Meet the Griz: Ty Morrison On The Fake Punt And His Soccer Origins

Meet the Griz is a series that tells the stories of Montana Grizzlies athletes, coaches, and contributors. Here are some past "Meet the Griz" features:

Meet the Griz: Paging Dr. Peck! Dr. Hunter Peck!

Meet the Griz: The Unsung Hero of Griz Football - Long Snapper Grayson Pibal

Meet the Griz: From Missoula to NFL, Former Griz Defensive Coordinator Ken Flajole's Journey

Meet the Griz - Ty Morrison

Is Griz kicker/punter the team's best weapon? Hell, he even showed off his arm in the win over Sacramento State on Friday.

Look out, Keali'i Ah Yat, Ty Morrison is gunning for your job.

"No, I'm not," Morrison laughed. "That was a one-time deal, maybe. But no, he's too good for me to be in that conversation."

Morrison was named Co-Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week for a third time this season after his performance at Sac State. Morrison was perfect on XPs, averaged over 40 yards per punt, had 4 touchbacks, and had the fake punt.

"It's a different feeling when you go out in the game to do something that you haven't done before, especially when you're used to doing the same three things over and over again," Morrison discussed what was going through his mind when the fake punt was called.

"It got the heart rate up a little bit, and I was excited."

Morrison's big year

In year number two with the Griz, Morrison has settled in and has posted a great year so far. On top of the multiple Big Sky awards, Morrison has gone 5-for-7 (started the year 4-4) on field goals, averages 42 yards per punt and has pinned teams 14 times inside their own 20.

"I work out with [former Griz punter] Travis Benham... We go out and punt together and he's really helped me a lot."

Side note: Benham had a fake punt pass in 2023 against Idaho State. 

One thing Benham and Morrison have been working on is the pooch punt.

"It's just a lot of repetition," Morrison said. "It's finding out what's wrong, whether that's pulling your shoulders back and not swinging through or where you're dropping the ball. It can be a lot of different things, and sometimes it's hard to figure out what that is by yourself. Which is why it's nice to have guys like Travis around because they can spot it instantly."

Quick hitters with Ty Morrison

Favorite Missoula restaurant: Notorious P.I.G.

Favorite activity outside of football: Fishing

Fun fact: Morrison was a soccer player before becoming a football player

Listen to Ty's conversation on the Daily Drive with Ace Sauerwein podcast wherever you get your podcasts. 

f