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Montana
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Late Field Goal Lifts Cal Poly to 20-19 Victory Over No. 12 Montana
9/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
MISSOULA, Mont. – Redshirt freshman Alex Vega kicked a 49-yard field goal with four seconds remaining as Cal Poly defeated No. 12 Montana 20-19 in a season-opening football game Saturday night before 26,065 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Trailing by two points, Cal Poly held Montana on downs with 1:17 to play and drove from its own 32-yard line to Montana's 32 before seventh-year head coach Tim Walsh sent Vega in to kick the game winner.
Senior quarterback Chris Brown earned his eighth career 100-yard game, rushing for 130 yards on 24 carries. He scored once on a 60-yard run late in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7.
Sophomore fullback Joe Protheroe added 112 yards on 29 trips as Cal Poly amassed 330 yards on the ground.
Brown completed four of 12 passes for 56 yards, including a 36-yard scoring toss to Roland Jackson Jr. with 4:52 left in the second quarter, tying the game at 14-14. The 82-yard drive included a 28-yard run by Brown.
Senior Stephen Pyle kicked a career-long 48-yard field goal with 7:56 to go in the third quarter for a 17-14 Mustang advantage, but Montana tied the game again on a 24-yard field goal by Daniel Sullivan with 8:52 to go in the game.
Montana took a 19-17 lead with 3:43 to play when Brown was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.
The Grizzlies were held on downs twice, setting the stage for Vega's game-winning kick. Vega's longest field goal at Gilroy High School was 37 yards.
Junior safety B.J. Nard, playing his first foofball game since 2011, intercepted three passes, the 10th Mustang in school history to do so. Last player to do it was Kiko Griffin in 1996.
Montana quarterback Brady Gustafson completed 40 of 64 passes for 353 yards and one touchdown, a six-yard pass to Ellis Henderson 20 seconds before halftime. Gustafson also ran one yard for another score in the first period.
Chase Naccarato caught 10 passes for 81 yards and Jamaal Jones added nine receptions for 86 yards.
Montana, which ran off 92 plays in a 38-35 win over four-time defending national champion North Dakota State a week earlier, added 92 more plays against Cal Poly, accumulating 459 total yards.
Cal Poly gained 386 yards on 89 plays, including 330 yards on 76 rushes. The Mustangs had the ball on offense for 35 minutes, 38 seconds, while Montana held the pigskin for 24:22.
In addition to Nard, Cal Poly's defensive leaders were middle linebacker Tu'uta Inoke with 16 tackles and cornerback Chris Fletcher with 10. Defensive end Logan Mayes added a sack and outside linebacker Joseph Gigantino III recovered a Montana fumble.
Cal Poly, now 11-11 in season openers since moving to Division I in 1994 (head coach Tim Walsh is 5-2 in opening games), plays its second game of the 2015 season next Saturday at Arizona State. The Sun Devils, ranked 15th in the preseason poll, lost 38-17 at Texas A&M on Saturday.
Team Stats
CP 0, UM 7
UM - Brady Gustafson 1 yd run (Daniel Sullivan kick), 9 plays, 81 yards, TOP 2:25
CP 7, UM 7
CP - Chris Brown 60 yd run (Stephen Pyle kick), 1 plays, 60 yards, TOP 0:09
CP 14, UM 7
CP - Roland Jackson 36 yd pass from Chris Brown (Stephen Pyle kick) 5 plays, 82 yards, TOP 1:30
CP 14, UM 14
UM - Ellis Henderson 6 yd pass from Brady Gustafson (Daniel Sullivan kick) 12 plays, 84 yards, TOP 1:24
CP 17, UM 14
CP - Stephen Pyle 48 yd field goal 17 plays, 42 yards, TOP 6:58
CP 17, UM 17
UM - Daniel Sullivan 24 yd field goal 8 plays, 59 yards, TOP 2:09
CP 17, UM 19
UM - D. Crittenden -2 yd safety
CP 20, UM 19
CP - Alex Vega 49 yd field goal 11 plays, 36 yards, TOP 1:13
