MISSOULA — In his first start as a Montana Grizzly, quarterback Logan Fife caught fire on the inferno at Eastern Washington, led the Grizzlies to over 700 yards of total offense — the second-most in program history — and a 52-49 road win.
In that near-record total, he threw for 364 yards and five touchdowns and added 22 more on the ground for a personal haul of 386 — the most yards of any player in the Big Sky Conference so far this season.
His passing total of 364 yards was also a Big Sky-best, the third-most in the FCS in Week 5, and a top-15 total nationwide this season. Even more impressive: 309 of them came in the first half alone.
Following that dazzling debut, Fife was named Big Sky offensive player of the week by the league office on Monday, the first conference weekly honor of his career. He was also given an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS offensive player of the week.
Fife’s is the second-straight Big Sky weekly accolade for UM, with the Grizzly offense putting nearly 100 points on the board over the last two games. Eli Gillman won it last Monday following his 124-yard rushing day against Western Carolina.
Against EWU, Fife was the catalyst in UM’s offensive outburst. He led the Griz to 701 total yards, split tidily between rushing (337) and passing (364). The sum total was the most of any team in the FCS this season and the eighth-most in all Division I football. It’s also the second-most in program history behind a school-record 717 set against Weber State in 1999.
The redshirt junior completed 30 of his 42 attempts (71.4%) with five TDs and zero interceptions to finish with a QB rating of 183.5, logging the most passing yards of any Grizzly since Dalton Sneed threw for 459 yards in a 2019 playoff win over Southeastern Louisiana.
He also came through in clutch situations, helping Montana convert all three of its fourth-down attempts and go five for five in the red zone while executing some gutsy play calling.
Fife’s primary target for big plays in the passing game was Junior Bergen, who logged a career-high 150 yards receiving, with 111 coming after the catch. He also helped set up Montana’s two-headed monster in the ground game, with Nick Ostmo and Gillman each rushing for over 100 yards — the second time this season UM has had two players pass the century mark.
Fife is in his first year at Montana after spending three seasons at Fresno State where he played in 21 games and made five starts for the Bulldogs, passing for over 1,500 yards and six touchdowns.
The 4-1 Grizzlies return home to Missoula this week for another Big Sky Conference showdown, with the 2-3 Weber State Wildcats coming to town.
