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I-AA Top 25 and Big Sky Conference Results; BSC Standings and Schedule.
Run down feeling (Missoulian).
Montana struggles to silence air attack (Great Falls Tribune).
Vikings Smack Down Grizzlies, 35-32 (PSU).
After two painful near-misses, Vikings close the deal (The Oregonian).
---
Next Up: NAU
MSU scores 53 first-half points (Great Falls Tribune).
Montana State Defeats Football
***
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Big Sky Conference Results
Portland St 35, Montana 32
Montana St 60, at Northern Ariz 14
Eastern Wash 45, Sacramento St 10
Weber St 26, Idaho St 14
Other
Big Sky Conference Standings
Conf Overall
W L PF PA W L PF PA
EWU 5 1 257 105 6 3 330 192
MSU 4 0 128 68 6 2 202 158
UM 3 1 129 106 6 2 253 206
NAU 3 2 130 152 4 4 184 211
PSU 2 3 131 125 4 4 221 166
ISU 1 4 100 138 2 6 190 253
Sac 1 4 65 143 2 6 118 277
WSU 1 5 110 213 1 8 170 310
Big Sky Conference Schedule: November 6
Montana vs. Northern Arizona
Montana St at Sacramento St
Idaho St at Portland St
Eastern Wash vs. Cal Poly
Montana's Schedule
Nov 6 NAU, 12:05 PM
Nov 13 Sacramento St, 12:05 PM
Nov 20 Montana St (104th Meeting), 12:05 PM
***
I-AA Top 25 Results
1. won Southern Ill 66, Western Ill 13
2. won Ga Southern 63, South Dakota St 7
3. LOST Delaware 20, at Navy 34
4. LOST Montana 32, at Portland St 35
5. LOST Cal Poly 33, UC-Davis 36
6. idle Furman
7. won Western Ky 24, Illinois St 21
8. LOST Sam Houston 31, at #13 Sf Austin 28
9. won James Madison 41, VMI 10
10. won New Hampshire 27, at Northeastern 23
11. won Wofford 38, Citadel 17
12. won Lehigh 21, #18 Colgate 14
13. won SF Austin 28, #8 Sam Houston 31
14. idle Hampton
15. LOST Northwestern St 17, at No Dakota St 30
16. won William & Mary 41, at Towson 16
17. LOST Appalachian St 56, at Chattanooga 59
18. LOST Colgate 14, at #12 Lehigh 21
19. LOST Maine 34, at UMass 35
21. won Harvard 13, at Dartmouth 12
22. won Penn 20, Brown 16
23. won Villanova 48, at Rhode Island 9
24. won Montana St 60, at Northern Ariz 14
25. won Eastern Wash 45, Sacramento St 10
***
Run down feeling
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/10/31/sports/sports01. txt
PORTLAND, Ore. - This time, the Vikings kept their plunder.
Fresh off surrendering leads in the final minute of back-to-back losses, Portland State pulled off a major upset Saturday, grinding out a 35-32 Big Sky Conference win over the fourth-ranked Montana Grizzlies at PGE Park.
Ryan Fuqua ran for 75 yards and a touchdown, Joe Rubin ran for 78 yards and quarterback Joe Wiser threw for two scores and ran for another for the Vikings, who never trailed. A crowd of 8,413, a majority of them Griz fans, seemed to wait for the other shoe to drop. Instead, Montana (3-1, 6-2) fell out of a first-place tie with Montana State (4-0, 6-2) after the Bobcats ripped host Northern Arizona 60-14.
Faced with the choice of putting the game away or giving it away, the Vikings (2-3, 4-4) opted for the former.
"The last two weeks, we've gone through some stuff," said Portland State coach Tim Walsh. "I've never seen a team work so hard and not get any rewards for doing it. And this is the best reward we could possibly have right now.
"We can't win a championship, but I'm going to tell you what, winning this game against that team, after going through what those kids have been going through the last two weeks? Just letting them enjoy the game, work hard and get something is awesome."
