When a Montana athletic department official made the announcement with 8:35 left in the second quarter and Montana up 28-0 after sophomore Jeremy Calhoun’s 10-yard touchdown reception, it was met with temporary disbelief.
“Montana has scored 95 straight points dating back to Mississippi Valley State,” the sports information director said as the media along press row burst out in laughter.
Though the streak was eventually snapped at an unthinkable 128 points on Quincy Jountti’s 36-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter for the hapless visitors, 10th-ranked Montana demolished Sacramento State 68-7 on Saturday, stringing together back-to-back weeks of at least 60 points for the first time in the program’s 114-year history.
“You could never imagine something like that it just happens and if you try to do something like that it’s never going to happen,” Montana head coach Bob Stitt said after the Grizzlies improved to 2-1 in the Big Sky Conference and 5-1 overall. “ … This is 2016, this is its own team and you want this group to be able to say they did things that never have happened at Montana. That’s what we’ve done the last couple weeks.”
For the second consecutive week, an offense that couldn’t be stopped and a defense that stopped everything clinched victory by halftime. Though Montana led 41-0 as the final seconds ticked off the clock in the first half, it was the final play of the half that may have been the most intriguing of the day.
Aided by penalties before it was hindered by them, Sac State moved into position to put an end to Montana’s historic run. The Hornets made it to the Montana 10 yard line before a personal foul and a Connor Strahm sack set up a 39-yard field goal that never got far off the turf as senior defensive end Caleb Kidder got his hands on it.
“We really wanted that shutout,” said sophomore linebacker Josh Buss, the leader of terrorizing defense that sacked the Hornets quarterbacks five times and intercepted them once, as junior safety Justin Strong took an interception 78 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to push Montana past 60 again.
As of late, it seems that whatever Montana wants it gets.
Days before the game, Stitt’s analysis of the Sacramento State defense was that Montana was going to have to be patient with its short passing game. After a 3-and-out cut short Montana’s first possession, senior Brady Gustafson’s first six competitions covered no more than 7 yards.
By halftime, Gustafson was 28 of 35 for 246 yards and four scores. While the early completions didn’t cover much ground, they set the offense up to start attacking Sacramento State.
Gustafson found eight different receivers in the first half, with completions of 26 yards to Colin Bingham and 32 to James Homan. And when he wasn’t dissecting the Hornets with his arm, he was doing so with his mind.
“Brady was very, very sharp and had some wonderful checks,” Stitt said of his quarterback who tossed four touchdown passes for the third consecutive week. “He had some good stuff going on. Really, really excited about his play.”
Montana methodically moved down the field during its second drive, reaching the Sac State 32. On second-and-10, Gustafson gave the ball to Jeremy Calhoun who busted through a giant hole on the ride side of the line and then patiently ran behind blocks from redshirt freshman receiver Lamarriel Taylor before crossing the line for Montana’s first touchdown with 7:25 remaining in the first.
Montana’s next drive — a nine-play march that covered 55 yards — ended in similar fashion. Facing a fourth-and-2 from the Hornets’ 23, Calhoun took the ball, squeezed through a small gap and ran straight up the middle, meeting a tackler he dragged three yards into the end zone for the second of his three touchdowns and a 14-0 lead that set Montana off and running.
The Grizzlies scored on seven consecutive position following the opening 3-and-out.
“That offense is well oiled,” Sac State head coach Jody Sears said after Montana churned out a season-high 655 yards on 78 plays. “When you have a quarterback who understands and can read coverages and can see safety rotation and knows where to go with the ball, you’ve got a pretty seasoned outfit that’s going to be pretty successful.”
While Montana’s offense was moving up and down the field at will, its defense was keeping the Hornets from doing the same.
Of Sacramento State’s 14 possessions, just three were sustained for more than six plays. Montana’s various pressures befuddled the Hornets’ pass protections and two or more Grizzly defenders meeting at quarterback Nate Ketteringham became a common occurrence. On one play in the second quarter, Montana defensive ends Ryan Johnson and Kidder smashed Ketteringham, who slowly picked himself up off the Washington-Grizzly Stadium turf.
“When you have trust in each other you can focus on what you’re supposed to do,” Buss said. “With the game plan that we have if we do what we all need to do good things can happen.”
On the offensive end, the points kept piling up and just as he did the week before in a 67-7 blowout of Mississippi Valley State, Stitt gave the No. 1 unit one last drive to open the third quarter. It lasted all of one play as senior John Nguyen went right up the middle for an 81-yard touchdown run.
“It’s really an exciting experience to see all that green field that the O-line gave me, as well as the receivers,” said Nguyen, who accounted for 116 of Montana’s 222 rush yards. “It made it a lot easier for me to score.”
Added Stitt, “Our kids are making plays now. That’s what’s fun about it. The guys on the outside are making plays, our running backs are making plays and you’re going to score some points when you have that.”
Photos by Jason Bacaj. All Rights Reserved.