MISSOULA – If you ever want to experience what it’s like to play this year’s Montana Grizzlies at Washington-Grizzly Stadium – without the associated violence and injuries and dedicating your life to the game, of course – just do what I did Saturday and get to the stadium shortly after kickoff.
By the time I hustled into the stadium and up the stairs to the press box, I was out of breath.
When the first thing I saw was Montana’s defense clustering behind the ball at their own 20-yard line with just one second gone on the game clock – the bizarre result of a pooch kickoff that Portland State beautifully executed and recovered on the first play of the game – I was confused.
And in watching a crazy first half that featured, in order, a punt return touchdown, a crucial running back pass, a one-play, 64-yard touchdown drive, a safety and a missed field goal returned for a touchdown, I never really had a chance to get back on even footing, to take a breath and assess the game.
Breathless, bewildered and overwhelmed – it’s hard to think of three better adjectives to describe the Portland State Vikings on Saturday, particularly during a torrid Montana run of 22 unanswered points in the last five minutes, two seconds of the first half that propelled the Grizzlies to a 53-16 win in front of 26,087 jubilant fans on a sun-soaked Homecoming Saturday.
The ushers at every section in Wa-Griz courteously ask entering fans how they’re doing and if there’s anything they need. What they really should be asking if they’re ready for the ride, and maybe offering a harness to strap themselves in with. Once the Griz get going, there’s no getting off the roller-coaster. It’s been a trademark of Bobby Hauck’s 11 total seasons at the helm over the last 19 years all told.
What’s worse, as Bruce Barnum found out, is that any attempt to slow down the momentum is liable to backfire and get the Grizzlies rolling even more.
“I remember talking to my kicker (Gianni Smith) at the beginning of the game. He said, ‘Coach, 38-yard line.’ I trust him,” Barnum said about his decision to try a 54-yard field goal at the end of the first half. “I’m thinking, we deferred, (if) we put points on the board there, and then we come out in the second half and put points on there, there’s a swing, so we can get back in it.”
That’s sound reasoning. The problem is that reason doesn’t really have a place in Missoula for three hours on (at least) six Saturdays a fall. And what actually happened is that the kick was not even close to making it. And Robby Hauck returned it 99 yards for a touchdown to give the Grizzlies a 39-14 lead and end a first half that also saw Hauck become the all-time leader in Montana history in career tackles, with his 398th passing Dante Olson.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever scored in college,” Robby Hauck said. “That touchdown was pretty cool. I don’t know if it’ll ever happen again, but I’ll remember that one.”
It started with a 27-yard back-shoulder fade to Mitch Roberts on Montana’s first offensive play, right after Portland State converted its recovery on the opening kickoff into a 7-0 lead on an 8-yard Mataio Talalemotu end-around touchdown, the first deficit the Griz have faced all year.
Lucas Johnson ended that first drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. After a Montana stop, Portland State punted to Junior Bergen, who cut four defenders out of the play with his initial burst, juked another without losing stride and danced up the left sideline for a 72-yard touchdown.
“My teammates blocked it up really well, and I just saw a seam and hit it,” Bergen said. “Tried not to let the punter tackle me this time, I already get enough slack for that.”
Nico Ramos added a 46-yard field goal for Montana before Portland State converted a fourth down on a running back pass from Jalynnee McGee to Emmanuel Daigbe and eventually scored on that drive when Dante Chachere found Beau Kelly for a 13-yard touchdown.
That score came with 5:19 left on the clock in the second quarter – just enough time for Montana to score (checks notes) four more times before halftime.
Xavier Harris went up the middle on a 64-yard burst to answer exactly one play after PSU’s touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Portland State’s returner called for a fair catch but dropped the ball, forcing the Vikings to start at their own 2-yard line, and the Griz swarmed an attempted read option, forcing Chachere to slip and fall in his own end zone for a safety. The Griz also forced a safety two weeks ago against South Dakota.
After the free kick, Johnson capped a touchdown drive with a 4-yard throw to Roberts. Then came Hauck’s field goal return, which came after a false start penalty turned a 49-yard attempt into a 54-yarder. The most memorable kick that long by an opponent in Missoula came on Homecoming four years ago with a winless Portland State team in town. Cody Williams drilled that walk-off, giving PSU its first win at Washington-Griz since 1987 and earning the nickname “Nut” from Barnum forever more.
This time, Smith — a sophomore who took over when Williams lost last season (and ultimately his career) — was well short. After initially fumbling the catch, Hauck cut up the right sideline and all the way into the end zone.
“It was a good day for our team,” said head coach Bobby Hauck, who passed former Nevada head coach Chris Ault with his 112th win during his time as a Big Sky head coach. Only Jerome Souers’ 123 wins at Northern Arizona are ahead of Hauck.
“When you’re scoring on defense, you’re scoring in the kicking game, the game can get away from teams, and it did today. … Everything was clicking pretty good.”
It was a devastating display, a five-minute audition tape of everything that has the Griz ranked in the top three in the country as the offense continues to progress to meet the standard of the frighteningly good defense and special teams.
Johnson completed all 14 of his passes in the first half for 175 yards and the score to Roberts, and went on to complete his first 15 before finishing the game 20 of 26 for 221 yards and two scores. He added a second-half touchdown throw to Aaron Fontes, the first score of the young wide receiver’s career, before giving way to Kris Brown. Through four games, Johnson is completing 69.7% of his passes, has 10 touchdowns and one interception, and has only been sacked six times.
“They (Montana’s offense) looked better than I thought they were, I’m not going to lie to you,” Barnum said. “They’d been turning the ball over a little bit, they looked muddy at times, but they played clean today. They didn’t make many mistakes, they protected the quarterback, he made some great throws.”
Marcus Knight scored on a late 1-yard touchdown run for Montana. Harris led the running game with 92 yards on eight carries, and Roberts continued his strong start to the season with six catches for 83 yards and the score.
Marcus Welnel led Montana’s defense with seven tackles and two sacks, while Robby Hauck also had seven tackles on his record-setting day.
“We knew we couldn’t make mistakes coming in. We made mistakes in all three phases, caused by them,” Barnum said. “When you come in and play a team like that, you have to play mistake-free, you have to get a couple breaks, and we didn’t. They were everything I saw on film, plus more.”
Montana plays at Idaho State next week.
