MISSOULA, MT- There were 106 combined points between the two teams. The Idaho State offense tallied its second most yardage of the season with 520 but it wasn't enough as No. 19 Montana beat the Bengals 62-44 in front of a crowd of 24,027 on Saturday night at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Bengals had 159 yards rushing on the ground and 361 passing. Montana came into the game with the second-best defense in the conference, allowing only 25.1 points. Coming into Saturday's game the Griz defense led the league in total defense, giving up only 335.2 yards a game.
 Montana tallied 591 yards, 203 rushing and 388 passing.
Michael Dean led the rushing attack with 61 yards on six carries and one touchdown. Dean had a long run of 59 while
Tanner Gueller had four carries for 51 yards, including a long run of 52 yards.
Mitch Gueller had a career-best 100 yards receiving on five receptions.
Hagen Graves had three receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown.
KW Williams caught six passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman
Austin Campbell also caught his first-career touchdown pass.
Joe Martin led the defense with a career-high 13 tackles.
Mario Jenkins had his fifth career interception and finished with five tackles.
The two teams exchanged touchdowns in the quarter as Montana led 20-14 after the first. After Montana scored on its opening drive, ISU tied the game at seven when Campbell caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Gueller.
After another Montana touchdown, the Bengals marched 77 yards on eight plays and scored when Williams caught his first touchdown pass of the day, a seven-yard reception from Gueller.
The Griz scored a touchdown with 1:52 left in the first and the Bengals followed with a 41-yard field goal by
Zak Johnson with 14:30 left in the second. Montana went up 27-17 and the Bengals countered with two straight touchdowns to take a 31-27 lead with 4:37 left in the first half. The first touchdown came on a six-yard reception by Williams with 7:45 to play in the half. Dean then scored a on a three-yard run with 4:37 remaining.
Montana scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes to take a 41-31 lead at the break.
The Bengals played without
Tanner Gueller in the second-half due to injury.
Trae Pilster stepped in and threw for 143 yards and one touchdown while completing six passes on 10 attempts.
Tom Jewell competed three passes for 13 yards.
After a scoreless third quarter, Montana scored 21 fourth quarter points and the Bengals had 13. Pilster connected with Graves on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 8:35 left in the game and
James Madison scored his first career touchdown with three minutes left in the game.
Idaho State returns to the field for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff at Eastern Washington on Saturday, Nov. 12. The Bengals then close out the 2016 season at home vs. Weber State on Nov. 19.
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Notes
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Austin Campbell scored his first career touchdown on a three-yard reception in the first quarter. He had his first career carry in the third quarter.
- 14 first quarter points most scored in a game since Eastern Washington at home on Oct. 17, 2015.
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Mario Jenkins now has five career interceptions with his second quarter pick.
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Mitch Gueller career-high 100 receiving yards.
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Pat Carter returned his first career kickoff early in the second quarter. It was a 23-yard return.
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Hayden Stout had his first career reception on the fake punt in the second quarter.
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Michael Dean's 55 yard run was his third run of 50 yards or more this season.
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Tanner Gueller had a career-long run of 52 yards in the first half.
- 31 first half points most scored against a Division I team since scoring 35 vs. Southern Utah on Oct. 18, 2014.
- ISU's first punt of game with 9:30 left in third quarter by
Sean Cheney.
- This is the fourth time this season a Bengal receiver has had over 100 receiving yards.
KW Williams had 101 yards at Portland State and 121 vs. Simon Fraser.
Josh Cook had 118 vs. Sacramento State.
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Trae Pilster had his first career touchdown pass and he threw for 143 yards in the second half. Â
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Hagen Graves had his second touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter.
- 520 total yards was the second-most of the season. The Bengals had 543 vs. Simon Fraser.
Mike Kramer Post Game Quotes
"It was a hell of a fight until our quarterback got knocked out on a late hit. That is what happened. Our backup came in and we lost an important part of what we were about. Hopefully Tanner will get better. He showed tonight the development he is making. I thought the offensive staff called a great ball game. We showed our coverage limitations a little bit because we are a little young at corner. Those guys did nothing but learn on almost every single play tonight. There will be a lot of great carry over for us in years to come because of today's effort."
"Montana is really good. They pressure you and play up close and personal and not give you anything short. You have to go over the top. We got into a nice rhythm and Tanner made some good plays. We showed some good mix of run and pass and offensively we played with three freshmen and two sophomores in our front and I am real proud of that."
"Our guys were so excited to play here. It is an honor to play in this tradition. It is a tradition that no one else in the conference has come close to building. It is fun and so exciting for us to play and give it our best shot."
"I have a long carry, I wouldn't say it is a storied career but this is the most points we have scored in this building, ever and I have been in here with a lot of really good football players. But 44 points on the Grizzlies is something to behold and we earned them all. The offense ground away and did a great job. My hats off to our entire offensive staff. Every one of those guys did an outstanding job, led by
Matt Troxel who came back to his alma mater and coached his ears off. He did a great job with our quarterback. Tanner was having the game we have been waiting for him to have. Then he got failed by a penalty hit that knocked him out of the game and probably out of next week. It was nice to see
Trae Pilster. The second greatest mistake I have made in my coaching career at Idaho State was moving
Trae Pilster from quarterback to wide receiver. I have apologized to him profusely."
"It was a great effort by our guys and the University of Montana. Montana plays awesome at home. There three losses are on the road to good teams in the conference. But they don't lose at home in conference."
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