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Hillsboro, OR – The eighth-ranked Montana Grizzlies asserted their passing game in the second half, coming back to defeat Portland State, 38-23, at Hillsboro Stadium.
 
The Vikings, on the strength of two Montana turnovers, took a 17-14 lead to halftime. But Montana quarterback Cam Humphrey turned in a brilliant performance, throwing three second-half touchdowns.
 
Montana wiped out Portland State's perfect home record and continued its march toward the post-season, with still the potential to win a Big Sky Conference title. The Grizzles are 7-2 on the season, 4-1 in the Big Sky and will be tied for second. Portland State lost its second in a row. The Vikings are 5-5, 3-3 in the Big Sky.
 
Montana got on the scoreboard on its second offensive series of the game. The Grizzlies drove 89 yards with the bulk of it coming the ground. Running back Marcus Knight burst around the right end and went 45 yards for a touchdown.
 
The Vikings got the first big break of the game when UM punt returner Jerry Louie-McGee muffed a punt at his own nine-yard line late in the first quarter. Emmanuel Daigbe recovered the ball for Portland State. Two plays later quarterback Davis Alexander rushed in from six yards and the game was tied 7-7.
 
Portland State's defense then stepped up. A pair of Montana drives were stopped in the red zone. The first by a big sack from middle linebacker Dylan Hanley. That forced a Grizzlies field goal attempt, which was wide right. Later in the second quarter the Griz went for it on fourth-and-two just inside the 20-yard line. But PSU's David Joseph stopped Knight after only a yard.
 
Finally, Montana took the lead back with 5:22 left in the second quarter. Samori Toure caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Humphrey.
 
At that point, the Griz were up 14-7 and had more than doubled the Vikings in total offense. But PSU had a little magic before halftime.
 
First, a pair of scrambles by Alexander eventually set up Cody Williams for a 47-yard field goal with 1:42 left. The Griz tried to get points before halftime, but on a third-and-10 play, Shawn Richard sacked Humphrey, forcing the quarterback to fumble. Hanley recovered and the Vikings were in business at the Montana 40 with 52 ticks left on the first-half clock.
 
On third-and-10 for the Vikings, with 19 seconds left, Alexander threw a laser to Mataio Talalemotu in the right corner of the endzone. That sent the Vikings to the halftime locker room with a 17-14 lead.
 
Ultimately though, the Vikings were out of balance on offense all day. They were without running back Sirgeo Hoffman, who had rushed for 361 yards over the previous two games, due to leg ailments. That allowed the Grizzlies to load up on the Viking passing game and pressure Alexander all over the field. The Vikings ended up punting three times on their first three third-quarter possessions.
 
Meanwhile, Toure caught two more TD passes on the Griz' first two series of the second half. That allowed Montana to go back on top 28-17 with 7:01 left in the third quarter.
 
Just before the end of the third, PSU took advantage of good field position. Following a Montana punt, the Vikings took over at midfield. On the seventh play of the drive, Alexander hit Davis Koetter with a nine-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion failed, but PSU had pulled within 28-23.
 
Humphrey opened the fourth quarter with strike down the middle of the field to Samuel Akem. The Montana wide out won the footrace, going 76 yards for the score. With a 35-23 lead Montana was comfortable again. The Grizzlies then stopped the Vikings next drive on a fourth-down play at the UM 33, effectively putting the game away.
 
Alexander passed for 278 yards and two touchdowns. But he was intercepted twice in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies also sacked him five times.
 
On the ground, the Vikings managed only 94 yards, netting 43 due to sacks. It was their poorest rushing performance of the season.
 
"With Sirgeo out and Carlos (Martin) not 100% we lost production there that we are used to," said Viking Coach Bruce Barnum. "We have to throw it better and make different things happen and we didn't do that today.
 
"They heated up (the blitzing) a little bit more because of that and we didn't give them a reason to stop. Good job by them. They beat us with the blitz."
 
Humphrey finished the day 21-28 passing for 335 yards and four touchdowns. Toure caught seven balls for 140 yards and three scores. Akem had three catches for 104 yards.
 
Hanley led the Viking defense with eight tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. Richard had two sacks and a forced fumble.
 
GAME NOTES: Mataio Talalemotu caught five passes for 109 yards… Beau Kelly had five receptions for 80 yards… Anthony Adams set a new Portland State record for pass breakups in a season. He had two against Montana, raising his Big Sky-leading total to 16… Portland State hosts its home finale next Saturday against UC Davis. The regular season finale is Nov. 23 at Eastern Washington.