Griz fall short of title bid in loss to MSU

Saturday, November 22

Missoula, Mont.

Noon

Montana

11-1 , 7-1

Montana State

10-2 , 8-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Montana St.

Montana

11/22/2025 5:07:00 PM | Football

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By: Montana Sports Information

MISSOULA - In a game between two of the top three teams in the nation with the two best offenses squaring off against the two best defenses and over a century of pent-up rivalry aggression between them, the 124^th Brawl of the Wild was always going to come down to a few plays.

In the biggest game of the year, it was those few plays that made the biggest difference as No. 3 Montana State upset No. 2 Montana 31-28 in a Griz/Cat thriller in front of a record crowd at Washington-Grizzly stadium of 27,340.

The game's only turnover proved to be pivotal as a pass slipped through the fingertips of a UM receiver on a promising Grizzly drive and straight into the waiting hands of an MSU defensive back who was able to return it for the Bobcat's go-ahead score at 24-21 in the third quarter.

With the Griz knocking on the door of a reply score, two offensive penalties, including a holding call that negated a touchdown, stalled the drive and a blocked field goal attempt sealed Montana's fate as a fourth quarter comeback fell short and UM suffered its first loss of the season.

"That's a heck of a game and good job by them coming in and finding a way to get it. The tip-ball, pick-six touchdown, calls back on the hold, a low kick, all those things contributed. I felt like we certainly could have won it, but we didn't," said head coach Bobby Hauck.

"I was proud of our offense. I thought they did a great job. I thought the defense did a good job. If you take away the pick-six it's a 24-28 game for us and we feel pretty good about things. So, we messed it up. I thought we had a good game plan and they didn't have a lot of great answers for us, but we came up three points short."

Montana now falls to 11-1 on the season and 7-1 in conference play with sole possession of second place in the Big Sky standings at the end of the regular season. Montana State improves to 10-2 and claims the league title outright for a second-straight year.

Despite the loss, Montana remains in contention for a first-round bye and homefield advantage in the second round of the FCS playoffs as UM prepares for its first bye week of the season after playing 12 straight through the year.

Montana will learn its postseason fate on Sunday morning during the FCS Championship Selection Show on ESPNU at 10 a.m. Mountain Time.

Grizzly running back Eli Gillman rushed for a game-high 132 yards that included a 52-yard fourth quarter touchdown run that kept Montana within reach of the win, UM trailing by three with seven minutes to play.

But two critical conversions from the Bobcat offense – one on fourth and one, the other on third and five – allowed the visitors to run the clock out and retain the Great Divide Trophy.

Sophomore QB Keali'i Ah Yat was excellent, completing 81 percent of his throws on 26-for-32 passing for a game-high 186 yards through the air, with one crucial tipped-pass interception that was a turning point in the contest.

Freshman Brooks Davis was his favorite target, hauling in 10 passes for a career and game-high 113 yards, a highlight-reel touchdown in the first quarter and another that would have put UM back in front if not for a holding call that brought it back.

Michael Wortham accounted for 132 kickoff return yards and 35 rush yards with one touchdown to post 170 all-purpose yards to lead UM's special teams.

Defensively, Missoula native TJ Rausch led the Griz with nine tackles as the UM defense posted four sacks on the day, but 241 rushing yards by the Bobcats, including 80 from quarterback Justin Lamson, were enough to get by the Grizzlies.

It was a pair of sacks back-to-back from Caleb Otlewski and Kellen Detrick kept the Bobcats out of the endzone on their first drive of the game, with Myles Stansted connecting on a 39-yard field goal that put MSU up 3-0 on the first drive of the game.

Big plays from Wortham on Montana's first drive put the Griz inside the Cat red zone and set up the Grizzlies' first score. Wortham started it off with a massive 44-yard kickoff return that set up UM with prime field position. Two plays later Wortham took a direct snap around the right end for a gain of 35 and Montana found itself in scoring territory.

Brooks Davis then hauled in a short pass around the left corner and sprinted inside the Cat red zone to the fourteen and Montana's offense was cooking out of the gates.

