Griz dominate on the road, Bobcats fall to Oregon State Beavers

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Montana Grizzlies shook off the rust after a long flight to the eastern time zone and earned a decisive 49-14 win over Indiana State on Saturday in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

After the Sycamores came out firing early in the first quarter, Montana's defense settled in and put up yet another dominant performance, allowing ISU to score just one offensive touchdown and forcing the home team to punt on seven-straight drives through the second, third, and fourth quarters.

The Griz improve to 3-0 on the season, while Indiana State falls to 1-2 as Montana gets its second-straight win over a Missouri Valley opponent. UM now prepares to enter Big Sky Conference play having dispatched its non-conference schedule by a combined score of 120-21 in three lopsided wins.

Offensively, Lucas Johnson was once again hyper-productive at quarterback for the Griz, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another for a personal haul of 236 yards. He led Montana to, fittingly, 406 yards of total offense.

The Grizzly offense was also efficient in the red zone this week, scoring on each of their five trips into the Indiana State 20.

Montana's defense put the Grizzlies on the scoreboard first when Patrick O'Connell came in off the blind side and leveled Gavin Screws for a strip sack to knock the ball loose. Kale Edwards was there to scoop up the loose ball and return it 20 yards for the first Montana touchdown of the day. The Sycamores then answered back with a long touchdown score of their own with Justin Dinka breaking free for a 54-yard score to tie the ball game 7-7.

Offensive Coordinator Timm Rosenbach pulled out the trick play for Montana's next score. Johnson lateraled to Junior Bergen to his right, who dusted off his Billings Senior High School quarterback skills, rolled out, and found Malik Flowers all alone in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown strike that put the Griz ahead 14-7 with eight minutes left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter Johnson marched the Griz 89 yards in 11 plays for the next score of the day. Highlighted by a pair of big connections with Mitch Roberts on the drive and a third and five connection with Flowers for a key first down. Johnson completed the drive with a 18-yard strike to Cole Grossman, rolling out left and finding the tight end wide open in the end zone on a wheel route for his first score of the season, putting the Grizzlies up 21-7 at the halftime break. Johnson settled in over the course of the first half, completing 10 of his 16 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. Roberts totaled 61 yards in the first half on four catches, each seemingly more contested and athletic than the next.

Montana received the opening kickoff in the second half and immediately took advantage of the possession, with Johnson leading the offense on a six-play, 67-yard scoring drive. Sophomore receiver Keelan White picked up his second career touchdown grab on a leaping reception in the end zone from Johnson to cap the drive, putting the Griz up 34-7 early in the second half. Johnson added another score after the Grizzly defense pitched a three-and-out, leading UM on a seven play, 49-yard drive. Xavier Harris got the drive moving with a 16-yard tote on 3rd and 1 and hauled in a 10-yard pass for another first down later to keep the chins moving. Johnson capped the drive with a play-action to the right, keeping the ball in hand and hauling it in for a one-yard touchdown run. The third time was a charm for Bozeman native Ryan Simpson, who caught his first career touchdown early in the fourth quarter after missing on two-straight attempts at the end of the third quarter.

"I'm happy for our team. Certainly, you take it one week at a time and we've won the week three consecutive times and we're at 3-0. We always hope that's how it will be, but I don't know if that's how it's going to go," said Griz head coach Bobby Hauck.

Oregon State 68, Cats 28

PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon State scored on its first five possessions while limiting Montana State to 269 total yards in a 68-28 win over the Bobcats in Portland on Saturday.

The historic game — it was MSU's first ever gridiron contest with the Beavers and OSU's first in Portland since 1987 — also featured several history-making components. Marqui Johnson returned an Oregon State kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, the first Bobcat kick return that ended in the opposing end zone since 2015, and quarterback Tommy Mellott was intercepted for the first times in his career.

But in the end, Oregon State's balanced offense told the story.

Oregon State flexed its muscle early, marching 90 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead. Beavers quarterback connected on passes for 23 and 17 yards to set the tone for the evening, while Deshaun Fenwick's five-yard run opened the scoring.

Montana State's first drive also produced a touchdown, but in much different fashion. A 34-yards kickoff return by Johnson gave the Bobcats a start at the MSU 34, then quarterbacks Sean Chambers and Tommy Mellott alternated receiving snaps and produced a combined to carry seven times for 58 yards. Chambers' six yard run capped the march with a touchdown.

After the Beavers covered 75 yards in 13 plays, converting a third-and-10 and a third-and-seven along the way, Mellott threw his first career interception. That gave OSU possession at its own 42, and the Beavers found paydirt seven plays later. Johnson gathered the ensuing kickoff at the two-yard line, maneuvered to the far sideline, and found an alley that resulted in MSU's first TD return of a kickoff since 2015.

Jayshawn Gates scampered 97 yards with a kick against East Tennessee State that year, but earlier Logan Jones returned it 100 yards for a touchdown in Providence Park. Oregon State closed the first half with two more touchdowns, both passes from Nolan.

"They've got good coaches, they've got good players, credit to them," said Bobcat coach Brent Vigen. "We needed to play a clean game tonight and we were far from clean."

The Bobcats surrendered over 500 yards to Oregon State, and turned the ball over three times without a takeaway. The 68 points scored by Oregon State is third-most allowed by MSU since World War II. Bobcat quarterback Tommy Mellott rushed for 135 yards, his third career 100-yard game, and threw for 101. Sean Chambers scored three touchdowns for the Bobcats.

The Cats travel to Eastern Washington to open Big Sky play this Saturday.