BOZEMAN – For the fourth time in four games against the Dakota States, Montana State left the field heartbroken.
This time, South Dakota State amplified the Bobcats’ woes as the Jackrabbit interior line stuffed Julius Davis on a fourth-and-one play in the second overtime to secure a 30-24 win in a battle of two of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision. In fact, Saturday night marked the first time two teams ranked in the Top 3 of the national polls met in Bobcat Stadium since 1984.
The game was filled with wild plays, including a whiffed punt attempt by No. 2 SDSU’s Max Pelham that MSU freshman Seth Brock scooped up for a score to tie the game at 17-17 with 6:37 to play. At that moment, the record crowd of 22,117 went into a frenzy and SDSU seemed doomed.
Instead, the Jackrabbits scored on their second overtime possession and, despite missing the two-point conversion, came up with their 5th win in the last six matchups against the Bobcats since 2017.
“We got punched in the mouth,” MSU sophomore captain Adam Jones said. “ These first two games (59-13 at Oregon included), it’s a big wake up call. It’s good to get tested early. I think it’s going to help us out in the long run, but it hurts.”
The Bobcats scored first in overtime, but saw the Jackrabbits convert just their second third down to re-tie the game at 24-24. SDSU scored on its first play of the second overtime, but failed on the two-point conversion leaving the door open for MSU, before thwarting Davis.
MSU lost to SDSU 20-16 in 2023 when a Clevan Thomas touchdown catch was ruled incomplete, then in the playoffs that same year the Bobcats lost in overtime 35-34 to North Dakota State when their extra point was blocked. Last year MSU reached the national championship game losing to the Bison again 35-32.
While the three teams are about as evenly matched as they can be and play essentially the same brand of football, the Bobcats have come out on the short end of the stick each time since 2021. The Bison and Jackrabbits have faced each other six times since 2021 and with SDSU coming out on top four times. Only two of those games have been decided by more than one touchdown. MSU has lost to NDSU all five matchups since 2017 and five times in six matchups against SDSU.
MSU head coach Brent Vigen, a graduate and former assistant at NDSU, won his first game against SDSU in 2021, 31-17 in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs, but has lost five straight combined to the Jackrabbits and Bison of the Missouri Valley Football Conference since. His 2022 team lost in the national semifinals against SDSU, 39-18.
How MSU continues to move on from the tough losses to the Dakota States is something the Bobcats will have to collectively face.
“That’s in the past now, in my opinion,” MSU senior Julius Davis said. “We gotta move forward now. It is what it is, the past is the past. We’re going into the storm; I’m not looking back at the storm.”
SDSU quarterback Chase Mason was clutch all night. He converted a fourth and one in the fourth quarter after a shanked punt by MSU’s Colby Frojker, a true freshman playing in just his second game. Mason then connected on two straight passes to Lofton O’Groske for 28 and eight yards, with the latter getting into the end zone to give SDSU a 17-10 lead. O’Groske finished with 11 catches for 139 yards. s
Frokjer atoned for his shank and earlier blocked punt that led to a SDSU score when he pinned the Jackrabbits on their own 10 after MSU failed to move the ball. The Bobcats then flushed Pelham out and he missed the ball completely as Brock capitalized to tie the game.
The first half was filled with big plays and big miscues. The Bobcats saw Lamson scramble for 31 yards and he also hit Steel for 34 yards, while Davis ripped off a 33-yard run. Both teams forced fumbles and recovered. The Bobcats were 19 of 29 passing but only netted 139 yards and only one play was over 16 yards.
“That’s not going to be enough to get it done,” Vigen said. “Justin scrambling around was probably our best offense. That’s an element of the passing when they cover and they drop out but our efficiency in the passing game wasn’t good enough.”
The Jackrabbits got 14 of their 17 regulation points off blocked and shanked punts.
“That’s two weeks in a row that we got a punt block,” Vigen lamented. “It’s hard to win football games the way we want to with those type of plays. To get one ourselves you can say it balances out, but we can’t do that two weeks in a row.”
SDSU marched down to the MSU 3-yard line on its first drive but was forced to settle for a field goal. It was the only sustained drive of the game until the fourth quarter when they went 50 yards after the shanked punt. The Bobcats held the Jackrabbits to just 105 yards between the two drives. The Bobcats started the game with a three-and-out and a missed field goal after Cole Taylor forced a fumble that Paul Brott recovered.
MSU then went 88 yards for a touchdown on Lamson’s eight-yard dash and went 36 yards on just four plays on its next possession only to see the ball fumbled away by Jacob Trimble, who had hauled in a short pass. After the blocked punt led to a quick touchdown for SDSU and a 10-7 deficit, the Bobcats marched 45 yards on six plays to tie the game with a Sansted field goal. The would fumble the ball away on their first possession of the second half and then manage just 58 yards of offense the rest of the game.
The Bobcats now face a much easier schedule after playing playoff teams in the last eight games with seven of those teams ranked in the top 10. The Bobcats host San Diego, Mercyhurst and Eastern Washington the next three weeks. They then see their schedule wind away from Bobcat Stadium when they play three of five games on the road with Idaho State and Weber State the lone home games sandwiched around Northern Arizona, Cal Poly and Northern Colorado. MSU will need to make hay while they can in those games before taking on UC Davis and Montana in Missoula.
The loss also throws an early dark cloud on gaining an all-important top two seed for the FCS playoffs as SDSU will likely hold a tiebreaker edge over MSU leaving just one spot.
