Cats claw Griz, spoil perfect season

Nov. 23—MISSOULA — It wasn't a blowout but it was still a statement.

The Montana State Bobcats, who began this season 0-2, got enough big plays topple previously unbeaten Montana 31-28 in the 124th Brawl of the Wild Saturday.

Justin Lamson, a senior in his first year as a starting quarterback, helped the No. 3 Bobcats to their 10th straight win with 160 yards passing and another 80 rushing.

His 23-yard touchdown run on third-and-1 with 8:58 left in the game gave MSU (10-2, 8-0 in the Big Sky Conference) a 31-21 lead that proved insurmountable.

Not that the No. 2 Grizzlies (11-1, 7-1 in the Big Sky) didn't try: With 6:59 remaining Eli Gillman crossed the goal line with a 52-yard scoring run, cutting the gap to 31-28.

The Cats never gave the ball back, running out the clock and winning its second straight Big Sky football title in front of a record 27,340 fans at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

"It was a great game," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. "Obviously we would've liked to have gotten one more point than the other guys. But it was a great game.

"There were some pivotal things in the game, whether it was the tipped pass that they picked off and scored on, or a low kick, or a touchdown called back. Those were pivotal things that probably ended up being the difference."

So, let's review. The Grizzlies led 7-3 on a highlight-reel catch by Brooks Davis of a 14-yard pass from Keali'i Ah Yat at 5:59 of the first quarter, and 21-17 on Michael Wortham's 5-yard run to cap a 16-play, 89-yard drive to open the second half.

The Bobcats kept answering, even after having to punt in the third quarter. Montana started at its 17 and on third-and-4 Ah Yat tried to fit a pass over the middle to Wortham. It caromed to MSU safety Caden Dowler; he glided 34 yards for his second pick-6 in two games, giving the Bobcats a 24-21 lead.

"I thought (linebacker) Cole Taylor did a good job of just getting around the play and maybe forcing a tighter throw," MSU coach Brent Vigen said. "And the ball bounced up and Caden was right there. It speaks to who he is; right plays, right time."

"I knew I kind of had to help a little bit and leaned towards that," Dowler said. "I caught the ball and thought, 'How does this keep happening,' and you know, I ran it into the end zone."

Montana's ensuing possession reached MSU's 18-yard line, then stalled. First, an illegal man downfield flag erased a 9-yard Wortham reception. Then a holding call wiped out a 23-yard TD catch by Davis, who had 10 receptions for 112 yards.

Eventually Ty Morrison was brought on for a 47-yard field goal, and MSU's Zac Crews blocked it.

Eight plays later, Lamson was twisting and turning into the end zone for that 31-21 lead.

"He's just a poised individual," Vigen said of the Stanford transfer. "And he's extremely competitive at the same time, and sometimes those things don't go together. Tough as nails, will rise to the moment.

"I know a lot was made of him not having played over here; that didn't bother me one bit. He can go in the deep water."

Gillman had 132 rushing yards, most of it coming on that late TD in which he broke away from MSU lineman Paul Brott.

"You're up 10 and you really want to make them earn it," Vigen said. "We had him bottled up but he's the type of back that you better get more than one there, and we didn't. We gave him the sideline and he was gone."

MSU rode Julius Davis (106 yards on 15 carries) in that final clock-eater of a drive. He had runs of 14, 11 and 9 yards and picked up 2 on a fourth-and-1 near midfield.

Lamson picked up 6 yards on a third-and-5 before Adam Jones — part of a healthy Missoula Sentinel contingent of Cats, along with Crews and safety JJ Dolan — tore off a 15-yard run to UM's 17. That put MSU in victory formation.

Jones ran 9 times for 48 yards, with a TD. Dolan was unfortunately knocked out with a leg fracture.

Lamson completed 18 of 20 passes, including a 27-yard TD to Dane Steel that put the Cats up 17-7.

Ah Yat was 26 of 32 passing but for just 186 yards, throwing under the sticks all game. He also had an 18-yard scoring run that rivaled Lamson's.

Wortham had three carries, including a 35-yard run that set up the Davis TD, and caught one pass for 3 yards. Drew Deck had five catches for 31 yards. Deck, like Davis, picked up most of his yards after the catch.

Montana had four sacks; MSU had two.

"Defense gave up 24 points," Hauck said. "Special teams were quite effective. Offensively we moved the ball well and scored 28 points. Probably should have been enough, but wasn't."

The good news: very few FCS teams can match the Cats and Griz, record-wise. A tight game, rather than the blowouts of the last four years — two by each team — could keep both teams among the top four seeds. The playoff selection show airs at 10 a.m. Sunday on ESPNU.

"We need to focus in on what happened to Ohio State last year; they lost to Michigan in their rivalry game and they won I think four straight," Hauck said of the defending CFP champion Buckeyes. "That's what we're going to focus on and hopefully we'll get the opportunity to play them again."