Saturday, November 2
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
3 PM (MT)
Montana
7-2 , 4-1
42
at
7
Cal Poly
2-6 , 1-4
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Montana
7
7
14
14
42
Cal Poly
0
0
0
7
7
Grizzlies roll over Mustangs for second-straight road win
11/2/2024 8:03:00 PM | Football
The Grizzly defense clamped down and Junior Bergen busted free for a record-setting punt return touchdown that broke the dam loose for the Montana Grizzlies in a comprehensive 42-7 Big Sky road win over Cal Poly in San Louis Obispo on Saturday.
The win, UM's second-straight on the road, improves No. 8 Montana to 7-2 on the year and 4-1 in conference play, setting up a top 10 showdown in Missoula next week against No. 4 UC Davis under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on ESPN2.
"It's hard to go back-to-back on the road and take two long road trips and come away with decided victories like we did. So, it was a great effort by our team today, offense, defense, special teams. I thought we succeeded in all three phases," said head coach Bobby Hauck.
"I think our guys have evolved into a group – and it's not just this team, but a couple of previous teams – we've really embraced the road warrior mentality and wanting to win on the road. Enjoying winning on the road. It's not to say we don't love our home games, but it's fun to go win on the road too."
The Griz took three turnovers to help keep the Mustangs scoreless through three quarters on a cool day in California's Central Coast, while the offense scored five times in the second half to put the game away with a rotation of the first, second, and third team players on the field.
"Taking the ball away and not giving it up are good things in terms of winning and losing. You know, we had another one that got called back on the penalty, but it's always good to take the ball away," Hauck added.
Gallery: (11-2-2024) FB: vs Cal Poly (11.2.24)
Logan Fife and Keali'i Ah Yat split quarterback duties for the Griz, and together led them to 268 passing yards and a pair of scores, split roughly down the middle with 137 and 131 yards, respectively. Xavier Harris caught the first of those TD passes on return to his home state of California, and Keelan White had a one-handed highlight reel grab for a second quarter score for the other.
All told Montana had nine receivers catch 21 passes for its 268 yards, with a team high 73 yards going to White and Harris accounting for 50 more. UM added 68 more yards on the ground for 336 yards of total offense.
"The offense was good. We were not consistent with drives enough. We had some plays, but I should give credit where credit's due as well on the Cal Poly side. They had a good defensive plan for us. They had two weeks to prepare. Cody (vonAppen) did some great stuff front wise, pressure wise, to take away some of our favorites, and we had to get some other stuff. That's why you saw us have more production in the second half. But they had a good game plan for us. That was a good half a football by their defense," Hauck said.
Bergen opened the scoring for the Griz in the second half with an 84-yard punt return that set a new Big Sky record with the sixth of his career. That run pinned the Grizzlies ears back, scoring two more touchdowns and taking two turnovers in roughly seven minutes of game play.
"We really haven't had a lot of return balls this year. Punters has been doing a good job keeping it away from us. Field position has dictated us and couldn't really go for it. We rushed last week. So, with that being said, it was great to get that in the end zone. It was kind of a big play in the game, frankly. It got us away from them significantly. And certainly, we're excited for our return team and for Junior," said Hauck.
Montana's defense continued its dominance, with Cal Poly's fourth quarter touchdown the first against it in eight quarters of football, a streak that stretched back to the fourth quarter of the NAU game.
Linebacker Garrett Hustedt and safety Chrishawn Gordon each hauled in their first career interceptions and Jaxon Lee forced a fumble that Trevin Gradney recovered to help keep the home team largely off the scoreboard.
Lee and Ryan Tirrell led the Griz with nine tackles each, while Riley Wilson had another big day with four stops, two of which were TFLs and one of which was a sack, along with a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries.
It was part of a season-high 11 TFL performance for the defense, the most since the opening game of the year when UM put up 10 against Missouri State. The four sacks were the second-most for UM all season too. Montana was also nails on crucial downs, allowing Cal Poly to go just 5-for-17 on third down and 1-for-4 on fourth down, creating three more turnovers on downs.
"We did a good job in third and fourth down. It was pretty consistent. We did a good job in short yardage, did a good job in long yardage. We did give away some yards in some of those situations, but they were not for first downs. So, I like the way the defense played on third down. I thought the plan was good, I thought the execution was good," Hauck said.
The Griz started the game deep in their own territory after losing the coin toss on a muffed kickoff catch that pinned them inside the 10. Fife guided UM out of red zone, but it went from bad to worse when he overthrew Bergen on a deep pass across the middle and was intercepted by Mason Rivera, setting the Mustangs up with good field position at their own 34 yard line. It was UM's only turnover of the day.
With Ah Yat taking over on the next drive the Griz were facing a third and long, Sawyer Racanelli hauled in an impressive catch to move the chains across midfield, reaching behind him for a one-arm grab to put the Griz inside Poly territory.
The Griz then hit paydirt when Ah Yat welcomed Xavier Harris back to his home state with a touchdown, connecting with the Oxnard native streaking down the right hash for a 24-yard strike to put UM up 7-0 following Ty Morrison's PAT.
Montana's defense had Cal Poly bottled up on the ensuing drive with the Mustangs facing a 4th and 13 in UM territory. The Grizzly defense closed in on Jaden Jones from all sides, but Jones was somehow able to wiggle his way free and connected with Logan Booher for a 14-yard gain. Jones would then be stripped of the ball by Lee on the next play, however, with Gradney coming away with it and the Grizzly offense was back on the field.
Both teams would then trade possession in short order, with Montana going three and out and Jones overthrowing a pair of shots to the endzone, eventually leading to a turnover on downs for the Mustangs.
Fife came back in the game and engineered an eight play, 73-yard drive that was capped with one of the highlight catches of the year for Montana. The junior QB gave a pump-fake left then stepped up in the pocked and found White streaking across the middle of the field on a vertical route for a touchdown. The Canadian Spider lived up to his nickname on the catch, with a jaw-dropping, one-handed grab in traffic to put the Griz up 14-0.
Montana's defense continued to shine against the run game, stuffing a fourth and one attempt from the Mustangs at their own 45 for a turnover on towns that kept Poly at just 21 rushing yards in the first half.
After swapping punts on consecutive drives to start the second half, Montana's defense came up big once again on fourth down, stopping the Mustangs short on two-straight runs near midfield to take over on offense. Poly was just one for four on fourth down attempts halfway through the third quarter, and from that point on they'd bring out the punt team.
Montana's next offensive drive would stall, but it appeared that the Griz would get the ball back shortly after when Tyson Rostad came through and sacked Bo Kelly at the QB position to force a fumble he would then recover. But the hit was deemed to be targeting, and the Poly drive continued until they were forced to punt three plays later.
Bergen then gave the Griz the spark they had been looking for, taking a punt 84 yards to the endzone for his sixth career return touchdown, a new Big Sky Conference record. The touchdown put Montana up 21-0 with just under three minutes in the third quarter and opened the flood gates for the Griz.
"Everybody's trying to win, right? After that they were in a situation where they couldn't manage the game. Down two touchdowns they could still manage it - try to get a score, then get a stop, or on side kick, or something to still be in it. And then when that happened, then they had to kind of depart from what they wanted to do and then that's where the dam broke." Hauck added.
Montanan would get the ball right back on the next drive, with Garrett Hustedt, who spent much of the last year rehabbing an injury, dropping back in coverage and hauling in a Jones pass for his first career interception, returned down to the Cal Poly 17.
Gillman turned the turnover into points soon after, bursting through traffic around left end for a three-yard touchdown, and the Griz lead grew to 28-0 in short order.
Then just two plays into the fourth quarter on the ensuing drive Montana got the ball back again when Gordon dove for his first career interception at midfield to put the Grizzly offense on the field once again.
Fife then engineered a drive on the back of three sturdy carries from Nick Ostmo down to the Poly seven-yard line. Fife then rushed up the middle and dove for the line. The ball was fumbled at the line, but Grizzly freshman guard Lucas Freitas recovered it in the endzone for another Montana score to make it 35-0.
The Mustangs broke Montana's scoreless streak at eight quarters of football late in the fourth quarter when Richie Watts found Jake Woods for a 14-yard touchdown pass, set-up by a pass interference penalty from Prince Ford that put the home team in the red zone.
Montana then rolled in the third string lineup and got back to work, with Stevie Rocker Jr. breaking loose for a 34-yard scamper that set up a one-yard touchdown run two plays later that brough the final score to 42-7.
Montana now turns its attention to UC Davis, who comes to Missoula unbeaten in league play at 5-0 and 8-1 overall on the year.
The win, UM's second-straight on the road, improves No. 8 Montana to 7-2 on the year and 4-1 in conference play, setting up a top 10 showdown in Missoula next week against No. 4 UC Davis under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on ESPN2.
"It's hard to go back-to-back on the road and take two long road trips and come away with decided victories like we did. So, it was a great effort by our team today, offense, defense, special teams. I thought we succeeded in all three phases," said head coach Bobby Hauck.
"I think our guys have evolved into a group – and it's not just this team, but a couple of previous teams – we've really embraced the road warrior mentality and wanting to win on the road. Enjoying winning on the road. It's not to say we don't love our home games, but it's fun to go win on the road too."
The Griz took three turnovers to help keep the Mustangs scoreless through three quarters on a cool day in California's Central Coast, while the offense scored five times in the second half to put the game away with a rotation of the first, second, and third team players on the field.
