Nov. 29, 2008

Final Stats

Montana State in PDF Format

MISSOULA, Mt. - After getting off to a strong start, the Texas State football team's 2008 season came to a bittersweet ending when the Bobcats suffered a 31-13 loss at Montana in the first round of the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs Saturday afternoon at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The Bobcats seemed to be in complete control early in the game when they took the opening kickoff and drove down the field for a 47-yard field goal by senior kicker Andrew Ireland. Then, Bradley George capped a three-play, 56-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Luke.

But, a pair of fumbles and two key defensive penalties by Texas State allowed Montana to regain the momentum. The first fumble came in the closing seconds of the first quarter with Texas State driving for another score when Karrington Bush fumbled the ball at Montana's 31-yard line.

The Grizzlies marched down the field to Texas State's five-yard line before Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist fumbled the snap and Montana turned the ball over on downs.

Montana put its first seven points on the scoreboard with 16 seconds left in the first half when Bergquist threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Marc Mariani and Buddy McKnight kicked the extra point to close Texas State's lead to 10-7 at halftime.

The Grizzlies opened the second half the same way they ended the opening half when they took the second half kickoff and drove 71 yards down the field in six plays for another touchdown when Bergquist rushed 21 yards around right end for a touchdown and McKnight kicked the extra point to give Montana a 14-7 lead.

After the Grizzlies sacked George for a 10-yard loss on a third down and five play, Montana took over at its 48-yard line following a 38-yard punt by Ben Follis.

Montana drove down the field 52 yards in eight plays for another touchdown when Chase Reynolds ran the ball into the end zone from four yards out to give the Grizzlies a 21-10 lead.

Texas State answered on its next drive when Ireland kicked a 25-yard field goal to make the score at the end of the third quarter 21-13.

After Ireland kicked the ball off, the Bobcats appeared to have stopped Montana's next drive at its 34-yard line on second down and 10, but Texas State's Adley Eshraghipour was called for a personal foul penalty when he hit Bergquist in the helmet with his helmet. Montana took over at the 50-yard line and drove down to the 47-yard line. Once again, Texas State appeared to have forced the Grizzlies to punt the ball, but Kenneth Hampton was called for a personal foul and Montana had a first down and 10 yards play at Texas State's 28 yard line to end the third quarter. The Grizzlies scored their final touchdown of the game four plays later when Reynolds ran for a one-yard touchdown.

Montana added a 37-yard field by McKnight to close out the scoring with 2:49 left to play. The Bobcats drove the ball down to the Grizzlies' five-yard line before Alvin Canady fumbled the ball with five seconds left to play. The Grizzlies ran out the clock and advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 31-13 victory.

The loss ended Texas State's season with an 8-5 overall record, but the Bobcats won their second Southland Conference in the last four years and first outright conference championship since 1982 despite being picked to finish sixth in the Southland Conference preseason polls.

Texas State Notes
Bobcat defensive back Morris Crosby intercepted the ball at the Texas State 34 yard line for an eight yard return. The interception is his fourth of the season.

Leading all tacklers was senior linebacker Courtney Smith who had 12 stops. Sophomore linebacker Marcus Clark had a total of 11 stops. Senior defensive lineman Donovan King tallied seven tackles.

Senior running back Stan Zwinggi rushed for 61 yards in nine attempts.

Luke finished the game with five receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown. He is No. 2 on both the Bobcat receiving and reception charts with 142 career receptions and 2,431 career receiving yards.

George ended the game completing 21 of his 33 passes with one interception and one touchdown pass.