Griz shock No. 3 Idaho

MOSCOW, IDAHO - The Little Brown Stein is coming home.

Montana hit the road to a sold-out Kibbie Dome to face off against the No. 3 Idaho Vandals, and controlled the game from the opening kick to upset the old foe 23-21 to return the Little Brown Stein to Missoula.

It's UM's first win against a top three team in the country since the Brawl of the Wild win against Montana State in 2021. It's also the first time since 2000 that Montana has won back-to-back road games against ranked opponents. There have now been 89 meetings between Montana and Idaho, but very few that brought the excitement and drama that a nationwide audience witnessed Saturday night on ESPN2.

"Last year these guys came in when we were ranked No. 2 in the nation and they came in and beat us. Then over the next six weeks we played four teams ranked in the top five on the road. It's difficult, it's really hard. And to come in here and beat the No. 3 ranked team in the country, I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of our team. I love my football team," said head coach Bobby Hauck.

The Grizzlies used a big first half offensively to jump ahead 20-0 and were able to withstand a late surge from the Idaho offense to seal the victory. Montana's defense forced three turnovers in the game, none bigger than the forced fumble by Kale Edwards that was recovered by No. 37 Levi Janacaro to put the game on ice.

The big first half allowed Montana to keep it on the ground for much of the second and control the clock, relying on a stout defense to deliver the win. They held an Idaho offense that was third in the Big Sky with over 200 yards per game on the ground to just 58 rushing yards. It's the first time all year they have been held under 100 yards rushing.

Ryder Meyer led the team with eight tackles and added an interception in the Montana end zone to deny Idaho a score. The Montana front combined for six sacks, the most in a game since the 2021 meeting with Idaho. Riley Wilson and Tyler Flink each had 1.5 sacks.

Clifton McDowell led the Grizzly offense with a balanced and composed performance in the hostile environment. He completed 61 percent of his passes for 176 yards and a score, and added 38 yards on the ground with another score.

Junior Bergen had a big day as the primary receiving target and Eli Gillman ran for 84 yards on 12 carries for a 7.0 average.

Gevani McCoy and Hayden Hatten nearly brought Idaho back in to the game by themselves. McCoy in particular kept plenty of plays alive against the swarming Montana defense. It added plenty of drama late, as he made some heroic plays to keep Idaho in it.

"What a great game. We're up 20-0 and think we're going to get away from them and then they started going for it," Hauck said. "They went for it on fourth down in their own end and we couldn't get the quarterback on the ground. That kid kept them alive all night."

Montana improves to 6-1 (3-1 Big Sky) with the win and should receive a bump in the national rankings next week. They have a bye week upcoming before returning home to take on Northern Colorado on Oct. 29.

It's also the 122nd win of Bobby Hauck's career, moving him within a single win of Jerome Sauers for the all-time Big Sky Conference record. He is already the winningest coach in Big Sky league games and Montana history.

In a bit of a surprise, Idaho won the toss but deferred. Montana started with the ball and put together a great opening drive, picking up a long third down conversion to get into Idaho territory and set up Grant Glasgow for a 44-yard field goal that made it 3-0 early. The drive may have stalled, but the Grizzlies were able to take nearly six minutes off the clock.

"The first shocker was what they did when they won the coin toss and chose to defer," Hauck said "It's the first time all year, and so they had to play from behind all night and they are not built for it. It's not their personality. Even when they were down 20, they were still bleeding it out."

The defense backed up the fast start, forcing an Idaho punt after the Vandals had scored on the opening drive of every game so far this season. They pinned the Grizzlies deep inside their own territory, and after a loss on first down Montana faced 2nd-and-13 from their own two-yard line.

In a situation that could have been disaster, Montana instead turned it into a dream. McDowell found Bergen for a 12-yard gain to give the Griz some space. They converted the first down with a QB keeper. Two plays later, McDowell ran a play-action pass and dropped a perfect pass over the top to a streaking Bergen, who beat the defense for a 76-yard score. The Grizzlies converted a two-point conversion but were flagged on the play, so they opted for the extra point to take a 10-0 lead. The score was the longest touchdown catch of Bergen's career. His previous high was 74 yards in the 2021 win over Montana State. It started the best receiving game of his career as he would proceed to haul in five catches for a career-high 118 yards.

