CORVALLIS, Ore. — Eli Gillman further cemented his place in Montana football history on Saturday. The night, though, belonged to quarterback Braden Atkinson and Oregon State.
Gillman, the Grizzlies' All-America senior running back, finished with 81 yards on the ground to break Yohance Humphery's 25-year-old school record for career rushing, but No. 3-ranked UM couldn't keep pace with the Pac-12 Beavers in a 52-17 loss at Reser Stadium.
Gillman broke Humphery's record on 3-yard run with 9:50 on the clock in the fourth quarter. He now has 4,086 rushing yards for his career, which eclipses Humphery's mark of 4,070, which he achieved from 1998 to 2001.
But it was an otherwise long night for the Grizzlies.
Montana's offense went three-and-out to open the game, and Oregon State turned its first possession into points when Eric Olsen caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Atkinson to go ahead 7-0. OSU converted a fourth-down play one snap earlier to keep that possession alive.
Griz QB Keali'i Ah Yat threw too long on each of his first two deep balls. His third — on a fourth-and-4 play in the first quarter — was on the money, but Brooks Davis wasn't able to complete the catch in the end zone. The Beavers took over and quickly scored again, this time on a 21-yard pass out of the backfield from Atkinson to Aeryn Hampton.
UM got points in the second quarter on a 39-yard field goal from Jo Silver, but Atkinson later found wideout Jesse Legree with a dart in the back of the end zone while under duress from linebacker Clay Oven to give Oregon State a 21-3 advantage. At that point the Beavers were off to the races, and they took a 35-3 lead into halftime.
Ah Yat threw two touchdown passes in the second half, a 2-yarder to Reese Brooks in the third quarter and a 40-yarder to Brooks Davis in the fourth. Davis finished with 11 receptions for 135 yards.
RECORDS FALLING, 1 BY 1: Gillman is gradually ticking off records as the season progresses. He so far has set Montana's career rushing mark, as well as school records for rushing touchdowns (56) and total touchdowns (62).
The next record on his list is for Big Sky rushing TDs, which he'll achieve with one more end zone visit on the ground. Charles Roberts of Sacramento State ran in 56 TDs from 1997-2000. The Big Sky record for total touchdowns is 77, set by Eastern Washington receiving great Cooper Kupp.
WING LOSES FLIGHT: The Griz defense suffered a loss early in the second quarter when linebacker Peyton Wing was flagged for targeting after he hit a sliding Atkinson with helmet-to-helmet contact. The call was upheld upon mandatory review.
Wing, one of the top defensive players in the Big Sky Conference, was disqualified for the remainder of the game. Later in that possession Atkinson hit Legree and the Beavers had a three-possession lead.
Though he missed the remainder of the game, Wing will not miss any time due to the penalty next week per experimental NCAA guidelines for 2026.
AIRING IT OUT: Atkinson, who won the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the FCS last season while at Mercer, had no trouble picking apart the Grizzlies' coverage. He threw touchdowns to five different receivers and was out of the game early in the third quarter after he hit Aaron Butler with a 27-yard score to make the it 42-3.
Atkinson finished with 333 yards and six total TDs — five passing and one rushing.
MONTANA CONNECTION: When the outcome was well decided, Billings West alum and Oregon State backup left tackle Jacob Anderson got solid playing time in the second half.
Anderson, a junior, was a standout lineman for the Golden Bears and coach Rob Stanton from 2019-22.
BK'S FIRST DEFEAT: Saturday wasn't an unfamiliar setting for first-year Montana head coach Bobby Kennedy, who coached in the Pac-12 in three separate stints as an assistant, at Arizona in 2001, Washington in 2002-03 and Stanford from 2018-22.
But the outcome was. After winning his first three contests with the Griz — victories over Southern Utah, Drake and Utah Tech — Kennedy suffered his first loss as the leader of the program.
WHAT'S NEXT: Montana (3-1, 1-0 Big Sky) will jump back into conference play next week with a game that many have had circled — a road matchup at No. 11 UC Davis. The Aggies will enter next week with a 3-1 overall record (1-0 Big Sky) following a home win over FCS Stetson on Saturday.
The Griz-vs.-Aggies game is scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. Mountain time from UC Davis Health Stadium. It will be broadcast by Scripps Sports.