It was an old-fashioned kickin'.
Brody McKnight broke a Montana record with six field goals and the No. 10 Grizzlies wore down Division II Western Oregon 32-7 Saturday, in a tighter football game than many expected.
Peter Nguyen rushed for a career-best 149 yards to spark a UM offense that lost quarterback Jordan Johnson to a first-quarter elbow injury. Gerald Kemp and Nate Montana split time from there, with Montana firing a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Antwon Moutra.
The Grizzlies ran 96 offensive plays while the Wolves, save for one pass-happy third-quarter drive, couldn't solve Montana's sturdy defense.
It was an odd win, but second-year coach Robin Pflugrad will take it.
"You saw some of their athletes," he said after his Griz improved to 8-2 ahead of their Big Sky Conference-settling showdown at Montana State on Nov. 19. "Their wide receivers were very good-looking players. And their D-line played, again, maybe as good as we've seen at our level."
The Griz dominated everywhere but the scoreboard, though McKnight's performance was certainly potent.
One of 24 seniors honored before the game, the kicker hit field goals from 24, 21, 51 and 30 yards to stake UM to a 12-0 halftime lead. McKnight also hit from 36 yards in the third quarter and 24 yards in the fourth.
Dan Carpenter, now with the Miami Dolphins, kicked the old record of five 3-pointers in 2006.
"They were stubborn and we got a whole bunch of field goals," said Pflugrad. "It would've been nice to get a few more touchdowns in that red zone, but again, credit Western Oregon."
Johnson threw for 103 yards in the first quarter but saw two drives stall after the Griz had first-and-goal. Then he went to the sidelines.
"He took a helmet to the upper arm," said Pflugrad. "Kind of back behind the elbow area, and (he) just didn't have any velocity behind his throws. It was unfortunate it was his right arm. If it was his left arm, he probably would have played."
Kemp came in and ran things for most of the second and third quarters. He fired one second-quarter interception but had two pretty third-down completions ahead of McKnight's fourth field goal, which came on the last play of the first half.
Kemp shepherded two more third-quarter drives. That included a 54-yarder that answered Western Oregon's lone score: a fourth-down, 27-yard dart from Cory Bean to Lucas Gonsalves.
The Wolves then pooch-kicked; Jabin Sambrano ran under the short boot and returned it to UM's 46.
Kemp hit Sam Gratton (7 catches, 85 yards) and Sambrano with passes, but it was Nguyen - playing while injured backs Dan Moore, Beau Donaldson and Jordan Canada looked on - who sparked things with runs of 9 and 14 yards.
"I was really excited," said the junior running back. "It's different not having Jordan or Dan, or Beau. I was looking forward to it, and it was great to play more."
Nguyen picked up 6 more yards when Pflugrad eschewed another field goal attempt and went for it on fourth-and-1 from Western's 7.
The Griz scored on the next play to go up 22-7, but the TD came from freshman Brett Kirschner. Nguyen had been dazed by a big hit on the sideline.
"He just hit me in a good spot, on my side," he said.
The Griz are thankful for a bye week ahead of the 111th Brawl of the Wild.
"The time is here to start preparing," said Pflugrad. "First and foremost we have to get healthy. As Peter said, a lot of his buddies in the running back stable are sidelined, and that's a group that needs to heal up.
"Because when Peter went down on that sideline it was like,‘Peter, you can't go down.' That was our whole mentality: ‘That's not acceptable.' "
Pflugrad was joking. He was happy to get the win against a crafty opponent which has a showdown next week at Humboldt State.
"To see offensive and defensive lines the caliber of Montana will prepare us for the conference championship," said WOU coach Arne Ferguson. "Any time you have the exposure of playing a quality team like Montana - everybody knows where Montana football is - I think that helps us with the program.
"Even after the game, they really enjoyed the experience, the fans, the atmosphere."
The atmosphere will slowly build for the Griz over the next two weeks, ahead of what will be the Big Sky's title game against the No. 2 Bobcats.
"It's probably the biggest game of the season for us," Nguyen said. "We have a couple extra days to prepare for them, and we're just going to come ready."
Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 523-5247 or atfneighbor@missoulian.com.
| Montana 32, Western Oregon 7 | ||||||
| Western Oregon | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 7 |
| Montana | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 | - | 32 |
| FIRST QUARTER | ||||||
| UM – Brody McKnight 24 FG, 9:39. | ||||||
| Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 3:09 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key plays: Jordan Johnson hits Sam Gratton for 7 yards on third-and-5; a 24-yard run from Peter Nguyen and passes of 14 yards to Kavario Middleton and 23 yards to Greg Hardy set up first-and-goal. | ||||||
| UM – McKnight 21 FG, 5:00. | ||||||
| Drive: 11 plays, 67 yards, 3:33 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key plays: Mike McCord intercepts a Cody VonAppen pass to give UM possession; Nguyen sandwiches runs of 12 and 16 yards around a 13-yard reception to again give UM first-and-goal. | ||||||
| SECOND QUARTER | ||||||
| UM – McKnight 51 FG, 4:59. | ||||||
| Drive: 7 plays, 18 yards, 2:35 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key plays: Brock Coyle’s sack of VonAppen forces a WOU punt; Nguyen runs three times for 14 yards. | ||||||
| UM – McKnight 30 FG, 0:00. | ||||||
| Drive: 13 plays, 54 yards, 3:13 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key plays: Gerald Kemp scrambles 19 yards to convert one third-and-long, though a personal foul sets UM back 15 yards; Kemp then completes third-down passes of 22 yards to Middleton and 31 yards to Gratton. | ||||||
| THIRD QUARTER | ||||||
| UM – McKnight 36 FG, 11:10. | ||||||
| Drive: 7 plays, 33 yards, 1:51 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key plays: An 11-yard punt sets the Griz up near midfield; Nguyen has runs of 13 and 14 yards to put UM well inside McKnight’s range. | ||||||
| WOU – Lucas Gonsalves 27 pass from Cory Bean (Kelly Morgan kick), 9:24. | ||||||
| Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 1:40 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key play: On first-and-15, Tyrell Williams takes a Bean pass 47 yards to UM’s 33. | ||||||
| UM – Brett Kirschner 1 run (McKnight kick), 6:37. | ||||||
| Drive: 9 plays, 54 yards, 2:41 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key plays: Nguyen rushes for 33 yards on drive, including a 6-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the Wolves’ 7. | ||||||
| FOURTH QUARTER | ||||||
| UM – Antwon Moutra 5 pass from Nate Montana (McKnight kick), 13:12. | ||||||
| Drive: 7 plays, 37 yards, 1:52 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key plays: Montana hits Moutra for 7 yards on third-and-4 from the WOU 24; Caleb Walden runs 15 yards to set up first-and-goal. | ||||||
| UM – McKnight 24 FG, 8:30. | ||||||
| Drive: 7 plays, 38 yards, 2:59 time of possession. | ||||||
| Key plays: Montana completes passes covering 13 yards to Mitch Saylor and 11 yards to Middleton, taking ball to the Wolves’15. | ||||||
| Team statistics | ||||||
| WOU | UM | |||||
| First downs | 13 | 24 | ||||
| Rushing | 3 | 10 | ||||
| Passing | 6 | 14 | ||||
| Penalty | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Third-down efficiency | 2-15 | 8-21 | ||||
| Fourth-down efficiency | 1-1 | 1-1 | ||||
