By AUSTIN SMITH
The Montana Grizzlies suffered their third home loss Saturday, a season-ending 16-7 struggle against their conference rival the Montana State Bobcats.
Hopes ran high for a record Washington-Grizzly Stadium crowd of 26,210, but freshman kicker Chris Lider’s missed field goal early in the first quarter placed the proverbial writing on the wall for Montana. The Bobcats pulled first blood on a 42-yard field goal, but Griz running back Peter Nguyen quickly answered back with a 47-yard touchdown dash.
Nguyen logged a total of 112 yards in his final game for the Grizzlies, the sixth game this season he has broken the 100-yard mark.
Plagued by penalties and ultimately giving up a touchdown pass, the Griz headed into halftime down 10-7 and came back to an equally unproductive third quarter. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Shay Smithwick-Hann completed only 24 of 43 attempted passes on the day, overthrowing several sideline routes in the second half but still managing to secure 190 total yards for the contest.
Midway through the third quarter the ‘Cats booted in another field goal to put the Griz down 13-7, and capped off scoring for the day by splitting the uprights yet again with approximately 2 minutes left in regulation.
Contrary to the offense’s poor showing, junior linebacker Brock Coyle and the Griz defense had a statistically impressive day. Coyle smashed in a career-high of 19 total tackles, and, with help from Jordan Tripp’s 13 takedowns, held the Bobcats to only 107 rushing yards.
Lacking a 2012 playoff berth, the hometown Griz will turn their attention to next season’s 12-game schedule, opening with an August 31st contest against the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
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Austin Smith is a 21-year resident of the Missoula area, and an ardent fisherman, hunter, and snowboarder. When not working on the University of Montana campus, taking classes in the Journalism program, or contributing to the social media efforts of several local organizations, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his Akita and his family.