Mark D. Robertson

MISSOULA – Montana's defense must have listened to some Olivia Newton-John during practice this past week, because the Grizzlies got physical with visiting Sacramento State on their way to a 31-13 Big Sky Conference win Saturday.

The Grizzlies' D didn't allow a Hornet touchdown until 32 seconds before the final horn. It was a far cry from last week's performance when coach Mick Delaney's defense allowed 42 points in a loss at Cal Poly.

Pair that with a two-touchdown, 109-yard rushing performance from Jordan Canada, and the Griz were as smash-mouth as college football teams come.

"We really talked a lot this week about getting back to the basics and just doing what the Griz do, and that is play physical, fast, hard football," Delaney said.

It must have stuck.

The only other defense to hold the Hornets under 24 points this season is California.

"After last week, we didn't have an option," linebacker Kendrick Van Ackeren explained. "We were not as physical as we had to be last week. And we had to come back this week and show that we are a physical team."

The Griz may have been hard-hitting from the outset, but Sacramento State's game-opening possession didn't lend hints toward the dominant performance that would later come.

The Hornets, normally known as a quick-strike passing team, organized a 15-play, 65-yard drive that ended in Brad Cornish's 27-yard field goal. The Grizzlies didn't touch the football until nearly six and a half minutes into the game.

Hornets quarterback Garrett Safron, who lit the Grizzlies up for 412 yards through the air last year, was under pressure all day.

"Our defense harassed him," Delaney said. "I told them before the game, I said, 'I want you to make this the most miserable day of his entire career.' And I think we did that a little bit today. … We chased him around. We harassed him. We got him off his spot."

When Safron was able to get a pass off, there was often a Montana defender there to bat it away.

"Today we proved that we haven't missed a step," said Montana cornerback Josh Dennard, who had three deflections of his own. "This is what we can do. We've been covering, and we're going to continue to cover as a DB crew and a secondary."

Once Montana finally did get the ball, the Grizzly offense ran like a hot knife through butter. Quarterback Jordan Johnson broke a 42-yard run deep into Sacramento State territory and, two plays later, Johnson hit Josh Janssen for a completion down to the 2-yard line.

Canada finished it off with a 1-yard plunge as the Grizzlies took a lead they would never relinquish.

Sac State responded moving the ball again, but Van Ackeren intercepted a tipped ball and scampered 59-yards to set UM up with great field position.

"That's the longest I think I've run in six years," the linebacker laughed. "To be honest, the last time I ran that long in a football game on one play was in high school."

Johnson and the Grizzly offense went right back to it. The Grizzlies pushed the ball into the red zone before the drive stalled. It ended with Daniel Sullivan's 29-yard field goal.

After a three-and-out from Sacramento State, John Nguyen's punt return set Montana up at the 50-yard line with good field position again. Johnson completed first-down passes to Jamaal Jones and Janssen before Travon Van's 7-yard run capped off the drive with a touchdown.

The Hornets got another field goal from Cornish, this one a 21-yarder, just before halftime to make the intermission score 17-6 Montana.

It was all Griz out of halftime, though. Canada ripped off a 68-yard touchdown run and Johnson found tight end Mitch Saylor for another score to put the game out of reach.

The defense remained a bastion made of run-stuffing tackles and blanket-like coverage that bottlenecked Safron at the Sacramento State attack. The Hornets were just 4-for-15 on third down Saturday.

"To take a team like that to be 4-for-(15), that's great defense," Delaney said. "… We tackled very well today."

Safron and the Hornets (4-5, 1-4 Big Sky Conference) finally found the end zone with 32 seconds remaining in the game, but it was all Montana.

The Grizzlies' offensive unit didn't punt until the 12:52 mark in the fourth quarter.

"We would make some stops on first and second, and they would just make plays on third down," Sacramento State safety Robbie Kendall said. "… They would just make plays and we didn't."

Van Ackeren led the Griz defense with nine tackles and the interception. Star defensive end Zack Wagenmann picked up his 10th sack of the season.

The Griz (6-3, 4-1) hope to stay on the winning track next week as they travel to No. 6-ranked Eastern Washington, which blew out North Dakota Saturday.

Sacramento St. 3 3 0 7 — 13 Montana 7 10 14 0 — 31

First Quarter

Sac—FG Cornish 27, 8:36.

Mont—Canada 1 run (Sullivan kick), 4:14.

Second Quarter

Mont—FG Sullivan 29, 11:54.

Mont—Van 7 run (Sullivan kick), 6:07.

Sac—FG Cornish 21, :33.

Third Quarter

Mont—Canada 68 run (Sullivan kick), 14:17.

Mont—Saylor 14 pass from J.Johnson (Sullivan kick), 3:06.

Fourth Quarter

Sac—Safron 1 run (Cornish kick), :32.

A—24,035.

Sac Mont First downs 21 15 Rushes-yards 30-94 30-196 Passing 262 143 Comp-Att-Int 27-48-1 13-22-0 Return Yards 0 97 Punts-Avg. 4-38.3 3-38.7 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 6-60 7-67 Time of Possession 34:36 25:24

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Sacramento St., Safron 13-43, J.Robinson 11-42, Warren 6-9. Montana, Canada 12-109, Van 8-42, J.Johnson 3-33, Logwood 3-9, Smithwick-Hann 1-3, Wilson 1-1, Nguyen 1-0, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING—Sacramento St., Safron 27-48-1-262. Montana, J.Johnson 13-21-0-143, Smithwick-Hann 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING—Sacramento St., Agude 8-99, Cox 6-49, J.Robinson 6-42, Carter 5-50, Broadnax 2-22. Montana, Ja.Jones 4-44, Janssen 3-50, Saylor 3-18, Haynes 2-33, Canada 1-(minus 2).