The fifth-ranked Montana Grizzlies combined a resurgent second-half running game with a crucial Cal Poly fumble to build a lead Saturday, and held on 30-28 when Mustangs' kicker Andrew Gardner missed a 27-yard field goal attempt in the final minute.
Gardner's miss was the last of several momentum switches in the fourth quarter, and sewed up Montana's 21st straight win in Football Championship Subdivision regular-season games.
“I was so proud of our kids,” sixth-year UM coach Bobby Hauck said. “I really was unsure coming into this game. A lot of games I feel pretty confident, and know what's going on. I had some real doubts whether we could handle this team tonight, with our youth. And we handled them.”
It took a combination of luck and skill in a game full of tide-turning plays. Ramses Barden, the Mustangs' superb senior receiver, caught seven passes for 131 yards and two first-half touchdowns. Quarterback Jonathan Dally threw for 248 yards and ran for another 80 for Cal Poly.
The Griz countered with Andrew Schmidt, who ran for 127 of his 145 yards after halftime, including a 4-yard scoring run that made it 30-21 with 11:07 left. Quarterback Cole Bergquist checked in with two scoring passes to Mike Ferriter, the second one tying the game at 21-all at 9:10 of the third quarter.
Perhaps the game's biggest plays happened after Montana had a late third-quarter drive stall on back-to-back sacks of Bergquist.
First Ken Wood hit a perfect punt that Chase Reynolds downed at the Cal Poly 3. Then, on first down, linebackers Tyler Corwin and Brandon Fisher brought down Dally, who fumbled.
The ball squirted into the end zone, chased by several players. It appeared UM had a TD, but it ended up being a safety when Cal Poly recovered.
“I don't know who got the ball. I know I got there,” said Fisher, who had six tackles and was credited with forcing the fumble.
“We both had it, and they just kind of gave it to them,” said safety Colt Anderson.
It turned out OK. Marc Mariani returned the ensuing free kick 30 yards, and UM marched in from midfield. Bergquist's 26-yard pass to Mariani set up Schmidt's TD run.
And the safety provided the winning points in the game.
“This is big,” said Anderson. “We're young, and anytime you can start the season 1-0, it's huge. You know now we're on to Southern Utah, but it's a good win.”
Of course Cal Poly marched smartly downfield after Schmidt's score to cut the gap to 30-28 with 8:21 left on James Noble's second TD. The hosts got the ball back when UM turned it over on downs at the Mustang 44.
Ahead of Gardner's miss was some dueling clock management. Cal Poly had first-and-10 at UM's 11 and committed a false start. That made Hauck burn the first of three straight timeouts; the clock still runs for 15 seconds after a penalty under a new NCAA rule.
“If anything it helped them,” Anderson said of the penalty.
Dally sandwiched two short runs around a pass to Barden that Trumaine Johnson stopped for a 1-yard gain. On came Gardner. With Erik Stoll and especially Nick Haynes rushing hard from the right side, he pulled the kick left.
“That's what happens when you've got two good football teams playing against each other,” Hauck said of the back-and-fourth final minutes. “It was a fun game to coach in because they are well-coached. They were making all the right moves, and so were our assistant coaches.”
MONTANA 30, CAL POLY 28
Montana 14 0 7 9 - 30
Cal Poly 7 14 0 7 - 28
First Quarter
UM-Ferriter 34 pass from Bergquist (Schey kick), 13:37.
CP-Barden 50 pass from Dally (A.Gardner kick), 12:44.
UM-Bergquist 15 run (Schey kick), 6:59.
Second Quarter
CP-Barden 11 pass from Dally (A.Gardner kick), 11:55.
CP-Noble 2 run (A.Gardner kick), 5:44.
Third Quarter
UM-Ferriter 20 pass from Bergquist (Schey kick), 9:10.
Fourth Quarter
UM-Safety, 13:57.
UM-Schmidt 4 run (Schey kick), 11:07.
CP-Noble 2 run (A.Gardner kick), 8:21.
A-10,035.
UM CP
First downs 22 22
Rushes-yards 44-153 42-173
Passing 163 248
Comp-Att-Int 13-22-0 16-23-0
Return Yards 11 20
Punts-Avg. 5-43.8 3-14.7
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties-Yards 6-50 3-25
Time of Possession 29:15 30:45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Montana, Schmidt 26-145, Brooks-Fletcher 1-4, Reynolds 2-4, Bergquist 15-0. Cal Poly, Dally 16-80, Yocum 9-35, Mole 7-29, Noble 10-29.
PASSING-Montana, Bergquist 13-22-0-163. Cal Poly, Dally 16-23-0-248.
RECEIVING-Montana, Ferriter 3-65, Mariani 2-38, Reynolds 2-37, Schulte 1-7, T.Palmer 1-6, Pfahler 1-6, Klaboe 1-3, Schmidt 1-1, Brooks-Fletcher 1-0. Cal Poly, Barden 7-131, Tolver 5-56, Noble 4-61.
Bottom line
Griz 30, Cal Poly 28
Crowd: 10,035
Time of game: 3:00
Temperature: 72 degrees.
Key stat: Griz senior running back Andrew Schmidt runs for 127 yards after halftime, and finishes with 145. He also blocks a punt to set up the Grizzlies' first touchdown
Key moment: With the score 21-11 with 13:57 left in the game, UM linebacker Brandon Fisher forces a fumble that leads to a safety, then a Griz TD on their ensuing possession.
Quotable: “We knew our offense was working the first half, we just weren't executing that well. We just went to the basic running game. Luckily I was up in the rotation, and the job the O-line did, any of the running backs could've done that.”
- Schmidt
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