Burke’s bomb

Nobody could have predicted that Ryan Burke would throw the first touchdown pass of the year for the Grizzlies. But it was Burke’s 26-yard throw to Josh Janssen on a wide receiver reverse that gave UM a second-quarter lead over Wyoming.

Burke, a sophomore wideout from Billings Central, took a pitch from Travon Van, scampered right, set his feet, scanned downfield and threw a perfectly placed ball to Janssen, a freshman from Missoula Loyola, who made a tough catch between two defenders inside the sideline boundary of the end zone.

“I kind of bobbled the ball a little bit,” Burke said Monday. “I saw Josh had a step, and I just kind of threw it and tried to put it in the back corner. I went back to the old days of playing quarterback. He made a great catch.”

Burke threw 18 touchdown passes as the quarterback at Central in 2011, but was recruited to UM to play receiver. Burke had two catches for 11 yards on Saturday, but his TD pass to Janssen marked the first time he touched the ball on offense in his young career. It was also Janssen’s first catch.