The Northern Colorado Bears (1-4) dropped their third straight game on Saturday in a 40-17 home loss to the Montana Grizzlies (3-3). Grizzlies running back Peter Nguyen tore up the ground against the Bears, rushing for 159 yards and one touchdown.
Northern Colorado couldn't do anything to stop the Grizzlies ground game. Led by Nguyen's performance, Montana totaled 294 total rushing yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Trent McKinney was the second-leading rusher with 55 yards and a touchdown. McKinney threw for a touchdown and completed 14-of-25 passes for 142 yards.
Kicker Chris Lider connected on two field goals (34 and 19 yards), but did miss one extra point. Caleb Walden intercepted a pass and returned it for an 18-yard touchdown.
That interception was one of three thrown by Grizzlies quarterback Seth Lobato, who completed 25-of-42 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown. The lone touchdown pass was a 24-yard score to Dominic Gunn with 1:32 left in the game. Gunn earlier scored on a 98-yard kick return. Dave Eden added a 24-yard field goal.
The Grizzlies avoided a three-game losing streak and will look to rejoin the top 25 on Monday, having dropped out this past week for the first time after 195 straight appearances.