Deja Blue

BOZEMAN - It had only been 365 days since the last time the Montana State Bobcats had hoisted the Great Divide Trophy. But it had been 12 long years since they did it inside Bobcat Stadium.

The long wait ended in a wild finish in front of 19,907 fans Saturday in Bozeman as the Bobcats (5-6, 5-3) rushed for 322 yards in a 31-23 win over the Montana Grizzlies in the 117th Brawl of the Wild.

Much like last year's win in Missoula, the Bobcats rode the running game and the legs of now sophomore quarterback Chris Murray, who rushed for 99 yards and threw for 90 more in his second win over the Grizzlies (7-5, 5-3) in as many starts.

"It means a lot," Murray said afterward. "It was kind of hard for me to understand the rivalry last year, coming from California and all that. Even after the game (last year) I didn't really realize it until some months passed. I'm very appreciative to be able to be in this position. To be 2-0 against the Griz is truly a blessing."

Montana took an early 3-0 lead on the first possession of the game, but the Murray show started rolling from there. The Cats didn't quite capitalize on their first few drives, but early in the second quarter, that all changed when true freshman Troy Andersen scored the first of two touchdowns in his first Cat-Griz game. And just three minutes later, Nick LaSane made it 14-3 on one of two gut-wrenching plays that summed up the Grizzly defense's day. On a 3-and-15, LaSane burst right through the Griz defense, taking it 71 yards to the house, putting the Cats ahead 14-3, and rocking Bobcat Stadium to its foundation.

"That's what we do. That's our DNA. We're always going to run the ball around here," MSU head coach Jeff Choate said.

LaSane led all ball carriers with 121 yards on 14 carries. And while the Griz answered right back with a Jeremy Calhoun TD run, the Cats drove down and scored on a 19-yard run from Andersen, ultimately taking a 21-13 lead into halftime.

MSU added a Gabe Peppenger field goal in the third quarter and held the Montana offense off, but the Griz didn't go away. Brandon Purdy capped a strong Griz drive with his third field goal of the day, but Murray answered with a TD run, on a long, clock-killing drive, putting the game almost out of reach at 31-16.

But, then, it wasn't quite out of reach.

The Griz marched down the field in a hurry as Gresch Jensen, who threw for 326 yards in his first start, found Keenan Curran on a scoring strike that cut the Cat lead to eight with six minutes left.

After forcing two punts, the Griz had two other chances to potentially tie the game. One chance was snuffed out when Jensen fumbled as the ball slipped out of his hand on a pass attempt, which was recovered by Bobcats linebacker Mac Bignell. The play was reviewed and the fumble call was upheld. Griz head coach Bob Stitt later said Jensen had been hit on his throwing elbow on the play prior and had no sensation in his hand, which led to him not being able to grip the ball.

"That's Gresch staying out there," UM head coach Bob Stitt said. "He couldn't feel his hand whatsoever. It's one of those things. It's football. Unfortunately it happened at that point."

And while Bobcat Stadium was still rocking, the Griz had one last crack at it in a wild last 59 seconds. The injured Jensen returned and marched the Griz into scoring territory, but his fourth-down pass intended for Curran was knocked down by cornerback Tyrel Thomas with four seconds left.

"We've been tough all year. We've had a lot of close games," said MSU receiver Mitch Herbert. "We're in the fourth quarter in every game and we haven't necessarily executed or had the ball roll our way in some of those games. We knew we had to come out focused and execute today."

The Grizzlies out gained the Bobcats in total yards, 442-420, but MSU possessed the ball for more than 36 minutes and did not turn it over. Third-and-long plays were a major factor, with the Bobcats' offense being able to convert and the Grizzlies' defense not able to get off the field. In the third quarter, the Cats were facing a 3rd-and-35, but Murray ripped off 30 yards, and Choate went for it on fourth down, which led to Peppenger's field goal.

"We just needed to make plays," Griz senior defensive end Tucker Schye said. "We didn't make enough of them.

"The long runs really hurt," Stitt added. "That stuff just can't happen."