The Vikings rushed for 207 yards, including 42 from Wiser, whose pedestrian statistics coming in - a .463 completion percentage, eight interceptions and seven TDs - didn't set him up to be the player of the game. He was. Wiser wasn't sacked, and he had a couple of back-breaking runs, including a 17-yard bootleg for a touchdown that put PSU ahead 28-17 with 6:23 left in the third period. On that same drive he bounced out of a tackle by Griz linebacker Loren Utterback to pick up a first down on third-and-8 from midfield.
"There were probably four crucial plays where he just out-athleted us,"
Montana coach Bobby Hauck said of the senior QB. "We were in position to make the play and couldn't. He was just better on those particular plays."
Wiser's lone mistake came on the possession after his TD run, when he was pressured into a pass from his 24-yard line that Griz safety Tyler Thomas picked off.
Thomas returned the interception 16 yards to the Viking 10, and on the next play Montana quarterback Craig Ochs - who threw for 280 yards and two scores
- hit Jon Talmage for a touchdown to cut the gap to 28-24 entering the fourth quarter.
Since it came two plays after an 87-yard run by Fuqua was negated by a holding penalty, the time was ripe for PSU to falter. But after the teams traded punts, Wiser guided the Vikings on a nine-play, 60-yard drive for the clinching points. He hit tight ends Adam Whitehead and Scott Weaver for 11 and 29 yards to convert third downs, and Fuqua capped the drive with a 16-yard burst through the Grizzly defense. That made it 35-24 with 4:23 remaining.
Wiser finished 17-for-26 for 195 yards, throwing to seven receivers.
"He's so tough, and he's probably a better athlete than people give him credit for," Walsh said. "We want him using his athletic ability. Instead of forcing the ball and throwing the ball where he shouldn't, use that athletic ability to get a first down running the ball. Nothing wrong with that. And he did that two or three times tonight."
Montana closed to 35-32 on Ochs' 6-yard quarterback draw, plus a 2-point conversion pass to Talmage, with 2:38 remaining. The Griz opted to kick the ball deep and hope the defense could force a punt, but the Vikings ran the ball six times, picked up two first downs and ate up the clock.
Portland State finished with a 9-minute edge in possession time, partly because the Grizzlies' offense got off to such a poor start. On their first three possessions they sandwiched fumbles by Ochs and Justin Green around a shanked Tyson Johnson punt, giving PSU the ball at their 30, 32 and 27.
After Green's fumble, Wiser hit Shaun Bodiford on a screen pass that went 27 yards for a 7-0 lead. With 5:27 left in the first quarter, the tempo had been set.
"Absolutely," said PSU defensive end Travis Dorsey, who recovered both fumbles. "It kind of said, 'They're No. 4 in the nation, but they can bleed, they can be beat.' Right away. It kind of got the defense pumped up, you know? Like, 'we can do this.'"
Montana tied the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter on an 8-yard scoring strike from Ochs to Jefferson Heidleberger, who had six catches for
96 yards. But the Vikings took the lead for good at the 11:53 mark, when Wiser hit Whitehead for 7 yards and the score.
After a second shanked punt - Johnson had kicks of 3 and 4 yards among his five punts - gave PSU possession at the Montana 35, the lead grew to 21-7 on a 2-yard run by Allen Kennett.
The Griz went no-huddle after the shaky start, and got a 13-yard scoring run from Lex Hilliard with a minute left in the first half to close to 21-14. A 43-yard pass to Heidelberger on the first drive of the second half set up Dan Carpenter's 41-yard field goal, bringing Montana within 21-17. But the Vikings had the answers.
"We put ourselves in a hole to start the game and it was uphill all night,"
Hauck said. "I thought our kids were emotional, so flat isn't what I'd say (they were). But I'd say we didn't execute well enough.
"Our special teams weren't good tonight. I am very disappointed in the way our kicking game played - that's generally a huge strength for us, and it wasn't tonight. We always think we're going to win, down to the end, and it was disappointing that we weren't able to get them stopped and they ran out the clock."
Talmage had five catches for 99 yards, and Hilliard ran for 72 yards for the Griz.
Montana 0 14 10 8 - 32
Portland St. 7 14 7 7 - 35
First Quarter
PSU-Bodiford 27 pass from Wiser (Azorr kick), 5:27
Second Quarter
UM-Heidelberger 8 pass from Ochs (Carpenter kick), 14:12
PSU-Whitehead 7 pass from Wiser (Azorr kick), 11:53
PSU-Kennett 1 run (Azorr kick), 6:33
UM-Hilliard 11 run (Carpenter kick), 1:00
Third Quarter
UM-FG Carpenter 41, 11:42
PSU-Wiser 17 run (Azorr kick), 6:23
UM-Talmage 10 pass from Ochs (Carpenter kick), :04
Fourth Quarter
PSU-Fuqua 16 run (Azorr kick), 4:23
UM-Ochs 6 run (Talmage pass from Ochs), 2:38
A-8,413.
UM PSU
First downs 21 19
Rushes-yards 33-94 45-207
Passing 280 195
Comp-Att-Int 19-30-1 17-26-1
Return Yards 28 15
Punts-Avg. 5-25.8 5-38.2
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 8-59 14-118
Time of Possession 25:11 34:49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Montana, Hilliard 16-72, Green 11-44, Ochs 6-(-22). Portland St., Rubin 21-76, Fuqua 12-73, Wiser 4-42, Kennett 7-21, Bodiford 1-(-5).
PASSING-Montana, Ochs 19-30-1-280. Portland St., Wiser 17-26-1-195.
RECEIVING-Montana, Heidelberger 6-96, Talmage 5-99, Hancock 5-60, Segars 3-25. Portland St., Bodiford 4-52, Whitehead 3-27, Kennett 3-26, Ferrigno 2-37, Weaver 2-22, Brown 2-22, Fuqua 1-9.
***
Montana struggles to silence air attack
The Great Falls Tribune
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20 041031/SPORTS/410310325/1006
PORTLAND — The Montana Grizzlies made Joe Wiser look like Joe Namath.
Wiser, the seventh-rated passer in the eight-team Big Sky Conference, threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score Saturday as Portland State stunned UM 35-32 at PGE Park.
The loss was the first in conference play for Montana (3-1 league, 6-2 overall), which is ranked No. 4 in NCAA Division I-AA. The Grizzlies fell out of first place in the league as rival Montana State (4-0, 6-2) is alone at the top.
Coach Tim Walsh's Vikings improved to 2-3 in league play, 4-4 overall. They had lost their previous two games in the closing minutes, but hung on this time despite a late Grizzly rally.
Wiser, a 6-3, 210-pound senior, was averaging only 158 yards per game through the air, and had completed a dismal 46 percent of his passes. But against UM's defense — worst in the Big Sky against the pass — Wiser put up much better numbers. He completed 17 of 26 attempts for 195 yards, with just one interception.
"Their quarterback did a great job," said UM coach Bobby Hauck. "He hurt us in three or four key situations. He just made some athletic plays."
One of those plays was a 17-yard scoring run on a bootleg, Wiser's first rushing TD this season.
The Vikings, the No. 2 rushing team in the league at 185 yards per game, ran for 207 on 45 carries. Joe Rubin and Ryan Fuqua shared tailback duties and accounted for 149 of those yards.
Hauck wasn't happy with his rushing offense or defense.
"No. 1, we didn't run enough (33 times) or well enough (94 yards)," said Hauck, "and they ran too well.
"The second thing, our kicking game was not good enough. We didn't punt the ball the way we have, we didn't kick off well, and our coverage was not good enough."
UM punter Tyson Johnson averaged just 25.8 yards on five punts, consistently giving Portland State good field position.
It was apparent early in the game that Portland State's balanced offense was going to give UM trouble.
The Grizzlies dodged two early bullets as PSU missed field goals in the first quarter, but the Vikings finally scored on their third possession.
