Cat-Griz Report: Eagles thump Griz on the "inferno"

CHENEY, Wash. (AP) - The Montana Grizzlies road woes, and especially the woes on the "inferno" at Eastern Washington continue.

Gage Gubrud threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns, three to Cooper Kupp, and No. 3 Eastern Washington defeated No. 16 Montana 35-16 Saturday.

Kupp had eight catches for 140 yards and joined Jacksonville State's Josh Barge in pushing their FCS record for consecutive games with a reception to 46. Kendrick Bourne had five receptions for 124 yards.

"You don't want to see him making great plays against you, but you appreciate the talent," Montana head coach Bob Stitt said of the amazing Kupp.

After starting 2 of 9 for 19 yards, Gubrud caught fire. Kupp had TD receptions of 69 and 2 yards for a 21-10 lead at the half. Kupp also completed a 54-yard pass to Gubrud to set up a touchdown.

Kupp added a 40-yard score in the third quarter when the Eagles (7-1, 5-0 Big Sky) pushed the lead to 35-10 before Gubrud threw interceptions on consecutive possessions. EWU has outscored opponents 129-34 in the third quarter.

"We had some things early to keep this thing somewhat close and we just didn't execute those things when we had them," Stitt said.

Brady Gustafson was 45 of 63 for 398 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Grizzlies (5-3, 2-3). Gustafson threw a TD to Colin Bingham to give the Griz a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. But Montana's only other points of the half came on a Tim Semenza FG as time expired, and the Griz trailed 21-10.

Eastern Washington averaged 17.3 yards per completion to 8.8 for Montana, which had a 540-455 advantage in total offense.

EWU's lead would balloon to 35-10 in the third before Gustafson hit Keenan Curran on a 47-yard TD strike, but that's all the Griz could muster against an Eagles' quad which Montana beat handily last year in Missoula.

"We had some chances to catch some balls that were up in the air and we needed to go get them. They did it, we didn't," Stitt said. "They have some nice upper-classmen receivers and their quarterback did a nice job of throwing it up and letting them go get it."

The Griz, who got 170 combined rushing yards from John Nyguen and Jeremy Calhoun, also saw two players leave with serious injuries, including Calhoun, as well as star receiver Josh Horner.

Now, Montana, having lost two straight, and sitting in sixth place in the Big Sky Conference, must fight for its playoff lives, likely needing to win all three of its remaining games to reach the FCS field of 24.

"We know what's ahead of us, we know what we have to do, now we just have to go back into the film room and execute," senior Caleb Kidder said. "We have to look at this week and last week and get better.

"You've got another week, that's football," Stitt said. "You get prepared and get ready to go back home and get a win and start feeling good about yourself again. We've got a lot of football left, and like I've always said, you want to be playing your best football at the end of the season."

Montana starts its final three-game stretch with a home game Saturday night against Idaho State. Montana State, which had a bye this past week, returns to face Southern Utah on the road.

Note: Havre Daily News sports editor George Ferguson contributed to this story.