Cat-Griz Report: Bobcats clobber Western Oregon at home

BOZEMAN AP) — Tyler Bruggman threw three touchdown passes, backup quarterback Chris Murray rushed for three more scores and Montana State shut out Division II member Western Oregon 55-0 on Saturday.

Murray opened the second quarter with a pair of touchdowns, then Bruggman threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to John D'Agostino and a 30-yarder to Justin Paige. MSU scored 31 points in the second quarter and led 34-0 at halftime.

Bruggman finished with 211 yards. Murray ran for touchdowns from 3, 6, and 18 yards and Logan Jones scored on a 9-yard run.

"He's a tremendous athlete," Bruggman said of the 17-year-old Murray, a true freshman. "He brings a different skill set to the table and that makes things vary for the opposing defense."

MSU gained 428 yards and converted on 9-of-19 third down attempts.

Murray scored on the first play of the second quarter after the Bobcats recovered a fumble on the Western Oregon 3-yard line. On the next drive he marched the Bobcats 48 yards in five plays and ran it in from the 6-yard line.

"(Murray's) kind of a spark plug back there, while Tyler is the consistent guy," guard J.P. Flynn said. "It's a good combination, because they're so different."

MSU (2-1) collected five turnovers and is now plus-11 in turnover margin. John Walker grabbed his third interception of the year for the Bobcats. Josh Hill and West Wilson each had interceptions, and Jessie Clark and Lukas McCarthy forced fumbles that were recovered by Marcus Ferriter and Walker Cozzie.

"It's was a little bit of a feeding frenzy out there for the defense getting those turnovers," MSU head coach Jeff Choate said. "The backups got into the act when they went in, too."

Steven Long rushed for 49 yards for the Wolves (1-2), who gained 190 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

MONTANA STATE: The Bobcats had their best offensive performance of the young season. The Bobcats scored just 44 points in their first two games combined after averaging more than 40 points per game last season. It was the first shutout for MSU since it beat Colorado-Mesa 26-0 Sept. 14, 2013.

Montana State hosts North Dakota in the first conference game for both schools. North Dakota won a 40-34 thriller from Montana State last season in Grand Forks for its first win over the Bobcats since joining the Big Sky Conference in 2012.

Meanwhile, the No. 7 Montana Grizzlies had their bye this past week, but now must get ready for a daunting road game this Saturday at Cal Poly. The Mustangs beat nationally-ranked South Dakota State in a shootout last Saturday night, and have beaten the Grizzlies the last two meetings.

Note: Havre Daily News Sports Editor George Ferguson contributed to this story.