Montana beats SDSU 24-17 to face NDSU in FCS Second Round

The first-round game kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday in Missoula.

The victor will face North Dakota State next Saturday in Fargo. “Once teams have broken that plane, it seems like we get in that zone and everyone locks in”, said Lally, who has 88 tackles this year. The 32.5 sacks and 48.5 TFL are both tied with former great Tim Bush. “We’ve been really, really efficient in the scoring regions'”. “I was excited to get 24 points on that defense”. That’s a tough thing to do. We knew we had to make a play and then we blitzed right into the gap and that kid danced around us and went about 15 yards.

“In the second half they made some of the big plays that they didn’t get in the first half”, said Holmes of SDSU’s ability to find open receivers, most notably big-play man Jake Wieneke.

“All week long we kind of thought we could take advantage of … their defense a little bit”, said Horner, the former All-State quarterback under head coach Jack Johnson. “But credit coach Stitt”. Kendrick Van Ackeren forced a fumble on just the second offensive play for South Dakota State, getting the Grizzlies the ball back with great field position. Jeremiah Briscoe threw for 211 yards, including the winning 55-yard touchdown pass to Yedidiah Louis with 3:44 left.

Once Nguyen had worked his magic – he finished with 107 yards on 18 carries – it was time for the victory formation.

Montana defensive end Derek Crittenden (47) looks to recover a…

John Nguyen has proven to be a ready-for-prime-time player for the Montana Grizzlies.

The running lanes that were closed in the first half for Christion suddenly opened in the second, and the Grizzlies’ offense stalled, amounting just 15 yards on their first 15 plays from scrimmage.

In the end, Montana running back John Nguyen sealed SDSU’s fate on the Grizzlies’ final drive. His first touchdown pass was a 4-yard connection with Jamaal Jones late in the first quarter.

However even a 24-0 lead at halftime wasn’t enough to knock the Jackrabbits out of the fight. The victor of Saturday’s game plays meets the Bison in the second round.

Jay Carlson cut the lead to 24-3 five minutes into the third on a 34-yard field goal.

Montana fans make some noise while South Dakota State has the ball…

Montana carried the momentum through to the second quarter, putting together three more scoring drives. Another completion to Roberts two plays later gave Montana a first down on the SDSU 20-yard line. Daniel Sullivan booted a 25-yard field goal.

Montana finished the game with 434 yards of total offense compared to 347 for the Jackrabbits. They kept us in that game.

The Montana defense was just that. Goedert hauled in a 30-yard pass for a crucial SDSU touchdown, making it a one-possession game at 24-17. Christion also led the Jacks in rushing with 19 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown.

The season-finale defeat dropped SDSU out of the running for a top-eight playoff seed and the bye that comes with it and instead sent the Rabbits on the road to Washington-Grizzly Stadium. With the UM students still largely out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday, the Grizzly faithful almost doubled the next highest attended game at Northern Iowa, which saw a crowd of 7,062. Montana beat NDSU 38-35 in Missoula in September. Tickets are based on availability and are not guaranteed.