Shaun Bodiford caught Wiser's screen pass and raced down the left sidelines to complete a 27-yard touchdown play. The TD was set up by UM's second turnover, a fumble on a handoff exchange between Ochs and Justin Green.
Montana tied the score at 7-7 early in the second quarter as Ochs connected with Jefferson Heidelberger on an 8-yard touchdown pass to cap a 45-yard drive.
The Vikings went back on top 14-7 as Fuqua had several substantial gains, then Wiser hit tight end Adam Whitehead on a 7-yard scoring pass.
PSU increased its lead to 21-7 midway through the second period on a 1-yard run by junior fullback Allen Kennett.
Montana made it 21-14 just before intermission by driving 73 yards in five plays, scoring on Lex Hilliard's 11-yard run. Ochs connected with Jon Talmage twice to set up the touchdown.
UM sliced its deficit to 21-17 on the first drive of the second half as the Griz drove 69 yards and got a 41-yard field goal from Dan Carpenter.
The Vikings responded with a 65-yard drive to go up 28-17 on Wiser's 17-yard run on a bootleg around the left side.
Ochs threw an interception into the PSU end zone to stop UM's next drive.
But Ochs came back about five minutes later to hit Jon Talmage on a 10-yard scoring toss, one play after safety Tyler Thomas intercepted Wiser's pass and returned it deep in PSU territory.
Portland State scored the eventual winning touchdown with 4:23 left in the game on Fuqua's 16-yard run, one play after Wiser hit backup tight end Scott Weaver for 14 yards on third down.
Ochs brought Montana within 35-30 on a 6-yard quarterback draw with 2:30 remaining, then hit Talmage on a two-point conversion pass. But the Grizzlies never got the ball back.
Ochs had a solid day, connecting on 19 of 30 passes for 280 yards and two scores. Talmage caught five balls for 99 yards and Heidelberger nabbed six for 96.
Montana returns home for its last three games. Northern Arizona (3-2), which lost badly at home to Montana State Saturday night, is in Missoula Saturday for a 12:05 p.m. kickoff.
Hauck said the Griz will be ready for NAU, coached by former UM aide Jerome Souers.
"This was a tough loss to a good team that played very well," he said. "But we still have a lot to play for."
Montana can earn the Big Sky championship by winning the final three games.
The Grizzlies have won at least a share of the league title the last six years.
***
Griz shocked by Vikings, 35-32
By Timothy San Pedro of MontanaGrizzlies.Com
http://web.montanagrizzlies.com/mtgriz/db/news/FMPro?-DB=News. FP5&-Format=news_story.htm&-lay=WEB&RecordID=6046&-Max=1&-Find
The Montana football team was shocked after being unable to recover from three turnovers, shanked punts and an early 14-point deficit to Portland State in a 32-35 loss Saturday night at PGE Field in Portland, Ore.
"Right now I’m bitterly disappointed that we didn’t finish that game out,"
Montana coach Bobby Hauck said during an interview with KGVO radio. "We put ourselves in a hole in the first half and we never did crawl out of it."
The Grizzlies dropped to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Sky, while the Vikings improved to 4-4 on the season and 2-3 in conference.
Both teams were due for a change in football luck. In the past two games, Montana has earned two wins from last second field goal blocks, while Portland State dropped two games with an overtime loss to Montana State and a one point loss to Northern Arizona.
But field position, not luck, was the winning factor in the high-scoring game. In the first half, the Viking average starting position was on the Montana 46-yard line, while Montana started on their own 28 yard line.
Montana punter Tyson Johnson shanked two first half punts that equaled 8 yards to give the Vikings great field position and put the Griz defense on their heals. Johnson averaged 43.6 yards per punt coming into the game.
"The other thing we didn’t do is punt the ball out of our own end very good," Hauck said. "They had short fields the whole first three quarters and it took its toll on our team."
