MISSOULA — The Bobby Kennedy era is officially underway, and it kicked off with a thriller on Saturday night as the Southern Utah Thunderbirds gave Montana all it could handle, but the Grizzlies held on and got the job done.
It came down to the wire as UM scored a touchdown with just over three minutes to go, then ended the contest with an interception to seal it.
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3:09"As the week went on and I saw the way these guys practiced and I saw the way they prepared, I wasn't nervous," Kennedy said of the opener. "I was actually really kind of at peace going into the stadium for the first time and also seeing our fans and the way they respond to our team. It's a special thing."
There was plenty to take away from that back-and-forth game.
Offensively, UM saw some unforced errors hinder its ability, from the interception thrown by Keali'i Ah Yat on the game's first play to the goal-line fumble by Landon Random-Goelz that resulted in a touchback.
Ah Yat also struggled to find a rhythm at times, especially in the second half and with his deep ball, but he came up when it mattered most at the end, while Eli Gillman was sharp and put up 169 all-purpose yards and two scores, yet sometimes wasn't given the ball as much as anticipated. Ah Yat finished the day 15-of-28 passing for 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
"I think when we put it all together, I think we'll have a very solid team," Kennedy said. "But what I was most pleased with is there was no panic anytime on the sideline between our coaches or our players. And I think sometimes people forget, there were some games last year that came down to the wire and we found a way to win those games. So to me, it was a really good first step."
Lekeldrick Bridges showed what he can do as a weapon at wide receiver after a brief glimpse last season.
It was a trying season a year ago for Bridges, but the third-year player finished with five catches, 91 yards and the go-ahead score on Saturday.
"It felt good because my parents were on (the north end zone), so I scored on my parents' end," Bridges said with a laugh. "And when I score, when I celebrate, I see my little brother dancing. So I say it was pretty cool. It's pretty cool to score out down there."
Defensively, the Griz had their hands full with their new scheme and new players in the mix.
Southern Utah quarterback Will Burns proved to be a complicated puzzle as an elite athlete, while the physical Floyd Chalk was also a problem as the Thunderbirds racked up 510 yards of total offense on 83 plays and nearly 44 minutes of the game's time of possession.
So at the end of the day, it was bend but don't break.
"We went all the way through the spring with a new defense and then worked through fall camp," UM defensive lineman Jake Mason said. "So I think that all that time we put in beforehand really helped us (Saturday). Kind of start to figure it out more and more as we went through the game. But as far as new faces, I think that everyone did a great job."
Special teams arguably saved the day for Montana with a blocked field goal, blocked point-after try, stuffed two-point conversion and a heads-up fair catch by Weston Adams on a short kickoff, and the Griz defense also came up with a pair of fourth-down stops.
So through it all, Montana exited 1-0 against a game Southern Utah squad. Now it's back to the drawing board with game reps and tape as the season is underway and the improvements more front-facing.
"I'm really proud of this group," Kennedy said. "I think if we can clean up some of the mistakes that we made that were self-inflicted, we'll continue to get better and hopefully you make your most improvement between game one and game two. But overall, I'm really, really happy for these guys. It wasn't perfect, but kudos to them for keep fighting."