Second half surge lifts Griz over Mustangs

Saturday, October 11

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

6-0 , 3-0

Cal Poly

3-4 , 1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cal Poly

Montana

10/11/2025 8:10:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

It was a tale of two halves for Montana as the Grizzlies rebounded from a scoring drought in the first 30 minutes to dominate the second and beat Cal Poly 28-9 in a come-from-behind fashion on a sunny and cool Saturday afternoon in Missoula.

Now at the halfway point of the season, the win puts the fourth-ranked Griz at 3-0 in Big Sky Conference play and 6-0 overall for the first time since 2009 as the Montana remained unbeaten.

After being shut out in the first half for the first time since a 2019 loss at Oregon and trailing Cal Poly 9-0 at the break, Montana's defense clamped down.

The Griz were outgained 276 yards 146 in the first half but turned it around to force three second half turnovers and limited the Mustangs to just 60 total yards, two complete passes, and one first down in the second.

Montana had its chances to change the projection of the game in the first half, but an uncharacteristic turnover on downs in Mustang territory in the first quarter, an interception in the end zone in the second and four punts kept the Griz off the scoreboard.

The second half was a different story. A 21-yard pick-six from cornerback Kenzel Lawler early in the third quarter opened the flood gates for the Griz, with the defensive score making it a two-point ballgame (9-7) and allowing the offense to get cooking.

Mr. all-purpose Michael Wortham hauled in a deep fade from Keali'i Ah Yat from 24 yards out for a crucial touchdown that gave Montana its first lead of the day early in the fourth quarter at 14-9. Ah Yat finished the day with 257 yards passing and 18 more rushing with a TD over the air and 121.7 QB rating.

But no one sparked the comeback more for the Griz than Eli Gillman. The junior running back totaled 165 rushing and receiving yards and wore the Mustang defense down with a pair of rushing TDs in the fourth quarter to put the Griz up for good 28-9.

Meanwhile the defense picked of four total passes – the most in the Big Sky this season – and allowed less than three yards per play in the second half as the Griz outscored the Mustangs 28-0 to run away with the win after the break.

"I told them in the locker room after the game, that's what good football teams do. They find different ways to win," said head coach Bobby Hauck.

"They win when they aren't playing their best. All three phases contribute and we lean on each other, so if one side's struggling, the other side will carry the load, and that's what good teams do. So, we have a good team."

With two of the most productive offenses in the conference going at it, the first quarter was a surprising defensive dual, with neither team getting on the scoreboard and the Grizzlies scoreless in the period for the first time this season.

Following a defensive three-and-out to start the game, Montana got the ball rolling offensively with a 10 play, 49-yard drive, but Gillman was stuffed on a fourth-and-short deep in Cal Poly territory and the Griz would turn it over on downs.

The Mustangs then mustered some offense but a sack from Diezel Wilkinson followed by the second career interception for Caleb Otlewski put the Griz back in business at their own 32 with just over five minutes left in the period. It would remain a stalemate the rest of the way, however, with three consecutive punts.

Cal Poly opened the scoring early in the second period when the Mustangs marched into Grizzly territory on a 33-yard connection between QB Ty Dieffenbach and all-league receiver Michael Briscoe to the UM 40. One play later Brooks Wheatley shook off a tackle from Kade Boyd and rumbled 26 yards on the reception from Dieffenbach for the score. The two point conversion attempt would fail for the Mustangs, however, keeping the scoreline 6-0 in favor of the visitors.

Montana was then forced to punt again, but Ty Morrison boomed a 49-yard punt to the three-yard line to pin the Mustangs deep in their own territory setting up a three-and-out. Montana's next drive started promising but again ended in a turnover with Ah Yat going deep for Josh Gale in the end zone but throwing off target for an interception for Mason Rivera.

Cal Poly would cap the half with a 27-yard field goal from Noah Serna to taka 9-0 lead into the locker room at half time. That's where the Grizzly turnaround started.

"You'd be shocked at how calm, how academic, it was in the locker room at halftime. It was nothing. It was like, all right, here's the yardage goals. Here's what they got. Here's what we've got. Here's where we've got to fix things," said Hauck.

"We've got to make some plays. We've got to quit goofing things up and looking like we are not tuned in to what's going on. So, we got all that shored up, and it was great."

Montana finally had the breakthrough it was looking for early in the third quarter when Lawler picked off his first career pass as a Grizzly, jumping a Dieffenbach pass at the Cal Poly 20 and returning it for UM's first score of the day to make a 7-9 ballgame.

After another defensive stop the Grizzly offense again picked up some momentum but again a turnover halted their progress. Freshman receiver Lekeldrick Bridges fumbled a pitch from Ah Yat on a reverse, and it was recovered by Cal Poly in UM territory.

Montana got back to work on the following drive. Ah Yat converted a third and long with a 44-yard connection to Stevie Rocker Jr. across the middle to put the Griz across the 50.

UM took it's first lead of the game not long after when Ah Yat connected with Wortham for a 24-yard strike that put the Griz up 14-9 early in the fourth quarter and it was all Grizzlies from then on after UM imposed its will with a 14-play, 96 yard drive – the longes to of the season.

Gillman paced the Griz to 103 fourth quarter rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns that put the nail in the Cal Poly coffin.

With Montana leading withy 11 minutes left to play the Griz got the ball at the 50-yard line after a shanked punt. Three carries later by Gillman Motana was on the board again, rushing in from 17 yards out to put UM up 21-9.

Another long drive of 14 plays and 75 yards sealed the win as Gillman punched it in from 13 yards out to make it 28-9 with under two minutes to play.

"College football is just wild. Last week we're going, okay, we gave up 24 points in the first half at Idaho State, and people think the defense is broken. What are we going to do? And then today it was the exact other side of the coin. The offense is broken. The defense is holding these guys down, they can't score, then it's 28-0 in the second half. The Griz win, and we're 6-0."

Montana returns home for the final nonconference game of the season next week, taking on a Sacred Heart team out of Connecticut that comes to Missoula for the first time ever at 5-2 on the season. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.