No. 4 Montana rolls No. 7 Sacramento State in Big Sky Conference battle of top-10 teams

The Montana Grizzlies emphatically ended their three-game losing streak against Sacramento State, delivering a dominant effort on Saturday night in the chill of Missoula.

The No. 4 Grizzlies rolled the No. 7 Hornets 34-7 to remain in contention for the program’s 19th Big Sky Conference championship with two games to play in the regular season.

Montana won its eighth consecutive night game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium as Bobby Hauck became the winningest coach in Big Sky history with 124.

After the game, Hauck embraced Hornets first-year coach Andy Thompson, who played in 44 games over five seasons as a Grizzlies player, including a season under Hauck in 2003. Hauck then told ESPN+ he was appreciative of the moment and his players, past and present. When asked about this game, the coach said, “We smoked ’em! It was fun.”

Sacramento State fell to 1-13 all-time at Montana and 0-3 this season in top-10 showdowns, losing previously to No. 3 Idaho and No. 6 Montana State. The Hornets are 6-3 overall and 3-3 in conference.

“They played well on offense, defense and special teams,” Thompson told media after the game. “Give them credit. They’re a good football team. They’re 8-1 for a reason. They made more plays than us for sure.”

The coach added: “We’ll bounce back. We’ve bounced back all year.”

Clifton McDowell passed for 218 yards and two touchdowns for Montana (8-1, 5-1 Big Sky). , Eli Gillman rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown. Nick Ostmo rushed for 68 yards and a score.

The Grizzlies had 547 yards of offense while the normally prolific Hornets were held to a season-low 268 yards and a season-low point total.

Sacramento State was led by Marcus Fulcher, who rushed for 87 yards on 11 carries with a 1-yard touchdown on the team’s first drive. It was all Montana after that. Kaiden Bennett and Carson Conklin were a combined 15-of-39 passing for 119 yards for the Hornets, who have lost two of their last three games after starting 5-1.

Sacramento State hosts Cal Poly on Nov. 11 and visits UC Davis on Nov. 18 in the Causeway Classic. The Hornets entered the season as three-time defending Big Sky champions. Now, they aim to earn a fourth consecutive playoff berth, but going 0-2 from here would likely end those hopes.