel like going into our bye week, that we've gotten better. We want to win, but we have to get better and that's been our emphasis this week," Mallory said. ISU is still relatively healthy for the game. Safety Rylan Cole will miss the contest, but fellow safety Ethan Hoover is expected to play.
Montana at ISU Time — 1 p.m. SaturdayPlace — Memorial Stadium.
Webstream — ESPN+. Radio — WZJK-FM 105.5. Records — ISU 1-1, Montana 2-0. Series — First meeting.
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