Wildcats pick up 25-17 road win at Montana State

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Weber State used a big third quarter and strong late game defense to defeat Montana State 25-17 on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman.

The win moves the 18th-ranked Wildcats to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in Big Sky play. It's the first time WSU has started the season 4-1 since 2003. It was also Weber State's first win in Bozeman since 2008.

"It was a back-and-forth game but we were able to contain them and find a way to win," said WSU head coach Jay Hill. "We had a couple of things going against us and a downpour in the second half but they kept battling. Our defense came up with some big stops when they needed to and we converted on offense when we needed to."

Wildcats win!!! 18th-ranked Weber State moves to 4-1 and 2-0 in #BigSkyFB play with a win at Montana State. #WeAreWeber pic.twitter.com/J4TR4qPayI
— Weber State Football (@weberstatefb) September 30, 2017

The two teams traded field goals in the first quarter, then WSU converted on two more field goals in the second quarter and led 9-3, before a 64-yard touchdown in the final minute of the half game Montana State a 10-9 lead at halftime, the first time WSU had trailed at halftime this season.

It was a big third quarter for Weber State as the 'Cats scored 13 unanswered points in the third quarter to extend the lead to 22-10. After MSU came back with a 25-yard touchdown, Trey Tuttle connected on his fourth field goal to make to take the eight point lead with 2:29 to play. Weber State stopped Montana State on its final possession to seal the win.

Weber State had 23 first downs and totaled 369 yards of offense, compared to 363 yards and 15 first downs for the Bobcats. WSU was 9-of-16 on third-down conversions and held MSU to 4-of-12 on third downs. The Wildcats dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for 40:01.

Senior Stefan Cantwell was 20-of-30 passing for 206 yards and rushed the ball 14 times for 49 yards and one touchdown. Treshawn Garrett led the ground game with 14 carries for 54 yards and freshman David Jones had five carries for 36 yards.

Senior tight end Andrew Vollert had five receptions for 48 yards and Garrett had three for 33. Drew Batchelor had three catches for 22 yards and became the 25th player in Weber State history to record 100 career receptions.

Defensively, the Wildcats had seven tackles for loss and four pass breakups. Trey Hoskins led the way with five tackles and Keilan Benjamin had three pass breakups.

Tuttle connected on a career-high four field goals, knocking down field goals of 28, 21, 31 and 24 yards to improve to 10-of-10 on field goals this season. The four field goals is tied for the second-most in a game in Weber State history.

Weber State has a bye week next week before its next game on October 14 against Southern Utah at Stewart Stadium.

.@CoachJayHill after the win in the @UtahEyeCenters Coach's Corner. #WeAreWeber ?? pic.twitter.com/06QXsOlCry
— Weber State Football (@weberstatefb) September 30, 2017

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Drew Batchelor

Keilan Benjamin

Stefan Cantwell

Treshawn Garrett

Trey Hoskins

Dave Jones

Trey Tuttle

Andrew Vollert