MISSOULA — J.P. Flynn remembers the words of one of his former high school coaches spoken when Montana State’s senior captain was an eighth grader.
Nearly a decade ago, Flynn remembers the coach telling him a player is only as good as his last game. Flynn’s last game, at least as a Bobcat, could not have been much sweeter.
“This is unbelievable,” Flynn said as he sat at the Sky Club at the Adams Center across from Washington-Grizzly Stadium, a Montana state flag draped in front of him.
“I’ve said all season I’m a little disappointed I don’t get to be a part of the future anymore, but it feels good to go out with a nasty, hard-nosed win up front.”
[restrict paid=”true”]
Flynn, MSU’s iron man senior captain, stamped his standout career with a dominant performance in his 43rd straight start. The offensive guard spearheaded a stellar showing by Montana State’s offensive line. The Bobcats knocked the Montana Grizzlies on their heels for most of the afternoon, rushing for 368 yards and controlling the clock for more than 38 minutes of a 24-17 win over their fierce rivals.
“We are young, we are developing, we are coming along and finally, we did it,” Flynn said. “We came to play. You have a sophomore center (Alex Neale) that should be a redshirt freshman, you have a redshirt freshman at right tackle (Mitch Brott) and you have two juniors (left tackle Dylan Mahoney, right guard Monte Folsom) who have never started until this year. It took us a little while to grow up but there it was. It showed on the last drive.”
Montana State punctuated its third win at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in its last four trips to Missoula with a dominant final drive. The Bobcats possessed the ball for the final six minutes, 20 seconds for the victory. Montana State true freshman quarterback Chris Murray completed just two passes on Saturday, but his second one sealed the biggest upset this rivalry has seen in a generation.
Facing a fourth down and one yard to go, MSU first-year head coach Jeff Choate called a timeout. MSU came out in a heavy set with two tight ends and three running backs. Murray faked to senior Chad Newell and briefly stumbled. He regained his footing and fired to wide open sophomore tight end Connor Sullivan for a 26-yard gain to the Griz 3-yard line. Montana State took three straight knees to seal the victory.
“I would love to say I’m always that sure,” Choate said. “It was a good call into that formation. If we get it, the game is over. If it doesn’t work you guys are asking me different questions. (Former MSU defensive tackle) Ty O’Connor came and talked to our team. He has an interesting thing to say when it comes to how to live your life. There are two ways. I won’t share the rest of the story with you but Ty probably wouldn’t shake my hand if I didn’t make that call.”
Throughout a season plagued by turnovers, when Montana State needed tough yards, the Bobcats would give the ball to Newell and run right behind Flynn. It appeared like the Bobcats would go back to their bread and butter before Murray shocked just about every one of the 26,182 in attendance.
“When we went into the huddle, I think everyone was expecting me to get the ball and I think that’s why that play ended up working,” Newell said. “Sully is a great player, had so much confidence in him. I knew even if they sniffed that play out and covered him, he was going to catch the ball. I knew we were going to get that first down and execute that play. And how about Chris?”
Murray, a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder, played with the swagger and confidence of someone much older. The product of Lawndale High in Inglewood, California rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns. His seven-yard score punctuated by a front flip into the North end-zone tied the game 7-7. His 48-yard rip on a third down from midfield gave MSU a 14-7 lead. Montana State would not trail again.
“Chris in general, 18-year-old kid, true freshman, never been here, most hostile environment in FCS football if not all college football, comes out there, so poised you think he was a fifth-year senior the way he played,” Newell said. “He was able to use his God-given ability to run the ball and he took care of the ball. You saw him run with two arms over the football, something he was coached to do this week, something he emphasized every day at practice. He came out and played so well.”
The victory marks the third time since the turn of the century that MSU has won in Missoula with a freshman signal caller. Travis Lulay famously helped the Bobcats snap “The Streak” with a 10-7 win at UM in 2002, breaking a 16-game losing streak to their fierce rivals. In 2010, redshirt freshman DeNarius McGhee led Montana State to a 21-16 win that sewed up the first of three straight Big Sky Conference championships and ensured the Griz missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992.
“He gives them a chance with his legs and he’s a dynamic guy,” Montana second-year head coach Bob Stitt said. “He’s a dynamic guy. We talked about it all week. We’ve seen some of their film as you go through the year. You give him a few steps and he’s different. You have to keep him corralled. You have to force him to beat you with his arm. Giving up a big play was a disappointment. We have a third and eight and he scored what basically comes out to be the winning touchdown. We have to make him throw the ball in that case.”
The win over the Griz punctuated an otherwise disappointing season in Choate’s first fall at the helm. Weeks after Choate was hired, All American quarterback Dakota Prukop transferred to Oregon. Choate brought in junior Tyler Bruggman from Scottsdale Community College. Choate helped recruit Bruggman to Washington State before Bruggman made stops at Louisville and his native Scottsdale prior to MSU.
Bruggman led Montana State to a 2-1 start with Murray playing in spurts. Bruggman threw two fourth-quarter interceptions in a 17-15 loss to North Dakota to open Big Sky play and spiraled downward thereafter. He completed just one of his first eight passes at Sacramento State before Murray came off the bench to rush for 187 yards and three touchdowns.
Against Northern Arizona, Bruggman and the offense sputtered. Murray led two touchdown drives to cut the NAU lead to 20-14 but his fourth quarter fumble sealed an 0-3 start to league play. Murray took over the starting job the next week against Weber State and three more conference losses followed. MSU had a breakthrough as Murray rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown in a 27-13 win over UC Davis. He ends his freshman season on a two-game winning streak.
“We found out who we are and that’s something we were struggling with on offense, what our identity was,” Choate said. “Once Chris became the guy, we had to figure out with Chad and Gunnar (Brekke) and Nick (LaSane) and Chris, you have four guys who you have to play run game and you can create explosives in the run game.
“You can see if you have to defend him as a passer, that’s going to be a real problem for people in this league.”
The Cat-Griz victory is the first for Montana State’s seniors after losing in three previous games to Montana in their careers. A total of 13 Bobcats played their final games on Saturday, including Newell, Flynn and Brekke, all contributors throughout their time in Bozeman. MSU finishes 2-6 in Big Sky play and 4-7 overall but the momentum the team takes into the off-season is substantial.
“We are a 4-7 ball club, that’s who we are,” Choate said. “We won a game today and it was an important one. It certainly means a lot to our alumni, our program and the state of Montana. But I’m not naïve to think we’ve arrived. The work is starting now. We are sending a tremendous group of seniors, leaders we are going to miss. But hopefully these guys paid attention, and not just paid attention today but paid attention when things weren’t going correctly and to see how these guys handled themselves as men and pushed through adversity. In the short run, you get what you get and in the long run, you get what you deserved.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved
