MISSOULA — After enduring three months of the Big Sky Conference sprint, Montana won an old-school football game reminiscent of prior decade at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
On a day where temperatures peaked at 16 degrees, the Montana Grizzlies showed flashes of the explosive, up-tempo style that helped them reach the FCS playoffs in head coach Bob Stitt’s first season. But the Griz also showed the physicality, resolve and toughness defensively that has become so commonplace during December afternoons in the postseason at Montana.
UM defensive tackle Caleb Kidder (44) pumps up the Griz defense ft. star defensive end Tyrone Holmes (91)
The Griz pitched a first-half shutout in building a 24-point lead over No. 10 South Dakota State, then held on for dear life in a 24-17 victory in front of 14,575. The win means Montana (8-4) moves on to the second round of the FCS playoffs for the second straight season. UM will face four-time defending national champion and second-seeded North Dakota State in Fargo next weekend.
“I’m really proud of our players,” Stitt said. “I’m really excited, I get to work another week. These seniors get to stay around and see their faces tomorrow in the team meeting. The 2015 team is still together, alive and kicking.”
The Big Sky Conference has been the battleground for explosive offensive showings all season. Montana scored 57 and 54 points the two weeks leading up to the playoffs. Nine teams in the league averaged at least 30 points per game during the 2015 regular season and seven averaged at least 430 yards per outing.
Since the turn of the 21st century, Montana has built a tradition on stout defenses, bruising run games and the home field advantage of playing in front of wild crowds on frigid afternoons. Although the attendance was more than 10,000 short of the season average, everything else fit the bill. The Griz used a second quarter filled with momentum to score 17 points to take a 24-0 lead into halftime, then used a defense that allowed 2.9 yards per rush and put constant pressure on SDSU quarterback Taryn Christion to emerge with a victory.
UM defensive end Tyrone Holmes gets the edge against SDSU
“Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going in the second half,” said Stitt, whose offense did not notch a first down for the first 20 minutes of the second half, punting on five straight possessions. “As a play caller, you can’t screw things up either. You can’t panic in a game like that. Just because you are not driving the ball, getting first downs, putting points up there, we have a great defense. The No. 1 goal as a head coach and as a play caller is you win the ball game.”
Montana defensive end Tyrone Holmes again spearheaded Montana’s pass rush. The senior notched his 15th and 16th sacks of the season, moving up Montana’s career list in the process. His third tackle for loss might’ve also been a sack but will be reviewed later this week. Holmes’ sack total leads the FCS. He now has 32.5 sacks, tying him for second with Tim Bush, six sacks behind Zack Wagenmann for the all-time UM lead. Holmes’ 48.5 tackles for loss are also tied with Bush for second-most in a career by a Griz.
“It feels pretty good but it would feel better if it had a national championship so hopefully we can keep rolling,” Holmes said.
Defensive tackle Caleb Kidder notched three tackles for loss and senior cornerback Nate Harris had two more as Montana notched 11 TFLs on Saturday.
UM running back John Nyguen takes a handoff looking for space
South Dakota State has faced a Big Sky team in the first round of the playoffs for three straight years. SDSU beat Northern Arizona 26-7 in 2013. The Jackrabbits went toe to toe in a shootout with Montana State in Bozeman last December, emerging with a 47-40 victory behind Zach Zenner’s six-touchdown day.
On Saturday in Missoula, SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier had a flashback to his last trip to the Garden City. For a moment, it looked like his karma might come full circle. In 2009, SDSU build a 48-21 lead on Montana midway through the third quarter. Behind Marc Mariani’s magic, Montana scored 40 unanswered points in a legendary comeback that resulted in a 61-48 win and sparked a run to the national championship game. When SDSU scored with four minutes, 40 seconds to play to cut the lead to 24-17, it appeared for a moment the ‘Jacks might be the ones to craft a heroic comeback.
