Completed Event: Football at Montana on December 6, 2025 , Loss , 29, to, 50
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FINAL
Football
29
at Montana
50
South Dakota State University Athletics
Saturday, November 28
Missoula, Mont.
noon MT/1 p.m. CT
South Dakota State University
8-4
48
at
61
Montana
12-0
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota State | 14 | 20 | 14 | 0 | 48 |
| Montana | 0 | 14 | 13 | 34 | 61 |
Montana rallies past Jacks in playoff thriller
11/28/2009 7:00:00 PM | Football
MISSOULA, Mont. — Top-seeded Montana scored the final 40 points of the game, including five touchdowns in the fourth quarter, to post a wild 61-48 victory over South Dakota State in an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision first-round playoff game Saturday afternoon at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Grizzlies improved to 12-0 on the season, while South Dakota State ended its inaugural run in the FCS Playoffs with an 8-4 overall record. Montana will host Stephen F. Austin (Texas) in second-round action. SFA turned in a 44-33 home victory over Eastern Washington on Saturday.
The Jackrabbits took an early lead with a pair of touchdowns 55 seconds apart in the first quarter. SDSU marched 67 yards on seven plays for the opening score as Thomas O'Brien looped a pass over the Montana defense to tight end Colin Cochart from seven yards out. A 43-yard screen pass from O'Brien to Mike Steffen gave the Jackrabbits the ball deep in Grizzly territory.
SDSU forced the first of four Montana turnovers in the first half on the ensuing drive as nose tackle Ross Basham stripped Chase Reynolds of the ball and Isaiah Jackson recovered at the Grizzly 11. Two plays later, O'Brien connected with Cochart on a tight end screen for an eight-yard touchdown and a 14-0 Jackrabbit lead.
The Jackrabbits built the lead to 17-0 on a 34-yard field goal by Kyle Harris with 12 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Harris' field goal capped a 14-play, 61-yard drive that consumed six and a half minutes.
Meanwhile, Montana was sputtering offensively against a Jackrabbit defense ranked first in the FCS ranks in pass efficiency defense and fifth in scoring defense. The first six Grizzly drives of the game ended in four punts, a fumble and an interception.
The Grizzlies ratcheted up the pressure defensively in the second quarter to get back into the game. Montana's Severin Campbell picked off an O'Brien pass and returned it to the SDSU 18. Three plays later, Reynolds scored from a yard out at the 7:14 mark of the second quarter.
Montana made it two touchdowns in 27 seconds. O'Brien was stripped of the ball just before he attempted a third-down pass and the Grizzlies recovered at the SDSU 25. The Grizzlies needed only one play to pull to within 17-14.
However, the Jackrabbits were able to weather the storm, putting up the final 17 points of the first half.
Cole Brodie set up SDSU near midfield with a 39-yard kickoff return and the Jackrabbits put together a six-play, 53-yard scoring drive capped by O'Brien's third touchdown pass of the game to Cochart, a five-yard strike in the corner of the end zone.
An opportunistic Jackrabbit defense forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions. First, Conrad Kjerstad intercepted a pass and returned the ball to the Montana 2. Two plays, later Kyle Minett found paydirt from a yard out.
Then, Antonio Thompson sacked and stripped Grizzly quarterback Andrew Selle, falling on the loose ball at the Montana 25. Harris later connected from 39 yards out for his second field goal of the game to make the score 34-14 heading into halftime.
SDSU made it 24 unanswered points with a big play on special teams early in the third quarter. Ross Shafrath broke through the line to block the punt inside the Montana 10-yard line and Corey Jeske fell on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown and a 41-14 Jackrabbit lead following another PAT by Harris.
The Grizzlies put together a 12-play, 62-yard drive on its next possession with Thomas Brooks-Fletcher ending the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Once again, SDSU had an answer. O'Brien went up top on a post route down the center of the field to Glen Fox on the first play of the drive for 61 yards to the Montana 4. Two plays later, Minett again scored from a yard out.
Montana came up with a big special teams play of its own as Marc Mariani fielded the ensuing kickoff at the 2 and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown. However, the extra-point attempt glanced off the upright to keep the score at 48-27.
The Grizzlies mounted another charge by scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter. On third down, Selle found Mariani in the right corner of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown.
The momentum further shifted in Montana's favor as the Grizzly defense rose to the occasion. The Jackrabbits were forced to punt on their next three possessions, while the Grizzlies continued to move the ball against SDSU.
Chase Reynolds scored on a pair of 1-yard runs to tie the game at 48-all, the last coming with 4:11 to play in the game.
After another three-and-out, Montana took over at the SDSU 41 with 2:42 remaining. The Grizzlies moved the ball to the 21 before a pass interference penalty in the end zone gave Montana the ball at the SDSU 6. Two plays later, Selle hit Mariani from four yards out for the go-ahead score with 1:08 to play.
Mariani finished the game with 389 all-purpose yards, collecting 12 receptions for 171 yards, 178 yards on kickoff returns and another 40 yards on punt returns.
SDSU moved the ball to its own 43 on its attempt to tie the game, but O'Brien's pass on the second play of the drive was batted at the line of scrimmage into the waiting arms of Campbell, who returned the ball 32 yards for a touchdown that provided the winning margin.
