MISSOULA, Mont. — Sacramento State scored on its first possession of the game, never trailed and made the defensive stops when needed in a 28-21 win over No. 5 Montana on Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The win was the first for the Hornets in 13 games in Missoula, Mont. In addition, the Grizzlies handn't lost at home against anyone for 1,064 days. Sacramento State improved to 3-0 in the Big Sky Conference this season and is now 4-2 overall. Montana dropped to 4-2 overall and 1-2 league play.

"Our team is resilient," Sacramento State head coach Troy Taylor said. "There were many times the game turned one way or another. We talked about playing through the ebbs and flows. Obviously this is a difficult place to play. It was a great challenge against a really well-coached team and I couldn't be more proud of our guys."

Leading, 28-21, late in the fourth quarter, the Hornets ran a quarterback sneak with Jake Dunniway on 4th-and-inches at the Montana 30. A controversial spot left Dunniway just shy of the chains and the Griz took over on downs with 2:11 remaining and a pair of timeouts in their pocket. Although the Hornets were stopped, the team did run nearly six minutes (5:59) off the clock with an 11-play drive.

Montana would then pick up a first down with three short gains, including a 4th-and-2 conversion to bring the ball to their own 41. After a first down incompletion, the team picked up two yards on a pass play. Josiah Erickson followed with a third-down sack for a loss of eight yards (his second sack of the game), and Killian Rosko delivered the knockout blow with a fourth-down sack to effectively end the game.

Sacramento State took the opening kickoff and methodically moved down the field for the game's first points. The Hornets picked up three first downs to take the ball inside the Montana half of the field. Facing 3rd-and-10 from the Griz 29, Dunniway connected with Jared Gipson for a 28-yard completion. The play was originally ruled a touchdown but was overturned and gave the team the ball at the half-yard line. However, Sacramento State went backwards on the next two plays but converted a third-down pass from the 3 when Dunniway hit Chris Miller who was sandwiched by a pair of defenders for his first career score.

The score remained, 7-0, until Montana kicked a 23-yard field goal just over a minute into the second quarter. The Grizzlies had 1st-and-goal from the 9 yard line, but the Hornets were able to keep the team out of the end zone with a third-down pass breakup from safety Malik Jeter. The field goal was the first against Sacramento State this season.

Sacramento State pushed its lead to 14-3 with a nine-play drive led by Asher O'Hara. The quarterback started the series with a 20-yard pass to Pierre Williams, and a 15-yard strike to Devin Gandy. He then ran for a combined 29 of the remaining 43 yards on four attempts, including a flip into the end zone from the 2.

The first half ended with the Hornet defense again keeping Montana out of the end zone. The Griz brought the ball to the Hornet 14 with nine seconds remaining, before Munchie Filer III broke up a pass in the end zone forcing Montana to settle for a 31-yard field goal.

Montana received the second half kickoff, but Erickson sacked Kris Brown forcing a fumble which was recovered by Marcus Hawkins. Three plays later, Dunniway found Gipson just outside the end zone and the freshman bulled his way into the end zone to make it 21-6.

The Grizzlies responded with their best drive of the game, marching 64 yards on eight plays and capping the drive with a 2-yard run from Kris Brown and adding a two-point conversion from Junior Bergen. Montana gained at least eight yards on five of the eight plays and was only stopped for no gain on one attempt during the series.

Montana drew even for the first time with a 23-yard rush from Brown around the left end. The drive was set up following two big special teams plays from the Griz. The first was a 62-yard punt which backed the Hornets up. Then, after the defense held, Keelan White had a 31-yard punt return which led to Brown's second rushing score of the game.

The fourth quarter started with fireworks for both teams. Montana punted on the first play of the period but the punt was muffed by the Hornets and recovered by UM at the Sacramento State 15. Brown then took a shot at the end zone on the team's first offensive play but was intercepted by Hawkins at the 2-yard line.

Sacramento State controlled the game, outgaining Montana, 456-272. The Hornets picked up 302 yards through the air and 154 on the ground. Sacramento State also had 30 first downs (to Montana's 17), and was 9-for-15 in third down conversions. Dunniway completed 17-of-29 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns. O'Hara was 8-of-9 for 75 yards while also rushing for a team-high 72 yards and a score. Ten Hornets caught passes in the game, led by Pierre Williams who had six receptions for 97 yards. Gipson had a career-high 88 yards with two scores.

Marte Mapu had a career-high 11 tackles (eight solo), and was followed by Erickson who had eight stops (seven solo), including a pair of sacks and a forced fumble. Filer, Hawkins and Taylor Powell each had six tackles, and Filer recorded two pass breakups. The Hornets finished with four sacks, which included a sac from Jett Stanley. Hawkins also added a fumble recovery and interception to his six tackles.

Sacramento State returns home to face Northern Arizona for Homecoming on Saturday, Oct.23, at 6 p.m. at Hornet Stadium.