MISSOULA — Bobby Kennedy's tenure as Montana's head football coach got off on the wrong foot — and had plenty of uncertain moments — but Eli Gillman and Co. squeaked out a 28-21 Big Sky Conference win over Southern Utah inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday.
Griz star quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat was intercepted on the first offensive snap of the game, but the Thunderbirds were unable to convert the turnover into points. After SUU punted, Gillman, the league's preseason offensive player of the year, demonstrated his game-breaking ability.
WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS:
1:32The standout running back took a swing pass from Ah Yat — it could be debated whether the throw went forward or backward — and galloped past the Southern Utah defense. Eighty-five yards later, Gillman was in the end zone for his first touchdown of the season and 54th of his career.
Career TD No. 55 would come two possessions later, this time as Gillman took a direct snap and skirted around the edge of the defense for a 29-yard rushing touchdown. It was the 50th rushing TD of Gillman's Griz career, tying him with Lex Hilliard for the second-most in program history.
Gillman's two first-half touchdowns sandwiched a Southern Utah field goal, as the Griz defense secured multiple fourth-down stops and also blocked a long Thunderbirds field goal attempt. Montana led 14-3 at halftime despite Southern Utah keeping the ball for 21 of the first 30 minutes.
The Thunderbirds finally turned that time-of-possession advantage into touchdowns in the second half. Floyd Chalk ran in a TD to bring SUU within 21-9 in the third. Then, after an Ah Yat rushing score, SUU quarterback Will Burns found Joshua Acord for two fourth-quarter touchdowns, and the teams were suddenly tied at 21-21 with 11 minutes to play.
Neither offense mustered much momentum on the ensuing drives, but UM found some Wa-Griz magic late in the fourth. On 1st-and-10 from their own 47-yard line, Lekeldrick Bridges got behind the Southern Utah defense. Ah Yat found him with the pass, and Bridges out-raced the SUU defense for the go-ahead 53-yard touchdown with 3:14 to play.
But it wasn't until there were just four seconds left that the Montana faithful could finally breathe easy. Burns got Southern Utah deep into Griz territory in the final moments, but from the 24-yard line with 16 seconds remaining, the UM defense got instant pressure on the Thunderbirds quarterback. Burns retreated all the way back to midfield before heaving a desperation pass to the end zone that Griz defensive back Brock Beaner intercepted to help Montana survive the wild fourth quarter.
BALL CONTROL: Southern Utah had a plan to keep possession of the ball to limit Montana's explosive offense. The Thunderbirds accomplished half of their intention, holding the ball for 43 minutes, 34 seconds to UM's 16:26.
SUU had more total plays (83-46), yards (510-338) and first downs (32-14) but had nine penalties and a few costly special teams miscues. Burns completed 24 of 34 passes for 251 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He added 119 rushing yards.
BIG PLAY GRIZ: Southern Utah did a good job of keeping Montana's offense off the field, but the Grizzlies hit big plays when they had the ball. Two of their touchdowns were longer than 50 yards and three were 29 yards or longer.
Ah Yat started slow but finished 15-of-28 passing for 265 yard and two touchdowns to go along with his rushing TD. Bridges had five catches for 91 yards.
ELI THE GREAT: Gillman had only 15 touches (13 carries, two receptions), but he turned them into 169 yards of offense and two touchdowns. He finished with 76 yards on the ground and 93 through the year.
WHAT'S NEXT: After the Big Sky start to the season, Montana will next play three nonconference games. Up first: Drake for a 1 p.m. kickoff inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 5. The Bulldogs are 0-1 after losing to NCAA Division II South Dakota Mines 38-35 on Thursday.