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MISSOULA, Mont. - Montana rushed for 338 yards and had 28 unanswered second half points in route to a 42-6 win over Weber State Saturday afternoon at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Montana came into the game ranked seventh in the country and the Grizzlies totaled 461 yards of total offense, compared to 202 for Weber State. The Grizzlies dominated the ground game with 338 yards rushing, compared to just six rushing yards for the Wildcats, a season low.
Despite three first half turnovers the ‘Cats trailed by just one possession at halftime. Montana led 14-6 at the break after a 48-yard field goal by Shaun McClain at the end of the half.
But it was all Montana in the second half as the Grizzlies had four rushing touchdowns in the second half and totaled 255 yards on the ground in the half.
Montana opened the third quarter with back-to-back rushing touchdowns. Jordan Canada broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run. Shay Smithwick-Hann added a 19-yard touchdown run to make it 28-6 after three quarters. The Griz rushed for 194 yards in the third quarter alone and added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats ended the day with five turnovers, three interceptions and two fumbles. Montana also sacked Weber State five times.
"Consistency and turnovers cost us today," said WSU head coach Jody Sears. "I thought we made the adjustments we needed to we just had some missed tackles in the second half and made too many mistakes."
Individually Austin Chipoletti finished the day 18-36 passing for 185 yards but did have three interceptions. Erik Walker had six catches for 48 yards and Bo Bolen had four receptions for 50 yards. Josh Booker had six carries for 16 yards to lead the rushing attack.
"Consistency and turnovers cost us today," said WSU head coach Jody Sears. "I thought we made the adjustments we needed to we just had some missed tackles in the second half and made too many mistakes."
On defense Roman Valenzuela and Anthony Morales each recorded 13 tackles with Adam Padilla adding 11.
"The coaches put us in a position to make plays we just missed too many tackles today," Valenzuela said." Canada finished the day with 189 yards and two touchdowns for Montana.
With the loss the ‘Cats fall to 1-10 on the season, having lost 10 straight losses. WSU is 0-7 in Big Sky play. Montana improves to 9-2 overall and 5-2 in conference action. Weber State has now lost 14 straight games in Missoula.
The Wildcats will conclude the 2013 season Saturday when the ‘Cats host Big Sky rival Idaho State at 1 p.m. at Stewart Stadium.