The defense would force a punt again on the following drive after Idaho drove near midfield, but Riley Wilson recorded the first sack of conference play for the Griz to force the Vandals into a punt. Once again, Idaho were able to pin Montana deep in its own territory. But for the second straight drive, Montana didn't care.

This time around it was Gillman breaking a 53-yard run up the left side, breaking several tackles along the way, to move the ball into Idaho territory in just one play. The Griz then went to a reverse pitch to Aaron Fontes to set up first down from the Vandal 15-yard line.

Once there, the offense kept it on the ground, running a Statue of Liberty trick play for a gain and then keeping it in the hands of McDowell on third down for a touchdown score from eight yards out. It put Montana ahead 17-0 with just under 10 minutes left in the half.

After the score, Montana held a more than four-minute advantage in time of possession and had 232 yards compared to just 55 for Idaho. The Grizzlies forced a three-and-out on the next drive to maintain the significant yards advantage. On the next drive Montana faced a 2nd-and-11 and it looked like McDowell would be sacked to drive them further back, but the quarterback stiff-armed a would-be tackler, escaped the pocket and delivered a first down throw to Keelan White in Idaho territory.

McDowell found Bergen over the middle for another third and long conversion that put Montana into field goal range. Glasgow would drill a 46-yard attempt to increase Montana's lead to 20 points with 2:12 to play in the half.

The Vandals would find the scoreboard on the ensuing drive, going 75 yards in just 1:20 to cut the Grizzly lead to 13. Montana would run the clock out to end the half with a 20-7 lead.

The statistics heavily favored Montana in the opening half. The Griz had the ball for over 18 minutes and outgained Idaho 286 to 144. Third down efficiency proved crucial for Montana as they went 7-for-9 to keep drives moving, while holding Idaho to just two conversions.

On the first drive of the third quarter, Idaho were able to convert a fourth down from just inside Montana territory to keep a drive alive. The made it all the way to the red zone, but Montana slowed them down and forced another fourth down.

The Vandals rolled the dice again, and McCoy's pass was tipped in the air and intercepted by Ryder Meyer in the end zone. Meyer took a knee for a Montana touchback, giving the Griz the ball after the Vandals had taken eight minutes off the clock. The Griz would punt for the first time all game on its first drive of the second half. The Vandals converted a fourth down deep inside their own territory on the following drive. An apparent Montana interception then was wiped out by a defensive holding penalty that allowed the Idaho drive to continue.

Idaho coach Jason Eck continued to gamble later in the drive, attempting yet another fourth down conversion from the Montana 41. This time, the Vandals couldn't convert. McCoy's pass was tipped into the air by Riley Wilson, and Jaxon Lee located it and pulled it down for an interception, returning it into Idaho territory. The Griz picked up a long third down conversion from McDowell to Fontes to move the chains once. They kept the ball on the ground three straight times to set up a 45-yard field goal from Glasgow, who knocked through his third field goal of the night to extend the lead to 23-7. All three makes were from 40-plus yards for Glasgow, and the final would prove crucial as it forced Idaho to score twice and succeed on a pair of two-point conversions. They would get nearly the whole way there, but the extra points would be a difference maker.

"Our field goal kicker was big, getting it to 16 points was obviously huge," Hauck said. "We needed more than three in the second half but that was just an awesome, awesome football game."

The Vandals needed a score down 16, and were able to drive the field in just under six minutes and get the two-point conversion to cut Montana's lead to 23-15 with 5:48 remaining. Montana went three-and-out, giving Idaho the ball back with 3:32 to play. A big pass moved the Vandals into Grizzly territory, and McCoy somehow escaped the pocket for a dramatic touchdown throw to Hayden Hatten in the back of the end zone. Idaho needed a two-point conversion to tie the game at 23 and attempted a trick play on a reverse to Hatten, who then looked for a pass. The Griz stayed home, and denied the conversion to maintain the 23-21 lead.

