#7 Montana loses OT heartbreaker to #2 Sacramento State

Saturday, October 22

Sacramento, Calif.

9 PM (MT)

Montana

5-2 , 2-2

Sacramento State

7-0 , 4-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Montana

Sacramento St.

#7 Montana loses OT heartbreaker to #2 Sacramento State

10/23/2022 1:15:00 AM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana had a lead for much of the game on Saturday night, not trailing in regulation on the road against the No. 3 Sacramento State Hornets. But 10 straight points from the hosts was enough to tie it late, and a touchdown in the extra period sealed a 31-24 win for Sacramento State.

The Grizzlies put together a great game plan, limiting the second-best scoring offense in the country to just 24 points in regulation. They shut out the Hornets in two quarters, the first time all year they had been blanked in a quarter.

"It's a rough one to take obviously. I thought we played well enough to win," head coach Bobby Hauck said. "We had quite a few really bad breaks go against us. I was proud of our guys I thought they played really well."

A touchdown on Montana's opening drive gave Sacramento State its first deficit through six games this season, the only remaining team in Division I football to have never trailed. The Grizzlies had a rejuvenated rushing attack, running for 200 yards behind good nights from Nick Ostmo (20 carries for 72 yards) and Marcus Knight (22 carries, 61 yards), who both found the endzone.

An untimely injury to starting quarterback Lucas Johnson early in the second quarter put Montana into a difficult situation, but they managed it to their best. A run heavy offense for Montana controlled the clock, and allowed the Grizzlies to rely on their dominant defense.

Montana turned the Hornets over four times, and while they did allow decent yardage to Sacramento State they limited them to less than half of their season average in scoring. Nash Fouch, Corbin Walker and Justin Ford all intercepted a pass, while Patrick O'Connell recovered a Hornet fumble.

"I thought our defense played really well throughout," Hauck said.

Still, it would prove to be not quite enough against one of the best teams in the country. Sacramento State closed the game on a 17-0 scoring run. Despite Montana possessing the ball for nearly 40 minutes, it was the quick play offense of the Hornets that found just enough plays to win the game. They had three touchdown drives, each taking up less than 2:15 of game clock.

The Grizzlies held the Hornets scoreless on seven of their first eight drives, but Sacramento State rallied in the fourth quarter.

The injury to Johnson was particularly frustrating as he had 81 combined yards in under two drives, looking sharp from the word go. Kris Brown filled in for him, completing 16-of-31 passes for 141 yards. They relied on the big games from Ostmo and Knight, who helped the Grizzlies eclipse 200 yards on the ground.

"They went after it and ran the ball really well," Hauck said. "We controlled the game and had some great drives where we predominantly ran it."

The Grizzlies had five drives of at least 10 plays, converted 50 percent of their third down attempts and ran 95 total plays for nearly 400 yards. They held Sacramento State to 5-of-12 on third down and also stuffed the Hornets on fourth down once. The two fourth down completions, including one late in the game on a play that was reviewed and ultimately stood, were difference makers.

It couldn't have been a much better start to the game. After Montana forced a Sacramento State punt on the first drive of the game, Johnson flashed his legs to extend the first Grizzly drive. Facing third and long, he scrambled up the middle for a 25-yard gain to put Montana in Hornet territory.

He picked up two more third down conversions with his feet to extend the drive into the red zone. Once there, they leaned on running back Marcus Knight. Johnson dumped it to Knight for a seven-yard reception, then the running back kept it on the ground three straight time to punch it into the end zone.

Knight's score gave him 27 in his Grizzly career and tied him with Jeremy Calhoun for the 5th most rushing scores in program history.

It became the first time all season Sacramento State had trailed in a game, as they were the last FCS or FBS team to not have to play from behind. After running for just 34 yards last week, Montana came out and established the run. They carried it for 50 yards on the opening drive, which was the longest of the season for Montana.

Sacramento State put together a long drive into Grizzly territory to end the opening quarter. On the first play of the second quarter, Sacramento State went for it on 4^th-and-8. They completed a pass, but TraJon Cotton made a clutch tackle to keep them short of the sticks and force a turnover on downs.

Montana started 4-for-4 on third down, and on the fifth attempt Sacramento State had a targeting penalty that gave up another first down. It also injured Lucas Johnson, and would prove to be a major turning point in the game.

The injury forced Brown into action. The Grizzlies would get into Hornet territory, but stall out and turn it over on downs themselves to give it back.

Sacramento State didn't have the ball long. On the second play of the drive, Corbin Walker intercepted a deep pass and returned it for 34 yards to set Montana up near midfield. The Grizzlies faced another fourth down right away, and again elected to go for it near midfield. Knight came in, found a hole and picked up a big gain for a first down. It got Montana into field goal range, but a 45-yard attempt came up short to keep the game at 7-0.

