BOZEMAN – It was déjà vu all over again for the Montana State Bobcats in a national semifinal game. Just like in 2021, Montana State finished off their win over South Dakota by recovering a fumble on a hook-and-ladder play and won by the same score, 31-17.
The Bobcats will face North Dakota State in the Football Championship Subdivision national title game. The Bison were 28-21 winners over two-time defending champion South Dakota State earlier in the day.
MSU beat SDSU in 2021 by the same score recovering a loose ball after a failed lateral late in the game. As they did in 2021, the Bobcats will face the Bison in Frisco, Tex.
Fittingly, it was senior captain Brody Grebe that recovered the loose ball. The senior was in tears moments later on the sidelines as he was unable to control his joy. A three-time All-America and one of the best defensive players in MSU history, Grebe finished the game with three tackles-for-loss.
“We knew going through those last couple series there we had to get a big stop to keep it out of reach,” Grebe said. “Getting a couple big ones on the goal line and then the fumble recovery right there, that was a pretty special way to go out of Bobcat Stadium.”
The Bobcats settled down on defense after allowing 55 and 45-yard touchdowns on the Coyotes first and third possessions. After that, USD could only muster three points, which came on a 46-yard field goal by Will Leyland. The Coyotes would manage just 35 yards on 22 carries aside from the two scoring plays.
“That was not easy by any means today,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “South Dakota hats off to them. Us coming out and scoring and setting the tone. But they answered back. We got in the second half and that’s where the true meaning of this team continued to show up. Making just enough plays in every which way. I think walk away from that game thinking that was a team victory, that was team win.”
MSU’s playoff record 20,557 fans were likely a part of the win as they appeared to cause two bad snap exchanges on consecutive Coyote’ trips into scoring range that eventually caused turnovers on downs.
“I think playing their offense down in the Sonny Holland Zone was critical at the end,” Vigen said. “They put a couple balls on the ground. Our crowd made a difference, there’s no doubt about it.”
“You see they’re false starting, I don’t know how many times,” Grebe said. “Making a huge impact on that other fumble that the quarterback got on the snap. He was trying to check a protection to the O line and they thought he was snapping the ball. Just things like that, that’s what makes Bobcat Stadium so hard to play in for opposing teams is the crowd noise being a factor so we can go out and play fast.”
As he so often is, Tommy Mellott was spectacular for the Bobcats. He ran for 125 yards on 17 carries and his 17 pass attempts – of which he completed eight – were good for 134 more. All that, however, was overshadowed by just one play.
After the defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half Mellott found himself looking at a third-and-1 at the USD 41. On a play that was intended to be a handoff to running back Scottre Humphrey, Mellott mishandled the snap and the ball dropped to the ground.
It took a fortuitous bounce right back to him as he gathered himself and got a good block from Humphrey. From there, he broke a tackle, hurdled a defender and maintained his balance and finished the run in the end zone to boost the Bobcats to a 31-14 lead.
“(The snap) was a little bit out of my reach there and you gotta play ball,” Mellott said. “Scottre was supposed to see the ball and he did a good job of continuing to play. He got a huge block there on the back side and there was a hole, so just make a play.”
The game got off to a hot start as Mellott hit Taco Dowler for a 34-yard score on MSU’s first possession that lasted just six plays. USD answered immediately with a 55-yard touchdown run by stout running back Travis Theis. After the teams exchanged punts Mellott capped off another six play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run only to see Charles Pierre, Jr. ramble 45 yards to tie the game.
“(Taco’s) a stud, so we gotta find ways every week to get him the ball,” Mellott said of Dowler. “I think we did a really good job of that early on. He’s a great guy, so it was exciting to see him have success.”
The Bobcats had nearly 21 minutes in time of possession in the first half and they held the ball for nearly 12 minutes of the second quarter scoring the last 10 points of the half on a Humphrey 1-yard run and a 28-yard field goal by Miles Sansted.
Sansted is now 14 for 18 kicking field goals in 2024 and his 78% accuracy rate is sixth best all-time for a single season. Mellott’s touchdown pass brought him to within one of the school-record for a career, which is held by Kelly Bradley’s 30 in 1984. Mellott’s two TD runs give him 42 rushing in his career, which is five off the career school record. Grebe recorded and sack and now has 25.5 for his career, which is tied for eighth in school history.
Another key player for MSU was punter Brendan Hall. The senior averaged 54 yards on five punts on the day and several came at key moments.
“We haven’t needed Brendan to be in that position where turning over the field was a big piece to his impact. He did that and then some. They got good returners. Those are critical situations. It took everything. A solid offensive performance, the defense hanging in there and the special component to make a real difference.”
MSU’s vaunted run game got off to a slow start but finished with 222 yards on 50 carries. The 4.44 yards per carry was one of the lowest for the Bobcats, but one of the best against the USD run defense. The Coyotes held NDSU and SDSU to just 166/3.5 and 166/3.8 yards per carry, respectively, this year. They held Big Ten Wisconsin to 171/4.2.
Home teams have won every semi-final game in the FCS playoffs since 2017.
Asked how he felt about playing North Dakota State – a team that has beaten MSU five straight times in the playoffs and twice during Mellott’s time – in the championship, Mellott said, “Yeah, I can’t wait to play them.”
The Bobcats and Bison will face each other for the second time in four years in the FCS title game on January 6 in Frisco, Tex.
