Saturday, October 24
Missoula, Mont.
1:30 PM
Montana
4-3 , 2-2
42
vs
16
North Dakota *
4-4 , 2-3
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
North Dakota
7
3
0
6
16
Montana
7
14
14
7
42
Simis shines in Montana victory over North Dakota
10/24/2015 8:30:00 PM | Football
PDF Stats
The Montana Grizzlies entered Saturday's game against North Dakota with a quarterback who had never started before, and began the season sitting third on the UM depth chart. You'd have never known it though.
Making his first career start as a Grizzly, sophomore Makena Simis tied the UM school record for touchdown passes in a game with six, and completed 16 of 23 passes for 323 yards, leading Montana to a key 42-16 Big Sky Conference victory over the University of North Dakota.
The win moves Montana to 3-1 in the Big Sky and 4-3 overall, and rebounds the Griz from an upset victory for Weber State two weeks prior. The win also marks the Grizzlies' largest victory of the Bob Stitt era.
"It feels really good. I was talking to the coaches in the headsets, and I didn't know what to do with myself in the fourth quarter where it wasn't a nail biter and you're all stressed out trying to pull something off," said Coach Stitt at the post game press conference.
"It was nice to have this thing under control, and for the kids to go out and play like we knew they could play."
Montana racked up 488 yards of total offense, with 162 rushing yards and 326 yards in the air. The Montana defense achieved it's goal of stopping the Big Sky's fourth best rushing attack in all plays but one, holding UND to 267 yards on the ground for the game.
The Grizzlies fell behind 7-0 when North Dakota's freshman phenom running back John Santiago ran in an 80-yard touchdown on the visitors' first touch of the ball.
But the Griz, led by the debutant Simis, would go on to rattle off seven unanswered touchdowns for the win.
Simis was the obvious choice for player of the game with his record-tying inaugural performance that put him equal with Dave Dickenson, Brian Ah Yat and Jordan Johnson for the most touchdown passes in a game with six.
"It was fun. It felt good. You're constantly waiting for an opportunity. It's not the way I wanted to get my opportunity, Brady and Chad are some of my best friends and I don't want to see them get hurt, but you've got to embrace it, no matter how your opportunity comes. But yeah, it was fun," said the sophomore from Boise, Idaho.
Simis couldn't have thrown for six touchdowns without an exceptional corps of targets to throw to.
"It's easy when you have dudes on the outside who can create separation, and I just have to get 'em the ball. They made some incredible plays. Not all those touchdowns were in the end zone. Some they had to break a tackle and go for 40 yards. So yeah, I've got to give it to those guys outside," he added.
Montana's two most productive receivers, Jamaal Jones and Ellis Henderson, each totaled over 100-yards on the day (139 and 114, respectively) and notched two touchdowns each.
(10/24/2015) FB: vs. North Dakota (10.24.15)
"He (Simis) gave our guys a chance and every single time they made plays," said Stitt of Simis' performance. "That's what I was most proud of him for, he got us into good protection, and then he put the ball where we had a chance to make a play."
Jones led all receivers against UND with 139 yards, moving him into seventh on the all-time receiving list, and now sitting just six yards behind Raul Pacheco in sixth place. 74 of Jones' yards came on a single pass form Simis, now ranked as tied for the 11th longest pass in Griz history.
The first quarter couldn't have opened up any worse for the Griz however. After winning the toss, UM went three-and-out on its first possession. UND capitalized in the biggest way possible, when Santiago burst through a hole and went 80 yards untouched on the first play from scrimmage for the visitors. The breakaway run put North Dakota out to an early 7-0 lead, and put Montana on the back foot to start the game.
Two stalled drives later, the Grizzlies answered back, using good field position to convert a nine-play, 54-yard drive that was capped off by a beautiful pass from Simis to Ben Roberts for a 23-yard strike.
The touchdown was Roberts' fifth on the season, for a time in this game the most TD receptions on the team. After Jones and Henderson each caught a pair of touchdowns, Roberts, Jones and Henderson are now all tied at five each for most on the season.
Montana's first drive of the second quarter stalled after Jones and Roberts put the Griz in good field position again. Coach Stitt called for the fourth down conversion, but Jeremy Calhoun was stuffed at the UND 40 and the Griz would turn it over on downs.
UND then put together a clinical 12 play, 57 yard drive using Santiago again as the weapon of choice on the ground. Nate Harris would come up with some defensive heroics on the goal line though, when he deflected a third down pass to force a 20-yard field goal for North Dakota.
The Griz answered right back in true Coach Stitt fashion, putting together a three play, 65 yard drive in 39 seconds, capped off by a 36 yard touchdown pass from Simis to Henderson in the corner of the end zone.
The Montana defense once again forced a three and out on the next series, forcing UND to punt.
