MISSOULA, Mont.- Savannah State gave it all they had but fell to Montana 56-3 in a game played before a crowd of 22,228 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

It was the end of a long week for the Tigers who left the SSU campus on September 8 and did not return until Sept. 13, because of Hurricane Irma.

Montana scored on their first possession of the contest when Alijah Lee scored on a one-yard run with 10:38 left in the first quarter.

Playing in temperatures that was in the low 50s, SSU drove to the Grizzlies seven before a Montana defender intercepted a TJ Bell pass.

Montana turned SSU's turnover into a six play, 73 yard drive that ended in a Lee six yard touchdown run with 4:03 left in the quarter to extend their lead to 14-0.

Savannah State (0-2) drove deep inside Montana territory on their next drive but once again came up empty when Giovanni Lugo had his 25 yard field goal attempt blocked.

Early in the second quarter, Montana increased their advantage to 21-0 when Gresch Jensen ran for a three-yard touchdown.

Bell has his pass intercepted on the Tigers next possession and Montana's Ryan McKinley returned it 37 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead with 9:34 remaining in the second quarter.

With 25 seconds left in the opening half, Jensen tossed a eight yard scoring pass to Keenan Curran for a 35-0 cushion.

SSU took over and used the final 25 seconds wisely as Lugo booted a 43 yard field goal as time expired to end the first half. A big play on the drive was a 30-yard run by Uriah Oliver.

Montana scored a touchdown on their first offensive series of the third quarter to make the score 42-3.

The Grizzlies scored their final touchdown of the afternoon on a one-yard run by Treshawn Favors with ten minutes remaining.

SSU finished the game with 17 first downs and 254 yards of offense.

Bell passed for 142 yards and liver ran for a career-high 82 yards. Derek Kirkland caught five passes as he matched a career-high with 78 receiving yards.

Donald Rutledge had a game-high 11 tackles for the Tigers. Darrell Bonner had a interception to go with his career-high nine tackles.

Montana (2-1) had 561 yards of offense while their defense had eight sacks and 15 tackles for losses.

Jensen passed for 178 yards and three touchdowns while Lee ran for 74 yards and two scores and Samori Toure caught five passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.

James Banks had ten tackles for the defense.