MISSOULA – Montana State needed to answer the bell time and again as it persevered over a fired-up Montana Grizzly team and its own miscues for a 31-28 win in the 124th Cat-Griz game.
“Really excited about the outcome,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “Probably more excited about how we got there. That game today really exemplifies who we are. We are not one thing. We play complimentary football. We’re a group that we’re going to keep moving forward. Our guys believed all the way through and when we went up (31-21), I told the offense ‘you guys are going to have a chance to finish this out’ and they did that.”
Montana State rebounded each time the Griz threw a haymaker, finding a way to charge to the first Bobcat win in Missoula since 2018.
The Bobcats rebounded from a squandered opportunity to score a game-opening touchdown when they committed a false start and saw quarterback Justin Lamson sacked twice before settling for a field goal. They had worked on stopping receiver Michael Wortham all week before seeing him return the ensuing kickoff for 44 yards and then run for 35 yards on UM’s second play from scrimmage.
Despite that, MSU bounced back to score 14 unanswered points and grab a 17-7 lead and seemed in control. It wasn’t.
The Bobcats had made a name for themselves this season for their ability to close out the first half and start the second half strong. Not on this day.
UM answered MSU’s consecutive touchdowns by rolling 72 yards on 10 plays to cut the Bobcats’ lead to 17-14 near the end of the first half, then opened the second half with mesmerizing 16 play, 89-yard drive that burned nearly nine minutes off the clock.
The second score was marred by MSU’s senior captain and defensive end Kenneth Eiden IV’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on third and nine that gave the Grizzlies a first and goal from the MSU 6-yard line. The toll of the back-to-back possessions appeared to have taken all the wind out of MSU’s sails and when the Bobcats only managed one first down before punting the ball to UM, the upcoming felt like it’d be the end for MSU if they didn’t get a stop.
The Grizzlies, as they had all game, got themselves into a third and short – something they had succeeded on seven out of 10 times to that point. Quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat went to his ace receiver Wortham only to see the ball bounce off his fingertips and right into the hands of MSU safety Caden Dowler. Dowler, who had forced four turnovers in the previous two games, sprinted to his left and down the sideline for the most monumental moment of the game.
“The takeaway was huge,” Vigen said. “Caden – for him to be in the right spot again – speaks to who he is as a player.”
“We had a couple third down conversions in the (previous) drive and we got the ball back,” UM head coach Bobby Hauck said. “We got the ball with the lead and had a chance to put some distance between ourselves.”
UM head coach Bobby Hauck has been around UM football for 14 years and has been a coach for around 40 years. He’s seen a lot of craziness in his day.
“It’s kind of funny, you know how football goes. We knocked the ball out and there’s nobody there to get on it, the ball tips up in the air and we can’t get to it and there’s a guy standing right there (for MSU). That’s the way football goes.”
Dowler’s ability to be Johnny-on-the-spot isn’t lost on him.
“We were in a man (defense) and they were trying to get the ball to Wortham, obviously,” Dowler said. “They had him lined up on a linebacker and I knew I kind of had to help a little bit. When you run to the ball sometimes a gift is kind of given to you. I caught the ball and thought, ‘how does this keep happening?’ and then I was in the end zone.”
The play gave MSU a 24-21 lead only to see UM begin rolling on its next possession. This time the penalty bug bit the Grizzlies after they gained a first down on the Bobcat’ 18. UM gained nine yards on first down that was negated on an ineligible man downfield call. The next play saw UM receiver Brooks Davis, who finished with 10 catches for 113 yards, take a reverse 23 yards for a score but it was negated by a holding call. The Grizzlies settled for a 44-yard field goal attempt only to see it blocked by Missoula native Zac Crews.
“We just had our backs against the wall on that drive,” Crews said. “I’m just not taking any opportunity for granted in a game like this. Special teams is very important. I jumped and got my hand in the right spot and got a block.”
The Bobcats didn’t let UM off the hook as they methodically worked their way to the Grizzlies 23 before Lamson broke off a 23-yard touchdown run on a third-and-1 play. This put MSU up 31-21 with 8:58 to play and once again the Bobcats seemed to be in control. Not yet.
“He’s just a poised individual,” Vigen said of Lamson. “He’s a competitive sucker all at the same time. Those two things don’t always go together. Tough as nails, he can rise to the moment. I know a lot was made that he hadn’t played (in Missoula) and it didn’t bother him one bit. He’s the type of guy, he can go in the deep water and he did today. Our team really rallies around him for who he is as person as much as anything else.”
Lamson was 18 for 20 passing for 175 yards and a touchdown and also had 80 yards rushing and a score.
“(Lamson) did a good job today,” Hauck said. “We went in pretty simple on defense. He knew what he was getting for the most part and I thought he executed well.”
Eli Gilman got the Grizzlies right back into the game, however, as he worked to the edge and outran the MSU secondary for a 52-yard score and just like that it was 31-28 with 6:59 to go and the Bobcats needed to burn out a lot of clock. They did, but it was a lot of work.
MSU got a nine-yard completion from Lamson to running back Adam Jones, consecutive runs of 11 and 14 yards from Julius Davis to open its drive before Lamson took a 4-yard loss on a sack. The Bobcats were able to get themselves into a fourth-and-one after that and Davis converted with a two-yard carry. Then he went for nine yards to set up second-and-one with 2:07 to play and needing another first down to all but salt the game away. Didn’t happen.
Tight end Hunter Provience was whistled for a false start and after MSU gained just two yards on a Jones carry, it appeared in jeopardy of giving the ball back to UM, but Lamson picked up five yards on a quarterback draw on third-and-four. Two plays later Jones picked up another first down and, finally, the Bobcats were in control as they set up in Victory Formation to run out the clock on the UM 18.
“That drive was huge,” Lamson said. “Just being able to run the ball in a game like that. We talked about it last week. We knew on third down they were going to bring some dog stuff. I think it was a five-man pro but just knowing where it was hot was the most important thing.”
The win was Vigen’s first in Missoula since coming to MSU in 2021. He lost 29-10 in 2021 and 37-7 in 2023.
“You learn every year, and you learn through the hard times,” Vigen said. “We’ve had a couple hard times over here, so we hoped to flip the script, and we did today.”
The Bobcats await to find out their seeding on Sunday morning and who the teams are in their bracket for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. MSU is expected to receive a No. 2 seed and bye next week.
