Vandals start strong, then get rolled by Montana

​​From wire and news services

MOSCOW — The Idaho Vandals were impressive early, but most of the rest of the game belonged to the Montana Grizzlies.

Idaho scored on a 75-yard drive to start the game, but Montana scored the next 34 points to handle the Vandals in the Little Brown Stein game Saturday before 6,059 at the Kibbie Dome.

Junior Bergen had a pair of touchdown runs for Montana (5-2, 2-2 Big Sky Conference).

Bergen’s 10-yard touchdown run tied the game 7-7 late in the first quarter, and his 19-yarder capped the scoring for Montana with 11:05 remaining. Bergen finished with 18 carries for 77 yards.

Griz freshman Kris Brown, in his third game replacing the injured Cam Humphrey, threw for 256 yards that included a 6-yard TD pass to Cole Grossman in the second quarter. Brown added a 3-yard TD run in the third.

Freshman Gevani McCoy was 8 of 18 passing for 123 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions for Idaho (2-5, 1-3). The Vandals took an early lead on Aundre Carter’s 2-yard touchdown run — set up by a 28-yard run by quarterback Zach Borisch — but didn’t score again until McCoy’s 14-yard TD pass to Mekhi Stevenson on a fade route with 1:11 remaining.

Stevenson tallies a team-high four receptions for 58 yards.

The Vandals jumped out to an early lead after easily driving the field for a score to go up 7-0 on a four-yard score by Aundre Carter that was set up by a 28-yard run by Zach Borisch.

The Vandals tallied 242 total yards for the game, 161 of those yards coming on the two scoring drives.

Borisch led the Vandals with 44 total yards rushing and completed his only pass for 22 yards.