Key matchups abound in this first-time occurrence that pits the University of Montana and Montana State in a post-season game for the first time in the history of the 125 meetings and 128 years of the rivalry between the storied rivals.
One of those matchups grabbing much of the attention is the Griz pass game featuring the wicked whip of quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat plus the electricity and sure hands receiver Michael Wortham against a talented, feisty and confident Bobcat secondary filled with young talent that’s led by Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year Caden Dowler, a junior captain.
Dowler has been the biggest defensive force in the Football Championship Subdivision the past five games as he’s grabbed six interceptions, forced two fumbles and returned two interceptions for touchdowns. He has a team-high 90 tackles this season. Ah Yat, Wortham and the entire passing game for UM has been a constant all year, and in particular through the first two playoff games.
The Grizzlies enter this game averaging 288 passing yards per game with 34 touchdowns and a 69.3 completion percentage on the season. Ah Yat was the Big Sky’s first-team all-conference quarterback as a sophomore.
The past two weeks against two of the best defenses it’s seen all season other than Montana State (South Dakota State and South Dakota), Ah Yat has passed for 665 yards and seven touchdowns on 51 of 68 (75% completions; 9.9 yards per attempt) passing with no interceptions. Wortham has nearly half of those yards and touchdowns with 19 catches for 324 yards and three scores. Last week, he hauled in 10 catches for 201 yards and two scores and also scored a rushing touchdown, compiling 269 all-purpose yards to break Montana’s single-season record.
“I know they’ve gotten Wortham very much involved in these last playoff games,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “(UM) really made a concerted effort to get him the ball. He was playing against us. He was out there. I think we did a really good job of knowing where he was defending him.”
MSU allowed Wortham to get just one reception for three yards. He was targeted four times, and the Dowler interception came off a ball intended for Wortham that deflected off his hands right to Dowler. Wortham had a mismatch against MSU inside linebacker Cole Taylor but Ah Yat’s throw was high, careened off of Wortham’s hands and Dowler did what he does: make a big play in a key moment.
“It’s been clear the last two weeks that they’ve been continuing to find ways to get (Wortham) the ball whether that’s down the field, whether that’s lining him up at wildcat or handing the ball off. In particular, this past Saturday, he was a real difference, and the big plays were all over the place.”
The Bobcats have one of the best and most consistent pass defenses in the nation. MSU has a 114.1 pass defense efficiency rating. The ‘Cats allow just 5.9 yards per pass attempt and has limited the top passing offenses it has faced to well below their averages all season. MSU held Ah Yat to just 186 yards on 32 attempts (5.8 per attempt) and intercepted him once – a play Dowler returned for a decisive touchdown. His rating on the season is 165.5 and was 133.1 against the Bobcats.
MSU has held its past two opponents – Yale and Stephen F. Austion – to 440 yards with just two touchdowns against four interceptions. The same yards per pass – 5.7 for Yale and 5.6 for SFA – as they typically give up nearly every game and a combined passer rating of 118.2 after Yale’s Dante Reno was at 148.1 and SFA’s Sam Vidlak was at 150.2 coming into the respective postseason games.
“Taking the ball away this time of year and not turning it over is probably the most critical comparison stat,” Vigen said. “As far as Caden goes, we could keep saying ‘right place at the right time’, but I think that’s just who he is. Nothing moves the needle more than a takeaway.”
Whether the Grizzlies can replicate what they’ve done the past two weeks in Bozeman this Saturday or the Bobcats can continue to stunt passing games will be a key to winning for either side in a rivalry game with a national championship game bid on the line.
Ah Yat and Wortham aren’t the only factors in the UM passing game. Freshman Brooks Davis had a huge game in the first meeting with 10 catches for 113 yards and a touchdown. He’s a had a breakout season, notching 52 catches for 680 yards and five touchdowns.
Fellow receivers senios Drew Deck and Brian Bohannon have combined for 893 yards and five touchdowns on 63 receptions. Deck has scored five touchdowns this season, including three in the playoffs, after earning just 15 catches the first four seasons the Kalispell native played for the Grizzlies.
UM running back Eli Gilman has proven to be a steady receiver out of the backfield with 29 catches for 203 yards and two touchdowns. The Grizzlies also use tight ends Josh Gale and Evan Shafer with Gale coming down with a touchdown reception against USD last week. Those two have 27 receptions for 297 yards and five touchdowns combined.
“It’s elite to me,” Wortham, who transferred to UM in the offseason, said of the Grizzly’s pass game following his trademark performance against South Dakota. “It just comes down to preparation and execution. We just gotta keep rolling. The job is not finished and we got them boys (the Bobcats) next week.”
Likewise, the Bobcats have a plethora of talent in their secondary despite not having the eye-popping numbers that Dowler possesses. MSU uses a quartet of cornerbacks (freshmen Carson Williams, Seth Johnson and Jhase McMillan along with junior Takhari Carr) equally and their speed has been a big reason opposing teams haven’t been successful on deep patterns and the low yards per attempt the Bobcats allow.
MSU just got starting safety Taki Uluilakepa back a few weeks ago after he missed a couple months with a lower leg injury. As soon as he came back, safety/nickelback JJ Dolan went down, but the Bobcats also have Bryant Meredith, who replaced Uluilakepa and Colter Petre available. Starting nickelback Tayden Gray was shaken up last week but is expected to play this week, per Vigen.
While Ah Yat’s numbers weren’t on par with his normal production in the last rivalry game, he was effectively moving the Grizzlies down the field by taking what the Bobcat secondary gave him: passes to the flat and the sidelines.
By completing a high percentage of his passes, Ah Yat was creating a ball-control offense that appeared to be taking its toll on the MSU defense midway through the game when he led UM on consecutive scoring drives on either side of halftime. The first went 10 plays for 72 yards and ended when he made a mad dash on a third and 12 play that culminated in his 18-yard scoring run. The next touchdown drive covered 81 yards on 16 plays and ate up almost nine minutes. From there Ah Yat managed just 70 yards.
Wortham was also effective despite not being as involved as usual in the passing game. His 44-yard kickoff return was followed by a 35-yard run on the same possession and set up Davis’s touchdown catch. Wortham also had two other good kickoff returns in the game to get the UM offense in good starting field position.
Despite giving up the 18-yard touchdown run to Ah Yat, the Bobcats limited him to just seven yards on seven carries thanks in large part to a pair of sacks for 22 yards in losses. Ah Yat, who ran the ball quite a bit in limited action in 2024, hasn’t relied on his legs much this season. He has 63 carries for 86 yards, which also reflects yardage lost on sacks. When he does run, he’s been effective, gaining 219 yards and scoring seven touchdowns. Ah Yat was banged up on a play late in the Cat-Griz game three weeks ago. He was held to just three carries for three yards in the two playoff games and has been wearing a knee brace ever since.
MSU has limited big pass plays all season as it didn’t allow a pass of over 30 yards to an FCS team until playing Idaho State in the sixth game of the season. Since then, the Bobcats have only allowed six passes of 30 yards or more in last seven games. The biggest was a 42-yarder by SFA’s Sam Vidlak last week.
The Bobcats and Grizzlies will wrap up the week when they kickoff at 2:00 in Bobcat Stadium. The game will be televised on all local ABC affiliates.
