MISSOULA, Montana — Samori Toure grew up in Portland, Oregon idolizing the Freak.
Randy Moss ripped the face off of Division I-AA during his one year playing in the subdivision at Marshall. In 1996, Moss caught a touchdown in 14 straight games. He caught 28 touchdowns that historic season, including four in the national championship game over Montana.
Earlier in that playoff run, Moss rolled up 288 yards in a win over Delaware. That mark served as the playoff record for receiving yards in a single game.
That is, until Toure put himself atop Moss and every other wide receiver to ever play in the FCS playoffs on Saturday afternoon in Missoula.
The 6-foot-3 UM junior wide receiver sprinted to a 62-yard touchdown on Montana’s very first offensive play of the game, opening up an offensive onslaught for the No. 6 Griz in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
By the time halftime rolled around, Toure had seven catches for 167 yards and Montana had a 38-21 lead over Southeastern Louisiana. By the time Toure hauled in his 12th reception for a 47-yard touchdown, his third of the day, he surpassed Moss in small-school football lore.
Toure finished with 303 yards, including touchdowns of 62, 29 and 47 yards. His single-game total is the most in the history of the FCS, ahead of Moss, and also breaks Montana’s single-game record of 279 yards set by Joe Douglass in 1996 against Eastern Washington.
That peerless performance set the pace for an avalanche. Montana scored at will from start to finish, erasing the dark memory of its final regular-season game with a resounding 73-28 victory over the No. 24 Lions of the Southland Conference in front of 16,550 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
“That’s surreal because Randy Moss has always been my favorite receiver my whole life growing up so that definitely means a lot to me,” said Toure, who moved into third in school history in single-season receiving yards with 1,410 to go with 13 touchdowns, the latter tied for fourth in UM annals. “I’m just happy we got this first playoff win out of the way and I’m excited to see what’s next for us.”
The victory gives Montana a new sense of confidence following its otherwise stellar season end in stunning fashion. On November 23, Montana State rushed for 382 yards and manhandled Montana in every facet on the way to a 48-14 victory. The win marked the fourth straight for MSU in the 119th rendition of the rivalry game, including the largest margin posted by a Bobcat team since 1966.
That result had no impact on a group making its postseason debut after a three-year absence from the playoffs.
“It was an exciting day and it’s great to have playoff football back in Missoula,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said after his 12th playoff win at UM. “Certainly it’s exciting for us to be back in the quarterfinals for the first time in a long time. Great job by our assistant coaches and players, getting out there, having a great plan and executing and just attacking and going after the win.
“Our group had not played in this before but they handled all that really well. I’m proud of our team. The effort level, the plays that were made today, offense, defense, special teams, we looked like a good college football team.”
Two weeks later, UM senior quarterback Dalton Sneed looked healthier than he has since injuring his right ankle in a 49-22 loss at Sacramento State in October. Sneed’s renewed health, Toure’s ability to destroy SLU’s unwavering man coverage and the renewed mindset of a team that has rolled in every one of its 10 wins helped Montana punch a ticket to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2011.
“I think not only myself but the rest of this team benefited from (the bye,” Sneed said after surpassing his career high. “Any time you get a few days off and not only physically but mentally can take a break, it was great for all of us.
“It all starts up front. I know Samori got that record today and we are sitting up here talking about that and how many yards I threw for but no sacks, that’s the highlight of the day for me. It’s because of the offensive line and the great job they did.”
The point total marked the most scored in a playoff game since UM scored 77 against Troy State in the 1996 playoffs. It also marked Montana’s highest point total period since an 80-point effort against Weber State in 1999.
Sneed, the front-runner for Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year before suffering the injury, showed that form once again. He threw a collection of dimes, including a lofting, beautiful throw to the back pylon of the South end-zone in front of the UM student section to sophomore Mitch Roberts for the first touchdown of the Missoula Sentinel product’s career.
Sneed also hit sophomore running back Marcus Knight for a seven-yard touchdown with eight seconds left in the first half to help UM enter the break with a 17-point lead. Overall, Sneed completed 29-of-45 passes for 459 yards and five touchdowns.
“Being able to take that week and get your mind right, that’s so beneficial,” Sneed said. “When you can come in on a Sunday and Monday like we did this week and be physically and mentally sharp, you tend to be good in practices and games. The bye benefited us.”
“It’s good to have our quarterback back close to 100 percent, closer than he’s been since the middle of October,” Hauck added. “Dalton had a good week of practice this week and when he practices the way he did, he usually plays well, which he did today.”
