MISSOULA — Bob Stitt emerged from a collection of qualified candidates to become the head coach of the Montana Grizzlies before last season, a good deal of his appeal the diverse, high-flying offense he promised to bring to UM.
Saturday’s explosive display, especially during a 27-point barrage that turned a close affair into a runaway, is exactly what Stitt sold to Montana’s higher powers when selling himself as the next leader of one of the premier programs in the FCS.
On a beautiful, sunny Homecoming afternoon in front of 26,092 fans — the sixth-most in Washington-Grizzly Stadium history — the Montana offense clicked at the highest efficiency of the Stitt era, displaying balance, variation and explosiveness. UM senior Brady Gustafson threw for 415 yards and four touchdowns, redshirt freshman Jerry Louie-McGee and junior James Homan totaled more than 100 yards receiving, running backs senior John Nguyen and sophomore Jeremy Calhoun both approached the century mark rushing and the Griz piled up 627 yards of total offense as Montana poured it on after halftime in posting a 43-20 victory.
UM quarterback Brady Gustafson (3) vs. SUU
“Once you start executing and everybody gets on the page and Brady gets the ball out and guys catch, that’s what this is about,” Stitt said. “We could’ve been a lot better even. We had some dropped balls and Brady missed some guys. It really, truly should’ve been over 700. We are not satisfied. Happy with the execution, happy with the win for the team but we should’ve been even better.”
The total yardage marks the first time Montana surpassed 600 yards of total offense since a 55-17 victory over North Dakota in 2013. The 627 yards were the most since the 629 UM totaled a 53-3 win over Cal Poly. UM’s program record is 717 yards in an 81-22 win over Weber State in 1999.
The victory is the first Big Sky Conference win of the 2016 season for Montana. The No. 11 Griz moved to 3-1 overall, 1-1 in league play. The loss drops SUU to 1-1 in league, 2-2 overall.
Montana trailed 14-9 after SUU senior wide receiver Mike Sharp’s second touchdown catch, a 22-yarder from junior quarterback Patrick Tyler, with nine minutes to play before halftime. Before SUU took the lead, Gustafson looked out of sync. On the ensuing drive however, Gustafson found his rhythm and kept it during a 27-point run that flipped the momentum in Montana’s favor.
UM executed a four-play, 77-yard drive capped by Gustafson finding a wide-open Nguyen for a 28-yard touchdown to give UM a 15-14 lead. Right before halftime, Montana looked like it wanted to run out the clock before Nguyen’s 21-yard burst got Montana to midfield with 30 seconds left. On the next play, Gustafson ran play-action and threw a 43-yard touchdown to Justin Calhoun, who beat double coverage with a wheel route to give UM a 22-14 advantage at half.
SUU quarterback Patrick Tyler (3) throws a pass intercepted by UM defensive end Ryan Johnson (97)
Out of the halftime locker room, Gustafson engineered a nine-play, 74-yard drive that ate up 3:29, capped by a touchdown toss to a wide open Josh Horner to give the Griz a two-score lead, 29-14.
“We played well back and forth in the first half but we didn’t finish the half like we wanted to and we couldn’t reverse the momentum in the second half,” Warren said. “We didn’t respond in the third quarter. They scored the first drives, we had three and outs and the game got out of reach. We have to finish the half out better.”
The momentum continued to eat Tyler and the Thunderbirds alive. On an attempted play-action throw to the flat, UM senior Ryan Johnson ate his blocker alive, dispatched of the Southern Utah player, stepped in front of the short throw and rumbled 40 yards deep into Montana territory. Johnson’s second career interception gave the Griz the ball 34 yards from the end-zone.
“They were running a lot of front side power but they wanted to cut it back because we were getting a lot of push,” Johnson said. “At halftime, we made the adjustment to play the backside slow in case they cut it back. They flaired that guy out, the tackle tried to cut me and I got my hands on him. Then I got my hands on the ball and it ended up right between my hands.
