Montana's Marc Mariani scores one of his three touchdowns in the Grizzlies' 61-48 win over South Dakota State. (Daniel Doherty/Montana Grizzlies.com)
Missoula, Mont. (November 28, 2009) - The University of Montana pulled off an unbelievable come-from-behind victory in the first round of the Division I Football Playoffs, saving the Big Sky Conference from a winless first round.
Top-seeded Montana scored 40 unanswered points in the final 20 minutes and 25 seconds to rally to a 61-48 victory over South Dakota State of the Missouri Valley.
Eastern Washington attempted a rally of its own, but fell short 44-33 at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas. Weber State fell 38-0 to William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
Montana (12-0) will play host to Stephen F. Austin (10-2) in a quarterfinal game next Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Montana trailed 34-14 at halftime, and 41-14 early in the third quarter. South Dakota State took a second 27-point lead with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter. Marc Mariani started the comeback with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the ensuring kickoff. Mariani hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Selle with 14:56 to play. Chase Reynolds scored back-to-back 1-yard touchdown runs, the second with 4:11 tied the game at 48-48.
Mariani gave UM its first lead of the game with 1:08 remaining 4-yard pass with 1:08 to play. Defensive end Severin Campbell capped the onslaught with a 32-yard interception return with 45 seconds to play.
Mariani, a senior All-American from Havre, Mont, rolled up 389 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. He caught 12 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns, pushing his school record total to 27. He also had 178 kick return yards and 40 punt return yards.
Selle completed 27-of-43 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns.
Stephen F. Austin 44, Eastern Washington 33: Eastern Washington senior QB Matt Nichols completed 43 passes on 76 attempts (both school records) for 461 yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn't enough as the Lumberjacks of the Southland Conference won 44-33.
Stephen F. Austin QB Jeremy Moses threw for 432 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Brandon Scott. Stephen F. Austin led 44-19 with 1:48 remaining the third quarter. EWU closed within 44-33 on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Overbay with 9:38 to play.
The Eagles drove to the Stephen F. Austin 15-yard line, but Nichols was intercepted in the end zone with 5:20 to play. Nichols had gone 268 attempts without an interception.
EWU got the ball back, but Mike Jarrett Missed a 43-yard field goal with 1:43 to play to end the Eagles' comeback hopes. Eastern Washington had 595 yards of total offense, while Stephen F. Austin had 563.
Nichols, a leading candidate for the Walter Payton Award, finished his career as the Big Sky's all-time leader in total offense with 13,308 yards, and in passing yards (12,616). His total offensive numbers rank third all-time in FCS history. His passing numbers rank sixth. He finished with 96 touchdown passes, tying Montana's Dave Dickenson for the Big Sky record.
In the final six games of his career, Nichols threw for 2,301 yards with 23 touchdowns and one interception. Eastern Washington, which closed the regular season with four straight victories, finished its season 8-4.
William & Mary 38, Weber State 0: William & Mary's vaunted defense was as good as advertised, as the Tribe dominated Weber State 38-0 in a first-round game in Williamsburg.
Weber State QB Cameron Higgins completed 21-of-40 passes for 167 yards and was intercepted four times. His first interception was returned 60 yards for a touchdown by Jake Trantin with 9:05 remaining in the first half, giving the Tribe of the CAA a 7-0 lead. B.W. Webb made it 17-0 just before the half with a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Weber State managed just nine first downs and 167 yards of total offense. WSU finished with -6 rushing yards against the nation's top rushing defense.
Weber State senior RB Trevyn Smith managed 22 rushing yards to push his season total to 1,001 yards. He gained at least 1,000 rushing yards in all four of his seasons. Weber State finished its season 7-5.