Griz Greats: The Silver Anniversary of the 1995 National Champions

Corey Falls was a junior defensive end from Medford, Oregon who led the Grizzlies with nine sacks during the 1995 run to the national title. Falls, who hails from the same town as future Griz Buck Buchanan Award winners Dante Olson and Tyrone Holmes, now works in law enforcement in the Portland area.

Kelly Stensrud is a Missoula native and a Hellgate alum who was a senior starting running back for Montana's 1995 national title team. He scored 10 touchdowns during that 1995 season.

Randy Riley and fellow Butte, Montana native Brian Toone converged to make one of the biggest plays of Montana's 22-20 national title game victory over Marshall in December of 1995. The Butte safety proved to be the final margin of victory as the Grizzlies won their first Division I-AA national title.

Sean Goicoechea hailed from just down the road from Missoula, growing up in Stevensville, Montana. He rapidly rose to become a starter and key contributor at safety during his junior year to help the Montana Griz to the 1995 Division I-AA national championship.

Brent Pease was a record-setting quarterback during his time playing for the Montana Grizzlies. During the middle and end of his professional playing career in the early 1990s, the Moscow, Idaho native returned in the off-seasons to help coach various offensive positions on Don Read's staff. Pease, who went on to become an offensive coordinator at several Power 5 schools including Kentucky, Baylor and Florida, primarily worked with quarterbacks during Montana's 1995 run to the national championship, meaning Pease had a key hand in developing Walter Payton Award winner Dave Dickenson.

Yohanse Manzanarez was part of the heart and soul of the Griz defense in 1995. The physical, tough defensive end from Great Falls set the tone in many ways, helping anchor the Montana defensive front as a senior on UM's national championship team 25 years ago.

Jon Kasper is a native of Great Falls, Montana who went to C.M. Russell High with former Montana All-American quarterback Dave Dickenson. Kasper attended the University of Montana, working for the student newspaper and radio station before becoming a staffer at the Missoula. Jon worked covering the UM football beat from 1997 until 2004 before taking a job at the Big Sky Conference office. He currently serves as a Senior Associate Commissioner for Championships at the Big Sky.

Dave Dickenson is widely considered the greatest player in the history of the Big Sky Conference and the most legendary Griz of all time. The dynamo quarterback from Great Falls led UM to three straight playoff appearances, culminating with a Walter Payton Award winning senior season in 1995 that also included guiding his team to their first-ever Division I-AA national title. The Legend of the Fall went on to have a stellar career in the Canadian Football League and is also a championship-winning coach for the Calgary Stampeders. But the College Football Hall of Famer is best remembered for his unforgettable career with the Grizzlies.

Before Jim O'Day started working for the Grizzly Scholarship Association or as an athletic administrator at the University of Montana and before he became UM's athletic director (2005-2012), the native of Cut Bank was a newspaper man who helped spread the good word for Grizzly athletics on Montana's Hi-Line. O'Day was integral in setting up a charter flight from Great Falls to Huntington, West Virginia so hundreds of small-town Montanans could cheer on the Grizzlies in the 1995 Division I-AA national title game.

Brian Toone was a junior on the 1995 National Championship team. He graduated from Butte High where the Bulldogs made a state championship run in his senior season. From there he became a standout on the Grizzly defense, perhaps most memorably combining with fellow Butte alum Randy Riley on a sack-safety of Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington in the National Championship. That play proved to be the final margin of victory in Montana's 22-20 defeat of the Thundering Herd. Most recently, Toone has now taken over the family business - making jewelry - he owns Jewelry Design Center in Spokane Washington.

Eric Simonson came to Montana as a skinny, athletic offensive lineman from Plentywood, Montana. He transformed himself into an elite offensive lineman, one that would earn first-team All-American honors at tackle during his senior season in 1995. That year proved to be an unforgettable one as Simonson, who got married while in college and welcomed his son into the world while his football team was in a midst of a run that culminated in the first national title in school history.

Mike Bouchee grew up in Missoula as the son of former Griz lineman Bill Bouchee and the pride of Montana football was instilled in him at an early age. By high school, Bouchee was an all-state linebacker on a few of head coach Van Troxel’s last great teams at Hellgate High. And 1992, he was living a lifelong dream of playing for the Grizzlies and by 1995, he was Montana’s starting middle linebacker. Bouchee played a pivotal role on the Griz defense that season, leading UM with 97 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, five sacks, and forcing two fumbles. He finished his career with 245 career tackles, at the time the 16th most in the history of Griz football. The two-time All-American also earned All-Big Sky Conference honors on the field and academically as well.

Wayne Hogan became the AD at UM during the 1995 football season. He was hired by then President George Dennison and officially started on the job in October of 1995. What a time to come on board as two months later the Griz took home their first national championship. Having been in the Florida State Athletic Department through the early 90's, Hogan new what a winning environment looked like and worked to foster that at Montana. He had some ups and downs as the AD, but his perspective and gregarious nature make this episode a can't miss.

Dave Kempert, OL - Missoula native Dave Kempfert grew up in Missoula and was as close to the UM athletic department as any kid in the Garden City. His father, Al Kempfert, was an administrator in the athletic department. His brother, Matt Kempfert, was the top player for Blaine Taylor on the men’s basketball team. When Dave Kempfert joined Joe Glenn’s Griz, he rapidly carved out a reputation all his own. The center was a senior in 1995 and earned All-American honors, helping anchor the interior of an offensive line that featured three All-Americans.

