12 for 12: Out of Habernation

What if I told you that just because you can’t hear the roar doesn’t mean the bear is dead? What if I told you that “grizzly” literally means “inspires fear?” What if I told you a bear is strongest when waking up from hibernation? And what if I told you it takes more than one punch to knock out a crimson chin? FCFB Overtime presents 12 for 12: Out of Habernation.

Season 2: Winning from the Beginning

Montana began Season 2 with a sparkling record of 7-0 in the burgeoning Fake Football Championship Subdivision and looked to be unstoppable. Coach Habes, AKA The Crimson Chin, was relentless with his offense and defense. A minor hiccup against Northern Colorado in Week 8 seemed to be an accident, and the infamous Weber State game was deemed to be a fluke. A convincing win over in-state rival Montana State in Week 12 had the Grizzlies riding high at #1 and despite the loss to eventual national champion Cal Poly in the Big Sky Championship game, Montana was the odds-on favorite to win the FFCS national championship. Dominating Idaho State 49-14 in the second round led to many believing that the Grizzlies deep playoff run was just getting started. Then, a week later in the quarterfinals, disaster struck.

Season 2 Quarterfinals: #8 Dayton 45, #1 Montana 21 (12-4)

Habes: I hadn’t played a game like the Dayton game up to that point in my career. No matter what I did, he had an answer. Even when it was 21-21 at halftime I didn’t feel great about my chances going into the rest of the game but I still had some hope that I was one or two big plays away from breaking it open. Alas, the second half was the worst half of football we played all year and it happened at the worst time. I somehow ended up being the only Top 4 team to not make the Final Four and gave up 24 unanswered points and shutdown completely in the second half. My confidence was shattered from one bad half of football. It affected me emotionally more than I thought it would, but I put a lot of effort and time into not only the game, but the community. I thought “it can’t just end in the Quarterfinals losing to a new coach almost no one knows.” I still remember just sitting in my car for a while after the game went final and just trying to figure out what the hell just happened. It was a weird mix of sad and just pure shock at what happened. This loss really rattled me for a while so I had to take a step back from fake football for a while.

“I didn’t think they were going to be anywhere near as dominant as they were regardless of who they lost to in the playoffs or IF they lost in the playoffs. There were a lot more coaches in Season 3 that had experience and could put up a fight then there were at the start of Season 2. I understand more than anyone else how hard it is to bounce back after a brutal loss, things just don’t click for a game or two after that, let alone to have that happen in the playoffs. But I think the fact that they bounced back is just a statement to the great coach they have in Habes. It goes without saying that the way Season 3 started and their OOC record was not an expected outcome though.” – Keyo, head coach of the Cal Poly Mustangs

Season 3

The coaches poll voted Montana #1 to start the year despite the disappointing end to Season 2. Everyone expected the Grizzlies to remain as the powerhouse atop the best conference in the league. Nobody could have predicted what came next.

Week 1: #23 Dartmouth 42, #1 Montana 0 (0-1)

Habes: As bad as the loss was, I didn’t care. From a fake football standpoint I still had a few losses to play with and I knew that. My focus was on my real life though. When your son dies and your wife needs life-saving surgery you can’t focus on anything else. I was just playing the first numbers I could type up because I didn’t want to inconvenience Dartmouth by being slow and just wanted to game to end. I didn’t care about the result. I wanted to shut the world away. I don’t think I talked to anyone for almost a week. I was living out my worst nightmare.

“I think it was a combination of a few things. The external events surrounding Montana’s performance that week were completely and understandably justifiable for the outcome. I really think of that game as the exception rather than the rule when it comes to Montana’s potential. It definitely changed my perspective on the parity around the league, especially that of the Ivy. After hearing the first Late Night show during preseason I realized the possibility that all teams mentioned (as well as others not mentioned) could win the championship this year.” – &, head coach of the Alabama A&M Bulldogs

Week 2: Morehead State 35, #14 Montana 20 (0-2)

Habes: At this point I was in talks with the ODU coach (one of my closest friends) to have him take over for me for the time being. But I also felt like I needed a healthy distraction so I played on despite getting my cheeks clapped. I always have a mindset of “I’m going to score no matter what, I just need to make stops or make them settle for field goals.” Unfortunately, I didn’t make enough stops and 20 points rarely gets you a win in this league. I wasn’t feeling too great about the way I was playing at this point in the season.

