STATS (HTML) | STATS (PDF)HIGHLIGHT VIDEO | PHOTOSMontana overcame an early 14-point deficit to roll conference foe Portland State 49-17 in Missoula Saturday. A record 25,726 fans saw Montana outscore the Vikings 42-3 in the final three quarters.
The Viking offense looked potent early, scoring on consecutive drives to start the game. The first drive, a 75-yard, 12-play affair, took six minutes before Ben Bowen broke through on a 3-yard run. After a UM 3-and-out, Portland struck again on a 6-play, 66-yard drive capped by a 38-yard Drew Hubel to Lavonte Kirven TD pass.
Montana looked to have another lackluster possession when PSU safety Jordan Brown stopped quarterback Justin Roper to force 4th down, but Brown was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, drawing a 15-yard penalty, and automatic first down, and the ire of the Griz. On the next play, Roper hit Marc Mariani for a 56-yard touchdown to put the Griz on the board.
The Griz defense forced PSU to punt early in the second quarter, but a bad snap into the end zone was recovered by Jordan Tripp to level the game, 14-14.
Following another defensive stop, Montana again scored, covering 65 yards on 4 plays. Quarterback Andrew Selle had back to back passes of 23- and 38-yards to Mariani and Jabin Sambrano respectively, setting up a 1-yard Beau Donaldson touchdown run.
The Griz ran the score to 28-14 on a 10-play, 67-yard drive, capped by a Selle-to-Steve Pfahler 14-yard touchdown pass.
The Vikings finally answered with what would be their last points of the game when they put together a 12-play, 77-yard drive, only to have it stall at the Montana 3, forcing the Vikings to settle for a 20-yard Zach Brown field goal. The teams went to the locker rooms with the score 28-17 Montana.
Erik Stoll intercepted a Hubel pass to give the Griz the ball at the PSU 29, where the Griz offense took over for a 6-play scoring drive ending in a Chase Reynolds 4-yard TD run. Montana then absorbed a 70-yard Viking drive to the UM 4, before solid defense and a PSU penalty combined to force a 27-yard field goal attempt that Montana blocked to keep the score 35-17.
In the fourth quarter, Montana padded its lead with a Selle-to-Mariani 45-yard touchdown pass and a Selle-to-Donaldson 6-yard pass to finish the scoring at 49-17.
PSU’s Hubel went 25-51 for 325 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions.
Selle led the Griz, throwing 14-23 for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns, along with 50 yards with his feet. Roper saw limited time, going 2-3 for 59 yards before leaving the game. Gerald Kemp took snaps at quarterback, his only throw was intercepted by DeShawn Shead, but he carried the ball 11 times for 61 yards.
Mariani had two touchdowns on a game-high 130 receiving yards.
True freshman Peter Nguyen had a game-high 71 rushing yards on 5 carries.
Erik Stoll, Bobby Alt, and Brock Coyle all had interceptions for the Griz.
The Grizzlies improve to 3-0 (1-0 Big Sky) and head to Flagstaff, Ariz., next Saturday to take on conference rival Northern Arizona. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. in the Walkup Skydome.