Once again, the Grizzly defense stepped up to make a play. A pitch on the option play for the Hornets was fumbled, and Patrick O'Connell dove on top of it to give the ball back to the Griz on the Hornets 33-yard line.

The Grizzlies were held to another field goal attempt, and this time Nico Ramos drilled it through the uprights to extend the lead to 10-0.

Sacramento State responded with a couple of big plays, going 75 yards in just over a minute to make it 10-7.

Montana had a chance at the final drive of the game, and kept pounding the rock. They ran the ball well, getting the ball into Hornet territory and converting a third down with a run from Brown. He found Roberts on the outside for another Grizzly first down inside of 30 seconds remaining in the half.

The Grizzlies found something they liked, as Brown again found Roberts on a quick out to the sideline to get Montana into better range for a field goal attempt. Ramos' attempt as time expired in the half was blocked to keep the game at 10-7 going into the break.

After the teams traded punts on four straight possessions to start the second half, the Grizzlies finally put together a sustained drive. Brown found Flowers for a nice gain on a rollout pass, then Ostmo broke free to get the Griz across midfield.

The Griz faced 4^th-and-4 into the wind and elected to go for it. Brown nearly found Knight on a wheel route for the conversion, but the tip of the ball hit the ground as Knight went down, forcing an incompletion and another turnover on downs for Montana.

Any bad feelings after the turnover were quickly reversed. On Sacramento State's first play of the next drive, Nash Fouch jumped a deep route and intercepted Dunniway. Fouch caught it with a head of steam, returning it 35 yards back deep into Sacramento State territory.

A quick pass to Aaron Fontes set the Griz up in the red zone. Then Brown targeted Fontes again, floating a ball to his back shoulder. Fontes rose above his defender, snagging the ball with one hand while tapping the toes on his right just inches away from the sideling. An official review overturned what was initially ruled an incompletion, instead deciding Fontes' highlight reel grab counted. It gave Montana a 17-7 lead with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

The Grizzlies again blanked the Hornets in a quarter, making it the second time on the night. The Hornets had scored in 24 out of 24 quarters entering Saturday. They completed just 2-of-8 passes, turning them over with an interception as well.

The Hornets would score early in the fourth quarter on a long pass completion, getting the hosts back within a field goal. Sacramento State's quick strike offense was again on display, scoring in just four plays and under two minutes.

Ostmo strung together some nice runs and then the Griz went to the air, finding Keelan White for a 15-yard gain to get back into Sacramento State territory. They faced an important 3^rd-and-5, and Brown delivered with a cross route to Roberts to put the Griz in the red zone.

Pass interference on Sacramento State helped Montana pick up another third down conversion, setting Montana up inside the five. Two plays later, Ostmo followed his line – with some help from the tight ends – into the end zone to put Montana ahead 24-14 with under nine minutes remaining.

Montana also ran off more than six minutes of clock. One week after they were on the wrong end of the time of possession battle, the Grizzlies completely flipped the script. The drive brought them over 35 minutes of total possession in the game. The drive was the fifth time on the night that Montana had a possession of 10-plus plays.

Sacramento State didn't go away. They drove inside of Montana's 10-yard line on the ensuing drive, but were stuffed by the Grizzly defense. They elected for a field goal, knocking home a 27-yard field goal to make it 24-17 with under six minutes to play.

The Hornets dialed up an onside kick, blasting a low ball off the first line of the Montana kick return and recovering the football. They would drive and score with 3:39 left on the clock, tying the game up at 24-all.

Brown started the drive with a huge delivery to Fontes, gaining 17 across the middle to bring it near midfield. Ostmo carried it into Hornet territory on the next play, but a penalty pushed the Grizzlies back and forced them to punt with 76 seconds left in regulation. They got into position to attempt a Hail Mary into the end zone, but Justin Ford intercepted the pass and nearly broke off a return on the final play of regulation. Instead, overtime beckoned.

Sacramento State got the ball first, scoring on a quarterback run. It was the first time all game the Hornets led, jumping on top 31-24. Montana had the ball from the 25 with a chance to respond.

The Grizzlies couldn't convert, and the Hornets celebration ensued.

It was the first of consecutive games for the Grizzlies against a top-10 opponent on the road. They have no time to hang their heads, as Weber State looms next Saturday. Hauck said the message after the game was positive.

"I told them I was proud of them and I think we have a really good team. They had a lot of things working against them tonight. They probably played well enough to win and didn't which is a disappointment, but we will have a big game next week."