Cat-Griz Report: Cats turn away pesky Bengals; Griz get beat up at Weber

BOZEMAN (AP) — Chris Murray threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, Mac Bignell had a pick-six, and Montana State beat Idaho State 28-14 on Saturday.

Montana State (4-4, 4-2 Big Sky) jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead on Murray's 1-yard TD toss to Mitchell Herbert on the opening drive and on Murray's 28-yard scoring run. But the Bengals (4-5, 2-4) snapped back with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, including James Madison's 4-yard run to cap a 96-yard drive, to tie it at halftime.

Murray's short TD run and Bignell's 18-yard interception return for a score put MSU up 28-14 with 8:55 to play.

"I was definitely thinking, 'don't drop this one, or I'm gonna lose my spot,'" said Bignell, who let a likely pick-six go through his fingers last week against Northern Colorado.

Murray was 10-of-20 for 233 yards passing with an interception and ran for another 67 yards on 14 carries.

The Bobcats had 422 total yards to 394 for the Bengals, including 201 rushing yards, led by Madison, with 105 on 30 carries.

"I thought we looked great in the fourth quarter," MSU coach Jeff Choates said. "Our kids are in great condition. We've been able to win two in a row, but we haven't played our best football."

Linebacker Josh Hill had 11 tackles, including eight solo tackles, to pace Montana State's defense, which twice stopped the Bengals on downs.

"We just didn't finish drives in the second half," ISU coach Rob Phenicie said. "Credit MSU and (defensive coordinator) Ty Gregorak for that."

Phenecie and Gregorak coached together at Montana for several years.

MSU punter Jered Padmos averaged 52 yards on five punts and pinned ISU inside the 15 four times.

"The unsung hero for us was Padmos," Choate said. "His ability to control field position for us was huge.

The Bobcats stay alive for a playoff spot with the win, but likely need to win their next three games to get in. The Bengals are all but eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

The Bobcats have a non-conference game against Kennesaw State of the Big South at home. KSU beat Presbyterian College 28-0 Saturday to win a school-record seven straight.

Weber State 41, Griz 27

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Stefan Cantwell threw for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter, and the Weber State defense forced five turnovers in a 41-27 victory over Montana Saturday.

Cantwell hit Tui Satuala for 3-yards and Drew Batchelor for 6 and then caught an 8-yard pass from tight end Andrew Vollert off a double reverse. The No. 25 Wildcats (6-2, 4-1 Big Sky Conference) made it 31-0 in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Treshawn Garrett.

Montana (5-3, 3-2), which had a three-game winning streak snapped, closed within 34-20 on a pair of touchdown passes by Gresch Jensen but Jordan Preator returned his second interception 23 yards for a TD.

Jensen, who was 21 of 42 for 347 yards and three interceptions, connected with Louie-McGee for a 38-yard touchdown before getting hurt. Jensen also ran for a touchdown in the first half.

The Grizzlies had 503 yards of total offense against the league’s top defense but the Wildcats, who had 298 yards, turned the five turnovers into 21 points. Montana, which had put up points in 31 of 32 trips into the red zone, was just 2 of 5 while Weber State was 5 of 5.

"It seemed like little things here or there never allowed us to get into any rhythm," Montana coach Bob Stitt said. "I felt like if we could stop the bleeding at some point, we would have a chance to come back. It just felt like it was snowballing. Anything that could have happened bad was gonna happen."

Montana next faces Northern Arizona in the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.