The touchdown to Knight was part of a four-score day for the former junior college transfer. His three rushing touchdowns on a 75-yard afternoon gives him 23 rushing touchdowns this season, breaking former NFL running back Chase Reynolds’ single-season record. Knight’s receiving touchdown is his second, giving him 25 total touchdowns this season, also a Montana single-season record.
“Marcus has been great,” Hauck said. “He’s made a lot of progress. He’s just a player. I can obviously remember when Chase set that record in 2009. That was a big year for him. That was pretty impressive to go by that. Good job by Marcus, good job by a lot of people to go by that.”
Southeastern Louisiana quarterback Chason Virgil started in on his monster day right away, engineering an 11-play, 75-yard drive aided by a running into the punter flag that drew the ire of Montana head coach Bobby Hauck and capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from Virgil to Javon Connor.
By the time the shootout finished — the teams combined for 1,089 total yards, 53 total touchdowns, 944 yards passing and 13 total touchdowns — Virgil had comparable stats to Sneed. The former Fresno State transfer threw for 436 yards and four touchdowns, including a second-quarter scoring strike to tight end Bransen Schewebel to cut the SLU deficit to 24-14 with two minutes in the first half.
Following that score, Montana sophomore Malik Flowers took a short kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown, his third kick return of his career, including his second to the house this season.
Virgil took a huge hit from a blitzing linebacker but found a streaking Connor for a 52-yard touchdown to keep the Lions in it. But Knight’s first touchdown pushed the advantage to 17 with eight seconds before halftime. The margin was at least 17 for the rest of the game.
“Over the entirety of the season, our team has been pretty exemplary with clock management,” Hauck said. “That was a good job today, taking that down, getting a touchdown with eight seconds left, our guys handle it really well. Our coaching staff is all on the same page. Our clock has been great all year long.”
Virgil threw for more than 400 yards for the second time in two playoff games. Last week against No. 8 Villanova, he threw for 445 yards and three touchdowns to help the Lions rally from a 17-point deficit to beat the Wildcats 45-44 for the second playoff win in school history.
The difference Saturday came with Montana’s renewed rushing defense — the Lions managed just 20 yards on 22 carries — and the constant pressure the Griz put on Virgil.
“You noticed they put pressure on us? We did too,” SLU head coach Frank Scelfo said. “They gave us a lot of different looks in the secondary along with a lot of different pressures, whether they were perimeter pressures or interior pressures. Probably toward the second half, it was interior stuff. I thought the game plan was really good what they did.”
C.J. Turner, who caught nine passes for 148 yards, hauled in a 18-yard touchwdon pass with 12:09 left in the third quarter to keep the deficit at 17, 45-28. The Lions did not score again.
“When they are blitzing like that, that’s what they love to do,” Virgil said. “A lot of teams, they only like to blitz on third down. They bring pressure on every single down. They never really let us get in rhythm.”
Knight however did, scoring on runs of seven and nine yards to cap long drives. Toure’s final touchdown less than two minutes into the fourth quarter pushed the lead to 65-28. Sophomore defensive tackle Eli Alford notched Montana’s first safety since Derek Crittendon got one against Cal Poly in 2015 to move the margin to 67-28.
With 1:50 left, true freshman Corbin Walker forced the first turnover of the game, taking an interception 47 yards for the final score of the game. As Walker crossed the goal line, a collection of the Griz current redshirt freshmen and recruits in town watching the game were standing in the corner behind the end-zone. They celebrated exuberantly as the explosion was finally complete.
When the dust finally settled and Montana’s first trip to the Elite Eight of the FCS Playoffs settled in, Hauck and his standout players seemed content to enjoy the moment. Runs in the playoffs became customary in Hauck’s first tenure. Between 2003 and 2009, UM played for three FCS national titles. Hauck’s teams lost in the first round three times but also played in the 2006 semifinal along with the national title game in 2004, 2008 and 2009.
No. 3 Weber State held on for a 26-20 win over Kennesaw State on Saturday. The Griz will travel to Ogden, Utah next week. UM dismantled the Wildcats 35-16 in Missoula the week before the rivalry loss to the Bobcats. But Hauck and his troops did not want to think about that on Saturday afternoon.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” Hauck said. “We will get a chance on Monday to talk about it. I have played a team twice in one season. I will probably think about it but not tonight. Probably tomorrow. I want to go have some fun.”
Photos by Blake Hempstead for Skyline Sports. All Rights Reserved.
