MISSOULA — In one of the most-hyped Brawl of the Wild football games in recent memory, Montana and Montana State delivered a game worthy of the build-up.
The No. 2-ranked Grizzlies and No. 3 Bobcats — meeting for the first time with both programs ranked inside the top 3 — traded blows in a heavyweight showdown Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Ultimately, Montana State had just a little more and left Missoula with a 31-28 win, the Big Sky Conference championship and the likely No. 2 seed for the FCS playoffs, which begin next week.
MSU kicker Myles Sansted started the scoring with a 39-yard field goal in the first quarter, but UM took its first lead less than three minutes later on a leaping 14-yard touchdown catch by Brooks Davis. An Adam Jones TD run gave the Bobcats a 10-7 lead after the first quarter.
Montana State pushed its lead to 17-7 in the second when Justin Lamson connected with Dane Steel on a 27-yard scoring play. The Griz got it back to a one-possession game on a Keali'i Ah Yat touchdown run late in the second quarter, and it was 17-14 in favor of the Cats at halftime.
The Griz received the second-half kickoff and narrowly avoided disaster.
Returner Michael Wortham was tackled on the return and the ball popped loose. Wortham was able to recover his own fumble — and Montana turned the fortuitous bounce into a 16-play, 89-yard touchdown drive. Wortham scored on a 5-yard run, the first points Montana State has allowed in the third quarter since its season-opening game at Oregon.
The game swung on Montana's next offensive possession. The Griz had just forced a Montana State punt and seemingly had all the momentum, but an Ah Yat pass sailed past his receiver into the waiting arms of Caden Dowler, Montana State's standout safety.
Dowler had nothing but space in front of him and returned the pick 34 yards for a touchdown.
Dowler's pick-6 gave Montana State a 24-21 lead going to the fourth quarter, and — after Zac Crews blocked a Griz field goal attempt — Lamson added a 23-yard TD run to push the advantage to 31-21.
The road team hadn't won in the Brawl of the Wild since 2018 when the Bobcats escaped Washington-Grizzly Stadium with a 29-25 win. The past five games in the series were all won by the home team with an average margin of victory of 28 points.
EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE LAMSON: Justin Lamson had the unenviable task of following in Tommy Mellott's quarterback shoes at Montana State, but the Stanford transfer has delivered beyond expectations. He was efficient — as he has been all season — against Montana, completing 18 of 20 passes for 175 yards, a touchdown and, importantly, no interceptions.
He added 80 yards and another TD on the ground, and made big play after big play in the second half as Montana State was icing the game.
Lamson has now gone seven consecutive games with both a passing and rushing touchdown.
DOWLER DOES IT ... AGAIN: Caden Dowler has entered the Big Sky's defensive player of the year conversation over the past three weeks.
His pick-6 against Montana was his second in as many games and he now has four interceptions in his past three weels — he got his first interception of the season Nov. 8 against Weber State and then had two picks last week against UC Davis, including one he returned 83 yards for a TD.
GO-GO GILLMAN: Gillman has established himself as one of the best running backs in UM history, and he was again sensational Saturday.
His 52-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter brought the Griz back within 31-28. He finished with 132 yards and will almost assuredly move into fourth all-time on Montana's career rushing list in the FCS playoffs.
STATS ROUNDUP: The overall stats were mostly even — Montana State had 416 total yards, Montana had 364 — with Dowler's interception being the key difference. The Griz defense, which entered the game with a Big Sky-best 18 interceptions, was unable to force the Cats into a turnover.
Ah Yat had the costly interception and finished the game 26-of-32 passing for 186 yards and TD. He added seven rushing yards and a score.
Brooks Davis had a massive game for Montana, catching 10 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Michael Wortham, though, was held mostly in check; he had one catch for three yards and three rushing attempts for 35 yards and a TD.
Julius Davis led Montana State with 106 rushing yards on 15 attempts, as the Bobcats totaled 241 yards on the ground.
WHAT’S NEXT: The bracket for the FCS playoffs will be announced Sunday morning, and the figures to feature Montana State (10-2 overall, 8-0 Big Sky) as the No. 2 overall seed behind No. 1 North Dakota State. The Bobcats will have a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the semifinals.
The Grizzlies (11-1, 7-1) will have to wait to see where they land. But at 11-1 overall, Montana should still be in position for a strong seed. Will the Grizzlies be No. 3 and set up a potential semifinal meeting with the Bobcats in Bozeman? We’ll find out at 10 a.m. Sunday.