“I wish I was faster. I would’ve liked to score (laughs).”
Seven plays later, Jeremy Calhoun’s eight-yard scoring run turned a once-close affair into a runaway.
Montana’s defense applied constant pressure and controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the game. SUU senior Malik Brown rushed for 114 yards on 15 carries but the Griz stuffed the rest of the Thunderbird rushing attack. Southern Utah averaged 3.9 yards per rush and Tyler managed just 160 yards on 41 attempts as SUU finished with 298 yards of total offense.
UM linebacker Josh Buss (42) celebrates a TFL vs SUU
Johnson notched Montana’s only sack but the Griz defensive line put constant pressure on Tyler. Junior Tucker Schye had at least three quarterback knockdowns, senior Caleb Kidder had three and junior linebacker Connor Strahm put Tyler on the ground twice more.
“We only ended up with one sack but we hit him at least 15 times and that definitely factored into his mindset,” Johnson said. “He was getting hit a lot. Our cornerbacks were doing well, our safeties were covering and we needed to keep getting there.
“We are always a step away. We were a step away about a dozen times. If we were a step quicker, would could’ve gotten 12 sacks. If you are hitting the quarterback, even if you don’t sack him, it gets in his head for sure.”
Montana’s defensive effort marked the third time in four outings the Griz have limited an opponent to less than 300 yards of total offense as new defensive coordinator Jason Semore’s multi-faceted scheme continues to flummox opponents.
“It’s something we expect and should’ve had it before now and we knew it was there,” Stitt said. “A lot of (our offensive success) is on the other side of the ball, defense playing well and getting us the ball back. You can’t have 600 yards if the other offense is doing well.”
Sharp would add his third touchdown of the day — the senior’s sixth of the season and his 19th since the beginning of 2015 after moving to the position full time — but the deficit was already too great. Montana tried to run the clock in the last eight minutes but Jeremy Calhoun ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring and push him to 90 yards rushing. Nguyen added 87 yards rushing and 62 yards receiving as UM rushed for 202 yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
SUU linebacker Mike Needham (34) intercepts a UM quarterback Brady Gustafson throw
“I think both running and throwing, this was our best,” Stitt said. “You think back to last year when Brady came back against Eastern Washington (a 57-14 win) and the ‘Cats (a 54-35 win at Montana State), but this was great.”
Louie-McGee, the FCS Freshman of the Week last week after tying a Big Sky record with 21 receptions against Cal Poly, continued his strong play in his first season. He caught nine passes for 118 yards, including a 40-yard reception to set up reception to set up Montana’s first touchdown, a 3-yard strike from Gustafson to Homan for the first score as a Griz for the transfer from Blinn Junior College. Homan, who missed time during fall camp with an injury, had his best day at UM, catching six passes for 103 yards.
Southern Utah, the reigning Big Sky champions, played at Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the first time since 2012, SUU’s first year in the league. Before Saturday’s showdown, Warren talked about wanting to embrace the chance to play against the flagship program in the Big Sky after missing the Griz on the schedule in 2013 and 2015, each campaigns that ended with post-season berths for SUU.
The Thunderbirds hung tough for a half despite playing its backup quarterback and missing key defensive players outside linebacker Taylor Nelson and safety Kyle Hanneman.
“That’s what we get paid for: we have to coach the guys who are out there,” Warren said.
Montana’s attention takes a break from Big Sky Conference competition for the next week as the Griz host Mississippi Valley State to cap their non-conference schedule. After the most prolific offensive outing of the Stitt era, the Griz hope to carry the momentum built during the final 37 minutes of Saturday’s explosive performance.
UM running back Jeremy Calhoun (8) reaches for a touchdown
“Any time you win a game in this league, you are really doing something,” Stitt said. “It was great to get the win but it was so disappointing to not get the win last week because we felt like we out-played (Cal Poly), we feel like we are a better football team than them and unfortunately, we didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to get it. But this is a good win, a really strong, blue-collar, tough football game today.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