The onside kick for Idaho was recovered by Hatten, but he jumped early across the line and the play was called back for offside. Montana recovered the second attempt on the Idaho 41. The Griz kept it on the ground all three times to set up a 4th-and-2. Montana took a timeout with 57 seconds remaining. The offense came back on the field after the timeout and McDowell was denied on a rush, giving the ball back to Idaho with 52 seconds to play.

It set up a storybook ending for Idaho, the chance, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Kibbie Dome, to come from behind and retain the Little Brown Stein. Instead, Montana delivered the final blow to bring it home to Missoula.

Kale Edwards burst through the line and sacked McCoy, who fumbled the ball in the process. Levi Janacaro recovered it, and Montana entered victory formation. They took a knee to hand Idaho its first FCS loss of the season, and enter the bye week with a 6-1 record.

Montana improved to 8-1 against Idaho since the turn of the century, which includes several games with the Vandals playing at the FBS level. This matchup means a little extra to both sides, and could prove to be just the jump start that the Griz need to make a run through the rest of the season.

They return home for back-to-back games, starting with unranked Northern Colorado on Oct. 29 before facing off against a Sacramento State that was ranked No. 5 in this week's coaches' poll. It won't get easier for Montana, but the Grizzlies will surely enjoy the rivalry win and the road trip back home to Missoula with the Little Brown Stein in tow.

Cats throttle Cal Poly

BOZEMAN - Sean Chambers ran for three touchdowns and Tommy Mellott passed for two more as Montana State rolled to a 59-19 win over Cal Poly on Saturday night in Bozeman.

The Bobcats' first score came on a 65-yard punt return by Ty McCullouch early in the first quarter. Montana State (5-1 overall, 4-0 Big Sky) never trailed. Chambers' first score, an 8-yarder, made it 14-6 and the senior went 64 yards before the quarter was over making it 21-6.

Chambers now has 30 career rushing touchdowns, putting him alone in third place on the all-time Bobcat list, trailing only Cody Kirk (47) and Don Haas (33).

Mellott, seeing his first action since being injured at South Dakota State on Sept. 9, started at quarterback for the second-ranked Bobcats. He contributed to the scoring with a 12-yard pass to Derryk Snell in the second quarter. Brendan Hall kicked a 44-yard field goal and Mellott's pass to Jared White from 17 yards gave MSU a 38-13 lead at halftime.

It was more of the same for MSU in the second half. Chambers got his third score on a 9-yard rush to make it 45-19 after three quarters. Elijah Elliott reached the end zone in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard scamper before freshman Adam Jones went 49 yards on his first career run to account for the final score.

Overall, MSU finished with 335 yards on the ground and 243 through the air. McCullouch, a transfer from Colorado State, was the top receiver, hauling in four passes for 119 yards. Mellott completed seven of nine passes for 92 yards while Chambers hit on seven of 15 for 151 yards. White was the game's leading rusher with 93 yards on 14 carries. Chambers added 91 yards.

Leading the way for the MSU defense was Rylan Ortt and Danny Uliulakepa with five tackles each. Ben Seymour and Blake Schmidt each recorded a sack. The big defensive play for the Bobcats came on a blocked punt by Level Price which the Bobcats turned into Hall's field goal.

The win was MSU's 24th straight at home, the crowd of 21,997 was the 18th consecutive regular season sellout, and the win was Montana State's 200th at home since moving into Reno H. Sales/Bobcat Stadium in 1973.. Next up for MSU is a trip to Sacramento State on Oct. 21 and then to Idaho on Oct. 28. The Bobcats return home on Nov. 4 against Northern Arizona.

Cal Poly (2-5, 0-3) was led by Sam Huard, a transfer from Washington, who tossed three touchdown passes while completing 19 of 36 passes for 225 yards. Cal Poly plays host to Northern Colorado on Oct. 21.