“I just wanted so badly to be on the other end of a comeback out here,” Stiegelemeir, SDSU’s 20th-year head coach, said. “I’m really proud of our team for coming back the way we did, but we did fall short and it hurts.”
Montana’s normally feverish offense showed a new wrinkle as the Griz assumed the ball with 4:40 to play following a SDSU touchdown to bring the Jackrabbits within one score. UM quarterback Brady Gustafson threw nine-yard strikes to Ben Roberts and Jamaal Jones on first downs to set up John Nguyen chain-moving bursts. After SDSU burned its first timeout, Nguyen rushed for 31 yards, including a 14-yard spurt to eat the ‘Jacks’ final timeout.
UM wide reciever Joshn Horner takes on a group of SDSU defenders
“All the players, offensive line, receivers were saying, ‘Let’s end it, let’s end it right now,’” said Nguyen, who finished with 106 yards on 18 carries, the third straight week he’s surpassed the century mark on the ground.
Montana went three-and-out on its first three possessions as the Griz tried to get a feel for South Dakota State’s physical defense, a unit that led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring by allowing just 16.7 points per game. Montana’s fourth drive, the Griz kicked it into high gear.
Gustafson, a 6-foot-7 junior out of Billings West, hit sophomore Josh Horner in the middle of the field for a 15-yard gain, then found senior Ben Roberts on a similar route for a 30-yard gain. Gustafson capped the eight-play, 78-yard drive by hitting senior Jamaal Jones for a four-yard touchdown with 1:27 left in the first.
Gustafson again found a soft spot in the middle of the defense on Montana’s next possession, finding Horner for a 24-yard gain to set up a 26-yard lofting touchdown pass to Ellis Henderson. Montana’s third scoring drive included three completions to Horner to set up a 25-yard Daniel Sullivan field goal.
“All week long, we thought we could take advantage of the middle of the defense,” said Horner, a former standout quarterback from Great Falls CMR who caught a career-high six passes for 80 yards on Saturday. “Early on, we were able to do that by running crossing routes over the middle. We thought they were susceptible there and we were able to take advantage of that.”
UM wide receiver Ben Roberts gets downfield after a catch
UM also took advantage of a 29-yard punt, assuming control at midfield with 1:51 left in the first half. Gustafson hit Horner for a nine-yard gain before Nguyen ripped off a 25-yard burst to set up true freshman Jeremy Calhoun’s ninth touchdown run this season to put Montana up 24-0 with 43 seconds until halftime.
“As an inside receiver, I think it’s an option for us to have a big game every game because we have such threats on the outside so a lot of times, defenses worry about those guys and it kind of opens some holes up in the middle of the field,” said Roberts, who finished with a career-high 133 yards receiving on eight catches. “They gave us the same looks they were expecting.”
South Dakota State’s first touchdown came on a one-yard plunge by true freshman quarterback Taryn Christion set up by a 36-yard bomb to All-America sophomore wide receiver Jake Wieneke. Meanwhile, the Montana offense gained 15 yards on its first 15 plays of the second half, punting after three plays on five straight possessions.
Roberts’ 62-yard reception took the top off the SDSU defense but that drive stalled because of penalties, leading to SDSU’s final possession. SDSU marched 80 yards in nine plays, a drive capped by Christion’s 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Goedert on fourth and 19 to cut the lead to 24-17 with 4:40 to play.
UM running back Jeremy Calhoun takes a hand off near the goal line vs. SDSU
South Dakota State would not get the ball back. Now the Grizzlies get a much-anticipated rematch with North Dakota State, a team UM defeated 38-35 in Missoula in August to kick off the 2015 season.
“As long as we are still playing, we don’t care who lines up, we just have to go in and keep our head down and beat those guys,” Stitt said. “We don’t care whose jersey it is, what color it is. We just want to go play football. We’ve had our backs against the wall for a long time now. No one expected us to be sitting here talking about what we are talking about right now. Everyone should have to throw a $20 bill up here who didn’t think we’d be here. Somehow, we are in the second round and we are feeling good about it.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
