Beavers win big over Griz, 52-17

CORVALLIS, Ore. — That mini-win streak is over for the Montana Grizzlies, who went into Reser Stadium and absorbed a 52-17 loss at the hands of Oregon State Saturday night.  

The game, which ended at 12:20 a.m. local time, featured 510 yards of offense by the Beavers, who scored on five of their six first-half possessions to take a 35-3 lead.  

They then covered 75 yards in three plays to open the second half: Aaron Butler hauled in the fifth touchdown pass thrown by Braden Atkinson, covering 27 yards, for a 42-3 OSU lead. 

The Pac-12 Beavers (1-2) started their 2026 campaign with road losses to ranked FBS teams Houston and Texas Tech.  

“They’re a quality opponent. They could have easily been 2-0 going into this game against really good competition,” UM coach Bobby Kennedy said. “Obviously we didn’t play our best tonight, but I’m really proud of our guys about how hard we fought to the end.  

“It’s tough when you don’t play your best, but there were a lot of things I saw that were really good tonight.” 

The Grizzlies (3-1), ranked No. 3 in the latest FCS polls, had notably won in their last two trips to Reser, in 1990 and 1996. In front of 34,030 fans, they didn’t get going in this one until much too late.

Keali’i Ah Yat threw two touchdown passes in the second half, covering 2 yards to tight end Reese Brooks and 40 yards to Brooks Davis. The latter cut Oregon State’s lead to 49-17 with 8:53 left in the game. 

The Grizzlies, who stay on the road to play Big Sky Conference foe UC Davis next Saturday, ended up with 358 yards of offense. Half of that came over the last quarter and change. 

The first half saw UM punt four times and give up the ball on downs at OSU’s 33-yard line. Jo Silver hit a 39-yard field goal for the first Griz points, at 11:55 of the second quarter. 

“There were a lot of things that we could have done better,” said Ah Yat, who ended up 27 of 40 for 215 yards. “Like myself, I could have had a touchdown that first or second drive.” 

Atkinson had no such issues. The sophomore, who won the Jerry Rice Award last season at Mercer as the top freshman in the FCS, finished 22 of 30 for 333 yards. He was not sacked or intercepted. 

Jesse Legre had four catches for 100 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown. Aeryn Hampion had six catches for 94 with a score. Atkinson spread his TDs out to five different players.

Defensively the Beavers picked up four sacks and a late fumble off a Grizzly hook-and-lateral gone awry — but they couldn’t stop UM’s 2023 Jerry Rice Award winner, Eli Gillman, from breaking the Grizzlies’ career rushing record.  

The senior picked up 82 yards on 18 carries, giving him 4,087 for his career. That moved Yohance Humphery (4,070) down to No. 2 on the list. 

Davis had an exemplary game with 11 catches for 135 yards. Tanner Huff had a fumble recovery to go with eight tackles; Nai Mose had a team-high 12 stops for the Griz. 

Beyond that, there wasn’t much to shout about. 

“Obviously it’s disappointing, because we had high expectations,” Kennedy said. “When we fall short we fall short, but. ... our preparation was excellent all week. If they lay it all on the line, I can live with that.”