Montana’s stingy "red zone" defense was nonexistent as Portland State was
4-for-4 in the red zone scoring all touchdowns. Montana countered though, going 5-for-5 in the red zone.
"Our defense did a great job early in the game not letting them get a field goal," Hauck said. "But pretty soon we just couldn’t keep them out."
The Grizzly defense looked up to par early in the first quarter after a Craig Ochs fumble resulted in a missed field goal. But Montana running back Justin Green’s fumble later in the first half put the Vikings on the board first after quarterback Joe Wiser threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Shaun Bodiford with 5:27 left in the first half. The short field position and the time the defense spent on the field took it’s toll throughout the game as the Griz never took the lead.
"(Turnovers) really hurt us and the place we did them killed us," Hauck said.
Portland State’s run happy offense possessed of the ball for nearly 35 minutes of the game.
"Portland State, I thought they were the best team of the final four teams we have left," Hauck said.
Montana rallied with the help of Jefferson Heidelberger’s 8-yard touchdown catch from Craig Ochs with 14:12 left in the first half to tie the game up at 7-7. Before the half concluded, Portland State mounted two more touchdown drives, but Montana carried the momentum into the locker room by showing their offensive capability, mounting a five play, 73-yard touchdown drive that took just 1:13 off the clock and were going to have the ball at the beginning of the second half.
"I like the way our defense is fighting," Hauck said at half time. "Our players are doing good despite the points on the board. We’re getting things going now."
Coming out of the half, Montana put together an important field goal scoring drive to bring the game within four points, 17-21.
Portland State answered on a 17-yard quarterback bootleg with 6:23 left in the third quarter. THe Vikings, up 10 points, just needed to play it safe and not give Montana any chances to prove why they rank in the I-AA top ten.
Instead, Portland State quarterback Joe Wiser threw an interception, which turned into a 10-yard touchdown lob the very next play from Ochs to Jon Talmage that took just six second off the clock.
Montana trailed 24-28 going into the fourth quarter — the only other time the Griz trailed at the end of the third quarter resulted in a loss to Sam Houston State.
Yet, the Griz have pulled greater wins off before and they weren’t going to back down until the clock ran out, Hauck said.
Portland State’s next scoring drive was the key to sealing the victory. They mounted a nine-play, 60-yard drive capped off by a 16-yard run by Ryan Fuqua that took 5:36 off the clock, leaving Montana with just 4:23 to put more points on the board.
"Took a lot of time off the clock and they deserve credit for doing what they needed to do," Hauck said.
The Montana offense then did what they do best — score when they need to.
Ochs called his own number to score a 6-yard rushing touchdown with 1:38 left and three time-outs. Down by five, Hauck elected to go for the two point conversion. Ochs completed a pass to Talmage who stretched out over the goal line to bring the game within a field goal.
The offense for the Griz did what they needed to do, now it was up to their defense to put a stop to the Viking ground attack.
Hauck played with the idea of kicking an onside kick.
"We had three timeouts. We needed a field goal and we didn’t want to give up 40-plus yards with an onside kick," Hauck said. "We felt like the pertinent thing to do was to pin them back in their field and get a three and out."
But the Montana defense, tired and weary of Portland State’s running attack couldn’t string together a stop to force PSU to punt and the Vikings ran the clock out to upset the No. 4 ranked team in the country.
"Losing hurts, we don’t like to lose and we’re not accustomed to it," Hauck said. "We need to make sure that the pain of the loss is put behind us so we can look forward to next week's game and getting back on track."
Montana has the advantage of finishing out their regular season with three straight home games. Their next game comes at home against Northern Arizona University Saturday, Nov. 6, at 1:05 p.m.
*** ***
Vikings Smack Down Grizzlies, 35-32
Portland State University
http://goviks.com/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=1309
Redemption couldn’t come in a better form than with the taste of victory at the hands of the fourth-ranked Montana Grizzlies. Despite coming off of consecutive heartbreaking losses, the Vikings gave a spirited effort with an outstanding rushing attack and innovative play calling by the Portland State coaching staff to beat Montana, 35-32, at PGE Park.
