Eli Gillman

Eli Gillman
No. 10  Montana Grizzlies
PositionRunning back
Class Junior
Personal information
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High schoolDassel-Cokato (Cokato)
College
Awards and highlights
  • Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year (2025)
  • Jerry Rice Award (2023)
  • Big Sky Freshman of the Year (2023)
  • First-team All-Big Sky (2025)
  • 2× Second-team All-Big Sky (2023, 2024)
Stats at ESPN

Eli Gillman is an American college football running back for the Montana Grizzlies. He won the 2023 Jerry Rice Award.

High school career

Gillman attended Dassel-Cokato Senior High in Cokato, Minnesota. As a senior, he had 43 touchdowns and ran for more than 1,900 yards, leading Dassel Cokato High to its first state championship.[1] Gillman committed to play college football at the University of Montana over offers from Central Michigan, Northern Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Georgetown, and Dartmouth.[1]

College career

Gillman had the most rushing yards by a freshman in the University of Montana's history and won the Jerry Rice Award.[2] He also had the longest touchdown run in the program's history.[3]

As a sophomore he racked up 175 yards and a touchdown in a win over Western Carolina.[4] For the season he had more than 1,000 yards rushing and 15 rushing touchdowns.[5]

In September 2025 he had 198 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns from 15 carries against Central Washington.[6] In October 2025 he rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns against Cal Poly.[7]

Statistics

Year Team Games Rushing Receiving
GP GS Att Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD
2022 Montana 2 0 8 65 8.1 1 1 5 5.0 0
2023 Montana 15 14 194 968 5.0 12 19 140 7.4 0
2024 Montana 14 9 167 1,104 6.6 15 18 176 9.8 2
2025 Montana 12 12 192 1,261 6.6 17 26 165 6.3 2
Career 43 35 561 3,398 6.1 45 64 486 7.6 4

References

  1. ^ a b "Eli Gillman - Football". University of Montana Athletics.
  2. ^ "Montana running back Eli Gillman wins Jerry Rice Award". MontanaSports.com (MTSPX). December 6, 2023.
  3. ^ "Montana Grizzlies running back Eli Gillman puts together a freshman season for the ages". 30 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Montana running back Eli Gillman takes Big Sky Conference offensive player of the week honors". MontanaSports.com (MTSPX). September 23, 2024.
  5. ^ "Eli Gillman - Montana Grizzlies Running Back". ESPN.
  6. ^ https://www.montanasports.com/college/montana-grizzlies/eli-gillman-runs-wild-as-no-6-montana-pulls-away-from-central-washington
  7. ^ https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap?gameId=401767079