Sneed throws 4 TD passes, leads Montana over Monmouth 47-27
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - A fourth-quarter flourish by Dalton Sneed, who threw for two of his four touchdown passes with the game in the balance, helped Montana beat stubborn Monmouth 47-27 on Saturday.
Sneed threw for 334 yards and Marcus Knight ran for 148 yards and another score as Montana (3-1) of the Big Sky Conference outscored the visiting Hawks (2-2) of the Big South Conference.
Critical also was a 100-yard kickoff return by the Grizzlies' Malik Flowers, answering a touchdown by Monmouth's Devell Jones at 8:21 of the second quarter. Montana had the lead for good at 14-7, and pushed it to 21-7 on a 24-yard option pass from receiver Samori Toure to tight end Colin Bingham.
The Hawks battled the Grizzlies, closing to 33-27 after a Sneed fumble. That led to a Kenji Bahar 19-yard touchdown strike to Lonnie Moore with 11:32 left in the game. Moore had 104 yards on seven catches.
Sneed's touchdown passes to Jerry Louie-McGee and Bryson Deming capped two strong fourth-quarter drives and kept the game out of reach.
"We had three efficient drives, really, until we coughed it up," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. "Dalton was really good. He did a really nice job aside from one play. He was awfully good.
"I feel like (the Hawks) feel they're a playoff-caliber football team, and they may be right. They're good, they're well-coached."
Sneed's tight ends, Deming and Bingham, each ended up with two touchdowns.
"The tight ends and Mitch Roberts (five catches, 80 yards) had good days," Hauck said. "They really caught the ball well and got good, hard yards after contact. Dalton is seeing it well, found the right guys and it was fun to see."
Bahar, Monmouth's veteran quarterback, completed 34 of 50 passes for 393 yards, including an 8-yard scoring strike to Shawn Clark just before halftime, cutting the bap to 21-14.
Montana mounted two quick scoring drives to open the third quarter, with Bingham hauling in a 9-yard scoring pass and Knight adding a 5-yard scoring run. Montana led 33-14 at the 8:07 mark.
Bahar kept the Hawks in it and had them at Montana's 7-yard line midway through the final quarter with the score 41-27. But Dareon Nash intercepted a pass for the Grizzlies, who then drove 76 yards for Deming's second score.
Montana held Monmouth running back Pete Guerriero, who was averaging 130 rushing yards a game, to 47 on 18 carrries.
"In the end we probably didn't do enough to get the win," Monmouth coach Kevin Callahan said. "We had a big plays go against us, but overall I'm proud of the way the kids played."
One big play was Flowers' return, the second-longest in UM history. The longest is 102 yards by Milt Popovich against Oregon State in 1936.
"I think especially early on it was one of the key plays," Callahan said. "Big momentum boost for them. After that we didn't want to kick it deep and as a result we were giving them positive field position."
Montana now has two special teams TD in two home games: A punt return for a touchdown by Louie-McGee sparked a 61-17 win over the Big South's North Alabama two weeks ago.
"It's hard to do, and we kind of expect our guys to do it here and there," Hauck said. "I wasn't sure they were going to kick it deep to us at all, and they did, and these guys made them pay."
THE TAKEAWAY
Monmouth: The Hawks ruled time of possession but couldn't keep pace with the host Grizzlies. Their last gasp ended with an interception near the Montana goal line midway through the fourth quarter and the score 41-27.
Montana: Special teams again provided a key spark for the Grizzlies (2-1) who broke a 7-7 tie with Malik Flower's 100-yard kickoff return. Tight ends Colin Bingham and Bryson Deming each caught two TD passes.
UP NEXT
Monmouth: The Hawks return to action Oct. 5 with a game at Wagner.
Montana: The Grizzlies open up Big Sky Conference play on the road against UC Davis on Saturday.
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25