Cat-Griz Report: Cats survive at NAU, Griz crush Mustangs

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., — Most of Tommy Mellott's work came via his legs Saturday. But when the Bobcats needed him the most, he used his arm.

Mellott found Taco Dowler behind the NAU secondary in the game's final 30 seconds, then Blake Glessner nailed a 25 yard field goal as time expired to hand No 3 Montana state a 41-38 win at Northern Arizona on Saturday. It was Glessner's first career walk-off winner.

That game-winner was set up by Mellott's calculated heave to Dowler. Under pressure on third-and-10, the sophomore quarterback rolled to his right and found Dowler "running to green grass," as Mellott said. "That's what Taco does. He did it in high school at Billings West and he has a feel for it."

Montana State's game-winning field goal came about after NAU hit a 46-yarder with 1:05 to play that tied the score at 38-38.

"We needed to hold them to a field goal there," said Bobcat head coach Brent Vigen, "and we found a way."

The teams combined for 1,023 total yards (552 by NAU, the most by a Bobcat opponent since 2016) and 52 first downs. The teams scored 41 points after halftime.

The first half started with Montana State administering a body blow, and ended with a massive NAU rally. On the first play from scrimmage, Brody Grebe overwhelmed R.J. Martinez, and the sack forced a fumble that he recovered on the Lumberjack 16 On the fourth play Mellott flipped a short pass to R.J. Fitzgerald, and the Cats led 7-0. After forcing an NAU punt on the next possession, Mellott dashed 44 yards on a third-and-one for a touchdown, and the Bobcats led 14-0. On NAU's third possession the theme held, with Callahan O'Reilly's sack of Martinez resulting in a fumble that Ben Seymour recovered at the Bobcat 29. MSU turned that possession into a 30 yard field goal by Blake Glessner, and a 17-0 lead.

With just less than 12 minutes gone, the Bobcats had dominated the action and led 17-0. Then Martinez, the 2021 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, took control. He capped a 75-yard scoring drive with a 34-yard pass to Coleman Owen for a touchdown, then the Lumberjacks forced a three-and-out. After the teams traded futile offensive possessions three times, Martinez hit Hendrix Johnson on a 48-yard touchdown pass, and the Lumberjacks drew to within 17-14. After another Bobcat punt, NAU marched 77 yards in eight plays and took the 21-17 lead on a pass from Xander Werner to Martinez that covered seven yards.

In spite of MSU's quick start and turnover margin advantage (three to zero), NAU thoroughly dominated the first half statistically. The Lumberjacks out-gained the Cats 342 yards to 200, threw for 290 yards to MSU's 54, and logged 16 first downs to the Bobcats' nine. The halftime deficit was MSU's first against an FCS foe in 2022.

The Cats play their final road game this Saturday night at Cal Poly.

Griz 57, Cal Poly 0

MISSOULA — Winter officially arrived in Missoula on Saturday night, and with it came a return to the winning ways for Montana Grizzly football. On a field covered in snow for most of the game, you could look at the scoreboard for the story of the game, or you could read it in the prints in the snow. One end zone filled with Grizzly tracks, the other notably absent of Mustang prints.

The No. 16 Griz were in their natural habitat in the snow, dominating Cal Poly 57-0 to get back in the victory column. The game was never close as Montana jumped out to a 31-0 halftime lead and never looked back. The Montana program record book was under pressure at the end of the night, as the Griz broke one and neared several others. Head coach Bobby Hauck had a simple question after the game.

"That was fun tonight, wasn't it?"

Montana's offense finished with 695 yards of total offense, the second most in a single game in program history. They trailed only the 717-yard performance against Weber State in 1999. It was the first time Montana went over 600 yards in a game since the victory against SE Louisiana in the 2019 playoffs. The chains were moved a program record 37 times as Montana proved difficult to get off the field. They converted 14 of 19 third down attempts, along with a fourth down conversion, and didn't punt the entire game. The score could have been more lopsided had Montana not turned it over on downs and threw an interception in the end zone.

Nick Ostmo ran wild on the Mustangs to become Montana's first 200-yard runner since Dalton Sneed in 2018. He put together his first career 100-yard game, and just went ahead and doubled it up for good measure. He became just the eighth Grizzly to run for 200 yards and the first running back to do it since Chase Reynolds in 2009. He ended with the sixth most yards in a game in program history with 221, and brought his total yardage to 260 with a couple of catches.

As a team, Montana ran for 412 total yards. Isiah Childs had 70 yards, third-string quarterback Daniel Britt had 40 yards and three more Grizzlies ran for at least 15 yards. They averaged 6.6 yards per carry on 62 total attempts.

Starting quarterback Lucas Johnson looked sharp in his return from injury, throwing for 262 yards and three touchdowns while completing nearly 60 percent of his passes. He also ran for a score. He spread the love to 11 different receivers. Mitch Roberts, Ryan Simpson and Xavier Harris all caught a pass for Montana.

While the offense nearly broke several school records, the performance of Montana's defense shouldn't go unnoticed. The Grizzlies shut out a Cal Poly passing attack that entered the night third in the country in yards per game, holding them under 200 yards and to just 150 yards through the air.