In a freshman season full of highlight catches, it was Davis again who had perhaps his biggest highlight of the year on the next play, hauling in a one-handed grab on a back shoulder fade from Ah Yat in the endzone to put the Griz up 7-3 in the early going.

MSU punched back when Adam Jones scored on the visitor's next possession, capping a 77-yard, 11 play drive with a one-yard punch up the middle to put the Cats up 10-7 with just under seven minutes to play in the first quarter.

UM's offense would stall on the next two drives and allow MSU to extend the lead through the second quarter. Five minutes into the period, Ah Yat was sacked for a loss of 14 yards by Kennith Eiden at midfield that put a halt to just the second drive of the game for the Griz.

Lamson then took advantage of good field position and connected with Dane Steel on a 27-yard pass to the endzone that put the visitors up 17-7 with five minutes to play in the half.

Ah Yat and Davis went back to work on the next drive, connecting on chunk plays on three of four consecutive plays to push UM into MSU territory as the two-minute timeout closed in. Gillman then broke free thanks to a big block from Evan Shafer on a third and one for a 21-yard gain that put the Griz inside the MSU red zone for just the second time of the day.

Ah Yat then went to his legs, checking down his options before taking off on an 18-yard run up the middle for the Grizzlies' second touchdown to make it a 14-17 ballgame with just over a minute to play in the half and that's where it would stay heading into the locker room.

After winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, the Griz started with the ball in the next period.

Montana State had entered the game having not been scored on in the third quarter since their season opener against Oregon. That streak came to a halt on UM's first possession of the half when Ah Yat orchestrated a 16-play, 89-yard scoring drive that chewed up the first nine minutes of play.

Gillman then put the Griz on his back on the next UM drive with six tough runs, highlighted by a 21-yard pickup across midfield where he drug defenders with him for an extra ten yards.

Wortham capped the drive with UM's third touchdown of the day, taking a handoff around the left end and picking up a huge block from Gillman to scamper in for his sixth rushing TD of the season to put the Griz up 21-17.

A defensive stop on the next drive forced a Bobcat punt and gave Montana the ball back with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter.

The first turnover of the game led to disaster for the Griz two plays into the drive, however, when a pass off Wortham's fingertips found the hands of MSU's defender Caden Dowler who ran in his third interception in two games and put MSU back on top 24-21.

Wortham made amends on the kickoff return, bringing it out of the endzone 34 yards to kickstart Montana's next drive. Soon after it was Davis again who picked up 34 yards into the MSU red zone, and the Griz would be set up with prime field position to start the fourth quarter.

Two penalties for an illegal man downfield and holding on the Griz negated big gains, however, including a would-be potential touchdown run for Davis, pushing UM back to the MSU 33 and setting up a first and 25. The stalled drive set up a 44-yard field goal attempt for Ty Morrison, but the senior kicker's attempt was blocked and for the second-straight drive the Griz would be held scoreless.

Montana State extended the lead on the ensuing drive when Lamson turned a broken play into a gain of 23 yards and a rushing touchdown that put the visitors up by two scores 31-21 with just under nine minutes to play.

Montana wasn't done yet, however.

Gillman got UM back on the board and made it a one score game when he bounced off a would-be tackle and sprinted around the corner untouched for a 52-yard touchdown run that put him over 100-yards rushing for the sixth time this season.

But Montana State controlled the clock and converted a fourth and one followed by a third and five at midfield to run out the clock and leave Washington-Grizzly Stadium with their 44^th in the all-time series, now trailing UM 74-44-5, and 33-19-1 in games played in Missoula.

Montana now looks to flush Saturday's result and turn its attention to the playoffs where the No. 2 Griz still hope to make a deep postseason run. To do it they have to look no further than the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes for inspiration, who dropped their rivalry game before marching their way through the postseason to a national title.

"The deal is we have a prime example: last year, Michigan beat Ohio State, upset them and all was lost for Ohio State," said Hauck. "Then they got back to winning, went to the national championship, and won that. That's got to be our mantra. We want to be Ohio State this year."