| Total yards | 221 | 497 | ||||
| Plays | 62 | 96 | ||||
| Average gain | 3.6 | 5.2 | ||||
| Rushes-yards | 31-65 | 53-245 | ||||
| Average per carry | 2.1 | 4.6 | ||||
| Yards passing | 156 | 252 | ||||
| Comp-Att-Int | 10-31-4 | 24-43-1 | ||||
| Sacks by-yards lost | 1-6 | 3-18 | ||||
| Return yards | 36 | 57 | ||||
| Punts | 11 | 9 | ||||
| Interceptions | 25 | 48 | ||||
| Kickoff returns | 8-152 | 2-22 | ||||
| Punting | 9-33.8 | 6-42.2 | ||||
| Penalties-yards | 7-40 | 8-93 | ||||
| Time of possession | 24:42 | 35:18 | ||||
| Individual statistics | ||||||
| WESTERN OREGON | ||||||
| Rushing | ||||||
| No.-yards | ||||||
| Trevor Roush | 11-40 | |||||
| Cody VonAppen | 11-27 | |||||
| Adryan Allen | 7-10 | |||||
| Cory Bean | 2-minus 12 | |||||
| Passing | ||||||
| Comp | Att | Int | Yds | |||
| Cory Bean | 5 | 19 | 2 | 116 | ||
| Cody VonAppen | 4 | 11 | 2 | 34 | ||
| Ryan Bergman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Receiving | ||||||
| No.-yards | ||||||
| Trevor Gates | 4-31 | |||||
| Tyrell Williams | 2-69 | |||||
| Lucas Gonsalves | 2-42 | |||||
| Trevor Roush | 1-7 | |||||
| Tyler Davis | 1-7 | |||||
| Tackles | ||||||
| (Unassisted-assisted-total) | ||||||
| U | A | T | ||||
| Devin Wells | 5 | 13 | 18 | |||
| Ben Merrill | 6 | 7 | 13 | |||
| Scotland Foss | 3 | 9 | 12 | |||
| King Manu | 5 | 6 | 11 | |||
| Kraig Akins | 1 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Gavin Drake | 1 | 6 | 7 | |||
| Sacks by-yards lost | ||||||
| Scotland Foss 1-6 | ||||||
| Fumbles forced-recovered | ||||||
| None. | ||||||
| Interceptions-return yards | ||||||
| Bryce Peila 1-25 | ||||||
| Missed field goals | ||||||
| None. | ||||||
| MONTANA | ||||||
| Rushing | ||||||
| No.-yards | ||||||
| Peter Nguyen | 22-149 | |||||
| Caleb Walden | 5-33 | |||||
| Brett Kirschner | 10-24 | |||||
| Gerald Kemp | 8-21 | |||||
| Lance Carl | 4-13 | |||||
| Jordan Johnson | 3-5 | |||||
| Nate Montana | 1-0 | |||||
| Passing | ||||||
| Comp | Att | Int | Yds | |||
| Jordan Johnson | 11 | 16 | 0 | 103 | ||
| Gerald Kemp | 7 | 17 | 1 | 93 | ||
| Nate Montana | 6 | 9 | 0 | 56 | ||
| Shay Smithwick-Hann | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Receiving | ||||||
| No.-yards | ||||||
| Sam Gratton | 7-85 | |||||
| Kavario Middleton | 4-56 | |||||
| Antwon Moutra | 3-13 | |||||
| Greg Hardy | 2-29 | |||||
| Mitch Saylor | 2-27 | |||||
| Peter Nguyen | 2-15 | |||||
| Jabin Sambrano | 2-11 | |||||
| Cam Warren | 1-9 | |||||
| Gerald Kemp | 1-7 | |||||
| Tackles | ||||||
| (Unassisted-assisted-total) | ||||||
| U | A | T | ||||
| John Kanongata’a | 2 | 6 | 8 | |||
| Matt Hermanson | 4 | 3 | 7 | |||
| Bryan Waldhauser | 1 | 6 | 7 | |||
| Ryan Fetherston | 4 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Caleb McSurdy | 3 | 3 | 6 | |||
| Josh Harris | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||
| Sacks by-yards lost | ||||||
| Bryan Waldhaauser 1-8 | ||||||
| Brock Coyle 1-6 | ||||||
| Alex Shaw 0.5-2 | ||||||
| Josh Stuberg 0.5-2 | ||||||
| Fumbles forced-recovered | ||||||
| Bobby Alt 1-0 | ||||||
| Interceptions-return yards | ||||||
| Sean Murray 2-24 | ||||||
| Matt Hermanson 1-24 | ||||||
| Mike McCord 1-0 | ||||||
| Missed field goals | ||||||
| None. | ||||||
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