Wilson named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week
The Montana Grizzlies put in their most dominant defensive effort of the season on Saturday, shutting-out Northern Colorado for a second-straight year while allowing the Bears just 18 rushing yards and 94 yards of total offense in a 40-0 win.
Few on the Grizzly defense were as dominant as sophomore linebacker Riley Wilson, who led Montana with an impressive stat line of six tackles, three sacks, and four tackles for loss. For his effort, the Big Sky Conference named him the league’s Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. He also received an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS Defensive Player of the Week.
It’s the first weekly accolade for Wilson, a native of Prosper, Texas, who transferred to Montana from Hawaii in the spring.
As a team, the Griz have now gone three straight active weeks earning a conference Player of the Week award. Ryder Meyer was the Defensive Player of the Week and Grant Glasgow earned the Special Teams award following UM’s win at Idaho. Aaron Fontes was the Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7 after the win at UC Davis.
Wilson’s stats alone made up the bulk of a big day for UM against UNC this week, with the team totaling six sacks for a second-straight game and a season high 12 TFLs.
In his first season in maroon and silver, Wilson is already putting up some league-leading stats.
His three sacks were the most in the Big Sky on Saturday and tied for the second-most in the FCS over the weekend. The three sacks are also tied for the second most in a single game in the league this season, and his four TFLs are the second-most of any player in the conference.
Wilson is now second overall in the Big Sky in sacks with 5.5 on the year, five of those being solo sacks. His 5.5 sacks are also a top-10 total in the FCS.
He’s also second in the league in total TFLs with 8.5, seven of which are solo. That’s a top-20 total in the FCS.
Earning three sacks and four TFLs in a game is no easy feat, even in a defense as strong as Montana’s. The last Grizzly to rack up three sacks in a game was linebacker Jace Lewis who did it at Portland State in 2019. You have to go further back to find a player who totaled four TFLs, with linebacker Josh Buss getting there at Weber State in 2017.
Wilson and the Grizzly defense will need to be up to the task once again this week when No. 7 Sacramento State comes to Missoula for a night game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with kickoff against the Hornets set for 6 p.m.
Montana, No. 3 in this week’s poll, leads the overall series with Sac State 20-4 all-time, but the Hornets come to town riding a three-game win streak in the series, beating UM 28-21 on their last visit to Missoula in 2021.