But for Hilliard, who lugged the ball 32 times for 181 yards with a damaged thumb to lead the No. 3 Montana Grizzlies past Montana State 41-20, the nicest thing about the “Brawl of the Wild” was the win.
Not the three touchdowns, not the fact that the Grizzlies are 11-0 for just the second time in school history. Not the fact that his yardage was the third-highest by a UM back in this 107-year-old series.
“It feels good down here to get a win,” said Hilliard, a 230-pounder who had a short day here two years ago in UM's 2005 loss to the Cats. “I hadn't had a chance to do that down here. And two in a row is a good feeling.”
Hilliard missed Montana's 13-7 Brawl victory last year after tearing his Achilles in fall camp. Saturday, he again showed no ill effects from that injury and appeared to favor his left thumb - operated on less than two weeks before to repair torn ligaments - just twice.
“My teammates definitely keep me going and keep my spirits up, and that helps you battle through,” Hilliard said. “You just kind of get a feel for the game and you're ready to do whatever it takes to get that one extra yard.”
He certainly did that on a cloudy day at Bobcat Stadium, carrying tacklers at times and dodging blitzers at others, as on his 27-yard burst to set up the second of two Dan Carpenter field goals in the first quarter.
With 2:35 left in the game, Hilliard gained an extra 31 yards, taking a handoff over the right side for the coup de grace TD. That sealed a likely top-two seed into the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs - UM finds out its first-round opponent Sunday at 1:30 p.m. - and the 16th straight league win for the Griz.
It also capped a strong all-around effort by the Grizzlies, who withstood the distracting arrest of three players last Sunday, the loss of top receiver Ryan Bagley the day before that and a bevy of big plays by the speedy Bobcats.
MSU led 14-6 behind two Demetrius Crawford touchdown runs, but Hilliard's first TD in the final minute of the first half pared the gap to 14-13. Colt Anderson's interception on the first play of the second half set Montana up for the go-ahead score.
“They hit on what seemed like a lot of big plays,” said Anderson, who saw a 33-yard pass to Josh Lewis sail over his head and set up Crawford's first TD. “Going in, we knew that's how they were going to get to us.”
Jack Rolovich's 55-yard pass to Deon Toliver set up Crawford's second scoring run at 2:42 of the second quarter.
The Griz answered behind Cole Bergquist - who had 274 yards passing in possibly his best game to date - and Hilliard. Bergquist threw passes to Mike Ferriter, Marc Mariani and Eric Allen to eat up 52 yards and put the ball at MSU's 11. Hilliard, with help from his line, did the rest.
Montana began to take command from the outset of the second half, when Rolovich tried to fit a pass to Derek Green along the UM sideline. Anderson, dropping back to take away the tight end route, leaped to make his third pick of the season.
“At first I didn't think he was going to throw because he kind of pump-faked,” said Anderson. “I just kept dropping in my area and he threw it my way.
“We talked at halftime about just making plays. You come out and the first play on defense you get a turnover, it's huge. The momentum swings. It's just a good feeling.”
Montana took over at MSU's 39 and five plays later Bergquist hit Allen dragging underneath. The senior receiver caught a block and skated into the end zone untouched for a 29-yard score and a 20-14 Griz lead.
It was the second straight year Allen gave Montana the lead for good against the Cats. He helped pad the Grizzlies' lead to 27-14 early in the fourth, cutting past his defender for a 23-yard scoring pass.
“Once Bagley went down we all realized that we all needed to step up,” said Allen, who had five catches for 89 yards. “It just happened the balls were coming my way. We just practiced all week like, ‘This one's for Bagley. Everybody just stay real focused.' ”
Montana State didn't fold, marching 66 yards for a short scoring run from Isaiah Taito. The key play was another long gain, a 46-yard pass to Green. Yet the Grizzlies, leading just 27-20 with 9:24 left in the game, had the answer.
A disputed personal foul at the end of a 7-yard run by Hilliard helped Montana's ensuing drive, as did a third-down pass from Bergquist to Steven Pfahler. On third-and-1, Hilliard appeared to be stopped inside the Bobcat 3-yard line, but a measurement shooed the Griz field goal unit off the field, then revealed a first down. Hilliard crashed in two plays later for his second TD.
A little over a minute later, after Griz linebacker Loren Utterback snared a desperation shovel pass by Rolovich, Hilliard tallied again.
The Grizzlies withstood 112 rushing yards by Crawford and 240 passing from Rolovich and matched the program's 11-0 start of 1996. Saturday marked their sixth unbeaten regular season (1909, 1914, 1969-70 and '96).
“It hasn't happened in my lifetime,” said Hilliard of the perfect mark. “This is my first one, and I don't know how many other guys have done it. It's a great feeling to be 11-0.”
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