Simis and the Griz went back to work, and put together a carbon copy of the previous drive, capped off by a 63-yard touchdown pass, again to Henderson, who made the circus catch, broke a tackle, and sprinted 20 yards to the end zone. The Griz then entered the halftime break leading 21-10.
If UM opened the first half in the worst way possible, the Grizzly defense opened the second half in the best way possible when UND went deep on third down and linebacker Jeremiah Kose came up with the clutch interception.
Six plays later, Simis threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game with a 12 yards strike to Josh Horner, completing a text book 55 yard, 2:07 drive, and giving the Griz an 18-point lead, (its largest lead of the season) up 28-10.
UM closed out the third quarter with Simis' 74-yard bomb to Jones, and the Griz were rolling. The deep pass capped off a quick three play, 85-yard drive in under one minute.
The final Griz touchdown came on the first play of the fourth quarter. UM was set up with ideal field position when UND attempted a fake punt that was read like a book by Connor Strahm, who leveled the North Dakota punter with ball in hand for a loss of nine yards, giving UM the ball on the UND 25.
Four plays later, Simis found Jones open for a 22 yards strike that brought the score to 42-10, and the Griz were on cruise control for the rest of the game.
Montana returns to the road next week for another must-win battle against the surprise of the Big Sky Conference, at Portland State.
PSU pulled off two major upsets in defeating Washington State and North Texas, two FBS programs, after being picked to finish second to last in the Big Sky Conference.
The UM/PSU game is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time on 10/31 at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon. The game will be shown LIVE on statewide television, broadcast by Cowles Montana Media stations in Montana and Washington State.
Note: Saturday's winning Split-the-Pot ticket was 181596. The winner, from Missoula, claimed $9,061.
The Montana Grizzlies entered Saturday's game against North Dakota with a quarterback who had never started before, and began the season sitting third on the UM depth chart. You'd have never known it though.
Making his first career start as a Grizzly, sophomore Makena Simis tied the UM school record for touchdown passes in a game with six, and completed 16 of 23 passes for 323 yards, leading Montana to a key 42-16 Big Sky Conference victory over the University of North Dakota.
The win moves Montana to 3-1 in the Big Sky and 4-3 overall, and rebounds the Griz from an upset victory for Weber State two weeks prior. The win also marks the Grizzlies' largest victory of the Bob Stitt era.
"It feels really good. I was talking to the coaches in the headsets, and I didn't know what to do with myself in the fourth quarter where it wasn't a nail biter and you're all stressed out trying to pull something off," said Coach Stitt at the post game press conference.
"It was nice to have this thing under control, and for the kids to go out and play like we knew they could play."
Montana racked up 488 yards of total offense, with 162 rushing yards and 326 yards in the air. The Montana defense achieved it's goal of stopping the Big Sky's fourth best rushing attack in all plays but one, holding UND to 267 yards on the ground for the game.
The Grizzlies fell behind 7-0 when North Dakota's freshman phenom running back John Santiago ran in an 80-yard touchdown on the visitors' first touch of the ball.
But the Griz, led by the debutant Simis, would go on to rattle off seven unanswered touchdowns for the win.
Simis was the obvious choice for player of the game with his record-tying inaugural performance that put him equal with Dave Dickenson, Brian Ah Yat and Jordan Johnson for the most touchdown passes in a game with six.
"It was fun. It felt good. You're constantly waiting for an opportunity. It's not the way I wanted to get my opportunity, Brady and Chad are some of my best friends and I don't want to see them get hurt, but you've got to embrace it, no matter how your opportunity comes. But yeah, it was fun," said the sophomore from Boise, Idaho.
Simis couldn't have thrown for six touchdowns without an exceptional corps of targets to throw to.
"It's easy when you have dudes on the outside who can create separation, and I just have to get 'em the ball. They made some incredible plays. Not all those touchdowns were in the end zone. Some they had to break a tackle and go for 40 yards. So yeah, I've got to give it to those guys outside," he added.
Montana's two most productive receivers, Jamaal Jones and Ellis Henderson, each totaled over 100-yards on the day (139 and 114, respectively) and notched two touchdowns each.
"He (Simis) gave our guys a chance and every single time they made plays," said Stitt of Simis' performance. "That's what I was most proud of him for, he got us into good protection, and then he put the ball where we had a chance to make a play."
Jones led all receivers against UND with 139 yards, moving him into seventh on the all-time receiving list, and now sitting just six yards behind Raul Pacheco in sixth place. 74 of Jones' yards came on a single pass form Simis, now ranked as tied for the 11th longest pass in Griz history.
The first quarter couldn't have opened up any worse for the Griz however. After winning the toss, UM went three-and-out on its first possession. UND capitalized in the biggest way possible, when Santiago burst through a hole and went 80 yards untouched on the first play from scrimmage for the visitors. The breakaway run put North Dakota out to an early 7-0 lead, and put Montana on the back foot to start the game.
