Ty Pennington throws, runs and catches Northern Arizona past No. 2 Montana

Northern Arizona started without Kenveon Stone and lost leading rusher Quran Gossett midway through the first quarter. So Ty Pennington threw a touchdown, ran for four more and caught another one.

Northern Arizona, No. 12 in our FCS Top 25, beat No. 2 Montana 49-44 on Saturday at the Walkup Skydome and left the Big Sky without an unbeaten team in league play. Both teams are 5-2 and 3-1. The 49 points are the most NAU has ever scored against Montana.

Stone was ruled out before kickoff, and Gossett left with a lower-body injury, Brenden Martin of the Arizona Daily Sun reported. Pennington became the run game. He carried 16 times for 52 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, the first Lumberjack with four rushing scores in a game since 2021. Jon Wilson added 41 yards on five carries in his first significant action.

Pennington also completed 26 of 38 passes for 322 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown to tight end Jeter Purdy.

"Ty is not only the toughest player in America, he is the best player in America," NAU coach Brian Wright said. "That guy put us on our shoulders like I've never seen a football player do."

The first half had four lead changes. Montana took a 24-21 lead into the break on Eli Gillman's second 1-yard touchdown, which also made him Montana's career scoring leader, past kicker Dan Carpenter's 413 points.

NAU took over in the third quarter. Receiver Joey Stout threw back to Pennington for a 7-yard touchdown and a 28-24 lead with 6:49 left in the quarter.

Three plays into Montana's next drive, Shahid Wilson picked off Keali'i Ah Yat for his first career interception. It was Ah Yat's first pick in 222 attempts. Pennington scored from a yard out on that drive for a 35-24 lead.

Montana came back. Ah Yat hit Lekeldrick Bridges for an 11-yard touchdown on third-and-goal, then threw to Jordan Dever for the two-point conversion to make it 35-32 with 13:19 left. Thirteen seconds later, Lindsey Graves fielded the kickoff in the end zone and ran it back 100 yards down the Montana sideline. It was his second kickoff-return touchdown this season.

"We felt like we shut their run game down in the first half, but then their quarterback runs hurt us," Montana coach Bobby Kennedy said. "...giving up a kick return. I mean, that's what really hurt us."

Gillman answered with a 2-yard touchdown catch to make it 42-39. NAU then went 75 yards in 11 plays and took 6:02 off the clock, and Pennington's 5-yard run made it 49-39 with 3:16 left. Jo Silver's 35-yard field goal cut it to seven. NAU recovered the onside kick, and Pennington took an intentional safety with six seconds left. Montana tried to lateral on the free kick, and the play ended in a fumble that Nijrell Eason II recovered.

Montana outgained NAU 489-418. Ah Yat threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, and Landon Ransom-Goelz caught seven passes for 128 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown. But six penalties for 80 yards wiped out two more Gillman touchdowns, one on a holding call and one on offensive pass interference, and they helped NAU go 8-for-13 on third down.

Kyle Hansen of KPAX had the short version: "mistakes doom Montana over and over here in Flagstaff once again." NAU has won four of the last five meetings in the Skydome.

"We can execute, execute, execute, then have a mistake, have a penalty," Kennedy said. "We've got to clean those things up. That's on me."

Gillman finished with three touchdowns and 420 career points, and his 70 career touchdowns leave him seven shy of Cooper Kupp's Big Sky record. NAU held Brooks Davis, the FCS leader in receiving yards coming in, to three catches for 38 yards.

Montana was the only Big Sky team without a conference loss going into Saturday. Now four teams are tied at the top at 3-1: NAU, Montana, Weber State and Cal Poly. No. 7 Montana State (2-1) is a game behind in the loss column.

For NAU, this is the signature win. It's the program's first over a top-five team since 2015, and paired with the win at Idaho State, it puts the Lumberjacks firmly in the at-large conversation. Montana is still a playoff team, but the loss dents its hopes for a top-eight seed.

"He's the best coach in America. He got us ready to play today," Pennington said of Wright, who also coached him at Division II Pittsburg State.

NAU hosts Portland State for homecoming on Oct. 17. Montana hosts Idaho the same day for the Little Brown Stein.