MISSOULA — It was another career day for Keali’i Ah Yat.

The sophomore quarterback threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns as the No. 5 Montana Grizzlies dominated Indiana State 63-20 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday. 

“I told them I thought we were prepared to play our best game of the season and I thought we did,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. 

Ah Yat surpassed his career high in passing yards — set a week ago against North Dakota at 300 — while going 22-for-27 and added another score on the ground. 

“I think he’s improved week-in and week-out, I thought that he read the defense better ... I see that coming with him,” Hauck said. 

Eli Gillman also had another standout performance for Montana (4-0), racking up 120 yards in 13 carries along with three touchdowns. The Grizzlies had 303 yards on the ground. 

“I think anyone in the country would like to have him, he is darn good,” Sycamores coach Curt Mallory said of the Grizzlies’ star running back. 

“It definitely makes me and the O-line look like we are doing a great job,” Montana tight end Josh Gale said of Gillman’s big runs. “Every time he scores it is a great feeling for us.” 

The defense showed their might as well. Peyton Wing nabbed his second interception in as many weeks and Solomon Tuliaupupu stripped Sycamore quarterback Keegan Patterson as TJ Rausch scooped up the loose ball for a touchdown. 

“It felt great,” Tuliaupupu said. “Coach Coop (Roger Cooper) and coach Tim (Hauck), they drew it up all I had to do was just run it and it was there.” 

In all the Grizzlies finished with 647 yards of offense and held the Sycamores (2-2) to 387 yards — 134 of them coming on a pair of Nick Osho touchdowns in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand. 

Browning’s Tommy Running Rabbit saw some late reps for Montana, receiving a loud cheer from the Washington-Grizzly Stadium faithful. He gained 42 yards on seven carries with his first career touchdown. 

“Tommy is a hard worker, he’s not going to talk it to death or anything, but he is popular with his teammates and his coaches, so everybody was pretty fired up that he was able to get in there and make a play,” Hauck said. 

Montana found the scoreboard first as Gillman found the edge and escaped for a 69-yard touchdown run. 

Indiana State answered quickly as Rashad Rochelle got open for a 51-yard pass from Patterson to tie the game at seven. Patterson finished 15-of-27 for 189 yards. Rochelle had 75 yards on six catches to lead the Sycamores. 

Gillman found paydirt again on the next Montana possession, capping off a 10 –play, 75-yard drive with a 4-yard score. 

Ah Yat then grew the lead to 21-7 with his legs, scrambling in for a 14-yard touchdown. It was his only carry of the game. 

After Ty Morrison pinned Indiana State deep in their own end, Rausch recovered the Patterson fumble as Montana took a 28-7 lead. 

Montana added one more score before the half as Ah Yat scrambled and found Gale in the back corner of the end zone to give the Griz a 35-7 lead. 

“A lot of the stuff we said (this week) is if they ever decide to vacate the middle just turn and he (Ah Yat) will find me,” Gale said. So, I talked to him a couple times before the drive and said, ‘Hey, if they vacate again I’ll have my eyes around, I’ll be right there.’ “ 

Gillman capped off his day with a 22-yard run after Wing’s interception to make it 42-7. 

Jordan Dever then got in on the party with a 62-yard touchdown on a slant across the middle. 

Malae Fonoti and Running Rabbit finished off the evening with touchdowns on the ground to give the Grizzlies six rushing TDs. 

Osho broke through twice late for Indiana State. The first, a 55-yard run after breaking multiple tackles and the second a 79-yarder after shaking off one would-be tackler. 

Montana returns home next week to take on Idaho in a nationally televised game. Kickoff is slated for 8:15 p.m. on ESPN2. 

Montana    14    21    14    14    -    63 

Indiana St.    7    0    0    13    -    20 

UM — Eli Gillman 69 run (Ty Morrison kick), 4:54 1Q 

ISU — Rashad Rochelle 51 pass from Keegan Patterson (S Lopez kick), 3:55 1Q 

UM — Gillman 4 run (Morrison kick), :00 1Q 

UM — Keali’i Ah Yat 14 run (Morrison kick), 9:51 2Q 

UM — TJ Rausch 0 fumble return (Morrison kick), 4:47 2Q 

UM — Josh Gale 19 pass from Ah Yat (Morrison kick), 1:33 2Q 

UM — Gillman 22 run (Morrison kick), 14:01 3Q 

UM — Jordan Dever 62 pass from Ah Yat (Morrison kick), 9:40 3Q 

UM — Malae Fonoti 12 run (Morrison kick), 13:36 4Q 

ISU — Nick Osho 55 run (Lopez kick failed), 12:14 4Q 

UM — Tommy Running Rabbit 12 run (Morrison kick), 5:41 4Q 

ISU — Osho 79 run (Lopez kick), 5:21 4Q 

Individual Statistics 

RUSHING: Indiana State (30-198) — Nick Osho 5-134, Plez Lawrence 15-57, Torey French 2-14, Rashad Rochelle 1-4, Angelo St. Louis 1-3, Keegan Patterson 6- minus 14. Montana (51-303) — Eli Gillman 15-120, Malae Fonoti 10-58, Tommy Running Rabbit 7-42, Michael Wortham 3-29, Hashim Jones 7-24, Keali’i Ah Yat 1-14, Jake Jensen 2-8, Talen Reynolds 4-6, Stevie Rocker Jr. 3-3, Team 1- minus 1. 

PASSING: Indiana State — Keegan Patterson 15-27-1 for 189 yards. Montana — Keali’i Ah Yat 22-27-0 for 313 yards, Luke Flowers 2-2-0 for 31 yards, Jake Jensen 0-1-0 for 0 yards. 

RECEIVING: Indiana State — Rochelle 4-75, Bryan Domino 3-22, French 2-41, Larry Stephens III 2-16, Rocco Ciocca 1-12, Lawrence 1-9, Zack Drawdy Jr. 1-7, Lance Rees 1-6. Montana — Wortham 5-78, Josh Gale 4-57, Jordan Dever 3-84, Blake Bohannon 3-43, Rocker Jr. 2-17, Drew Deck 2-11, Monte Gillman 1-31, Fonoti 1-17, Korbin Hendrix 1-12, Eli Gillman 1-3, Brooks Davis 1-1.