The Vikings earned their biggest win since a victory in 2000 over Hawai’i.
PSU raised its mark to 4-4 on the season, 2-3 in Big Sky play. And, the game was perhaps a better representation of PSU football this season, as opposed to the last-second losses the previous two weeks.
It was the Vikings first win over Montana since 1999. That season, Montana was ranked second at the time of the game. The Grizzlies dropped to 6-2 on the season, 3-1 in the Big Sky
The Vikings, with the benefit of excellent field position throughout the first half, took a 21-14 advantage to halftime.
However, the Grizzlies carried momentum to the locker room at the break scoring on an 11-yard touchdown run by Lex Hilliard to pull Montana within seven.
Coming out of the break Montana continued to build momentum with a solid first drive that netted them a field goal to close the gap to only four. But the Vikings answered right back with a prolonged drive capped off by a 17-yard naked bootleg by Joe Wiser, who outraced the Montana linebacker around the edge and into the end zone, giving the Viks a 28-17 lead.
In this game of give and take, the Griz came right back with a drive of their own but Portland State’s Odell Jackson intercepted a pass by Montana quarterback Craig Ochs at the three-yard line to squash the drive. It was the third turnover of the game for the Grizzlies, a season high.
Montana found itself again in scoring position following an interception return by Tyler Thomas to the Portland State 10 yard line. One play later the Grizzlies were in the end zone on a Jon Talmage touchdown reception from Ochs making the score 28-24.
The Vikings would again rise to the occasion putting together a sustained drive covering 60 yards on nine plays and eating 5:36 off of the clock. The drive was capped by a 16-yard Ryan Fuqua jaunt into the end zone with 4:23 left in the game pushing the lead back to 35-24.
Montana again raced down the field to score once more on an eight-play drive that took only 1:38 off the clock. Ochs scored on a six-yard keeper and Montana made the two-point conversion to put the score at 35-32 and put the crowd into a frenzy for the final two and a half minutes.
However, the Vikings took the ensuing kickoff, converted a pair of first downs with their running game and sealed the win.
“We needed to win a game like that,” said a jubilant Tim Walsh. “People don’t know how much this team has suffered the last two weeks. To come back from that and beat a team of this caliber – they really deserved it.”
The Vikings had an effective attack, gaining 207 yards on the ground and 195 through the air. Joe Rubin rushed for 76 yards, Ryan Fuqua had 73 yards and a touchdown, and Allen Kennett also gained 21 yards and scored once.
Quarterback Joe Wiser had one of the best games of his career, completing 17 of 26 passes for 195 yards. He hit Shaun Bodiford and Adam Whitehead for first-half touchdowns.
Andrew Dorsey recovered two first-half fumbles by Montana to go with his four tackles. Tolo Tuitele had eight tackles to lead the Vikings.
Portland State will be home again next week, hosting Idaho State at PGE Park. The Vikings have already tied last year’s win total and will go for a fifth win against Idaho State.
***
After two painful near-misses, Vikings close the deal
NORM MAVES JR., The Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/vikingsfootball/oregonian/index.ssf? /base/sports/1099227381129530.xml
This time, nothing went wrong.
No miracle plays, no crazy calls -- not even the football gods Portland State football coach Tim Walsh thought might be stalking his team -- got in the way.
The Vikings merely got down in the trenches with fourth-ranked Montana and beat the Grizzlies 35-32 in front of 8,413 at PGE Park. The Vikings outgained the Big Sky Conference co-leaders, outfought them at most of the points of an up-and-down game and outlasted even their own mistakes.
The victory -- perhaps the Vikings' biggest win since they defeated Division I-A Hawaii in 2000 -- ended a four-game Montana winning streak in the series. But more important to the Vikings, it eased the sting of the last two weeks.
"It does," senior offensive tackle Mike Stachowiak said. "It doesn't make the experience worth it, but it takes away a lot of the pain."
