2010
MSU - 1st Drive (Touchdown)
UM - 1st Drive (Touchdown)
MSU - 2nd Drive (Touchdown)
UM - 2nd Drive (Touchdown)
Final Score: MSU 21 - UM 16
One of the coldest games ever, MSU and redshirt freshman Denarius McGhee came in to Wa-Griz and knocked off UM despite being outgained by 100 yards and giving up nearly 300 yards rushing. MSU won this game because they scored on their first three drives (two of which covered 80 yards and 6:30 minutes off the clock) and were incredibly opportunistic with winning the turnover battle. After MSU went up 21-14 with their 3rd consecutive touchdown drive, the defenses dominated the rest of the game. Mikey Rider sealed it with a pick at the end. MSU changed the tone of the game with a great 1st quarter where they showed they were ready to go punch for punch.
2011
UM - 1st Drive (Punt)
MSU - 1st Drive (Punt)
UM - 2nd Drive (Punt)
MSU - 2nd Drive (Missed FG - literally can still remember the sound of it hitting the frozen crossbar)
UM - 3rd Drive (Punt)
MSU - 3rd Drive (Punt)
Final Score: UM 36 - MSU 10
A game where MSU was finally #1 coming into a Brawl, it was UM that threw the final knockout punches in the 2nd half after treading water in the 1st half. The Griz took a 12-0 lead into half but MSU cut it to 12-7 on their first drive of the 3rd quarter. But the very next possession, Jordan Johnson hit Zambrano for a 79-yard touchdown and all the momentum swung back to UM. However, the first two drives were in MSU's favor until Jason Cunningham's field goal nailed the crossbar on their 2nd possession after a good drive. UM/MSU would both punt again on their 3rd possessions and the 1st quarter ended in a tie. UM then started getting traction and MSU's offense continued to sputter. Despite the 2011 game being "removed" from the record books, it shouldn't as this Griz team came into Bozeman and kicked our ass...plain and simple. In my opinion, the first quarter was a huge predictor of the final outcome just because of that one missed field goal from our HOF kicker. It just felt off after that miss.
2012
MSU - 1st Drive (Punt)
UM - 1st Drive (Missed FG)
MSU - 2nd Drive (Punt)
UM - 2nd Drive (Fumble)
MSU - 3rd Drive (FG)
UM - 3rd Drive (Touchdown)
Final Score: MSU 16 - UM 7
This is one where you shouldn't always look at records coming in as MSU was 9-1 and UM was 5-5 coming in. Shay Smickwith-Hawn was thrust into this one due to injuries and he battled hard all game. UM's defense played exceptionally well given the circumstances and opponent. The Griz offense came out swinging with an 84-yard drive that ended in a short missed FG. Their next offensive possession was a first-play fumble that led to MSU's first points. They then closed the 1st quarter with a 75-yard touchdown drive and all of the momentum. MSU would then punt on their first possession of the 2nd but MSU finally forced a punt on UM's first 2nd quarter possession. MSU then finally puts a touchdown drive together and wouldn't relinquish the lead from there. UM had 171 yards of offense in the first but would only muster 187 the next three. On the flip side, MSU only had 48 yards in the 1st but would put up 306 the rest of the way. An experienced and talented MSU team eventually won the day with a suffocating defense and a HOF signal-caller who made enough throws when it mattered. But UM played with a lot of grit in this one and you can argue their first quarter performance was trending towards a much different outcome.
2013
MSU - 1st Drive (Punt)
UM - 1st Drive (Punt)
MSU - 2nd Drive (Punt)
UM - 2nd Drive (Punt)
MSU - 3rd Drive (Punt)
UM - 3rd Drive (Punt)
MSU - 4th Drive (Punt Return Touchdown)
UM - 4th Drive (Punt)
MSU - 5th Drive (Fumble)
Final Score: UM 28 - MSU 14
This is one where a legendary MSU senior class needed a win to make the playoffs while the Griz were playing for seeding. UM started the game with FOUR straight 3 and outs while MSU got one first down but the play of the 1st quarter was Shawn Johnson's punt return touchdown. UM would then punt again on their next possession...but then MSU fumbled the next play. The game would be tied at halftime but the Griz offense won the 2nd half putting up 21 points while MSU squandered opportunity after opportunity. This was such a depressing game and, in many ways, a sadder ending than 2011. Denarius, Tanner Bleskin, Cody Kirk, and Brad Daly fought through A LOT of pain to play in this game but they were nowhere near their usual selves and it showed not only in this game but the prior four weeks as well. Much like in 2011, UM closed the door in the 2nd half after leaving it open for MSU to throw a counter punch in the first half. Jordan Johnson was clutch in Bozeman for his two road starts in his career in the Brawl...and Denarius was way better in Missoula than Bozeman in his two home starts. Football is weird. The first quarter of this one was mostly a stalemate but MSU had difference makers like Shawn Johnson make plays but the fumble at the end was huge for momentum. They let UM hang around and paid for it.
