The play did not go the was it supposed to, but lately there is little reason to question the decisions Brady Gustafson makes.
On third-and-15 from the Montana 23 with a 21-point lead, Montana head coach Bob Stitt sent in a play call intended to get the ball down field. As Sacramento State’s defense took position, the Hornets left the box mostly vacant. So Gustafson, UM’s senior quarterback, checked to a run play and gave the ball to senior running back John Nguyen, who went straight up the middle for 15 yards and a first down that extended a drive the ended up in the end zone six plays later.
“Brady is doing a great job of running the offense and making the right calls,” Nguyen said after Montana’s 68-7 win. “Like coach Stitt was saying, all his checks were on point today.”
Since Montana returned to play following a bye week in mid September, Gustafson has done little wrong: He set a school record with 47 completions in a one-point loss to Cal Poly. In the three weeks since, Gustafson has tossed four touchdowns in each game as Montana’s offense has chewed up yards and produced points at historic rates.
During that time he has completed better than 70 percent of his passes for 1,320 yards with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 14 to 2, despite sitting out the better part of the second half in wins over Mississippi Valley State and Sacramento State.
“Well, the quarterback makes the whole thing go,” said beleaguered Sac State head coach Jody Sears after his Hornets got a front row seat to Gustafson’s latest performance. “He puts the ball where it needs to be. He made some really nice throws.”
Montana senior running back John Nguyen/ by Jason Bacaj
On Saturday, Gustafson rebounded from a three-and-out to open the game with one of his best games of the year. Stitt lauded his quarterback’s ability to read Sacramento State’s defense and made the appropriate pre- and post-snap decisions.
Gustafson was patient early, taking advantage of the space Sacramento State gave up near the line of scrimmage. His first six completions covered no more than 7 yards. But as the holes started to emerge down field, Gustafson started finding receivers for big chunks of yards. A 15-yard connection to redshirt freshman Justin Calhoun helped set up Montana’s first touchdown and back-to-back completions to redshirt freshman Colin Bingham picked up 37 yards on the Grizzlies’ second touchdown march.
“A lot of that is just him understanding what we’re needing to do against that defense and rolling with it,” Stitt said. “It makes us look pretty good as coaches when you have a quarterback that executes like that.”
Montana’s defense, a variable unit that continued its season-long dominance, nearly kept an opponent scoreless for the second consecutive week. Though their seven-quarter shutout streak came to an end late in the fourth quarter, Montana’s defense allowed just 15 first downs — four of the Hornets’ 19 first downs were attributed to penalties.
Montana was able to keep Sacramento State from sustaining drives by keeping the Hornets from converting third downs. Montana held Sac State to just 3 of 14 on third downs on Saturday. That continues a streak of games for Montana in which it has stopped its opponents from finding a rhythm. Dating back to its 43-20 homecoming win over Southern Utah, Montana has limited its opponents to just 11 conversions in 47 attempts. The recent success has pushed Montana to the top of the Big Sky’s third down defense category with a stingy 27 percent conversion allowance.
“It starts out with coach (Jason) Semore at the beginning of the week with a great game plan going into it,” said sophomore linebacker Josh Buss. “Then again with him, the right call at the right time. (He’s) an unbelievable defensive coordinator — all of our coaches are unbelievable.”
UM sophomore linebacker Josh Buss/ by Jason Bacaj
Redshirt freshman Tim Semenza’s recent point-after-touchdown struggles continued in the 61-point win. Semenza knocked down his first five PATs, but missed one late in the second quarter and then pushed another after Nguyen’s 81-yard touchdown run early in the third.
During Montana’s three-game home stand, Semenza missed six PATs. He was 12 for 12 prior to homecoming and just 19 for 25 since. Semenza is 8 for 9 on field goals, and despite some rotation with Brandon Purdy, Stitt has spoken publicly about his confidence in his redshirt freshman kicker.
Montana is currently last in the Big Sky in PAT accuracy.
