OGDEN, Utah – Kris Brown will make his first start of the season at quarterback for the University of Montana here on Saturday afternoon against No. 5 Weber State.
Brown, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound sophomore from Bozeman, Montana, was thrust into action midway through the second quarter of last week’s Griz contest at No. 2 Sacramento State.
Brown took over when Montana seventh-year senior quarterback Lucas Johnson was on the receiving end of a helmet-to-helmet hit that was ruled targeting and resulted in the ejection of defensive end Ayodele Adeoye. Johnson did not return. Montana lost 31-24 in overtime at Sac State.
Brown will try to help Montana snap a two-game losing streak against a Weber team that came out on the wrong end of a 43-38 loss at No. 3 Montana State.
Brown completed 16-of-31 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown last week. He has thrown for 242 yards and that score so far, completing 54.1 percent of his passes. He has not thrown an interception.
Brown started four games in 2021, finishing the season 3-1 as the starter. He led the Griz to wins over Dixie State, Idaho and Southern Utah. The loss came against Sac State in Missoula. He threw for 1,029 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions last season, completing 65 percent of his passes along the way. Brown also came off the bench in relief of Cam Humphrey when the former senior starter for the Griz went down with injuries against Eastern Washington (a 34-28 loss) and at James Madison (28-10) in the FCS playoffs.
In seven starts for the Griz, Johnson completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,258 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also rushed for 218 yards and six touchdowns. He status is week to week.
