Griz ground high-flying Eagles; Cats stopped at UND

MISSOULA - The Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats both need bounce-back wins after blowout losses to Sacramento State earlier this month. But on Saturday, one got one and one didn't.

In Missoula, inside a snowy Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday, the Grizzlies overcame an early deficit to beat arch rival Eastern Washington 34-17.

The win brings Montana to 6-2 on the season and 3-1 in the Big Sky, keeping them in the hunt for the Big Sky Championship.

"Certainly, to beat a team that played in the National Championship game last year is a great win for us," Head Coach Bobby Hauck said following the game. "I'm proud of our guys for their effort and how they approached the game coming off a loss and how they finished it frankly."

Hauck and his staff made adjustments offensively with Cam Humphrey starting his first game as a Grizzly in place of the injured Dalton Sneed. Humphrey managed an offense that slowed down the tempo and went to the ground often, racking up 254 rushing yards.

Running back Marcus Knight had another big game, scoring a hat trick of touchdowns and gaining 131 yards on the ground. This is the third time this season Knight has rushed for three touchdowns in a single game, as the back is now up to 12 on the season. The sophomore also had big plays out of the backfield, adding on 65 yards on three catches to bring his all-purpose yardage to 196. He averaged five yards per carry, continually putting the Grizzlies into short-yardage situations.

The Grizzly defense, which allowed a season-high 49 points last week, answered the call on Saturday. The Grizzlies gave up just 17 points, and most of Eastern Washington's damage came via big plays. It was the lowest scoring total of the season against FCS competition for the Eagles.

The usual suspects led the Grizzly defense, as Dante Olson had 14 tackles, and Robby Hauck added 10 -- six of which were solo. Jesse Sims and Jacob McGourin (a Cheney, Wash. navitve) also had sacks, both of which came on third down and ended Eastern Washington drives. Bottling up the run early allowed the Grizzlies to get after the quarterback.

Montana continued to show that they will make adjustments at halftime that completely change the tone of the game in the second half. After entering the break trailing 14-10, the Grizzlies won the final 30 minutes 24-3. On the season, the Grizzlies have outscored their opponents by 115 points in the second half.

Humphrey finished with a solid line of 20-for-29, 176 yards and a touchdown in his first start at Montana. He also had 35 yards on the ground, picking up a couple of key third-down conversions with his feet. Montana also got a key contribution from freshman Nick Ostmo, who ran 18 times for 79 yards.

The Grizzly defense held strong in the first quarter, and Humphrey capped off the quarter with a scramble on third down to keep a Montana drive alive and finish the first frame with a 3-0 lead. Eastern Washington had the ball for just three minutes in the opening quarter, as the Grizzly offense controlled the tempo and pace of the game early.

Humphrey let loose his first deep pass early in the second, and a pass interference penalty kept the Grizzlies from a big play. A couple plays later, Humphrey again kept the drive alive on his feet, escaping the pocket and lowering his shoulder as he bullied his way to a first down. Montana then rolled the dice, going for it on fourth down from the Eastern 19-yard line. They couldn't convert as Humphrey's pass hit the dirt, and the Eagles took over on downs.

Eastern Washington took advantage, going 81 yards in just over two minutes to take its first lead of the game 7-3. The Eagles got the ball back quickly and scored just as fast, using a big 62-yard completion by Limu-Jones to set up a touchdown drive that lasted less than a minute. The touchdown gave Eastern Washington a 14-3 lead with 6:29 remaining in the half.

Montana found a big play of its own on the ensuing drive as Humphrey found Knight out of the backfield for a 37-yard gain. As the snow started to come in force, the Grizzlies went to the ground four straight times, and Knight found the endzone with a four-yard touchdown rush to cut the lead to 14-10.

On its second drive of the half, Eastern Washington went for it on fourth down from their own territory and picked up a crucial conversion. They gained 40 yards in two rush plays, bringing the ball into the red zone. The Griz defense held up, forcing a field goal as Eastern Washington took a 17-10 lead.

The Grizzlies picked up their tempo on the following drive to an impressive result. After operating without much no-huddle for much of the game, the Grizzlies picked up the pace and scored on a five-play drive in just 1:32. Knight broke through the line, juking a tackler and racing 45 yards to the endzone to tie the game at 17-all.