Braxton Hill led Montana in place of the injured Patrick O'Connell. The Anaconda native had seven tackles and also broke up multiple passes. Robby Hauck, Marcus Welnel and Levi Janacaro all had five tackles. Welnel got to the quarterback once and also intercepted a pass in a complete performance. Cal Poly was held under 75 yards in all four quarters, converting just a quarter of their third down attempts. Montana's defense stifled them to the bitter end, giving up just three yards of offense in the final quarter when mostly backups were on the field for the Griz. A total of 23 different Montana players registered a tackle in the game. It is the second shutout of the season for Montana, who also held Northwestern State scoreless in the season opener.

The Grizzlies were balanced all night, gaining at least 150 yards in every quarter. After a tough couple of weeks on the road against top 5 opponents, it felt good to get back home and play in front of Griz nation.

The first offensive play of the game for the Grizzlies brought with it a welcome sight. Johnson evaded a would-be sack, broke the pocket and scrambled for a 25-yard gain. The Griz moved methodically, and, once again, Johnson proved his dynamic playmaking ability. He stepped up into the pocket and, while still on the run, delivered a 36-yard strike to Keelan White to set Montana up from the one. He punched it in himself on the next play, leaping on top of the pile for his seventh rushing score of the season. He had 75 total yards on the opening drive.

The Griz defense made sure Johnson and company didn't get cold on the sideline. After Cal Poly threw several successful screen passes on the opening drive, the Griz knew what was coming. Marcus Welnel dropped into coverage on the second play of the drive, picking off a pass and setting Montana up deep In Mustang territory again.

Johnson would add another touchdown, this time through the air. He connected with Mitch Roberts for a 15-yard strike to put Montana up 14-0 within the opening seven minutes of the game. The Griz forced another punt with Junior Bergen back to receive. He caught it near midfield and was spun around by a defender, looking to be contained right away. But Bergen bounced off the back of the tackler, scrambled back to his feet and returned it 37 yards into Cal Poly territory. The Griz would go for it on fourth down unsuccessfully. The snow piled up as the first quarter came to an end with Montana again deep on the Mustangs side of the field. Inside the 10, the Griz would connect on a 24-yard field goal from Nico Ramos to move ahead 17-0. Montana outgained Cal Poly by over 130 yards in the opening quarter, as the Griz neared the 200-yard mark.

Cal Poly, sensing the game getting away, attempted a fourth down conversion around midfield on the next drive. Facing 4th and 10, the Montana defense got home with Eli Alford beating his man quickly off the line and sacking the quarterback to put the ball back in the hands of the Griz.

Ostmo caught a pass at the line and took it for 32 yards to set Montana up right outside the red zone. Johnson found Roberts to move it to the four, and the Griz would get into the end zone again with a pitch on the outside to Ostmo. The running back went to 50 yards on the ground (and 82 total yards) with his first score of the day. Montana continued to pour it on during the next drive. The Grizzlies would go 60 yards in eight plays. Johnson found his running back Xavier Harris on a broken play, and he broke free on the sideline and brought his tackler into the end zone with him for another Grizzly score. It brought Montana over 306 yards for the half, and increased the lead to 31 points. Cal Poly would make it into Grizzly territory on their final drive of the half, going for it on fourth down and failing to convert for the second time. Montana picked up some yardage with the few seconds remaining to them to bring it to the half.

Johnson completed 14-of-24 passes for 221 yards and two scores, adding another touchdown on the ground. Ostmo also had a full game type of stat line at the half. He had 113 total yards at the half (74 rushing, 39 receiving) with a running touchdown. He charged into the second half as well, busting a 33-yard gain to go over the century mark in the game. The Griz would quickly find the end zone again, as Johnson floated a beautiful ball to Ryan Simpson to make it 38-0 Montana. It was the second touchdown grab of the season for the Bozeman native.

The Griz then just leaned on Ostmo. He ran it on all five plays after Montana took it over at midfield, scoring from 22 yards out to go over 200 yards and get his second score of the day. At the end of the third quarter, Montana had a 44-0 lead and was outgaining Cal Poly 545-189. It was all the action that Ostmo would see, as he ended his day with the sixth-most rushing yards in a game in program history. Isiah Childs came into the game, and quickly turned two runs into 49 yards and a score. Montana would miss another extra point, but still held a 50-0 advantage while outgaining the Mustangs by over 400 yards.

Montana got another score from Childs, his second of the night and the eighth total for Montana, with just over 10 minutes remaining. They had a chance to score again late, but kneeled away the final couple of minutes deep in Mustang territory to seal the win.

Montana outgained Cal Poly 695-192 (503 yards). They ran 26 more plays than the Mustangs and averaged 7.5 yards per play. The time of possession was tilted 10 minutes in favor of Montana, who also finished with three sacks and eight tackles for loss.

It was the third-straight sold-out game inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium as 25,684 fans braved the snow to watch the victory. The Grizzlies will be back home next weekend against Eastern Washington for the final regular season home game of the season.