Montana tallied 391 yards of total offense with 351 coming through the air. Selle ended the game 27-of-43 for 309 yards, with Justin Roper completing 6-of-12 passes for 42 yards in a brief relief stint.
Reynolds, a Walter Payton Award candidate was limited to 35 yards on 14 carries, but scored three times.
For SDSU, Minett led the offense with 131 yards on 35 carries. O'Brien completed 14-of-27 passes for 198 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Mike Steffen led the receiving corps with five catches for 90 yards.
Defensively, Brodie matched a career high with 12 tackles. Derek Domino added 10 stops.
Shann Schillinger led all players with 14 tackles for Montana. Erik Stoll added 11 tackles.
NOTES: Montana improved to 7-0 all-time against the Jackrabbits ... Minett posted the 14th 100-yard game of his career and seventh this season ... Minett topped the 3,000-yard mark for his career, moving into fourth place on the SDSU career rushing charts with 3,069 yards as he moved past both Cory Koenig (2,990 yards from 2004-07) and Les Tuma (3,018 yards from 1970-73) ... Minett's 1,304 yards this season were the sixth most by a Jackrabbit player ... Fox ended his career tied for third with former teammate JaRon Harris (2005-08) on the SDSU career receptions chart with 152 ... Fox also took over sixth place in career receiving yards with 1,832, passing both Mike Ethier (1,816 yards from 1981-83) and Mike Myers (1,818 yards from 1990-93) ... SDSU's blocked punt return for touchdown was the Jackrabbits' first in any game since 1993 and first on the road since 1986 ... the Jackrabbits' Skyler Luxa also blocked an extra-point attempt late in the fourth quarter ... Kjerstad notched his fifth interception of the season to tie for the team lead, upping his career total to 10 ... the 109 combined points by the two teams set an SDSU record, surpassing the 102 points scored in a 60-42 Jackrabbit victory at Mankato State (Minn.) in 1993 ... attendance was announced at 19,197
Team Stats
SDSU
UM
Total Yards
324
390
Pass Yards
198
351
Rushing Yards
126
39
Penalty Yards
75
97
1st Downs
19
23
3rd Downs
1
6
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
34:25
25:35
1st Quarter
SDSU 7, UM 0
SDSU - Colin Cochart 7 yd pass from Thomas O'Brien (Kyle Harris kick) 7 plays, 67 yards, TOP 3:17
SDSU 14, UM 0
SDSU - Colin Cochart 8 yd pass from Thomas O'Brien (Kyle Harris kick) 2 plays, 11 yards, TOP 0:41
2nd Quarter
SDSU 17, UM 0
SDSU - Kyle Harris 34 yd field goal 14 plays, 61 yards, TOP 6:31
SDSU 17, UM 7
UM - Chase Reynolds 1 yd run (Brody McKnight kick), 3 plays, 18 yards, TOP 0:57
SDSU 17, UM 14
UM - Tyler Palmer 25 yd pass from Andrew Selle (Brody McKnight kick) 1 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:06
SDSU 24, UM 14
SDSU - Colin Cochart 5 yd pass from Thomas O'Brien (Kyle Harris kick) 6 plays, 53 yards, TOP 2:37
SDSU 31, UM 14
SDSU - Kyle Minett 1 yd run (Kyle Harris kick), 2 plays, 2 yards, TOP 0:36
SDSU 34, UM 14
SDSU - Kyle Harris 39 yd field goal 4 plays, 3 yards, TOP 1:04
3rd Quarter
SDSU 41, UM 14
SDSU - Corey Jeske 0 yd blocked punt return (Kyle Harris kick)
SDSU 41, UM 21
UM - Brooks-Fletcher 2 yd run (Brody McKnight kick), 12 plays, 62 yards, TOP 4:23
SDSU 48, UM 21
SDSU - Kyle Minett 1 yd run (Kyle Harris kick), 3 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:01
SDSU 48, UM 27
UM - Marc Mariani 98 yd kickoff return (Brody McKnight kickfailed)
4th Quarter
SDSU 48, UM 34
UM - Marc Mariani 15 yd pass from Andrew Selle (Brody McKnight kick) 11 plays, 79 yards, TOP 3:05
SDSU 48, UM 41
UM - Chase Reynolds 1 yd run (Brody McKnight kick), 8 plays, 66 yards, TOP 2:15
SDSU 48, UM 48
UM - Chase Reynolds 1 yd run (Brody McKnight kick), 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 1:19
SDSU 48, UM 55
UM - Marc Mariani 4 yd pass from Andrew Selle (Brody McKnight kick) 5 plays, 41 yards, TOP 1:34
SDSU 48, UM 61
UM - Sev. Campbell 32 yd interception (Brody McKnight kickblocked)
Game Leaders
CMP
14
TD
3
YDS
198
INT
3
Players Mentioned
DL
/ Football
DB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
SP
/ Men's Track and Field
PK
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
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LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DL
/ FootballDan Jackson Postgame Comments at Montana (12.06.2025)
Saturday, December 06
Football Highlights at Montana (12.06.2025)
Saturday, December 06
Gameday Eve - Montana (12.05.2025)
Thursday, December 04
Dan Jackson Weekly Press Conference (12.02.2025)
Tuesday, December 02