Griz assert dominance
Defense pitches 2nd-half shutout; Hilliard records 16th 100-yard game
MISSOULA - Mark 'em down.
The Montana Grizzlies will go down in the annals of college football history as one of the most dominating teams ever after winning on Saturday.
The Grizzlies beat the Jerry Glanville-coached Portland State Vikings, 34-31, in front of 23,446 fans on an unseasonably warm day at Washington-Grizzly Stadium to clinch their 10th straight Big Sky Conference title and record 15th straight playoff berth.
"For us seniors, we didn't want it to end on our watch," said linebacker Kyle Ryan, who anchored a unit that gave up no second-half points. "It's a relief. To be able to claim (the championship) with two games left on the schedule is pretty special."
Glanville, an NFL head coach for the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons from 1986 to 1993, was so emotionally disturbed after the loss he didn't attend the post game press conference. He was tracked down later by the media at the PSU bus.
"They are way past special - the fans, the coaches, the players," Glanville said of the Grizzlies. "Everything they do, they've got it going. We've been practicing for them since spring. To be honest, we dedicated two days every week to beating them. Why wouldn't you circle anybody but them on your calendar? They're the best and you want to beat the best."
The Griz remained unbeaten on the season at 9-0 and improved to 6-0 in conference play. It was their 14th league win in a row and served as coach Bobby Hauck's 50th victory.
AFTER COMBINING for 670 yards of offense and 55 points in the first half, the teams combined to score only a field goal and a defensive touchdown in the second half.
The Griz held 24-10 and 31-17 leads in the second quarter before PSU marched 86 yards in three plays and 19 seconds to go into halftime trailing just 31-24.
UM's Dan Carpenter added his second field goal of the game with a minute left in the third quarter to give the Griz a 10-point lead and the Vikings didn't threaten until Codrew Allen intercepted a Cole Bergquist pass and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown with 6 minutes, 14 seconds left in the game.
But the Griz offense answered with a 12-play drive that killed the clock. Running back Lex Hilliard carried the ball eight times on the final drive, including the game-clinching fourth-down play, for 24 yards.
"After giving up the interception for a touchdown, our offense owed it to our defense to not make them go back out there and get another stop," Hauck said.
PSU TRUE FRESHMAN quarterback Drew Hubel had 318 passing yards in the first half, but threw for only 86 in the second half.
"We gave up a couple of big plays in the first half with bad eyes," said Hauck of his defensive backs getting caught playing the quarterback instead of the receivers.
So the Griz simply took away the big plays.
"We needed to tighten down and stop the big plays," Ryan said. "In the second half, we just played our game and it made the world of difference. We were pretty much calling the same plays in the second half that we called in the first half."
Hauck said the game plan on defense was to mix it up.
"We didn't run much zone pressure, it was mostly man-to-man pressure," he said. "But we varied it up to try and keep the quarterback guessing a bit. It's not like you're going to take something away from them, but it's a little bit harder when the quarterback doesn't know where he's going with the ball before the snap."
ONCE THE VIKINGS' run-and-shoot offense sputtered, the Grizzlies hit them with Hilliard. In the second half, Hilliard carried the ball 19 times for 73 yards and Grizzlies held on to the ball on offense for 13 more minutes than the Vikings.
"One of the big advantages we had over their offense was our running game, which kept the ball away from them," Hauck said.
Hilliard gave the Grizzlies a 17-10 lead with 10 minutes left before halftime with a 7-yard touchdown run. But it was his big fourth-down run that essentially won the game with 1:10 remaining. On fourth-and-1 from PSU's 21-yard line, Hilliard leapt over the pile of linemen at the line of scrimmage for a 4-yard gain.
The fourth-down play came four plays after he fumbled the ball.
"You can have a 200- or 300-yard game and all of a sudden the ball comes out and that's the only thing you can think about," Hilliard said. "Ball security will definitely be an issue next week. I'll be working on it because I do not like giving it up. It's the worst feeling in the world."
HILLIARD FINISHED with 116 yards rushing on 31 carries. It was his 16th career 100-yard game.
Bergquist completed 12 of 23 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He finished 17 of 35 for 305 yards and added 38 yards rushing.
Senior receiver Ryan Bagley had a career-high day with eight catches for 138 yards. Mike Ferriter had three catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensive backs Jamaine Olson -- a true freshman who is the only Griz from Oregon, Colt Anderson, Van Cooper Jr. and Torrey Thomas combined for 17 tackles to lead the defense. Thomas also got his 12th career interception. Defensive end Kroy Biermann got his 14th sack of the season.
The Griz finished the regular season with back-to-back road games at Idaho State and then at Montana State.
MONTANA 34, PORTLAND ST. 31
Portland St. 3 21 0 7 - 31
Montana 10 21 3 0 - 34
First Quarter
Port-FG Urrego 30, 11:52.
Mont-FG Carpenter 47, 9:30.
Mont-Ferriter 69 pass from Bergquist (Carpenter kick), 5:20.
Second Quarter
Port-Sobomehin 3 run (Urrego kick), 14:54.
Mont-Hilliard 7 run (Carpenter kick), 10:01.
Mont-Coleman 5 run (Carpenter kick), 7:34.
Port-Kirkland 73 pass from Hubel (Urrego kick), 7:19.
Mont-Ferriter 18 pass from Bergquist (Carpenter kick), 5:14.
Port-Sobomehin 1 run (Urrego kick), :54.
Third Quarter
Mont-FG Carpenter 35, 1:46.
Fourth Quarter
Port-Allen 24 interception return (Urrego kick), 6:14.
A-23,446.
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Port Mont
First downs 16 22
Rushes-yards 12-25 51-170
Passing 404 318
Comp-Att-Int 29-52-2 18-36-3
Return Yards 36 73
Punts-Avg. 8-44.5 7-45.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-0
Penalties-Yards 9-73 12-105
Time of Possession 23:31 36:29
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Portland St., Urrego 1-24, Sobomehin 5-10, Fa'Avae 1-3, Team 1-(minus 5), Hubel 4-(minus 7). Montana, Hilliard 31-116, Bergquist 13-38, Brooks-Fletcher 3-10, Coleman 1-5, Larson 1-4, Team 2-(minus 3).
PASSING-Portland St., Hubel 29-52-2-404. Montana, Bergquist 17-35-3-305, Selle 1-1-0-13.
RECEIVING-Portland St., Kirkland 9-140, Mackins 7-105, Sobomehin 6-66, M.Smith 5-76, Thompson 1-13, Lewis 1-4. Montana, Bagley 8-138, Ferriter 3-99, Allen 2-37, Hilliard 2-19, Beaudin 1-13, Mariani 1-11, Brooks-Fletcher 1-1.