Southern Methodist (1-1) trailed by five when it took over with 3:46 to play but drove 81 yards in 13 plays, capped off with Gilbert's 4-yard touchdown pass to Darius Joseph. Joseph finished with 12 receptions for 113 yards.

Montana State (1-1) nearly pulled off the upset behind 17-of-27 passing for 218 yards and a touchdown by DeNarius McGhee. Cody Kirk finished with 107 rushing yards and two scores for the Bobcats.

The Mustangs opened the scoring with a safety when Kirk was tackled in the end zone just 2:08 into the game. But Montana State used a 1-yard touchdown run by Kirk, a McGhee-to-Jon Ellis 13-yard touchdown connection and a 2-yard touchdown run by Shawn Johnson to open up a 22-5 advantage midway through the second.

The Mustangs cut the lead to three by halftime, but Kirk scored again from 12 yards out to raise the advantage to 11 before Southern Methodist started its comeback. Chase Hover made field goals from 42 and 39 yards out to set up Gilbert's game-winning drive.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Mustangs WR Jeremy Johnson also topped 100 yards receiving, catching seven passes for 112 yards. … Southern Methodist lost two fumbles in the win after not committing a turnover in its season-opening loss to Texas Tech. … The Bobcats dropped to 0-7 against FBS opponents under coach Rob Ash.