Thunderbirds shock Bobcats

Saturday, November 16

Bozeman, MT

4:05 PM

Montana State University

7-4 , 5-2

SOUTHERN UTAH (MILITARY APPRECIATION)

8-3 , 5-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Southern Utah

Montana State

It was Military Appreciation Day on Saturday.

11/16/2013 7:45:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Paul Burns

Matt Holey's second interception of the game set up Aaron Cantu's clinching, fourth quarter touchdown as Southern Utah hung on for a 22-14 win over Montana State Saturday night.

For three quarters, SUU's defense stymied the Bobcats (7-4, 5-2), holding the 10th ranked team in FCS to just 38 total yards and four first downs while building a 15-0 lead. To that point, the Thunderbird scores came on a Colton Cook first quarter field goal, a Chris Robinson second quarter 5-yard run and a Cantu third quarter 1-yard run.

But early in the fourth quarter, MSU managed to put together a 12-play, 85-yard drive, ending with Chad Newell's 13-yard scamper, cutting the lead to 15-7. A stiff Bobcat defense forced the Thunderbirds (8-3, 5-2) to punt.

Two plays later, Holey stepped in front of an errant DeNarius McGhee pass leading to Cantu's second 1-yard scoring run on the evening. The score gave SUU what turned out to be an insurmountable 22-7 edge.

With just over 5 minutes to play, the Bobcats were able to trim the deficit on another long drive, this time covering 86 yards on just six plays. McGhee's 1-yard dive made it 22-14.

With 2 minutes, 47 seconds left, SUU needed a first down to put the game away. For the night, SUU had the ball for 11 more minutes than MSU, but Alex Singleton and company forced the T-Birds to punt for the seventh time and MSU had a chance to tie with 2:20 left in the game.

With no timeouts remaining, McGhee expertly guided the Bobcats down to the SUU 10-yard line, but the clock was the enemy and time ran out before MSU could take a shot at the end zone for what could have led to a tie game.

Singleton a junior linebacker had another outstanding game, finishing with 19 total tackles. Senior Brad Daly got his FCS-best 14th sack of the season as MSU held SUU to just 273 total yards.

Unable to produce much of an offensive attack themselves, the Bobcats finally clicked in the fourth quarter. After completing just four of his first nine passes for a pedestrian 4 yards, McGhee was 16 of 20 in the fourth period for 192 yards. Overall in the fourth quarter, MSU picked up 14 first downs to SUU's two, totaled 245 yards to 37 for SUU and held the ball for over nine minutes.

Hampered by a leg injury, Cody Kirk was held to a team-high 45 yards. McGhee finished 20 of 29 for 196 yards, with Brian Flotkoetter hauling in five passes for 45 yards. Tanner Bleskin led the MSU receivers with 51 yards, but it all came on a single reception.

MSU was unable to overcome Holey's two interceptions and a lost fumble while collecting no turnovers for the second straight week. Cantu completed 10 of 12 passes for 88 yards while Levi Teo led all players with 23 carries and 75 yards.

Now for the Bobcats to make the playoffs, they must defeat Montana when the Grizzlies (9-2, 5-2) come to Bozeman on Nov. 23. Meanwhile, SUU plays host to Northern Arizona (8-2, 6-1) with a playoff spot on the line for both those teams.