Montana's Andrew Selle scores on a 4-yard run in the Grizzlies 51-0 quarterfinal win over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday (Tood Goodrich Photo/The University of Montana)
Game Stats
There was no snow in Missoula on Saturday, but a very large snowball formed as top-seeded Montana drilled Stephen F. Austin 51-0 in a Division I Quarterfinal football game on Saturday.
A 10-turnover snowball started with less than two minutes into the game when Montana's Erik Stoll intercepted a Jeremy Moses pass at the Grizzly 11-yard line. The avalanche of fumbles and interceptions ended in the fourth quarter when UM's Brock Coyle intercepted backup quarterback Dalton Williams. Montana's defense forced an amazing 10 turnovers - including six on Stephen F. Austin's first seven possessions.
Montana scored 37 points off of the turnovers and blanked the nation's top scoring offense, securing the program's ninth trip to the FCS semifinals.
"I'm still blown away by it,'' said Montana coach Bobby Hauck, who improved to 79-16 in his seventh season. "Certainly you take it away 10 times and give it back only once, you are going to win the game unless you are way outmatched and that wasn't the case today.''
Montana (13-0) will play Appalachian State in next week's semifinals. Appalachian State beat defending national champion Richmond 35-31 on Saturday night, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds to play. The semifinal will be played either Friday or Saturday in Missoula. The day will be announced on Sunday.
Montana moved to 9-0 all-time in quarterfinal games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where 22,438 fans braved 26-degree weather to see their time win for the 16th straight time.
Coyle, Tyler Hobbs, Shann Schillinger, Austin Mullins and Stoll had interceptions. Alex Shaw, Severin Campbell, Hobbs, and Jace Palmer were credited with forced fumbles.
"Obviously turnovers aren't going to win ball games when you have 10 of them,'' said Moses, who completed 22-of-35 passes for 204 yards with four interceptions. "I really don't have an explination for it. I don't know what to say to that.''
Montana's 10 forced turnovers was two shy of the school record, set in a 1989 game against Boise State where the Griz picked off 10 passes and recovered two fumbles.
Maybe the biggest turnover of the day came late with 3:44 to play in the first quarter and the Grizzlies ahead 10-0. Mosses connected with Romont Hampton for a 7-yard gain. As Hampton neared the goal-line, he was hit hard by Shaw. Josh Harris fell on the ball at the 2-yard line.
The Grizzlies responded by driving 98 yards in 14 plays. Quarterback Andrew Selle capped the drive with a 4-yard run on third down.
"I can't speak for their mental state, but I know it was a big play for us, a big play for our confidence level'' Hauck said. "It was a big hit. They made a nice play under our quarters coverage,e but we did not let them in the end zone. The 98-yard drive set the tone for us the rest of the day.''
After Selle's touchdown, receiver Marc Mariani caught a 14-yard touchdown pass, Jabin Sabrano caught a 13-yard scoring pass, and Steven Pfahler hauled in an 11-yard scoring pass from Selle, who finished 19-of-30 for 281 yards with three touchdowns.
The barrage put Montana ahead 38-0 at the half. Chase Reynolds scored the only touchdown of the second half, hitting paydirt on a 9-yard run. Reynolds finished with 52 yards on 18 carries. Backup Thomas Brooks-Fletcher had 89 yards on 14 carries.
The Grizzlies rolled up 474 yards of offense, compared to 280 for SFA. Montana controlled the ball for almost 37 minutes.
Montana made national headlines a week ago when it rallied from a 27-point deficit by scoring 40 straight points in the final 20 minutes and 25 seconds of a 61-48 first-round win over South Dakota State.
Montana has now scored 91 unanswered points in its last 80:25 of postseason action.
The Grizzlies beat Stephen F. Austin 70-14 in a 1995 semifinal at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, meaning UM has now outscored the Lumberjacks 131-14 in two playoff games.
"I just have so much respect for Coach Hauck and what they do,'' said SFA coach J.C. Harper. "I'm very impressed. They play at a high level. They played at a much higher level than us. They know how to win, and they expect to win.''
Notes: Montana's shutout was its first in the playoffs since beating Northern Iowa 38-0 in a 2001 semifinal. Montana won the national championship the next week...Montana's Marc Mariani became the school's all-time leader in receiving yards with 2,801. He had six catches for 111 yards...SFA finished its season 10-3.