"Taking the ball away and not giving it up are good things in terms of winning and losing. You know, we had another one that got called back on the penalty, but it's always good to take the ball away," Hauck added.
Logan Fife and Keali'i Ah Yat split quarterback duties for the Griz, and together led them to 268 passing yards and a pair of scores, split roughly down the middle with 137 and 131 yards, respectively. Xavier Harris caught the first of those TD passes on return to his home state of California, and Keelan White had a one-handed highlight reel grab for a second quarter score for the other.
All told Montana had nine receivers catch 21 passes for its 268 yards, with a team high 73 yards going to White and Harris accounting for 50 more. UM added 68 more yards on the ground for 336 yards of total offense.
"The offense was good. We were not consistent with drives enough. We had some plays, but I should give credit where credit's due as well on the Cal Poly side. They had a good defensive plan for us. They had two weeks to prepare. Cody (vonAppen) did some great stuff front wise, pressure wise, to take away some of our favorites, and we had to get some other stuff. That's why you saw us have more production in the second half. But they had a good game plan for us. That was a good half a football by their defense," Hauck said.
Bergen opened the scoring for the Griz in the second half with an 84-yard punt return that set a new Big Sky record with the sixth of his career. That run pinned the Grizzlies ears back, scoring two more touchdowns and taking two turnovers in roughly seven minutes of game play.
"We really haven't had a lot of return balls this year. Punters has been doing a good job keeping it away from us. Field position has dictated us and couldn't really go for it. We rushed last week. So, with that being said, it was great to get that in the end zone. It was kind of a big play in the game, frankly. It got us away from them significantly. And certainly, we're excited for our return team and for Junior," said Hauck.
🔥 @bergen_junior TO. THE. HOUSE!
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) November 2, 2024
That's his 6th career punt return TD, a new Big Sky record! 👏#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/uPg6KKwalB
Montana's defense continued its dominance, with Cal Poly's fourth quarter touchdown the first against it in eight quarters of football, a streak that stretched back to the fourth quarter of the NAU game.
Linebacker Garrett Hustedt and safety Chrishawn Gordon each hauled in their first career interceptions and Jaxon Lee forced a fumble that Trevin Gradney recovered to help keep the home team largely off the scoreboard.
Lee and Ryan Tirrell led the Griz with nine tackles each, while Riley Wilson had another big day with four stops, two of which were TFLs and one of which was a sack, along with a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries.
It was part of a season-high 11 TFL performance for the defense, the most since the opening game of the year when UM put up 10 against Missouri State. The four sacks were the second-most for UM all season too. Montana was also nails on crucial downs, allowing Cal Poly to go just 5-for-17 on third down and 1-for-4 on fourth down, creating three more turnovers on downs.
"We did a good job in third and fourth down. It was pretty consistent. We did a good job in short yardage, did a good job in long yardage. We did give away some yards in some of those situations, but they were not for first downs. So, I like the way the defense played on third down. I thought the plan was good, I thought the execution was good," Hauck said.
The Griz started the game deep in their own territory after losing the coin toss on a muffed kickoff catch that pinned them inside the 10. Fife guided UM out of red zone, but it went from bad to worse when he overthrew Bergen on a deep pass across the middle and was intercepted by Mason Rivera, setting the Mustangs up with good field position at their own 34 yard line. It was UM's only turnover of the day.
With Ah Yat taking over on the next drive the Griz were facing a third and long, Sawyer Racanelli hauled in an impressive catch to move the chains across midfield, reaching behind him for a one-arm grab to put the Griz inside Poly territory.
The Griz then hit paydirt when Ah Yat welcomed Xavier Harris back to his home state with a touchdown, connecting with the Oxnard native streaking down the right hash for a 24-yard strike to put UM up 7-0 following Ty Morrison's PAT.
.@kealiiahyat hits @xav13rharris for a TOUCHDOWN, MONTANA!
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) November 2, 2024
Welcome home ❌!#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/fxOLe6b0ii
Montana's defense had Cal Poly bottled up on the ensuing drive with the Mustangs facing a 4th and 13 in UM territory. The Grizzly defense closed in on Jaden Jones from all sides, but Jones was somehow able to wiggle his way free and connected with Logan Booher for a 14-yard gain. Jones would then be stripped of the ball by Lee on the next play, however, with Gradney coming away with it and the Grizzly offense was back on the field.
Both teams would then trade possession in short order, with Montana going three and out and Jones overthrowing a pair of shots to the endzone, eventually leading to a turnover on downs for the Mustangs.
Fife came back in the game and engineered an eight play, 73-yard drive that was capped with one of the highlight catches of the year for Montana. The junior QB gave a pump-fake left then stepped up in the pocked and found White streaking across the middle of the field on a vertical route for a touchdown. The Canadian Spider lived up to his nickname on the catch, with a jaw-dropping, one-handed grab in traffic to put the Griz up 14-0.
