Weber State wins in OT

Grizzlies wide receiver Keelan White (6) catches a 26-yard reception in the fourth quarter against Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies defenders Hayden Harris (48) and Riley Wilson (42) celebrate after Harris sacked Weber State quarterback Richie Munoz causing a fumble which Harris recovered in the second quarter at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies wide receiver Keelan White (6) catches a 13-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter against Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies defenders Hayden Harris (48), Riley Wilson (42) and Kade Boyd (17) celebrate after Harris sacked Weber State quarterback Richie Munoz causing a fumble which Harris recovered in the second quarter at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies running back Eli Gillman (10) stiff-arms Weber State defender Kemari Munier-Bailey (35) on a 68-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter against Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies defensive tackle Patrick Hayden (99) celebrates over Weber State quarterback Richie Munoz (10) in the first quarter against Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies wide receiver Keelan White (6) catches a 14-yard reception in the fourth quarter against Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies wide receiver Keelan White (6) celebrates with running back Nick Ostmo (26) and wide receiver Junior Bergen (5) after catching a 13-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter against Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies linebacker Riley Wilson (42) sacks Weber State quarterback Richie Munoz (10) in the fourth quarter at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies quarterback Logan Fife completes a 26-yard pass to wide receiver Keelan White in the fourth quarter against Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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Grizzlies quarterback Logan Fife (12) scores a touchdown on a 2-yard run in the second quarter against Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
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by FRITZ NEIGHBOR
Daily Inter Lake | October 6, 2024 12:00 AM

MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies keep setting the wrong kind of records.

On Saturday they gave up the most points ever allowed at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, 55, which is what Weber State tallied to take a seven-point Big Sky Conference victory, in overtime.

Coming on the heels of a 52-49 win at Eastern Washington — the most points UM had ever surrendered in a win — the trend is a little concerning. Coach Bobby Hauck saw his team give up its first special teams touchdown in his second tenure, while Weber State quarterback Richie Munoz threw for 364 yards and six touchdowns, the last making it 55-48.

Hauck chose to celebrate how his team rallied from a 28-10 deficit to lead 41-38 and 48-45, before the Wildcats forced overtime and then won.

“We were buried a little bit the first half and fought our way back and got a lead a couple of times in the game,” he said, after his team fell to 4-2, 1-1 in Big Sky play. “It was really well done by our guys. Big plays hurt us on defense. ... I’m proud of our guys’ effort, proud of our guys’ fight. I like our football team.”

Logan Fife got a majority of UM’s quarterback snaps for the second straight game, and threw for 344 yards. His touchdown strike to Keelan White, who had a huge game with 11 catches for 163 yards, put Montana up 48-45 with 59 seconds left.

Which was of course plenty of time.

Munoz drove the Wildcats (3-3, 2-0 in the Big Sky) 49 yards in nine plays, ending with a 43-yard field goal that Kyle Thompson — who’d missed 5 of 11 field goals coming in, including a game-winner at Lamar — absolutely drilled as time ran out.

Weber State got the ball first in overtime and took five plays to score. Munoz scrambled out of trouble and found Damon Bankston, who made a diving catch in the end zone.

On Montana’s first play of OT, Weber linebacker Garrett Beck blitzed, knocked the ball loose from Fife and recovered. Montana’s 15-game home winning streak was snapped.

“Fifty-nine seconds, two time outs — in college football that’s an eternity,” Weber State coach Mickey Mental said. “I thought Richie did a really nice job of taking what was given and not forcing anything.

“And obviously, the senior, Kyle Thompson. Not the greatest start to his senior year but what he did today was special."

So was Munoz, who shepherded Weber to three touchdowns after Eli Gillman’s 37-yard run had Montana up 7-0 early.

His threw TD passes covering 35 yards to Jayleen Record, 6 yards to Noah Bennee and 50 yards to Jacob Sharp. The latter made it 28-10 at 7:28 of the second quarter.

In between, Weber’s Noah Kjar returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-10. The house call came after Ty Morrison hit a 44-yard field goal for Montana.

The Grizzlies got going from there, Fife capping one drive with a 2-yard TD run, then finding Gillman on a swing pass that the running back took 68 yards for another score.

Down 28-23, the Grizzlies appeared to get a huge break when Riley Wilson stripped the ball from Munoz and recovered at the Weber 30-yard line. But the ensuing drive went nowhere, and the Grizzlies turned it over on downs with 25 seconds left in the half.

“The thing that gets lost is what the defense was able to do,” Mental said. “To turn the ball over late in the second quarter and get a stop with no points. That was a big momentum swing right there.”

Still, Montana was able to forge ahead 41-38 on Gillman’s 4-yard touchdown run at 5:28 of the fourth quarter, and again when White hauled in a 13-yard strike from Fife.

Playing in front of another sellout crowd (25,888), Munoz and Wildcats wouldn’t die.

“He’s accurate down the field, that’s one of the things he does best, and proved to be true today,” Hauck said of the QB. “The other thing is, I don’t know what his weight room numbers are but he has a strong lower half. He pulled out of some things and kept some plays alive throughout the game, but specifically in the second half when they were behind. We had a hard time getting him on the ground.”

Munoz’ biggest pass covered 71 yards to Sharp and put the Wildcats in front 45-41 with 4:37 left. Sharp had five catches for 152 yards; Record had 3 for 105. Both caught two TDs.

Devion Godley (97 yards) and Bankston (67) led an equally strong run game. Weber gained 541 yards and claimed its third straight win over Montana, and fifth in six games dating back to 2015.

Not that any of these Wildcats were around for even the 2022 playoff win in Utah.

‘Maybe one,” Mental said, smiling. “I know I haven’t been here. Maybe a couple coaches had been here. We checked a lot of boxes.”

Gillman, who had four touchdowns on the day, ran for 69 yards and caught two passes for 79. Nick Ostmo, who lost a fumble Weber turned into a Thompson field goal in the third quarter, ran 12 times for 71 yards.