Griz beat Bobcats 36-10 to win Big Sky title

Saturday, November 19

Bozeman, Mont.

12:00 PM

Montana

9-2 , 7-1

Montana State

9-2 , 7-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Montana

Montana State

Dan Moore rushed for a career-high 116 yards at MSU on Saturday.

11/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Final stats

The University of Montana had two players rush for more than 100 yards and the Grizzly defense stymied Montana State's potent offense en route to a 36-10 key Big Sky Conference victory at MSU's Bobcat Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The seventh-ranked Grizzlies (9-2/7-1 Big Sky) claimed the league's regular-season championship over the top-ranked Bobcats (9-2, 7-1) due to the head-to-head tie-breaker in the league's standings.

It was the 70th Griz victory in the 111th game of the storied rivalry. Montana has now won 22 of the past 26 games and leads the series 70-36-5.

With the regular-season title Montana earned the automatic berth into the FCS playoffs. This will be the 18th season in the last 19 years that the Griz has advanced to the playoffs.

The Grizzly defense set the tone for the game. Montana's "D" held MSU's prolific offense, which had averaged 459 yards a game before last Saturday, to just 250 yards. MSU had 13 first downs. Montana's offense was impressive, as the Griz rushed 47 times for 309 yards and two scores, and passed for another 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns, racking up 473 total yards and 24 first downs (18 rushing).

Griz junior running backs Peter Nguyen and Dan Moore rushed for 123 and 116 yards, respectively. It was the first time since 2009 that two Griz players rushed for more than 100 yards in a game. That season Thomas Brooks-Fletcher (133 yards) and Chase Reynolds (112) accomplished that feat in a 45-30 win at Sacramento State.

It appeared as the momentum of the game had swung the way of MSU as the third quarter started. The Cats started on Montana's 35-yard line after a big return and a personal foul penalty, and sophomore quarterback Denarius McGhee connected with senior wide receiver Elvis Akpla on a 7-yard scoring pass, and the Cats cut the Griz lead to 12-7 with 14:07 to go in the third quarter.

The Grizzlies came right back on their first play from scrimmage in the second half, though, as senior wide receiver Jabin Sambrano jumped above a defender and grabbed sophomore quarterback Jordan Johnson's pass and ran untouched into the end zone for a 79-yard touchdown. That made the score 19-7 Griz with 13:49 left in the third quarter.

After Sambrano's long TD grab, the Grizzlies tacked on three more points on a 33-yard field goal by senior kicker Brody McKnight, taking a 22-7 lead with 10:05 left in the third.

Moore, who had not played in more than a month due to an injury he suffered in the Portland State game (Oct. 15), rushed 15 times for a career-high 116 yards. His longest run of the game was a 37-yard touchdown scamper, which gave the Griz a 29-7 advantage with 5:37 left in the third quarter.

MSU cut the Griz lead to 29-10 on a 38-yard field goal by senior kicker Jason Cunningham with 14:16 remaining in the game, but the Cats did not score again.

Nguyen capped off his second straight 100-yard rushing game with a nifty, zig-zagging 21-yard touchdown run with 9:28 left in the game, making it the final, 36-10. Two weeks ago, im UM's last game, Nguyen rushed for a career-high 149 yards in a 32-7 home win over Western Oregon.

The game started out slow, with the teams battling between the 25-yard lines for the majority of the first quarter, with neither scoring.

The Grizzlies got on the scoreboard at the 9:10 mark in the second quarter when McKnight nailed a 34-yard field goal to give the Griz a 3-0 lead.

The Cats stopped the Grizzlies on their next drive, but McKnight's 49-yard punt gave MSU poor field position at their own 3-yard line. On MSU's first possession from the three, McGhee was called for intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety when he was tackled by senior cornerback Trumaine Johnson with 6:12 to play in the half, and the Griz took a 5-0 lead.

Montana then drove 60 yards on its next possession and pushed the lead to 12-0 on a 2-yard pass from Johnson to senior tight end Kavario Middleton for a touchdown on a 4th-and-2 play with 3:57 left in the half. Nguyen was the key to the Johnson-to-Middleton hook-up, as he rushed three times for 38 yards on the nine-play, 60-yard drive.

MSU had Cunningham's 58-yard field goal attempt blocked by senior defensive end Bobby Alt with four seconds left until intermission, and UM took a 12-0 lead at the break.

Johnson was 15-of-31-0 for 164 yards and two touchdowns. Sambrano had 4 catches for 96 yards and a TD, while Middleton had 3 for 15 and a score. Junior tight end Greg Hardy and junior wide-out Bryce Carver had two receptions each.

Senior linebacker Caleb McSurdy and sophomore LB John Kanongata'a led Montana with 8 tackles each. UM senior linebacker Alex Shaw added 6 tackle and 1.5 stops for loss. Trumaine Johnson had 5 tackles, including the key one in the end zone that led to the safety.

McGhee was 16-of-33-0 for 171 yards and a TD. Akpla had 6 grabs for 113 yards and a score. Junior linebacker Jody Owens led MSU with 13 tackles.

Head Coach Robin Pflugrad gave his defensive coordinator Mike Breske a lot of credit for the strong defensive performance, he also noted that the bye week helped. "Coach Breske is an excellent coach, you give him enough time and he will come up with some great schemes," Pflugrad said.

"This week, I feel like it was the two gems of the conference playing," Pflugrad said. "I am very proud and honored to be involved in a game like this when it comes down to two teams in the great state of Montana playing for the league championship."

The Griz found out Sunday (Nov. 20) that they will host a second round FCS playoff game on Saturday, Dec. 3, with the time TBA. Montana will host the winner of the Central Arkansas (8-3) at Tennessee Tech (7-3) game, which will be played next Saturday, Nov. 26.

MSU hosts New Hampshire (8-3) on Saturday, Dec. 3.