2014
UM - 1st Drive (FG)
MSU - 1st Drive (Punt)
UM - 2nd Drive (Punt)
MSU - 2nd Drive (Interception)
UM - 3rd Drive (Touchdown)
MSU - 3rd Drive (Interception)
UM - 4th Drive (Touchdown)
Final Score: UM 34 - MSU 7
Dakota Prukop couldn't get healthy in time for this one and we instead got the infamous Jake Bleskin game where he had 5 turnovers before halftime en route to a 27-0 Griz halftime lead. I've broken this one down before but MSU's offense moved the ball relatively well in this one as four of the five turnovers were inside Griz territory with two inside the Griz 15! Despite all the flack Jake catches for this one, MSU's defense was mostly awful all game much like they were all season foreshadowing what was to come in 2015. MSU would turn the ball over two more times in the 2nd half and the Griz put together one more drive to seal the deal. Hard to argue that the 1st quarter didn't play a huge role in the final outcome of this one. Just a stinker of a game that should be remember more for the failings of Ash & his coaching staff than just Jake's performance.
2015
UM - 1st Drive (Punt)
MSU - 1st Drive (Touchdown)
UM - 2nd Drive (Punt)
MSU - 2nd Drive (Punt)
UM - 3rd Drive (FG)
MSU - 3rd Drive (Interception)
UM - 4th Drive (Touchdown)
MSU - 4th Drive (Downs)
UM - 5th Drive (Touchdown)
Final Score: UM 54 - MSU 35
This one brought two offensive-heavy teams into Bozeman and ended with Bob Stitt and Brady Gustafson putting up 54 points. The Griz came in needing a win to make the playoffs (yes this was the year they knocked off NDSU at home) while MSU faltered time after time because of a schism in the locker room between offense and defense. MSU actually had a picture perfect start as they forced a 3 and out, scored a touchdown, and then forced another 3 and out. But they then punted on their 2nd possession and that opened the door for the Griz offense to get back on the field. After a Griz FG, Dakota threw a terrible interception in MSU territory and UM was off to the races. A lot happened in this one as MSU eventually had the chance to cut it to 44-37 in the 4th but they missed the two-point conversion. This would go down as the final nail in the coffin to the Rob Ash era. In 2014, he found a great OC to make us scary as hell on offense. But he failed to fire his buddy Jamie Marshall after a disastrous 2014 season. Not only that, the defensive roster greatly downgraded in 2015 due to graduations. UM went on to beat SDSU in a tight one at home in the first round then got eviscerated by the Bison in Fargo...and Ty Gregorak would become a scapegoat as DC.
2016
MSU - 1st Drive (Punt)
UM - 1st Drive (Touchdown)
MSU - 2nd Drive (Punt)
UM - 2nd Drive (Punt)
MSU - 3rd Drive (Touchdown)
UM - 3rd Drive (Punt)
Final Score: MSU 24 - UM 17
This one is viewed as one of the biggest upsets in Cat/Griz history and that may be the case. But if you look back on it, I see it a little differently. MSU was trying to find themselves all year under first year head coach Jeff Choate. The defense was much improved from 2015 but we lost a ton of guys to injuries this year to the point we were playing converted freshman TE's at DE and true freshman Derek Marks at DT in this one. Regardless, we were playing well coming into this one with a nice win against UC Davis at home the week prior. The Griz on the other hand were kind of spiraling and had an awful loss to Northern Colorado on the road the week prior. If they won they were definitely in the playoffs because of that win against NDSU earlier in the year. The game started really bad for MSU as they went 3 and out with 12 negative yards and then UM scored on their first play the next possession. We then righted the ship and got into the endzone on our 3rd drive after switching the field position to start that drive. MSU then actually missed several more opportunities as people forget MSU missed two field goals in the 2nd quarter but still got another touchdown and took a 14-7 lead into half. After winning the 3rd quarter, MSU had an awful start to the 4th with two 3 and outs that netted -8 yards and UM scored a touchdown. We then stuffed UM on downs and ran out the clock in glorious fashion with the infamous stumble-throw from Chris Murray to Connor Sullivan. The rushing attack went for 368 and Chris Murray completed two passes on 9 attempts. Defensively, we forced 7 punts, 2 turnovers on downs, and 1 interception as Brady G. had one of his worst games of the year. Some call this an upset but MSU outgained UM by 100 yards, had more first downs, held a 5.6 to 5.1 yards per play advantage, and held a 38-21 TOP advantage. Quite frankly, MSU was just the better team by the end of the 2016 football season than their rival. Another odd thing about the 2016 year was we were very close to being a 7-4 team with a three week stretch of losses to UND (15-17), Sac State (38-41), and NAU (14-20) where MSU had every opportunity to win. The first quarter MSU did what it had to do to stop the momentum which is huge in this game.
