A Montana Grizzlies season that began with the Griz picked to return to the top of the Big Sky Conference and saw them climb as high as No. 3 in the national polls ended Saturday on the field where so many dreams have died.
At the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota, Montana fell 49-26 to defending national champion North Dakota State Bison in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
The Bison, who are looking for their 10th national title in the last 11 fall seasons, moved to 32-1 all-time at the Fargodome in the playoffs with an effective and eventually dominant performance in which they outmuscled the Griz and answered everything Montana threw at them.
“This is my favorite team I’ve ever coached,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said on his postgame radio interview with Riley Corcoran and Greg Sundberg. “These guys are special, just the work they put in, their willingness to lay it all on the line for Montana. I said, the only regret I have in this season is that I don’t get to coach you guys another game.”
After going down 14-0 in the first 10 minutes of the game, the Griz closed to within 21-20 early in the third quarter on a 58-yard interception return touchdown by cornerback Corbin Walker.
But Kobe Johnson answered on the next play with a 75-yard touchdown run – the second of four long scoring scampers for the No. 3 seeded Bison – and without starting quarterback Lucas Johnson, who was injured late in the first half, the Grizzlies were unable to respond
A drive after Johnson’s big response, the Griz appeared to bottle up TaMerik Williams at the line, but pressure from the backside of the play knocked him free and he sprinted for a 68-yard touchdown. Two drives later, Johnson broke through again for a 73-yard score to make it 42-20 early in the fourth quarter.
TK Marshall capped the scoring for the Bison with just over five minutes to go, taking a pitch going left and outrunning Robby Hauck to the edge before running over Nash Fouch on the goal line for a 7-yard score.
Poor tackling, the inability to get off of blocks and a challenge in eating up space doomed the Montana defense on Saturday, just like those same factors had hindered a sometimes salty, other times inconsistent Griz defense against rival Montana State three weeks earlier.
It was an apropos way to wrap things up for North Dakota State. Propelled by the three long second-half scores and a 68-yard touchdown by quarterback Cam Miller in the first half, the Bison ran for 453 yards and averaged almost 11 yards per carry.
“They generated a couple first downs with A-gap power and then creased us and got one on that,” Hauck said. “But really, it came down to two plays where we had it stalemated at the line of scrimmage and they kept pushing. We never got the guy on the ground and then he came out of the pile and we had nobody left.”
NDSU will play Samford, which beat Southeastern Louisiana in overtime, in the quarterfinals. Montana’s season ends at 8-5.
With backup quarterback Daniel Britt taking over for Johnson, the Griz didn’t score in the second half after Walker’s pick-six until Britt hit Keelan White for a consolation 18-yard touchdown with just over a minute to play.
“You know, the backup quarterback doesn’t get all the plays the starter gets (in practice),” Hauck said. “We were checking off the list, going, ‘Oh, has he practiced this, has he practiced this?’ There were numerous plays that we liked that he had not practiced all week, so it’s probably not fruitful to go to those.”
Montana trailed 21-13 at halftime, an encouraging place to be after Miller ran for touchdowns on NDSU’s second and third drives to give the Bison a 14-0 lead.
Johnson then led two long drives, capping the first with a 1-yard touchdown sneak, to get the Griz back to 14-10 after Nico Ramos’ 39-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Each drive was methodical and deliberate, helping the Griz hang tight for the first 35 minutes of the game.
With Montana trying to add more points before the half, NDSU chased Johnson down and forced a fumble that the Bison recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that stood up on replay despite Johnson claiming he was down. Montana added another field goal on a quick drive before halftime.
The result ended a season that started with Montana riding a wave of hype. The Griz were selected to win the Big Sky for the first time in over a decade by both the media and coaches preseason polls. After five straight wins to open the season, most by wide margins, the Griz were widely considered to be one of the top teams in the country.
Even after a three-game losing streak in the middle of the season – all to teams that made the playoffs – and a blowout loss against rival Montana State in the final game of the regular season, a 34-24 comeback win over Southeast Missouri State in the first round of the playoffs had the Griz looking forward to this game.
“The last decade they’ve been the gold standard. You want to test yourself against the best and they’re the best,” Bobby Hauck said Monday.
There have been times during this topsy-turvy season when Hauck’s team looked able to compete at that level. But playing in Fargo in December is a crucible that reveals answers that we’ve all been looking for in the months prior.
There’s no shame in going out this way – the Griz join 31 other teams (including 2015 Montana) who have gone before them. It just stings because this year’s Montana team was supposed to be different.
“It’s a tough locker room to be in when the season ends and you gotta address that group and they gotta hug each other,” Hauck said. “We got it to 21-20 and I felt good, really good. And then we gave up the two big runs and let it get back to a 15-point game. … They just made more plays than we did and they’re a good football team, especially at home. We know what we need to do to play these guys and beat them, and hopefully we get that chance next year.”