“I had heard the legends of Montana from the previous season, but to me it was all hearsay. I thought that there was nothing to the mythology. Their rough start cemented this thinking in my brain. I said to myself, “this guy’s no different from the rest of us.” I was very confused when people spoke so highly of him, and why people were fearful of him. The loss to Dartmouth in Week 1 squashed any thoughts in my mind of Montana being special. I was a skeptic from the start.” – Judge, head coach of the Kennesaw State Owls

Week 3: Idaho State 54, Montana 42 (0-3)

Habes: Danny at Montana State is a close friend and a great rival of mine, but the games I have against Tenny and the way our friendship works, I think he is my greatest rival, especially considering this would be our third matchup in a seasons worth of games. I had the playoff blowout against him very fresh in my mind and knew that I had the edge over him, even in my current mental state. The game was much closer than the score indicates and I was pleased about how I played on offense and that was a good takeaway, but at this point I seriously thought about retiring. Ironically, I shared all of this with Tenny and he was understanding. Mentally, I was in an awful headspace in terms of my real life issues like fighting depression and trying to find out what to do next in my life. I even had typed out a retirement speech I was going to post. I loved this community and the people here too much to leave though and this game still provides me the competitive rush I need in my life. I had to bounce back at some point I just needed that one win to kickstart things. Just one win, I thought to myself, and I can make a run.

“I had mixed feelings about our win over Montana in week 3. On one hand it was great to get revenge over my rival and friend who beat me twice last season, but on the other hand I know the loss was tough on him. At that point he was having a rough season, both on and off the field, and there was a very real possibility of him dropping from the league. I did my best to be there for him and help him figure out what he wanted to do. In the end, all I could do was hope his luck would turn around and that he would stay in the FFCS.” – Tenny, former head coach of the Idaho State Bengals

Week 4: Montana 48, Northern Arizona 38 (1-3)



Habes: Man, I needed this win badly. I was struggling more than I wanted to but I was also starting to feel some momentum. More importantly, I needed a pick-me-up. However, I knew the next week was going to be a bigger indicator of where I was because NAU isn’t the type of opponent I’m used to playing against. Not meant to be a slam on him, but I had played a top 10 team in most of my games last season. It’s a different type of game. Campbell felt like a good test to see where I was on the year.

“Montana was a bit disappointing in the first quarter of the season. You had this Goliath of a coach the year before and then a sudden fall from grace. You have to Remember at that time that it looked as if Montana, Princeton, and my own squad were all D.O.A. I think this year showed while it is a numbers game, the really good coaches like Drew will rise. I know we all looked at the records after their win over NAU and said “Drew can still win the Big Sky.” But nobody really laughed at it like we would with any other coach. If I am his first round opponent this season I am livid because I just missed out on a bye and I have to play Drew? That’s a no from me dawg.” – Brady, head coach of the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils

Week 5: Campbell 55, Montana 27 (1-4)

Habes: Going into this matchup I wouldn’t say I was confident but I definitely thought I was going to win and start making a run. Then reality hit and I accepted my fate as a one-season wonder. Real life issues aside, I was really struggling on the field. Giving up 42.5 points a game was becoming a huge issue. I almost changed playbooks after this game, seriously considering the Option/5-2 combination. I had to stop the big plays and I need to eat more time on the clock because I couldn’t complete passes. I had more incomplete passes than anyone in the league. I don’t have an official stat on that, but I’m sure we had the most. This was also the game where I realized that I have to win the Big Sky to get in. I knew it was unrealistic for me to completely win out. I had to do what I couldn’t last year.

“That was a really pivotal game for the Grizzlies. If they beat a quality Campbell team and get to 2-3, they would have a little momentum going into conference play. At 1-4 I assumed any chance of playoffs were long gone. As teams like Princeton and Idaho State began to drop, you could see the old tapestry of the FCS being painted over.” Chase, head coach of the Northern Iowa Panthers

Week 6: Montana 47, Portland State 44 (2-4)

Habes: This game was actually extremely fun and I have a ton of respect for Portland State. Their coach is awesome. My defense was still an issue, but my offense felt smooth and that was vindication of my choice to stay with the spread playbook. Although I needed to beat these types of teams by more points. If I was going to beat a team like Montana State, Dixie State, or Southern Utah, I knew that I couldn’t win with games like these. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have subtle optimism about how the rest of my schedule panned out. Realistically I just needed two big wins to make the conference championship.

