The firsts continued for Montana State quarterback Chris Murray on Saturday. This time in Greeley, the sophomore executed the first successful game-winning drive of his young career.
With Saturday’s contest at Northern Colorado tied 24-24 and the Bobcats feeling new life after a botched snap on what would’ve been a go-ahead field goal try, Murray and Montana State took over with two minutes, 29 seconds to play. On third down and 15 to go, Murray found Jabarri Johnson for a 22-yard gain. On a third down and four to go, Murray fired a strike to Kevin Kassis for an 18-yard first down into Bears’ territory. Murray’s 12-yard run on third down got MSU to the UNC 10.
Sophomore Gabe Peppenger capped the impressive 13-play, 73-yard drive by splitting the uprights with a 27-yard game-winning field goal with no time left on the clock to lift Montana State to a crucial 27-24 victory in front of 5,378 at Nottingham Field on Saturday afternoon.
“I’ve been a part of some heartbreaking misses but I’ve never been a part of a walk-off win,” Montana State second-year head coach Jeff Choate said. “I’ve never won a game on a field goal. I’ve seen some Hail Marys and stuff, but that’s the first field goal. I felt like I was almost too casual at the end, let it go down to three seconds, timeout. But I’m really proud of our guys.”
MSU sophomore kicker Gabe Peppenger, pictured here last season
Murray centered the ball before the game-winner. Peppenger, a walk-on from Missoula Sentinel who took over as the starting kicker after senior Luke Daly left the program last month, endured timeouts on both sides before drilling his second 3-pointer of the day.
“That’s almost exactly the scenario where we center the ball during our Friday walk through where we center the ball either right or left and kick it,” Choate said. “I think he was prepared for the moment and he was clutch.”
Montana State’s first trip to Greeley since 2013 resulted in MSU’s third Big Sky Conference win this season, one more than in Choate’s first season at the helm with three league games left. The victory moves Montana State to 3-2 in league play, 3-4 overall, keeping MSU’s slim hopes of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2014 alive.
The loss drops the host Bears to 1-3 in league play, 2-4 overall. Northern Colorado is a game short because of the cancellation of its non-conference contest at Florida because of Hurricane Irma. The Bears were without junior quarterback Jacob Knipp, who suffered a shoulder injury against North Dakota.
Behind Murray’s improved throwing in the second half and trademark smooth running throughout, Montana State rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit. Murray, who finished with 150 yards rushing to boost his league-leading total, scored a four-yard touchdown to give Montana State its first lead, 24-21, with eight minutes left.
UNC senior Hakeem Deggs/ by Rob Trubis
Northern Colorado answered. All-American special teams stud Hakeem Deggs ripped off a 56-yard return to the MSU 26. Three plays later, Collin Root hit a 34-yard field goal to tie the game.
Murray threw three straight incompletions — he finished 20-of-35 for 222 yards and a touchdown — to bring on the MSU punt team just over a minute later.
Conor Regan, a junior college transfer making his Division I starting debut in place of Knipp, fired completions of 17 yards to Frank Stephens and 24 yards to Alex Wesley to move into the red zone. Three plays later, a poor snap led to no points for the Bears. Montana State took over on its own 17 with 2:39 left on the clock. Thirteen plays later, Murray and the Bobcat offense cemented one of their defining moments since Choate’s hiring and Murray’s rise to the starting role under center.
“We had some heart-to-hearts on Sunday about what the expectations are at the quarterback position,” Choate said, referring to Murray. “He had a couple of turnovers but you could see he was making a conscious effort to make good decisions with the football. If it wasn’t there, he wasn’t going to force it, he would just throw it out of bounds. And he bough time for himself. We knew we were going to have to throw the ball some in the second half and Chris did a really good job. I’m sure he would like to have a couple throws back but that’s how it is whenever you throw the ball.”
Montana State head coach Jeff Choate
Choate and most of the coaching staff’s first trip to Greeley got off to an inauspicious start. On MSU’s second possession, senior running back Nick LaSane fumbled the ball. LaSane popped up, chased down Henry Stelzner and drilled him. The fumble was reversed as the replay showed LaSane was down, but the officials also called LaSane for targeting, a call that stood up. LaSane was ejected.
On the next Northern Colorado possession, Regan hit Stephens for an 80-yard touchdown. MSU senior cornerback Bryce Alley fell down on the play. Senior safety Khari Garcia missed an open-field tackle. Stephens finished with 125 yards receiving and his touchdown gave UNC a 7-0 lead. The long touchdown accounted for 31 percent of Northern Colorado’s 259 yards of total offense. The Bears rushed for 41 on 23 carries. MSU limited explosive UNC running back Trae Riek to 28 yards on 14 carries.
Montana State’s offense hummed productively for most of the afternoon. But turnovers almost thwarted the otherwise dominant day. Murray threw a pair of interceptions, including one to Isaiah Swopes with a minute to play in the first half. Reagan, who finished 13-of-29 for 218 yards, hit tight end Theron Verna for a 12-yard touchdown on the next play, giving UNC a 21-7 lead.
Montana State quarterback Chris Murray (8) pitches to running back Nick LaSane during last week’s 31-19 loss at Eastern Washington/ by Blake Hempstead
“Last week against Eastern, I was really angry because we did not come out with an appropriate sense of urgency at Eastern Washington and dug ourselves a hole,” Choate said of his halftime approach. “We took a different approach this week, which was to say, ‘Fellas, listen, we just need to play one play at a time. We don’t have to eat this whole apple in one bit. We just have to go make plays.
“And ultimately, I told them, ‘This second half is going to define our season. This is a chance to swell up down two scores at halftime and go win a game.’ Our guys believed in that and went out and played well in the second half.”
Murray’s second pick, snared by Sherand Boyd, came in the third quarter but resulted in no Northern Colorado points. Montana State found itself down 21-10 despite registering 18 first downs and 200 yards rushing.
Murray’s 36-yard completion to senior Mitch Herbert — who finished with six catches for 105 yards and a six-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the 18th of his career, second in MSU history — set up true freshman Troy Andersen’s one-cut 15-yard touchdown burst to cut the advantage to 21-17. Murray’s four-yard touchdown run capped a 10-play, 94-yard drive and gave Montana State its first lead with 7:57 left.
Gabe Peppenger, pictured here last week against Portland State, hit two field goals in Saturday’s win at UNC
The Bobcats ended the game with nearly 40 minutes of possession, 297 rushing yards, and 29 first downs. The Bobcats ran 95 total plays for 519 yards, yet needed a two-minute drill and a game-winning field goal to escape Greeley with a win. But Murray coming up in the clutch put a smile on Choate’s face.
“That was the kind of drive (Eastern Washington All-American quarterback) Gage (Gubrud) put on us last week,” Choate said, referring to Eastern’s 13-play scoring drive to seal a 31-19 win. “You have to have that point guard mentality, give me the ball. Whether it was using his legs or using his arm, he stepped up to the challenge and really matured in a lot of ways on that drive.
“You put so much of yourselves into these things. As disappointed as (UNC head coach) Earnest (Collins Jr.) and his crew is, we are elated. It’s hard to win on the road in this league and this is a tough place to play for a lot of different reasons. This is a tough road trip. Take em any way you can get them.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