Two stalled drives later, the Grizzlies answered back, using good field position to convert a nine-play, 54-yard drive that was capped off by a beautiful pass from Simis to Ben Roberts for a 23-yard strike.
The touchdown was Roberts' fifth on the season, for a time in this game the most TD receptions on the team. After Jones and Henderson each caught a pair of touchdowns, Roberts, Jones and Henderson are now all tied at five each for most on the season.
Montana's first drive of the second quarter stalled after Jones and Roberts put the Griz in good field position again. Coach Stitt called for the fourth down conversion, but Jeremy Calhoun was stuffed at the UND 40 and the Griz would turn it over on downs.
UND then put together a clinical 12 play, 57 yard drive using Santiago again as the weapon of choice on the ground. Nate Harris would come up with some defensive heroics on the goal line though, when he deflected a third down pass to force a 20-yard field goal for North Dakota.
The Griz answered right back in true Coach Stitt fashion, putting together a three play, 65 yard drive in 39 seconds, capped off by a 36 yard touchdown pass from Simis to Henderson in the corner of the end zone.
The Montana defense once again forced a three and out on the next series, forcing UND to punt.
Simis and the Griz went back to work, and put together a carbon copy of the previous drive, capped off by a 63-yard touchdown pass, again to Henderson, who made the circus catch, broke a tackle, and sprinted 20 yards to the end zone. The Griz then entered the halftime break leading 21-10.
If UM opened the first half in the worst way possible, the Grizzly defense opened the second half in the best way possible when UND went deep on third down and linebacker Jeremiah Kose came up with the clutch interception.
Six plays later, Simis threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game with a 12 yards strike to Josh Horner, completing a text book 55 yard, 2:07 drive, and giving the Griz an 18-point lead, (its largest lead of the season) up 28-10.
UM closed out the third quarter with Simis' 74-yard bomb to Jones, and the Griz were rolling. The deep pass capped off a quick three play, 85-yard drive in under one minute.
The final Griz touchdown came on the first play of the fourth quarter. UM was set up with ideal field position when UND attempted a fake punt that was read like a book by Connor Strahm, who leveled the North Dakota punter with ball in hand for a loss of nine yards, giving UM the ball on the UND 25.
Four plays later, Simis found Jones open for a 22 yards strike that brought the score to 42-10, and the Griz were on cruise control for the rest of the game.
Montana returns to the road next week for another must-win battle against the surprise of the Big Sky Conference, at Portland State.
PSU pulled off two major upsets in defeating Washington State and North Texas, two FBS programs, after being picked to finish second to last in the Big Sky Conference.
The UM/PSU game is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time on 10/31 at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon. The game will be shown LIVE on statewide television, broadcast by Cowles Montana Media stations in Montana and Washington State.
Note: Saturday's winning Split-the-Pot ticket was 181596. The winner, from Missoula, claimed $9,061.
WATCH the GrizFootball post game press conference after the big 42-16 GRIZvsUND win!
Posted by UM Grizzly Athletics - Football on Saturday, October 24, 2015
Team Stats
UND
UM
Total Yards
380
488
Pass Yards
113
328
Rushing Yards
267
160
Penalty Yards
50
12
1st Downs
17
21
3rd Downs
6
6
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
33:41
26:19
1st Quarter
UND 7, UM 0
UND - John Santiago 80 yd run (Reid Taubenheim kick), 1 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:11
UND 7, UM 7
UM - Ben Roberts 23 yd pass from Makena Simis (Daniel Sullivan kick) 9 plays, 54 yards, TOP 2:57
2nd Quarter
UND 10, UM 7
UND - Reid Taubenheim 20 yd field goal 12 plays, 57 yards, TOP 5:02
UND 10, UM 14
UM - Ellis Henderson 36 yd pass from Makena Simis (Daniel Sullivan kick) 3 plays, 65 yards, TOP 0:39
UND 10, UM 21
UM - Ellis Henderson 63 yd pass from Makena Simis (Daniel Sullivan kick) 3 plays, 67 yards, TOP 0:38
3rd Quarter
UND 10, UM 28
UM - Josh Horner 12 yd pass from Makena Simis (Daniel Sullivan kick) 7 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:07
UND 10, UM 35
UM - Jamaal Jones 74 yd pass from Makena Simis (Daniel Sullivan kick) 3 plays, 85 yards, TOP 1:00
4th Quarter
UND 10, UM 42
UM - Jamaal Jones 22 yd pass from Makena Simis (Daniel Sullivan kick) 4 plays, 25 yards, TOP 1:45
UND 16, UM 42
UND - Luke Stanley 7 yd pass from Ryan Bartels (Ryan Bartels passintercepted) 11 plays, 85 yards, TOP 5:19
Game Leaders
CMP
16
TD
6
YDS
323
INT
0
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
5
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
CB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballQB
/ Football
LB
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