“It looked like Montana had a real rough start to the year. They didn’t really figure themselves out until the very end of the season and I’m just surprised they made it to the CCG, let alone won. They didn’t seem like a strong enough team during the year. Their Week 6 victory was a real narrow win against a team that also had a fairly middling season and finished the season what, 5-6? I did not expect the Grizzlies to make the playoffs at that point. – Juni, head coach of the North Carolina Central Eagles

Week 7: Montana 47, Idaho 25 (3-4)

Habes: This was the game I was looking for to build momentum for the back half of the schedule. Idaho wasn’t a bad team but I finally blew someone out and I felt like I was getting back to the dominant offense that made me good last year. There were a lot of instances in this game that felt very familiar to moments last season when I was crushing people. My mojo was starting to return and my spirits were up pretty high.

“I probably saw them finishing 2nd or 3rd in their division at maybe 5-6 wins. I knew Haber still had it in him, but he couldn’t afford to drop any games to his divisional opponents. It’s the most impressive 7-5 I’ve ever seen.” – Jake, head coach of the Yale Bulldogs

Week 8: #13 Jacksonville State 38, Montana 17 (3-5)

Habes: I couldn’t be as intense about this game as I wanted to be but I knew I’d be okay if I lost because this was out of conference play. I tried to play hard and I got smacked around. The JSU coach is one of the best and most underrated in our league. He will always be a top 10-15 coach in my mind. But this result meant nothing in terms of the bigger picture and I didn’t get dejected about it. Confidence wasn’t high, but not too low either. I had my complete focus on preparing for Zand and San Diego.

“I figured that Montana had a chance of winning at least two more games with EWU and Weber State both being new coaches but I largely expected the Grizzlies season to be a bust at that point.” – Mason, head coach of the Dixie State Trailblazers

Week 9: Montana 28, #12 San Diego 21 (4-5)

Habes: I’ll be the first one to admit that I wasn’t necessarily proud of the way I played this game. He has stated his case and got to make his comments but I’d like to perspective. Hurrying and chewing the clock in our game concept is overpowered, everyone knows that. He was hurrying the clock, typical Zand, that’s why he scores a lot. So I chewed. I know I can score, take a look at my previous games if you don’t believe me. I chewed for a couple reasons: I was playing the best defense of my life, my offense was struggling a bit but I was holding onto a lead and had growing confidence I could hold Zand to a low amount of points, and I’m not going to let him use hurry and get more possessions to find his offense again. Why would I give him that chance? If he didn’t use hurry, I’d be more than happy to play normal. But I’m smarter than most coaches, I’m not letting you play the game you want to play, that’s a basic coaching philosophy of mine. So Zand, if you somehow read this because I know you aren’t a fan of mine, I’ll tell you what everyone told me after my Weber State game last year: You should have scored more than you did if you wanted to win. You had your chance. You blew it. I felt good after this win, I felt like I was back to my old self. I knew I was back. I knew I could make a run.

“I know hindsight is 20/20, but after that win, you just know it was more likely than not that Montana would end up the Big Sky Champion.” – Real Rez, head coach of the Princeton Tigers

Week 10: Montana 64, Eastern Washington 30 (5-5)

Habes: Fun fact: For having a top 3 offense in both my seasons here, EWU is the only team I have put up 60 on, and after this game I had done it twice. I’m going to be honest, I knew I’d win this game and the next week against Weber State. I knew it would come down to the game against Danny and Montana State. I respect these two teams, but they were just nuisances in my path to Danny. I had to send a message to everyone else though. I wanted to show everyone that Zand wasn’t a fluke and that I was coming for Danny.