MSU ran the ball 57 times, with Andersen adding 64. In its last two games against the Griz, the Cats have rushed for 690 yards. Jensen finished with 326 yards passing and 35 more on the ground in his Brawl debut. Curran led all receivers with 107 yards on seven catches. Calhoun rushed for 63 yards.

And just like the Cats seemed to run the ball at will for the second straight year against their bitter rivals, they also have likely knocked them out of FCS playoff contention for consecutive seasons.

"I trust our guys and they continued to play hard," Stitt said. "Football's a crazy game. A lot of things happen. You look back and you can change one play or two plays, but it doesn't change the effort that our guys gave us. Really proud of them in that aspect because for 11 weeks they gave us everything that they had. I think we're a very good football team."

The Bobcats showed they are really good, too, in spite of ending up with just five wins this season. And while they may have fell short of their ultimate goals, in the end, they made one big goal a reality yet again.

"It's a dream come true. An unbelievable feeling," said MSU star linebacker Mac Bignell, who played in his final game. "Ever since I was a kid that's all I wanted to do, was play for the Bobcats and win and beat the Griz."

Montana 3 10 0 10 -23

Montana St. 0 21 3 7 -31

First Quarter

MONT - FG Purdy 20, 10:13.

Second Quarter

MTST - Andersen 2 run (Peppenger kick)., 12:18.

MTST - LaSane 71 run (Peppenger kick), 9:07.

MONT - Calhoun 13 run (Purdy kick), 6:53.

MTST - Andersen 19 run (Peppenger kick), 3:55.

MONT - FG Purdy 41, 0:27.

Third Quarter

MTST - FG Peppenger 20, 6:06.

Fourth Quarter

MONT - FG Purdy 35, 10:44.

MTST - Murray 4 run (Peppenger kick), 6:20.

MONT - Curran 32 pass from Jensen (Purdy kick), 5:25.

UM MSU

First downs 24 19

Rushes-yards 28-116 57-322

Passing 326 98

Comp-Att-Int 30-51-1 10-15-0

Return Yards 123 106

Punts-Avg. 4-36.3 8-39.5

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0

Penalty-Yards 6-24 4-55

Time of Possession 23:42 36:18

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Montana, J. Calhoun 12-63, G. Jensen 5-35, A. Lee 8-22, C. Hill 1-(minus 1), S. Toure 2-(minus 3). Montana St., N. LaSane 14-121, C. Murray 25-99, T. Andersen 10-64, K. Kassis 3-27, L. Jones 3-10, E. Vander 1-1.

PASSING - Montana, G. Jensen 30-49-1-326. Montana St., C. Murray 10-15-0-98.

RECEIVING - Montana, K. Curran 7-109, J. Louie-McGee 8-95, J. Calhoun 5-46, J. Calhoun 3-35, M. Simis 3-17, J. Horner 2-15, A. Lee 1-11, S. Toure 1-(minus 2). Montana St., M. Herbert 4-55, J. Johnson 2-16, C. Sullivan 1-12, K. Kassis 2-10, L. McCutcheon 1-5.

TACKLES – Montana, C. Strahm 17, J. Banks 11, T. Schye 8, D. Shaw 6. Montana St., B. Konkol 16, M. Bignell 10, B. McCabe 8, J. Hill 6, T. Fa'anono 5.

Attendance: 19, 907

Weather: 35 degrees and sunny

Time of Game: 3 hours, 17 minutes

Big Sky Conference Standings

Final

Conf. All

W-L W-L

Southern Utah 7-1 9-2

Weber State 7-1 9-2

Eastern Washington 6-2 7-4

Northern Arizona 6-2 7-4

Sacramento State 6-2 7-4

Montana 5-3 7-4

Montana State 5-3 5-6

UC Davis 3-5 5-6

Idaho State 2-6 4-7

Northern Colorado 2-6 3-7

North Dakota 2-6 3-8

Cal Poly 1-7 1-10

Portland State 0-8 0-11

Saturday

Montana State 31, Montana 23

Northern Colorado 42, Cal Poly 0

Sacramento State 52, UC Davis 47

Weber State 35, Idaho State 7

Eastern Washington 59, Portland State 33

Southern Utah 48, Northern Arizona 20