MISSOULA — Montana’s offense, which has been one of the best in the country this season, couldn’t be watched Saturday as the seventh-ranked Grizzlies fell 30-14 to No. 4 UC Davis at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

It was just the Aggies’ second win over the Grizzlies, who entered the game with a 9-1 all-time advantage in the head-to-head series.

Montana’s offensive struggles wouldn’t have been expected – based on the body of work this season, nor the start of Saturday’s game, as things couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start for Montana. The Griz held Davis to 15 yards on the game’s opening possession and then marched right down the field on a seven-play, 72-yard drive capped by a 23-yard touchdown reception by quarterback Junior Bergen Logan Fife. Fife operated on the drive, completing 4 of 4 passes for 55 yards and 13 more yards.

But the Griz offense shut down the rest of the first half and the Aggies started to gain some ground. Davis answered UM’s touchdown with his own TD — a 2-yard flip to Trent Tompkins to tie the game at 7-7. That would be the score of the second quarter as the teams traded three-and-outs on their next five drives.

Davis took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter on Hunter Ridley’s 42-yard field goal after the Griz defense — and the Washington-Grizzly Stadium crowd — kept the Aggies out of the end zone. Davis drove to the UM 13-yard line, but two false starts, a delay of game and a fumble pushed the Aggies back to the 30. They gained 5 yards on third-and-27 to set up Ridley’s field goal .

The Griz offense found some momentum on the next drive with Fife and running back Eli Gillman partnering to get Montana deep into Davis territory. But facing third-and-10 from the Aggies’ 11-yard line, Fife was intercepted in the end zone by Davis defensive back Rex Connors to keep the score 10-7.

Davis’ offense did nothing with the possession, punting after three plays and giving Montana one more scoring opportunity before halftime. The Griz, however, turned the ball over on foot at the Aggies’ 42-yard line.

This time, Davis took advantage, quickly gaining 34 yards to get into field goal range. Ridley was good from 41 yards and Davis went into the half with a 13-7 lead.

After both teams traded punts to start the second half, Keali’i Ah Yat – who again split time with Fife at QB – helped give Montana the lead back midway through the third quarter. The redshirt freshman first ran 12 yards to start the drive and then, on a quarterback draw designed from the Davis 18-yard line, went through one Aggies defender and hauled in another at the line 6 yards inside the 1. Three plays later, Ah Yat helicoptered into the end zone on a 2-yard scramble. The point-after attempt gave Montana a 14-13 lead with 6:51 to play in the third quarter.

But just like they did after Montana’s first touchdown, the Aggies had an answer. They drove 75 yards in eight plays — highlighted by running back Lan Larison catching a screen pass and tripping a Griz quarterback for a 15-yard gain — with QB Miles Hastings finding Ian Simpson for a 22-yard touchdown of meters. Davis took a 20-14 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Aggies made it a two-score game early in the fourth on a Hastings-to-Larison TD pass. The seven-play, 60-yard drive included a fourth-down conversion when the Griz had too many defenders on the field and a drop in which receiver CJ Hutton completed a 29-yard pass to Simpson.

On Montana’s ensuing first play, Ah Yat was intercepted by Davis linebacker Porter Connors, setting up Ridley’s third field goal.

Montana had three more offensive possessions the rest of the game, with those drives ending in a field goal and twice on turnovers on downs. The Grizzlies totaled just 286 yards of offense – 209 through the air and 77 on the ground. Ah Yat led the team with 29 yards on seven carries. He was 7-of-18 for 62 yards, while Fife completed 13-of-23 passes for 147 yards.

Hastings completed 28 of 38 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns for the Aggies, who got 97 rushing yards and 48 receiving yards from Larison.

Turning point: In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Davis lined up to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the UM 41-yard line. The Aggies got a first down because Montana had too many players on the field, and three plays later Larison was in the end zone to make it a two-possession game.

State of the game: Montana had just 286 yards of offense, 170 yards below its season average. The Grizzlies entered the game ranked third in the FCS in scoring offense (39.4 points per game) and eighth in total offense (456 yards per game).

Grizzly game balls: WR Junior Bergen (Offensive). Bergen didn’t get many punt returns, but he was Montana’s most consistent player on offense. He finished with six catches for 92 yards and the game’s first touchdown.

S Ryder Meyer (Defense). Meyer finished with 17 tackles, including eight solo and one tackle for loss. Fellow safety Jaxon Lee chipped in with 13 tackles.

What’s next: Montana (7-3 overall, 4-2 Big Sky) returns to Washington-Grizzly Stadium for its final home game of the regular season next week against Portland State (2-7, 2-4). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm next Saturday, and the game will be televised on Montana’s MTN channel.

UC Davis (9-1, 6-0), now on a nine-game winning streak, has another big game next week in what will be the de facto Big Sky Conference championship game. The Aggies host second-ranked Montana State (10-0, 6-0) at 6 p.m. Mountain Time next Saturday. The game will be televised on CBS affiliates in Montana.