ISU Falls to No. 22 Montana 33-27 in Overtime

 Photo Gallery
 
POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State football team kept the 7,795 fans on the edge of their seat for the majority of the four hour football game vs. No. 22 Montana. But in the end a miscue on special teams in the extra stanza gave the Griz a 33-27 victory.

Idaho State tallied 386 yards with 133 coming on the ground and 253 through the air. Montana finished with 434 yards, 265 rushing and 169 passing.

Tanner Gueller was 23-49 with three touchdowns and three interceptions to go along with his 253 passing yards. Xavier Finney rushed for 105 yards on 24 carries and Jakori Ford had six carries for 87 yards and one touchdown, including a 53-yarder early in the fourth quarter.

KW Williams caught seven passes for 87 yards. Broc Malcom caught four passes for 41 yards while Madison Mangum finished with four passes for 42 yards and Xavier Finney caught four balls for 41 yards. Tyler Graves caught three passes for 32 yards and one touchdown.

CJ Langlow led ISU defensively with a career-high 20 tackles. Tyler Kuder had a career-best 15 while Hayden Stout had 12, Rasheed Williams 11 and one sack and Kurt Karstetter 10.

ISU trailed 21-13 at halftime and 24-13 after the third quarter. The Bengals took advantage of a Montana turnover when Stout intercepted quarterback Makena Simis with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

Idaho State then cut the Griz lead to 24-19 when Tyler Graves caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Gueller with 13:38 left in the game.

After the ISU defense forced Montana to punt on its ensuing possession, ISU took a 27-24 lead on Fords 53-yard run with 10:08 remaining. Graves caught the two-point conversion from Gueller to give ISU the three-point lead.

Montana's Daniel Sullivan tied the game at 27 on a 26-yard field goal with 5:43remaining in regulation and both teams turned the ball over in the final two minutes to force overtime.

Montana had a first-and-goal from the two-yard line on its first possession of overtime but Stout forced Simis to fumble on the possession.

On ISU's possession, they went for a 34-yard field goal but a miscue on the snap allowed Montana to score the winning touchdown.

Idaho State returns to the field for the final home game of the 2015 season on  Saturday, November 14 vs. Montana State. Kickoff is at 2:35 p.m.

Game Notes

• Game captains were Madison Mangum, Tyler Kuder, Christian Diehm and CJ Langlow.
• Idaho State scored a touchdown on its first possession of the game for the third straight game and the fifth time this season. The Bengals have only scored on their first possession of the second-half once.
• Xavier Finney recorded his 14^th 100 yard rushing game of his career. He has rushed for 3,342 yards in his career. He needs 38 rushing yards  to pass Alfredo Anderson and move into second-place and 67 yards to pass Josh Barnett and become the schools all-time leading rusher.
• Madison Mangum moved into ninth place for career-receiving yards. He now has 2,069, passing Jaron Taylor's (2006-09) 2,066. Mangum needs 40 yards to pass Luke Austin and move into eighth place. Mangum's four receptions vs. Montana moved into ninth place with 148. He needs five receptions to move into seventh place.
• Six Bengals posted career highs on the defensive side. Hayden Stout had his first career fumble recovery and interception. Tyler Kuder had a career-high 15 tackles. Other Bengals to finished with a career-best in tackles were Kurt Karstetter (10), CJ Langlow (20), Rasheed Williams (11) and Anthony Ricks (5).
• Madison Mangum has caught a pass in 21 straight games.
  Chris Edwards blocked kick was the first of his career and only the second of the season for ISU. Drew Sharkey blocked a kick earlier in the season.