Griz roll past Indiana State in Saturday scorcher
(Montana Sports Information) On a hot late-summer day inside Washington-Grizzly stadium, Montana's offense caught fire, the defense was stifling, and the Grizzlies blew out the Indiana State Sycamores of the Missouri Valley Conference 63-20.
There were plenty of big performances to go around on both sides of the ball as Montana outgained Indiana State 647-387 on the day – the seventh-most yards the Griz have racked-up in program history.
After giving up an early score on a deep ball, the defense forced six punts, two turnovers, and four three-and-outs on the next eight possessions as Montana pulled away for a convincing win to improve to 3-0 on the season.
"I liked the preparation. I liked the look in their eye. I liked the way they were ready to go play this game. The guys in the helmets were excited to play this game, and it showed. When we're home, we're playing well, we don't give it away, and we get some of our own, we're probably not going to lose the game. When that started happening, they didn't have enough answers. I thought they played hard but they just didn't have answers for us," said head coach Bobby Hauck.
"Our defense was after 'em. They have coaches on their staff who have been around a long time, and they were gushing about how hard and physical our defense plays. They play in a physical conference. We take that like a badge of honor, and our guys played like that today."
Sophomore QB Keali'i Ah Yat had his second career day this season with 313 passing yards and two touchdowns, which all came in the first two-and-a-half quarters as he exited early with Montana holding a big lead. He also added a rushing touchdown from 14 yards out to tally the eighth on the ground of his career.
Ah Yat's success also meant that plenty of pass-catchers had career days. Tight end Josh Gale and receiver Jordan Dever hauled in their first touchdowns as Grizzlies and Michael Wortham had another great all-around day with 131 all-purpose yards.
"I think our young quarterback took another step forward today just in terms of pre-progression and seeing things more clearly and quickly. So, I thought that was good," said Hauck.
"He's getting more and more confident. I think that's a week-to-week thing for him. When he's getting coached during the week and reviewing his performance, its more minutia than major mistakes. I like what he's got going right now. He's such a young player he's going to keep getting better and better."
Eli Gillman had his third career three-touchdown day while running for 120 yards. The junior is now up to 36 career touchdowns, tied with Grizzly legend Lex Hilliard for the fifth-most in program history.
It's the first time Montana has reached the 60-point mark since a win over Eastern Washington in 2022 while the defense forced two turnovers, once of which led directly to points on a scoop-and-score and another that resulted in a touchdown just two plays later. Solomon Tuliaupupu forced the fumble that TJ Rausch recovered, and Peyton Wing had the interception.
The Grizzlies were an efficient 9-of-15 on third downs on the day and after coming up empty on their first two drives would proceed to score on nine out of 10 for the big win.
It all added up to a dominant day for the Griz, who complete three of their four nonconference games to sit 3-0 with Big Sky play around the corner and old rival Idaho Vandals coming to Missoula next week.
"We're really pleased to be out of nonconference play at 3-0. We can't be any better than that. We're playing a little better each week, and that's what it will take to beat Idaho. It'll be a tough game for sure," said Hauck.