For the first time under Bob Stitt, Montana trailed at halftime on the road yet rallied for a victory.
The Grizzlies shook a proverbial monkey off their collective backs for the second straight week on Saturday by rallying from a 21-13 halftime deficit for a 39-31 win at Idaho State.
A week after snapping a four-game road losing streak in Big Sky Conference play, Montana showed resolve to earn its second league win. The Griz played chase for the first 43 minutes of the game before redshirt freshman quarterback Gresch Jensen and the UM offense commenced its aerial assault.
Idaho State quarterback Tanner Gueller/ ISU athletics
On the possession following a missed 48-yard field goal attempt by Brandon Purdy, UM senior Korey Alexander screamed in on a safety blitz to strip ISU quarterback Tanner Gueller on one of Montana’s six sacks. Redshirt freshman defensive end Randy Rodriguez recovered the ball. Jensen threw a 35-yard touchdown strike to Justin Calhoun on the next play to cut the ISU advantage to 21-19.
Gueller and the Bengals responded with a seven-play, 76-yard drive capped by Ty Flanagan’s four-yard touchdown run. Again, Montana responded. Jensen, who threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns, hit redshirt freshman Samori Toure for a 71-yard gain to set up redshirt freshman Samuel Akem’s four-yard touchdown catch. That score cut ISU’s lead to 28-26 with seven minutes left in the third.
Idaho State proceeded to turn the ball over on downs after a 10-play drive. Jensen did not waste time, finding Calhoun, who finished with three catches for 86 yards, for a gain of 46 into the red-zone. Jensen, who had three runs of more than 10 yards and ran in a seven-yard touchdown, got up field for 10 to set up three straight Alijah Lee runs, including a one-yard go-ahead touchdown.
Lee’s score with 21 seconds left in the third gave UM a 32-28 lead it would not give up.
Montana junior linebacker Shayne Cochran/ Jason Bacaj
UM linebacker Shayne Cochran ended Idaho State’s first fourth quarter possession by coming off the blindside to destroy Gueller, forcing a fumble that UM recovered with 10:16 left. Akem’s 41-yard gain served as the highlight of UM’s first possession of the final quarter. The completion came before Jensen’s third touchdown of the second half, an eight-yard dart to senior Josh Horner. Jensen’s lone first half touchdown was a three-yard toss to senior Makena Simis to tie the score 7-7 in the first quarter.
After trailing 7-0, 13-7, 21-13 and 28-19, Montana finally had an 11-point cushion, 39-28. Gueller, who threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns, completed 4-of-6 passes to set up Parker Johnson’s 35-yard field goal for the final score. Montana kneeled out the last 77 seconds of the clock.
Senior linebackers Connor Strahm and James Banks shared game-high tackling honors with 14 each. UM sophomore defensive tackle Jesse Sims had career day, notching 2.5 sacks among his eight tackles as Montana held ISU to 3.4 yards per rush. Chris Favoroso and Dante Olson added solo sacks. The Griz defense that allowed 532 yards of total offense, 367 passing yards and 30 first downs to an offense called by former Montana wide receiver Matt Troxel, ISU’s offensive coordinator, and under the mentorship of ISU head coach Rob Phenicie, UM’s OC from 2003 until 2009.
Montana redshirt freshman Samori Toure
Idaho State set the pace because of the early play of the Guellers. Tanner, ISU’s third-year starter as a junior, found his wide receiver brother Mitch for a 75-yard touchdown to stake ISU to a 13-7 lead early. Idaho State turned Jeremy Calhoun’s fumble deep in Griz territory into a 13-yard touchdown strike from Tanner to Mitch Gueller to give the hosts a 21-13 lead. Mitch Gueller finished with nine catches for 188 yards and the two scores.
The win boosts Montana to 2-1 in Big Sky play, 4-2 overall heading into a homecoming game against North Dakota next Saturday. Idaho State is now 1-2 in league play, 3-3 overall with a game at Sac State on the horizon.
Photos by Jason Bacaj and attributed. All Rights Reserved.
