MISSOULA — Following his best day rushing in an already prolific career, Montana running back Eli Gillman was named the Big Sky offensive player of the week on Monday after the sophomore racked up 175 yards and a touchdown on the ground in UM’s ranked win over Western Carolina.
Gillman averaged a first down every time he touched the ball with his career-high 175 yards coming on just 14 carries, leveling out at 12.5 yards per tote. That average was bolstered by a 66-yard burst around left end that gave Montana its first touchdown of the day and seized momentum from the visitors early in the second quarter.
It was the reigning FCS freshman of the year’s second-straight 100-yard rushing game this season and the fifth of his career, with two different runs of 50-plus yards against the Catamounts.
Surprisingly, it’s Gillman’s first Big Sky weekly honor as a Grizzly after being nominated three times in his 2023 campaign. He was named the FCS freshman of the week last year, however, following a 113-yard day against Sacramento State.
His 175 yards against WCU are one of the top 25 rushing games of all-time for Montana, tied with his position coach Justin Green’s 2003 game total against Eastern Washington and just one yard shy of last week’s 176-yard performance from teammate Malae Fonoti.
He was a catalyst for another dominant rushing performance for UM that saw the Griz total 349 yards and six TDs on the ground against the Catamounts. That comes a week after rushing for 410 yards and seven TDs against Morehead State for a total of 759 yards in two games. It’s the most for the team since 2022 when Montana rushed for 749 in a two-game stretch against Cal Poly and Eastern Washington.
Gillman has been a big part of UM’s recent ground game superlatives with 281 yards and three TDs on 22 carries over the last two games, averaging nearly 13 yards per touch. With 86 at North Dakota, he now has 367 rushing yards in the last three games, the best three-game stretch for a Grizzly running back since Yohance Humphrey had consecutive games of 197, 148 and 194 way back in 2000.
As such, Gillman is now the leading rusher in the Big Sky with 456 yards and six touchdowns, an average of 114 per game to pace the conference. That total of 456 yards places him fifth in the FCS this week, and his six rushing TDs are tied for the fourth most in the nation.
Gillman also rocketed into the Montana record books after his career-high day against Western Carolina, now ranked No. 20 in Grizzly history in career rushing yards with 1,489. He’s also ranked No. 13 on UM’s all-time leaders list for rushing touchdowns with 19 in his career.
Quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat also received a tip of the hat Monday for his performance against Western Carolina, earning an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS freshman of the week.
Ah Yat was 16-for-27 passing for 145 yards but added 57 more yards and a record four touchdowns rushing for 202 yards of total offense.
He became the first QB in Montana history to rush for four TDs and the first player overall to do it in over a decade when running back Jordan Canada ran in four at Sacramento State in 2013.