“I thought maybe they had an outside shot at winning the CCG, since they were 5-1 in-conference at that point, but I thought Montana State would likely win the BotW and beat them to the CCG, so I wouldn’t have bet on it.” Joks, head coach of the Penn Quakers

Week 11: Montana 45, Weber State 7 (6-5)

Habes: Again, I’d like to reiterate, there was never a doubt in my mind I’d win this game. Best defensive game I played up to this point in my career and my confidence was sky high going into Week 12 against Danny. I had even told Tenny that no matter what, I’ll always feel like I’d have the mental edge over Montana State. Last year, I ran the table and Danny was basically little brother, even though he was having a remarkable season himself. This season, he was #1 but still had everything to play for and had more pressure than I did, in my opinion. I was playing every game like it was playoffs because I had to, I’ve been mentally prepared for this for a long time. I was ready for Danny. Locked. In.

“I was disappointed that Weber State had found a new head coach by this point in the season. The Rematch That Could Have Been turned into the Rivalry That Never Was. While the Grizzlies will tell you that they were focussed on bigger fish, I’m not entirely convinced that Coach Haber sent the first string back out there the entire game because he forgot to put in the subs. When I saw the scoreline for this one I knew that the Second Fake Brawl of the Wild was going to be a doozy.” – Justin Average, head coach of the Campbell Fighting Camels.

Week 12: #25 Montana 45, #1 Montana State 43 (7-5)

Habes: Drew vs Danny. Montana vs Montana State. Big Sky North on the line. This is what I had on my mind for two months. This was what I knew it would come down to months ago when I knew I had to win the conference. From the get-go, I had the game in control. That was what I wanted, a fast start. Last season we played an extremely tight, defensive game but this one was already much different. I held a good grip on the game and I took a lead into the fourth quarter. I started choking and getting in my own head. I took some rest and came back to a new mindset. I think it only slightly helped because I knew no matter what I did, this was coming down to the wire. We ended up exchanging scores and once again it came down to him converting a two point conversion, just like last year. I thought “if I win because of stopping this two point conversation, I’ll be ecstatic because his missed PAT earlier was actually a calculated number, not chosen by random.” Sure enough, I stopped him and kneeled it out. I slayed the dragon and earned my shot to make playoffs. Everyone talks about my games with Tenny, or against UNI, but I feel like my games with Danny aren’t remembered as being a classic but both games have been just as intense as the others and Danny is tough as nails. I hope he genuinely takes over this conference next season and dominates. He is arguably the best coach we have in the FCS, and someone I have the utmost respect for. Win or lose on the field, Danny is my friend for life.

“The end of the Brawl was one of the biggest senses of Deja Vu I’ve ever gotten. After being down nearly an insurmountable amount, I came roaring back into the game. Then, due to my previous errors, I had to score a 2 point conversion to tie it up with 0:53 left in the fourth quarter. In this game, as with the last time I faced Habes, I looked up and down at all of the scouting. The only difference was that my scouting was much more clear this time around. That two-point conversion was most pivotal point in the game and I had one chance to stave off a loss. The number I settled on, 145, I knew was wrong. My mind was screaming at me that there was no way he would be on that end of the range in the most pivotal point in the game. But I didn’t make scouting to be correct, that was never the intention. I made it so I can justify my play. Losing without scouting makes me feel so much more awful than losing with scouting. If I lose with scouting, I at least know I did everything I could. So despite my fears, I went 145. Habes went 724. I was pretty deflated. I knew with all my heart when I submitted my number that I was wrong but even the fact that I had scouted doesn’t insulate the fact that I was so disappointed in myself. I may or may not have deserved to be in the game at that point so the fact that I was within two points of tying it felt almost like gravy, but losing hurts and that’s facts. I talked a lot about the playoff picture after that game, but my mind was only on my own season. I realize I will likely be around #9 given the CCG opportunities many teams behind me had. ‘Ol number 9, the ranking I had after my first game of FCFB, a big win against Matthew at Jacksonville State. It’s where I was in last year’s playoffs too, one spot out of a bye, not that I deserved a seed but it was still just as sad. To hold the #1 spot for longer than anyone else this season but have a chance of losing a bye (or worse, ending up #9) was crushing. I led the division for so long, I went 3-1 OOC, yet still lost the title to someone who started 1-4 with no OOC wins. It’s not fun to live in a shadow. But life moves on, and I knew there was still another game he had to play before this game meant anything for his team. The rational side of me understood that there was roughly a 50% chance he wins and 50% chance he loses. My gut said there was no way he doesn’t beat the tar out of anyone in his way. My gut said that the story would never be over; I let this happen and he will wreak havoc. I should listen to my gut more often, it tends to be correct.” – Danny, head coach of the Montana State Bobcats