😳 WHAT. A. CATCH for @K_Whitey_12!
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) November 2, 2024
The don't call him the Canadian Spider for nothing 🕸️#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/dnCB6VVHXY
Montana's defense continued to shine against the run game, stuffing a fourth and one attempt from the Mustangs at their own 45 for a turnover on towns that kept Poly at just 21 rushing yards in the first half.
After swapping punts on consecutive drives to start the second half, Montana's defense came up big once again on fourth down, stopping the Mustangs short on two-straight runs near midfield to take over on offense. Poly was just one for four on fourth down attempts halfway through the third quarter, and from that point on they'd bring out the punt team.
Montana's next offensive drive would stall, but it appeared that the Griz would get the ball back shortly after when Tyson Rostad came through and sacked Bo Kelly at the QB position to force a fumble he would then recover. But the hit was deemed to be targeting, and the Poly drive continued until they were forced to punt three plays later.
Bergen then gave the Griz the spark they had been looking for, taking a punt 84 yards to the endzone for his sixth career return touchdown, a new Big Sky Conference record. The touchdown put Montana up 21-0 with just under three minutes in the third quarter and opened the flood gates for the Griz.
"Everybody's trying to win, right? After that they were in a situation where they couldn't manage the game. Down two touchdowns they could still manage it - try to get a score, then get a stop, or on side kick, or something to still be in it. And then when that happened, then they had to kind of depart from what they wanted to do and then that's where the dam broke." Hauck added.
Montanan would get the ball right back on the next drive, with Garrett Hustedt, who spent much of the last year rehabbing an injury, dropping back in coverage and hauling in a Jones pass for his first career interception, returned down to the Cal Poly 17.
Things you love to see 👉 PICKED OFF by @GarrettHustedt!
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) November 2, 2024
It's the first of the big man's career 👏 pic.twitter.com/RxLEapZaRE
Gillman turned the turnover into points soon after, bursting through traffic around left end for a three-yard touchdown, and the Griz lead grew to 28-0 in short order.
Then just two plays into the fourth quarter on the ensuing drive Montana got the ball back again when Gordon dove for his first career interception at midfield to put the Grizzly offense on the field once again.
Fife then engineered a drive on the back of three sturdy carries from Nick Ostmo down to the Poly seven-yard line. Fife then rushed up the middle and dove for the line. The ball was fumbled at the line, but Grizzly freshman guard Lucas Freitas recovered it in the endzone for another Montana score to make it 35-0.
The Mustangs broke Montana's scoreless streak at eight quarters of football late in the fourth quarter when Richie Watts found Jake Woods for a 14-yard touchdown pass, set-up by a pass interference penalty from Prince Ford that put the home team in the red zone.
Montana then rolled in the third string lineup and got back to work, with Stevie Rocker Jr. breaking loose for a 34-yard scamper that set up a one-yard touchdown run two plays later that brough the final score to 42-7.
Montana now turns its attention to UC Davis, who comes to Missoula unbeaten in league play at 5-0 and 8-1 overall on the year.
Team Stats
UMG
CPM
Total Yards
336
297
Pass Yards
268
234
Rushing Yards
68
63
Penalty Yards
132
70
1st Downs
17
19
3rd Downs
6
5
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
29:36
30:24
1st Quarter
UMG 7, CPM 0
UMG - Harris,Xavier 24 yd pass from Ah Yat,Keali'i (Morrison,Ty kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 05:21
2nd Quarter
UMG 14, CPM 0
UMG - White,Keelan 21 yd pass from Fife,Logan (Morrison,Ty kick) 8 plays, 67 yards, TOP 03:45
3rd Quarter
UMG 21, CPM 0
UMG - Bergen,Junior 84 yd punt return (Morrison,Ty kick)
UMG 28, CPM 0
UMG - Gillman,Eli 3 yd run (Morrison,Ty kick), 3 plays, 17 yards, TOP 01:01
4th Quarter
UMG 35, CPM 0
UMG - Freitas,Lucas 0 yd run (Morrison,Ty kick), 7 plays, 48 yards, TOP 03:34
UMG 35, CPM 7
CPM - Woods,Jake 14 yd pass from Watts,Richie (Serna,Noah kick) 9 plays, 76 yards, TOP 04:44
UMG 42, CPM 7
UMG - Rocker Jr.,Stevie 1 yd run (Morrison,Ty kick), 4 plays, 35 yards, TOP 00:55
Game Leaders
CMP
12
TD
1
YDS
137
INT
1
CMP
9
TD
1
YDS
131
INT
0
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballQB
/ Football
CB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
S
/ Football
CB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
KP
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
S
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
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