Griz outlast Idaho, take Little Brown Stein
MOSCOW, Idaho — Bullets were dodged, turnovers were forced and the Little Brown Stein is heading back to Missoula.
Montana quarterback Clifton McDowell threw for one score and ran for another, and the No. 10 Grizzlies made a 17-0 lead hold up for a 23-21 upset of No. 3 Idaho Saturday, in a Big Sky Conference and FCS showdown at the sold-out Kibbie Dome Saturday.
McDowell ended up with fairly pedestrian stats — he was 11 of 18 passing for 176 yards, and ran 13 times for 38 yards — but his throw that Junior Bergen turned into a 76-yard touchdown put Montana up 10-0 early, and his 8-yard scoring run made it 17-0 at 9:22 of the second quarter.
It was a bit of a struggle from there, as Montana gave up touchdown passes of 19 and 23 yards from Gevani McCoy to Hayden Hatten in the final 5:48 of the game.
After the first, the mobile McCoy scrambled and found Hatten with a two-point PAT pass to narrow the Vandals’ deficit to 23-15.
After the second, with 1:45 left in the game, Idaho tried a receiver option pass in which Hatten slipped and threw the ball away, leaving Montana ahead.
The casual fan might think the game ended there, but the Grizzlies had to weather: a) an onside kick that hopped perfectly to Hatten, only to have him called offside; and b) a Montana 4-and-out after the do-over onside kick was recovered by the Grizzlies.
On first down from the Idaho 34, Montana’s Kale Edwards stormed in and knocked the ball away from McCoy and Levi Janacaro recovered. There were 42 seconds left in the game.
Grant Glasgow drilled field goals of 44, 46 and 44 yards as Montana improved to 6-1, and 3-1 in Big Sky games. Eli Gillman ran for 83 yards on 12 carries; 53 came on one tote that led to McDowell’s rushing touchdown.
Bergen had five catches for 118 yards.
McCoy was 26 of 37 passing for 336 yards for Idaho (5-2, 3-1 in league), but he was intercepted twice. Ryder Meyer picked him off first, on a fourth-down play from Montana's 12-yard line.
Jaxon Lee got him a second time and returned his interception 27 yards to the Idaho 42, leading to Glasgow’s final field goal that made it 23-7 with 11:43 left in the game.
The Vandals scored on their next two possessions, sandwiched around a three-and-out from Montana, and things got tense in the Kibbie Dome before Janacaro’s fumble recovery.
The Grizzlies avenged last year’s 30-23 home loss to Idaho; they were ranked No. 2 in the FCS at the time.
Hatten caught 11 passes for 139 yards for Idaho, which outgained the Grizzlies 394-334.
Meyer, out of Fairfield, had a team-high eight tackles. Ryan Tirrell had seven and Braxton Hill, six. Tyler Flink and Riley Wilson had 1.5 sacks each for the Griz, who brought down McCoy six times for 40 yards in losses.
Keyshaw James-Newby, the Montana Tech transfer from Helena, had a game-high nine tackles for the Vandals, including his fifth sack of the season.
Both teams have a bye this week. Montana plays Northern Colorado at home on Oct. 28, and Idaho plays host to No. 2 Montann State the same day.