Conference Championship: Montana 38, #18 Southern Utah 7 (8-5, Big Sky Champs, Playoff Bound)

Habes: Going into this game I had fully expected to play Dixie State. I had mentally prepared for our game for a while. It’s something we had joked about months ago and was close to coming to fruition. Mason lost to SUU though and I had no idea who the SUU coach was or what he was about so I took a look at his previous games and found a discrepancy. I’m not going to say what it is in case I go against him again or just give away my “scouting report”, but I had a good feeling about my gameplan. Jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. Only TD I gave up was a fumble-six in which I knew he either going to one of two numbers and chose the wrong one. My defense didn’t give up a single point and scored multiple TDs again. If anything, that is proof of how far I’ve come. Going from giving up 42.5 ppg and forcing maybe one turnover per game, to pitching a near shutout and scoring multiple touchdowns was one of the greatest turnarounds I’ve witnessed. This was personal confirmation that I am still a good coach no matter how these playoffs go.

“I’ve noticed is that Montana as a team, but perhaps more accurately coach Habes as a person, is something everyone has an opinion about. Many elevated him to a god like status and for much of last season, assumed he was incapable of failure. I think that influenced how his run this season was viewed. Sure, he went 0-4 OOC, but doesn’t Habes always find a way? On the flip side, you have the people who don’t like him as much because of his often aggressive nature, so his rhetoric can be polarizing. It seems like he has more fans than haters though I’ve heard it from both sides over the course of the season.” – Babatunde, FFCS President

The Future

Montana earned an automatic bid to the FFCS Season 3 Playoffs and currently awaits the announcement of their first-round opponent. We asked several coaches what their initial thoughts would be if they were matched up against the Grizzlies next week.

“I look forward to potentially playing him. He’s a great coach and an even better person.” – Mason “Please have mercy on me!” – & “Watch me have to face them in the first round of playoffs and get bodied.” – Juni “I hope we win! Am I super confident? Not really. But I’m hopeful that if we make it to the playoffs we’ll be able to turn this skid around and beat some good teams.” – Joks “No matter what happens, I love you son” – Real Rez “He’s proven that there is something to the winning aura around him. I would relish the opportunity to make history in a playoff game with the Griz. I’m not as skeptical anymore, but I don’t think the intimidation factor will affect me as it has others.” – Judge “Well f— me in the a–.” – Brady “Wow… that would be something, wouldn’t it? Returning to where it all started. Drew and I have always wanted to play again since that classic in November of 2018. If I got to play him in the playoffs, there would certainly be a lot of headlines, but I’d be honored to be the second MVC team to eliminate Montana from the playoffs.” – Chase “Oh boy, if I faced them in the playoffs, I don’t know if I could mentally prepare to take on the legend. These new coaches are gonna learn who their daddy is this playoffs.” – Jake “I’ll need to play flawlessly, and I will.” – Danny “I would love to play him and further prove the fact that Cal Poly owns the state of Montana, it doesn’t matter which CP coach or who it will be down the line Montana and Montana St will always fall to the Mustangs. I’d love to send the king packing one last time.” – Keyo

Coach Habes gave one final statement to the hometown media in Missoula before getting on the team bus and departing for the first round playoff game.

Habes: To be in the position I’m in right now was something I, along with many others, didn’t really think was possible earlier this year. We had to grind out some tough results and we showed what we were really made of along the way. We didn’t have to go through a whole lot of scrutiny last season and that changed this year. I can’t lie and say I didn’t think I was on another level compared to my peers but this season has humbled me. There are amazing coaches in this league and I love the competition. Anyone can win any given game. I know I’ve made friends and enemies in here during my time, both are earned and justified, but other people like Tenny, Danny, Mason, Chase, Brady, Camel, and others, too many to name, have helped make this run special. I went from dead in the water to playoffs. Win or lose, it’s unreal to be in this spot.