OGDEN, Utah — Battered, beaten and searching for answers, Montana State instituted a slew of changes to its lineup in an effort to get out of the Big Sky Conference cellar.
But a decimated defensive front combine with a team searching for some semblance of confidence came to Stewart Stadium for the first time since 2013 and looked completely lost for the first 30 minutes of action.
Montana State surrendered touchdowns on the first six Weber State possessions as the Wildcats rolled to 42 points on their first 41 plays before the first half buzzer sounded. Senior Jadrian Clark threw for four touchdowns and Weber fifth-string senior running Haini Moimoi scored the first two touchdowns of his career as Weber built a 42-14 before intermission as Weber cruised to a 45-27 victory.
Montana State head coach Jeff Choate/ by Brooks Nuanez
“As a head coach, I did not have these guys ready to play,” Montana State first-year head coach Jeff Choate said. “They lacked energy from the start and I accept responsibility for that.”
With true freshman Chris Murray making his first start at quarterback for the reeling Bobcats, the offense mustered two touchdown catches — a 39-yarder to senior running back Gunnar Brekke on a well designed screen and a 14-yard bullet to Jayshawn Gates for the junior’s first touchdown catch of the season — in the game’s first 20 minutes but the halftime deficit was too much to overcome.
MSU got a 1-yard touchdown run by Chad Newell, the 30th of his decorated career, to cut the lead to 42-21 with five minutes left in the third quarter but the Wildcats pulled away thereafter in a 45-27 victory in front of 7,148 on a picturesque day set in front of the Wasatch Front here on Saturday afternoon.
“The last game we lost (a 52-49 double-overtime loss against South Dakota), we were up 21-0 before you could blink,” said third-year Weber State head coach Jay Hill after his team secured its first four-game winning streak since 2008. “We had a huge let up against South Dakota. Right after we went up 21-0 today, they went right down and scored and flipped momentum back in their favor. This game, we had been through it before and there was no let up. The offense went right down the field and punched in another touchdown. Having been in some of these situations before helps us and that showed up today.”
Montana State’s defense swarms Weber State running back Zach Smith/ By Brooks Nuanez
Montana State’s defense allowed just three points after halftime but a first half that included 20 Weber State first downs and a game in which Weber possessed the ball for more than 36 minutes resulted in WSU’s fourth straight victory.
Weber State is now 3-0 in Big Sky Conference play, 4-2 overall. The Bobcats fell to 0-4 in Big Sky play for the first time since 2000. MSU’s fourth straight loss pushes the Bobcats to 2-5 overall.
“I think it’s a credit to what Coach Hill has done and a credit to the culture here,” Clark said. “Our mindset is that we are going to win every game. Having that mindset and really trusting the process and everything Coach Hill has put us where we are today.”
Montana State set up its final touchdown by calling a timeout with less than a minute to play to set a 47-yard punt return by freshman Kevin Kassis to the Weber State 27-yard line. On the final play of the game, Murray heaved one to redshirt freshman Cam Sutton, who made a leaping catch and flipped into the end-zone for the first scoring grab of his career. But the final score was no consolation, as Montana State remained winless in Big Sky Conference play.
“We have to keep fighting,” said Brekke, who finished with 56 yards from scrimmage. “The one thing I know about this team is even if we did come out flat today, we have a lot of guys on this team that know how to compete. When the chips are down, when they are against us, whatever, we have some guys who I would go to war with any day. We have to find those guys, embrace it, come out and keep throwing punches no matter how far your back gets pushed against wall, you have to find a way out.”
Montana State senior defensive tackle Matt Brownlow/ by Brooks Nuanez
The Bobcats again played short-handed and with a collection of young players. With junior left tackle Dylan Mahoney on the shelf with turf toe, redshirt freshman Mitch Brott started on the blindside for the second straight week. With sophomore defensive tackle Tucker Yates out with a shoulder injury, senior walk-on Matt Brownlow made his first career start. MSU senior cornerback John Walker sat for the first 13 minutes of action because of a violation of team rules; sophomore Tre’von Strong started in his place. Gates earned his first start this season after sophomore John D’Agostino went down in practice earlier in the week.
“We did a good job of setting down and playing some ball in the second half but I think our lack of depth on the defensive line showed up more than ever today,” Choate said.
Clark’s first half efficiency, the power running of Moimoi and Emmanuel Pooler and Montana State’s inability to hang on to the football all aided in the first half avalanche. Clark completed 10 of his first 11 passes and threw three touchdowns in the first quarter alone. The Bobcats had fumbles on two of their first three possessions as Weber went up 21-0 before the game was even 10 minutes old.
