McDowell, FCS No. 10 Montana beat No. 3 Idaho 23-21

1:06

A 76-yard pitch-and-catch for Montana TD

Clifton McDowell finds Junior Bergen for a 76-yard house call and Montana goes up 10-0.

Oct 15, 2023, 07:15 am

MOSCOW, Idaho -- — Clifton McDowell threw a touchdown pass and ran for a TD, Grant Glasgow kicked three field goals and Montana held on to beat Idaho 23-21 Saturday night in a battle of two of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.

McDowell completed 11 of 18 passes for 116 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown to Junior Bergen in the first quarter, and scored on an 8-yard run in the second quarter that gave Montana (6-1, 3-1 Big Sky Conference), ranked No. 10 in the FCS coaches poll, a 17-0 lead. Glasgow, who made a 44-yard field goal to open the scoring, hit a 46-yarder with 2:12 left in the half but the Vandals answered with an 11-yard TD run by Anthony Woods that made it 20-7 at intermission.

Glasgow made another 44-yard field goal early in the fourth to make it a 16-point lead but Gevani McCoy threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Hatten and the duo connected again for the 2-point conversion that made it 23-15 with 5:48 to play. The Grizzlies went three-and-out, McCoy again found Hatten, this time for a 23-yard TD, but the 2-point conversion failed and No. 3 Idaho (5-2, 3-1) trailed 23-21 with 1:47 remaining.

The Vandals recovered the ensuing onside kick, but an offsides penalty forced a re-kick, which was recovered by Montana. Idaho got a fourth-down stop and regained possession at their own 34 with 42 seconds left but McCoy — who was sacked six times and threw two interceptions — was pressured into a fumble that sealed it.

McCoy finished 26-of-37 passing for 336 yards and Hatten had 11 receptions for 139 yards.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll