MISSOULA – Today’s Football Championship Subdivision playoff game between Montana (11-0) and South Dakota State (8-3) will be the Grizzlies’ 44th all-time postseason game and already the 15th in the seven-year tenure of head coach Bobby Hauck.

There is an obvious discrepancy in playoff experience for their opponent, though: This will be the first-ever FCS postseason game for the Jackrabbits.

Still, the top-seeded Griz – who are hoping to make a second straight trip to the national championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn. — believe they are in for a battle.

“Just because we’re the No. 1 seed doesn’t mean South Dakota State is the 16th-best team,” Hauck said earlier this week. “They certainly aren’t. You’ll see some (first-round blowouts) this weekend, but our game won’t be one of them.”

The Jacks, whose campus is located in Brookings, S.D., will try to win the game on the strength of a power running game and a stingy defense.

SDSU is led offensively by junior running back Kyle Minett, a bruiser who has rushed for 1,173 yards and 14 touchdowns behind a large and talented offensive line that is anchored by center Ryan McKnight.

Minett has scored 40 touchdowns so far in his career, including 33 on the ground.   

The Jacks average 132.9 rushing yards per game.     

“They really are adamant that they’re going to run the football,” Hauck said. “They’re giant and very talented up front. Three of their guys up front have the potential to play after college.”

Minett, Hauck said, “will remind you a lot of Chase Reynolds. He’s a make-you-miss, hard-charging, hit-a-home-run type guy.”

Freshman quarterback Thomas O’Brien is no slouch, either. He has thrown for 1,250 and eight scores.

But defense is SDSU’s bread and butter.

Led by end Danny Batten – the Missouri Valley Conference co-defensive player of the year – and linebacker Derek Domino, the Jacks rank second in their league in rush defense (108.4 ypg), pass defense (172.0 ypg), scoring defense (13.5 ppg) and total defense (280.4 ypg).

“Knowing (SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier) and how he does things, you know what you’re going to get,” Hauck said. “He runs a real solid program. Obviously they place great emphasis on fundamentals. You watch film and you can’t really see anything to take advantage of.”

Montana, which beat the Jacks in the regular season in both 2005 and 2006, are similar on both sides of the ball.

With 1,159 yards and 15 TDs, running back Chase Reynolds leads a Grizzlies’ offense that averages nearly 175 rushing yards per game.

Quarterbacks Andrew Selle and Justin Roper, along with big-play receiver Marc Mariani, guide a passing game that picks teams apart to the tune of nearly 260 yards per contest.

Reynolds, though, will be the focal point for SDSU’s defense.

“I think Chase Reynolds is a guy you have to stop. It will be a long day if you don’t,” Stiegelmeier, in his 12th year with the Jacks, told the Rapid City (S.D.) Journal. “I’m guessing he’s probably one of those guys that gets better the longer he runs. You just have to keep him controlled and not let him get on a roll.”

The Grizzlies’ defense, though it ranks 108th out of 117 FCS team in pass defense, has played solid of late.

UM has allowed just five touchdowns in its last four games.

Both teams are adept at gaining takeaways. The Griz are plus-7 in turnover margin while the Jacks are plus-5

Montana is 24-6 all-time in playoff games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium and won two postseason games there last year. The Grizzlies will be hosting a first-round FCS game for the 11th year in a row, dating back to 1999, when it hosted Youngstown State.

For all their success, however, the Griz are up against a strange trend that has worked against them in odd-numbered years, especially under Hauck.

Five of Montana’s home playoff losses have come in the first round, including 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Hauck has yet to win a playoff game in an odd-numbered year.

The Big Sky Conference is 7-9 in the playoffs against the Missouri Valley. UM is 4-3 against that league in the postseason.

Today’s winner will advance to the quarterfinals to face the winner of the first-round game between pass-happy teams Eastern Washington (8-3) and Stephen F. Austin (9-2).