After Weber State notched a stop on MSU’s first offensive possession in Murray’s first career start, Clark capped an 11-play, 79-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown to Cam Livingston, the senior’s first scoring grab this season. Three plays into MSU’s next possession, Murray ran a pitch option play and tossed the ball well short of Brekke, who had daylight to run to in front of him. Weber State true freshman Trey Hoskins recovered the ball on the MSU 24. Clark hit senior running back Cory Thompson for a five-yard touchdown four plays later to push the lead to 14-0.
MSU sophomore Logan Jones fumbled the ensuing kickoff, WSU senior wide receiver Chandler Tunney recovered it on the MSU 26, Clark completed a pair of passes to Livingston, including a seven-yard strike on an outside screen play to push the lead to 21-0 with 4:23 to play in the first quarter.
“That’s just unacceptable defensively,” MSU junior safety Bryson McCabe said after notching eight tackles. “That starts with us. We didn’t show up today. It showed. It’s unacceptable.”
Montana State senior Gunnar Brekke scores a 39-yard touchdown/ by Brooks Nuanez
Montana State seized momentum for a brief moment as Murray hit Brekke for the first touchdown pass for the Inglewood, California native with 90 seconds left in the first frame. But Weber State answered with an eight-play, 67-yard drive capped by Moimoi’s first career touchdown.
“I’ve been here since 2010 to play for Coach Mac (Ron McBride) so it’s been a long road,” Moimoi said. “I went on a mission and came back. This is pretty much the first game I’ve been in. It feels good.”
Murray, who completed 10-of-18 passes for 199 yards and rushed for 131 yards on 19 carries, fired perhaps the tightest spiral of his career to Gates to cap a seven-play, 75-yard drive and cut the lead to 28-14 with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Weber State did not take its foot off the pedal. Clark hit backup tight end Tui Sataula for a 33-yard touchdown in the wide open spot of Montana State’s zone coverage. Moimoi scored on a two-yard run with 50 seconds before halftime to make Weber six-for-six.
“They can throw about four guys back there we couldn’t tackle today,” Choate said. “No. 26 (Treshawn Garrett) had an injury late in the game last week. He went through warm ups and didn’t play. I don’t know if they figured they were going to hammer us up front but they leaned on us pretty good. We had to do some things to create some numbers and leverage for us in the run game to give ourselves an opportunity but it wasn’t enough.”
Weber State had four drives of at least eight plays and at least 65 yards in the first half alone. Clark completed 18-of-21 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns before halftime. He finished 26-of-34 for 266 yards.
“They have big targets in the passing game and it wasn’t like they pushed the ball,” Choate said. “That was our deal. They have gotten a lot of explosive plays and we didn’t want to allow that. We wanted to make them earn it. To their credit, they were able to put together long drives and put it in the end-zone. We didn’t like some of our matchups in the vertical passing game but I thought (Clark) did a good job of taking what was available in our scheme and executing it.”
Montana State true freshman quarterback Chris Murray/ by Brooks Nuanez
Weber State ran 20 more offensive plays than MSU and possessed the ball for 37:02 to 22:58 for the Bobcats. Weber State notched 27 first downs and moved the sticks consistently behind strong offensive line play as MSU’s decimated defensive line showed up for the first time this season. Weber totaled 435 total yards and converted all six of its red zone chances.
Montana State entered the game with a Big Sky-best 16 takeaways. But the Bobcats earned no takeaways against Weber. True freshman cornerback Damien Washington dropped an interception that WSU turned into a 35-yard Taylor Hintze field goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Later in the final frame, Washington intercepted Clark and returned it for a touchdown but the score was called back because of a roughing the passer penalty.
Saturday, Murray threw two interceptions and MSU fumbled two other times. Montana State now has 14 turnovers in four Big Sky games. The Bobcats are on their first four-game losing streak in 16 years.
“Bottom line is we are going to find out who the guys who want to fight are,” Choate said. “That’s what this last four games is about is finding out who wants to be a part of this thing moving forward and moving this thing in the right direction. We have some seniors I feel extremely bad for. We have some great competitors in that senior class. There’s not a lot of them. But we have some guys who do a tremendous job of providing leadership and structure and understand what it’s about. Some of these young guys have to fall in. We will find out if they want to be a part of this thing moving forward.”
