Montana State defeats Montana 16-7

• DeNarius McGhee

AP Photo Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee, left, tries to get rid of the ball while in the grasp of Montana defensive end Josh Harris on Saturday in Missoula, Mont.

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MISSOULA, Mont. — Denarius McGhee threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Kruiz Siewing, Rory Perez made three field goals and Montana State beat Montana 16-7 on Saturday for a share of the Big Sky Conference title.

McGhee was 26 of 47 for 247 yards for the Bobcats (10-1, 7-1) in front of a record crowd of 26,210 fans at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Montana State tied for the conference title with Eastern Washington, a 41-34 winner at Portland State, and the winner of the Cal Poly-Northern Arizona game later Saturday.

Perez gave Montana State a 13-7 lead with a 38-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, and completed the scoring with a 22-yarder with 2:32 left in the game.

Montana State took a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter on McGhee’s 16-yard scoring pass to Siewing. The Bobcats opened the scoring on Perez’s 42-yard field goal, and Montana (5-6, 3-5) made it 7-3 on Peter Nguyen’s 47-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.

McGee also had 10 carries for 46, Cody Kirk led the Bobcats in rushing with 55 yards on 22 carries, and Brian Flotkoetter had seven catches for 84 yards.

Nguyen ran for 112 yards on 13 carries, and Shay Smithwick-Hann was 24 of 43 for 190 yards.

Montana State won for only the third time in Missoula since 1986.

Montana St. 3 7 3 3 — 16

Montana 7 0 0 0 — 7

First quarter

MSU–FG Perez 42, 5:22.

UM–Nguyen 47 run (Lider kick), 2:04.

Second quarter

MSU–Kr.Siewing 16 pass from McGhee (Perez kick), 7:54.

Third quarter

MSU–FG Perez 38, 6:51.

Fourth quarter

MSU–FG Perez 22, 2:32.

A—26,210.

TEAM STATISTICS MSU UM

First downs 20 18

Rushes-yards 36-107 38-168

Passing 247 190

Comp-Att-Int 26-48-1 24-44-0

Return Yards (-3) 15

Punts-Avg. 9-43.3 8-37.1

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 8-40 4-45

Time of Possession 32:01 27:59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Montana St., Kirk 22-55, McGhee 10-46, Robinson 1-5, O.Davis 2-1, Team 1-0. Montana, Nguyen 13-112, Canada 12-36, Counts 1-12, Moore 2-7, Smithwick-Hann 9-1, Team 1-0.

PASSING: Montana St., McGhee 26-47-1-247, Team 0-1-0-0. Montana, Smithwick-Hann 24-43-0-190, Hardy 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING: Montana St., Flotkoetter 7-84, Ellis 4-49, Kr.Siewing 4-41, T.Bleskin 4-29, Kirk 3-28, Gilbert 2-7, Robinson 1-11, O.Davis 1-(minus 2). Montana, Hardy 4-74, Kemp 4-40, Henderson 3-16, Carver 3-14, S.Gratton 2-14, Warren 2-7, Moore 1-12, Canada 1-9, Counts 1-6, Saylor 1-4, Nguyen 1-(minus 3), Poehls 1-(minus 3).

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