It might have been fitting that clinching the victory late in the fourth quarter came down to Stachowiak and the rest of the offensive line. The Grizzlies drove 63 yards for a touchdown and a two-point conversion with
2:38 left to get within three points.
The Vikings had to run the clock out without making a mistake, and they weren't concerned with finesse. After Ryan Fuqua returned the kickoff to the PSU 30, the Vikings came from the sideline with seven linemen packed tight and three running backs in a full-house formation.
The linemen knew what they had to do.
"They put it on us," Stachowiak said, "and that's what we wanted them to do.
We mashed it right at them. We loaded up jumbo and mashed it right at them."
Every play went between the tackles. Portland State got two first downs. The Grizzlies never touched the ball again. The game ended with the ball at the Montana 41.
Quarterback Joe Wiser, the only player who braved the press room last week at Northern Arizona, knew all was well on the final drive.
"What we said was, 'Big boys, we're leaving it up to you,' " said Wiser, who hit 17 of 26 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns -- and ran one in on a bootleg from 17 yards. "This line is phenomenal. Phenomenal. Phenomenal.
Phenomenal. It's the best line I've ever played behind."
The line opened holes and freed PSU's skill people to collect 402 yards in total offense and engineer scoring drives of 65, 64 and 60 yards. Portland State was flagged for 118 yards in penalties and lost an apparent 87-yard touchdown run by Fuqua to a holding call, but PSU eventually put points on the scoreboard.
The Vikings never trailed. They scored first, saw the Grizzlies tie it, then scored the next two touchdowns to establish a lead they never gave up.
Leading 28-24, the Vikings went 60 yards in nine plays, and Fuqua wriggled the last 16 yards to put his team ahead 35-24 with 4:23 left.
The Grizzlies made it close, but they didn't make it back. In the end, the Vikings celebrated not only winning a game, but also regaining their self-worth.
Tight end Adam Whitehead slumped to his knees. Wide receiver Ryan Brown walked around crying. Defensive tackle Chuck Jones ran around looking for people to hug and threw his helmet in the air.
Walsh watched the merriment and pronounced it a good thing.
"We needed to win a close game," he said. "I love our fans, but they don't know how these men have suffered the last two weeks and how they've come back a third week to do this.
"They deserve a ring."
*** ***
MSU scores 53 first-half points
The Great Falls Tribune
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20 041031/SPORTS/410310326/1006
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Montana State Bobcats have been known as a second-half team this year.
No more.
The Bobcats stunned Northern Arizona with 53 unanswered points in the first half and cruised to a 60-14 victory over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Saturday night in a Big Sky Conference game.
It was the sixth-highest point total in Montana State history and the first victory for the Cats in Flagstaff in 25 years.
Junior quarterback Travis Lulay threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and spent most of the final two quarters on the sideline as the 23rd-ranked Bobcats ended years of frustration at the Walkup Skydome with one of the most incredible performances in team history.
"It begins and ends with Travis," said MSU head coach Mike Kramer. "But inbetween, the mead of the sandwhich is our offensive line and their pass protection."
Montana State has won five in a row, is 6-2 overall and is all alone in first place in the Big Sky Conference at 4-0. Northern Arizona, which had won 12 straight against MSU at home, fell to 3-2 and 4-4.
The first-half blitzkrieg featured eight drives by the Bobcat offense, which in previous weeks hasn't come out of the gate well and has relied on second-half rallies. All eight first-half drives Saturday resulted in points as Montana State rolled up 411 yards in the first two quarters.
"This is a solid NAU team," said Kramer. "Their fans and our fans should not read too much into this. It was a convincing win for us tonight, but I don't know if we played 'em 1,000 days in a row if we could do this again."
Lulay, who was named Big Sky offensive player of the week following excellent performances on both Oct. 16 and Oct. 23, topped those efforts with an amazing first half that included two touchdown tosses to Rick Gatewood and another to Eddie Sullivan.
Halfback Justin Domineck also ran well early on and the MSU defense forced several turnovers to contribute to the first-half landslide.