Those who know him best describe Jason Crebo as a gentle giant. Those who watched him play for Montana remember the Helena native as one of the fiercest defensive players the school has ever produced. In 1994, Crebo took over Montana’s famed No. 37 jersey, following in the footsteps of Kraig Paulson, Tim Hauck and Todd Ericson. In 1995, Crebo broke into Montana’s starting lineup at outside linebacker and started etching one of the great careers in the school’s history. He earned first-team All-Big Sky and All-American honors for the first of what would become three straight such accolades. And he helped anchor a fearsome Griz linebacker core that helped the Griz surge to their first football national championship in school history.

Dave Guffey came to the University of Montana to take the head job at “information services” in the fall of 1978. At the time, Gene Carlson was the head Griz football coach and Mike Montgomery had just taken the head basketball job. Guffey served as the head sports information director at UM for 37 years, giving him perhaps the deepest perspective when it comes to Griz football and men’s basketball of any person to work at the athletic department. Guffey staffed more than 450 Griz football games, only missing three in his 37 years on the job. And even 25 years later, his memories of Montana’s run to the 1995 Division I-AA national title are among his sharpest.

When Bill Johnston retired as the CEO of the University of Montana alumni foundation after 36 years at UM, former Montana President Royce Engstrom stated: "It’s said that Montana is one small town with very long streets. Meeting Bill will make you believe it. "If you’ve ever traveled this state with him, you realize quickly he seems to know everyone. He either knows them, their family or has mutual friends. When you combine that with Bill’s uncanny ability to remember, recognize and recollect so many details about the people and places that intersect with UM, it’s easy to see why, to many people, he is the face of our University." Johnston's memory comes through in full force on Griz Greats as he recollects the impact that Montana's 1995 football national championship had on the University, the MIssoula community, Western Montana and the Treasure State as a whole.

Matt Wells came to the University of Montana from Ashland, Oregon as an undersized, deceptively quick wide receiver who spent his prep days catching passes from fellow future Griz Bert Wilberger. When Wells arrived at Montana, he found himself sharing a dorm room with another Griz quarterback: Dave Dickenson. Entering the 1995 season, the narrative inside the Griz program leaned heavily on how UM would replace Shalon Baker and Scott Guernsey, the two most productive receivers in school history. The 5-foot-7, 160-pound Wells used his ability to shred opponents on screen passes, on the perimeter and over the middle to help the Griz wide receivers erase any doubt. Wells had more than 1,000 yards receiving and caught 10 touchdowns in his senior year in 1995, playing a pivotal role as Montana rolled to the first national title in school history. Wells finished his career with 248 catches, 3,342 yards and 23 receiving touchdowns, all three the most in program history at the time.

Montana's 1995 national championship football team lit up scoreboards across the Big Sky Conference and Division I-AA. But the Griz defense that year played as pivotal a roll in helping Montana claim its first-ever football national title. Blaine McElmurry came to UM as a small-school star, A hard-hitting safety from Troy, Montana with an underdog's mentality and the desire to be great. By the 1995 season, McElmurry had blossomed into one of the best defensive backs in the conference and in the country. During that 1995 run to glory, McElmurry anchored the back end of Montana's defense, rolling up 64 tackles and snaring three interceptions to earn first-team All-Big Sky and All-American honors. McElmurry's tone-setting hit early in in UM's 22-20 victory over Marshall in the national title game helped set the tone for the rest of that memorable afternoon. The Silver Anniversary of the 1995 national champions featuring Blaine McElmurry. Griz Greats is proudly presented by Blackfoot Communications and First Security Bank of Missoula.

Mike Agee played football as an Offensive Guard at the University of Montana from 1993-1996. He was a four year starter out of Kalispell Flathead. As a Junior on the 1995 team, Agee was part of one of the most prolific offenses in I-AA/FCS history and charged with keeping Dave Dickenson upright - A very important task.

Mick Dennehy was the Offensive Coordinator for the Griz football team in 1995. After playing in '71 and '72 as an All-conference Safety for UM, Dennehy became the OC in 1991, a roll he held for 4 seasons, culminating in the 1995 National Championship. A season later, upon Don Reed's retirement he was promoted to head coach where he spent another 4 seasons including taking the Griz back to the national championship game in 1996. After leaving UM Dennehy was the head man at Utah State for five years before retiring himself.

In his Junior season Helena native Andy Larson made history and an indelible mark on the history of Griz football when he made a national championship winning field goal with 39 seconds remaining to stake Montana to a 22-20 lead that would hold up as the final score. Andy talks about what led him to UM coming out of high school, his career as a Griz, what he's been up to since school and of course, The Kick.

Episode 1 features the former Voice of the Griz, decorated play by play broadcaster for 30 years at the University of Montana Mick Holien. Holien started calling Lady Griz Basketball in 1985 before transitioning into football and men's basketball in 1993. He was on the call for the entire 1995 Griz football season, including Montana's 22-20 win over Marshall for the National Championship.

Tootell and Nuanez discuss the state of affairs surrounding University of Montana football prior to the 1995 season and what the National Championship meant to the school, city and state. They further set the stage for the entire Griz Greats Silver Anniversary podcast series.