Montana State Throws a Scare Into Wyoming

Wyoming had Montana State on the field, but had No. 15 Georgia clearly on the mind.

Marques Brigham ran for a career-high 151 yards and Wyoming survived a fourth-quarter scare Saturday, holding on for a 17-9 victory over Division I-AA Montana State at Wyoming.

“I shouldn’t say this, but we know what the game plan is for Georgia,” Wyoming quarterback Jay Stoner said. “The first couple days of [practice], we worked on Georgia. We know what we’re going to do. We know what they’re going to do.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game in Athens, Ga., nearly came back to haunt the Cowboys (1-0) as they were forced to hold Montana State on four straight plays with the Bobcats (1-1) driving in the final minutes.

Wyoming Coach Dana Dimel made no secret of his preparation for Georgia, platooning his two sophomore quarterbacks, Stoner and Matt Swanson, and relying on a basic rushing attack.

Montana State made the most of Wyoming’s game plan and trailed, 17-9, after quarterback Rob Compson scored on a one-yard keeper to cap an 80-yard drive with 5:39 remaining.

The two-point conversion attempt failed, but Montana State forced Wyoming to punt and drove to the Cowboys’ 43 before Compson threw three incomplete passes and was stopped as he tried to scramble. Wyoming ran out the clock.

In other nonconference games involving Big Sky teams:

Southern Utah 45, Montana 35--Brook Madsen sacrificed his body in Southern Utah’s upset.

He rushed for 145 yards and four touchdowns, but broke his arm diving into the end zone after a 35-yard run with 3:08 remaining that sealed the victory for the Thunderbirds in their opener.

Sophomore quarterback Matt Cannon rushed 34 times for 209 yards and another score as Southern Utah handed Montana (1-1) only its second home loss in four years.

Montana quarterback Brian Ah Yat threw for 423 yards and four touchdowns, including three to Justin Olsen. But he also threw three interceptions, his last coming midway through the fourth quarter at the Southern Utah 35, with the Grizzlies trailing, 31-28.

Weber State 41, Humboldt State 12--Morgan Welch scored four touchdowns and rushed 24 times for 145 yards to lead the Wildcats (2-0) at Weber State. Humboldt State is 0-2.

Northern Arizona 38, Southwest Texas State 16--Francis St. Paul caught three touchdown passes and the Lumberjacks (2-0) overcame a 13-10 halftime deficit at Northern Arizona. Southwest Texas State is 1-1.