It took the Bobcats less than two minutes to score after receiving the opening kickoff, as Lulay went 4-for-4 to four different receivers to march his team 80 yards. Lulay connected with tight end Blake Wolf for 38, hit Sullivan for 28 and then got a gift on a 7-yard touchdown pass to Gatewood that was deflected by a linebacker before it was hauled in by the wideout.
The Cats scored again on their second possession, and once again there was a key break that went MSU's way. On 3rd-and-goal from the 1, Domineck fumbled — but the officials ruled his progress was halted before the bobble. Lulay scored on the next play and although E.J. Cochrane's extra point was blocked, the Bobcats led 13-0.
It was 19-0 moments later when, two plays after MSU's Toph Grenfell recovered a fumble by NAU quarterback Jason Murrietta, Lulay connected with Sullivan on a 40-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion try failed.
Grenfell came up with another huge play soon thereafter, picking off a Murrietta pass and returning it deep into NAU territory. The turnover led to a 26-yard field goal by Cochrane that gave the Bobcats a 22-0 lead with a minute left in the fourth quarter.
Cochrane connected for another short field and Domineck capped a short march with a 1-yard touchdown run as Montana State poured it on in the second quarter. The Bobcat defense stuffed NAU's Philo Sanchez on 4th-and-inches near midfield, and Lulay immediately went up top to Gatewood for a 47-yard touchdown pass that made it 39-0.
Just for good measure, Domineck capped an 88-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown run late in the first half to give the Cats a 46-0 edge at halftime.
But the amazing half wasn't over for the Cats, who scored on a 30-yard fumble return by backup linebacker Brandon Eggart. Murrietta fumbled when sacked by Jonathan Molock and Eggart scored with 27 seconds left in the first half.
Lulay and most of MSU's offensive starters went to the bench late in the third quarter. But the Bobcats weren't quite done scoring. Following Eggart's interception deep in NAU territory, backup halfback Jimmy Beal dashed seven yards to score a fourth-quarter touchdown.
Freshman quarterback Cory Carpenter, who missed last year with a knee injury, made his MSU debut in the second half and completed several passes.
Among Carpenter's completions was a short strike to senior wide receiver Matt McCullough, a Great Falls native who made the first pass reception of his college career.
The Bobcats finished with about 540 yards of offense, winning at the Walkup Skydome for the first time since a 10-7 victory in 1979.
Montana State is at Sacramento State next Saturday night.
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Montana State Defeats Football
Northern Arizona University
http://www.nauathletics.com/sport_newsitem.cfm?scode=nws&id=43 87&type=release
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Montana State had not won a football game in Flagstaff since 1979 but seemed to make up for the 25 years by scoring the first 53 points of the game to cruise to a 60-14 victory over Northern Arizona Saturday night at the Walkup Skydome. It was the worse loss for NAU in building history dating back to 1977, dropping the Lumberjacks to 4-4 on the season and 3-2 in Big Sky play. Montana State improved to 6-2 overall with a perfect 4-0 mark in league play.
The Bobcats took the opening drive of the game 80 yards, scoring on an 8-yard pass from quarterback Travis Lulay to Rick Gatewood. They then scored on every possession in the first half, building a 53-0 lead at the break.
MSU recorded three consecutive touchdowns to start the game, added two field goals and then finished out the half with four more touchdowns including 40-yard fumble return by Brandon Eggart right before the intermission.
Montana State posted 541 total yards of offense, including 379 yards passing. They took advantage of three NAU turnovers, scoring 17 points off two interceptions and the fumble. Lulay finished 21-for-32 for 366 yards and three touchdowns. Eddie Sullivan led all players with six catches for 139 yards, while Gatewood had two touchdowns among four catches for 77 yards.
NAU quarterback Jason Murrietta finished with 235 yards on 18-for-32 passing. Tight end Josh Hamlin had five catches foe 87 yards.
NAU travels on the road the next two weeks, starting with a road contest at Montana next week.
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