That's what I was just thinking. Sac State losing here makes a conference title marginally more doable but that's out of our control anyway. Sac winning here puts us in a better playoff situation.

Although, I'm guessing we're a lock at 7-4 if Sac is halfway decent by the time we play them.There would have to be serious time zone bias by the committee to not pick a 7-win team with our schedule.

Tied at 24 with 3:39 to go in the 4th.

24-24 - tied at 3:40. Sac comes back from down 10. Three uncharacteristic Sac TOs on the night, Montana dominates TOP.

we’re not winning the title (let alone the auto bid, which arguably matters more) with two losses. Just look at Montana state’s remaining schedule.

Position in the bracket matters too, so it’d be nice if sac state isn’t *only* halfway decent by the time we play them. Then there’s the fact that 6 win teams sometimes have a shot too (like UNI recently) as long as all their losses were against quality opponents and not just half decent ones.

I wouldn't be shocked if a 6-5 UCD gets in by beating either Sac or what appears to be a decent Idaho team. 6-5 UCD vs. 7-4 Idaho might be tough though even if UCD beats them. Neither team would have a bad loss. Idaho has lost to two FBS teams and in this scenario would lose to us and Sac. And while UCD would win the H2H, Idaho would have a much better win by winning at Montana. We really need Sac to beat Idaho next weekend. If Idaho goes 8-3 and wins at Montana and Sac, I don't think it would matter if we beat them and finished 6-5.

6-5 teams have gotten in before. Northern Iowa just did last year though they won at Sac, at South Dakota St and vs. Southern Illinois. And the MVFC did get 6 teams in last year so that wouldn't be unprecedented either.

But yeah, we probably do have to go 7-4 to get in.

Heck of an onside kick call by Sac when they were down 7 too which helped them come back.

It was. Caught Montana completely by surprise. The entire front line of their kickoff return team starting falling back to set up for the return and Sac recovered the ball easily. Great call by Troy Taylor.

Overtime.

On the onside kick, i thought it had to travel 10 yards. Looked like 8 to me.

I'm rooting for Montana!

Idaho is looking pretty good.

That's a pure film study call. You see a team repeatedly start to cheat backwards on a return and you file that away in case you need it at a perfect time.

Much different stakes but Alabama did that against Clemson in the first title game between the two. Noticed that Clemson was lining up a certain way every time and they could exploit it.

Sac wins 31-24 in OT. Sac is 7-0 for the first time in history.

Do you see anyone in FCS beating them?

Position in bracket is irrelevant if you're not in the top 8, as I understand it. Having a cushion against other bubble teams is the "only" benefit to having more wins if you're not a 1 or 2-loss team already. (A huge benefit though).

Agree it's a virtual lock that somebody else (likely MSU) gets the auto-bid.

l don't see Idaho beating Sac State(really only Weber might have a chance). If Idaho beats Sac I think they will make the playoffs.

If Idaho beats sac they have an inside track to the conference title

Sure. Montana nearly beat them with their backup QB playing most of the game. Weber and Montana State could beat them. NDSt and SDSt could beat them. In all likelihood, they'll have to beat at least two of these teams in the playoffs to win the title. And they play at Weber in a couple weeks.

It would of been a different game with the grizs starting qb. Slac also got the benefit of a couple of bad calls by the refs.

I watched the whole game and here are a few of my thoughts about Sac. Troy Taylor has done a remarkable job turning Sac into a national power in just 2 years. I don't think I've ever seen a coach turn a program around in such a short time.

1. Their play calling is excellent overall. The onside kick was brilliant and it started their rally late in the game.
2. They have lots of speed and are very athletic overall.
3. Their defense is very aggressive with fast, tough linebackers and defensive backs. They swarm to the ball and make punishing hits and they blitz a lot.
4. RB Skattebo is a beast. It's practically impossible to stop him in his tracks. He has deceptive moves for his size and he runs over defenders. He always get yardage after after being hit and often carries defenders with him.
5. QB Jake Dunniway makes some great throws and he threw for 3 TD's but he was only 19-36 for 284 and had 2 interceptions.

I agree. Losing Johnson was tough for Montana on a cheap, targeting shot to the head. The Sac defensive line had Johnson stood up and he was going down. Adeoye, who played 4 years at Texas, hesitated and then lowered his head and launched with the crown of his helmet right up into Johnson's chin and face mask. It was a dangerous hit.

The big pass play down to the 2 yard line that set up the TD to tie the game was questionable if the Sac receiver was in bounds. It looked like his foot his the line but the replay angles weren't good enough to overturn the play. Regardless, it was an incredible catch by the Sac receiver.

It looks like the Sac receiver was out of bounds on this critical 4th and 4 pass that lead to Sac scoring the tying TD.

Even the announcers were saying that one was going back. That’s one of the plays i was referring to in which the refs kept slac in it.

I, and the non-affiliated 10 other fans who were watching the game alongside all thought he was OB.

I will say though, did Montana lay a foundational plan on how to beat Slac?

Sac and Montana know how to close out and win tough games against top 10 opponents.

I will say though, did Montana lay a foundational plan on how to beat Slac?

They sure did. It seems Montana was better prepared than Sac for the game. They wanted to take the air out of the ball. They knew they couldn’t get in a fast pace shootout with Sac. Plus they had Johnson running the ball if things opened up - that was a big mistake on the Idaho game when he chose to pass instead of run in similar situations. On top of that very sloppy play by Sac (penalties and turnovers). Special teams was Montana’s undoing with missed and blocked field goals and Sac’s onside kick. Who would have thought that with 4 turnovers Sac would win? Yes the Sac catch sure looked OB - only thing that saved it was call on field. Montana is in trouble with Brown at QB.

Weber State commits FOUR safeties!

Amazing. I felt sorry for the guy but I think Hill should have gone to someone else after 2 of those. I was thinking maybe the turf had a much lower coefficient of friction or something but I think long snappers actually lift the ball a bit before snapping it. And all were to the punters left, not just high. I would have thought after the first one the snapper would be practicing on the sideline - maybe he was.

Both Hill and Hauck are going to need some counseling this week.