Barriere had a pass deflected back into his own hands on the next drive, and Montana then brought him down for a 17-yard loss on the play. A 17-yard punt followed two plays later, giving the Grizzlies the ball inside Eastern territory to start the drive. The field position proved vital, as it set up Brandon Purdy for a 46-yard field goal to give Montana the lead back at 20-17.

Knight brought the Grizzlies deep into Eagle territory on a shovel pass from Humphrey, then broke free around the edge for a nine-yard touchdown. It was the third rushing score of the game for the back and brought him to a dozen touchdowns on the year.

Eastern Washington then couldn't handle the kickoff, turning the ball back over to the Grizzlies as Malik Flowers came flying in for a recovery at the Eastern Washington 23-yard line. Humphrey completed an 18-yard pass to Samuel Akem. The Humphrey-Akem connection worked again on third down for a back shoulder touchdown that gave the Grizzlies a 34-17 lead with 12:02 remaining.

The electricity inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium didn't abate when the Montana defense retook the field. The defense forced a three-and-out as Jesse Sims sacked Barriere on third down. Louie-McGee then fair caught the punt at the Eastern Washington 48-yard line, once again setting the Griz up with great field position for the fourth straight drive. The Griz turned the ball over, but Montana's defense again shut down the high-powered Eagle offense. In five drives, Montana's defense forced the EWU offense back six yards.

Montana put an exclamation point on the defensive performance by stopping the Eagles on fourth down on their final drive of the game. The Grizzlies took over on their own 14 after the stop and ran out the clock.

The win was just the third over Eastern Washington in the last decade for the Grizzlies, as well as the school's 600th as a football program. Montana will go for 601 this Saturday night at Portland State.

North Dakota 16, Bobcats 12

GRAND FORKS, North Dakota - On a day when both defenses held the opposing offense in check, North Dakota made two kicking game plays that proved the difference in the Fighting Hawks' 16-12 win over No. 10 Montana State in Grand Forks on Saturday.

After a punt pinned the Bobcats at their own one-yard line, North Dakota blocked and recovered an MSU punt in the end zone with 4:21 remaining to seal UND's win. "Obviously those two special teams plays at the end were extremely impactful. Not fielding that punt and it rolling down inside the one yard line, our inability to move the ball out of there, and then punting on a short field and having that thing blocked, that's the difference of the game in terms of scoring."

On the ensuing drive, which began with 4:21 to play, the Cats gained an initial first down but were forced into a fourth-and-18 with a sack and a penalty and were unable to convert. UND ran out the game's final 61 seconds.

Montana State captured a 12-10 lead with eight minutes remaining after Troy Andersen rumbled 49 yards to the Fighting Hawks one-yard line, then plowed the remaining yard for the first Bobcat touchdown of the day. A two-point conversion failed, but Montana State held the lead and on the next drive forced the UND punt that ended up at the MSU one-yard line.

The Bobcats struggled to run the ball early, gaining just 89 yards on 20 carries in the first half. One run by Hosey, a 48-yarder to the UND nine-yard line, set up a Bobcat field goal on the team's second drive. The Fighting Hawks answered with a touchdown drive, with running back Brock Boltmann finding Travis Toivonen on a 36-yard gimmick play to give the home team the lead.

The Fighting Hawks appeared poised to expand the lead, but Jahque Alleyne forced a fumble on the back end of a 12-yard run by North Dakota's Dalton Gee to snuff that drive. North Dakota's next drive advanced to the Bobcat 26, but Marcus Ferriter stuffed a Nate Ketteringham run on fourth-and-one to give MSU the ball. The Cats pieced together along drive to close the first half, and Tristan Bailey nailed a 39-yard field goal to draw MSU within 7-6 at the intermission.

Both teams gained 316 yards on the afternoon, but went about it in different ways. UND rushed for only 60 yards, but Ketteringham threw for 256 on an efficient 28-for-37 effort. MSU threw for 97 yards, 20 of them coming in pop passes from Travis Jonsen to Lane Sumner, but the Cats wore down North Dakota's run defense. Montana State rushed for 130 yards on 19 carries (6.8 yards per carry) after halftime. Hosey gained 76 yards, the most of his young career, while Andersen rushed for 64 and Rovig 27.

The loss dropped the Cats to 2-2 in the Big Sky and 5-3 overall. MSU is back home to host Southern Utah Saturday afternoon in Bobcat Stadium.