FRISCO, Tex. – Montana State’s season came to another bitter end at the hand of the its playoff nemesis the North Dakota State Bison.
This one was different though.
The Bobcats didn’t play well. They made poor decisions on the sidelines. They made gaffes and missed opportunities on the field. You’d think they lost by 40 points. But despite all that it was a 35-32 loss that felt more like getting beat by your little brother after spotting him a 20-point lead.
The Bobcats did virtually nothing on plays that mattered most in the first half as they fell behind 14-0 when their defense had no players lined up in the middle of the field and NDSU senior quarterback Cam Miller went 64 yards untouched on a third-and-4 play. It was like that all night for MSU as they’d get a play away from getting off the field only to give up a huge play and need a play to continue a drive on third down.
“They played the perfect front and the perfect coverage to it for us, and it just parted,” Miller said.
“I’m pretty sure that was a draw,” MSU defensive tackle Paul Brott said. “We didn’t have any middle pressure, so he was just able to run through it free.”
MSU drove to the NDSU 14-yard line on 17 plays that covered 61 yards and all it got for it was a 32-yard field goal from Myles Sansted. The Bobcat’ defense responded with a three-and-out on the Bison’ next possession and drove into NDSU territory looking to cut the lead to 14-10 or 14-6, or simply keep the score at 14-3 going into the locker room. Once again, MSU couldn’t come up with a play as it found itself in a fourth-and-4 situation just inside NDSU territory.
“I certainly took a chance going for that fourth down,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “We were fourth and five. Just felt we needed to do something to create a jolt, and we didn’t get that fourth down. They turn around and score before half.”
Tommy Mellott didn’t connect with Taco Dowler and the Bobcats turned the ball over on downs, counting on their defense to stop NDSU from midfield with just :59 left in the half. Again, a bad decision by the Bobcats as the Bison scored in the waning seconds. The Bobcats had a chance to keep the Bison out of the end zone but appeared to play the run despite NDSU being out of timeouts with :14 to go, Miller hit Lance on the next play on a slant for a touchdown.
Instead being down 14-10 or 14-6 or 14-3, it was 21-3 and on the long list of plays that cost MSU a national title.
“I think we finished the first half much better, and that was a big deal,” NDSU head coach Tim Polasek said. “Getting those points before the half was the difference, I guess you could say that.”
The second half started out in a much more familiar style to the Bobcat’ faithful. MSU took the opening kickoff 75 yards in 11 plays to make it 21-10, then forced a punt and went 58 yards in two plays with a two-point conversion. Suddenly it was 21-18, the Bobcats had all the momentum only to see NDSU get an incredible catch from Bryce Lance on the MSU two-yard line on the last play of the third quarter after the Bobcats had put them in a third-and-six.
“They just hit us with their best stuff,” Polasek said. “Some really good triple-option stuff, some really good play action stuff off their best runs.
“It’s a really well coached offense with weapons – tight ends, receivers, running backs and that quarterback kid is just really good.”
Mellott responded with a 44-yard touchdown run and MSU got a three-and-out to set up another fail.
This time the Bobcats would get the ball back with a chance to take the lead for the first time all game. After scoring three touchdowns on three possessions to the start the half, you’d think MSU was going to march the field from it’s own 17.
Didn’t happen.
Montana State picked the absolute worst time of the season to go three-and-out. Scottre Humphrey got two yards on first down, then Adam Jones added four on second down. The choice to give their two running backs carries after Mellott had arguably brought them back single-handedly and that duo would only pick up 64 yards on 22 carries after combining for over 2,500 yards on the season. That left MSU in a third-and-six and Mellott hitched before throwing incomplete to an open Rohan Jones.
NDSU made the Bobcats pay dearly, but they had a great opportunity to hold the Bison to a field goal only to see Miller hit Raja Nelson for seven yards on a third-and-six play. Instead of a 31-25 game it’s 35-25 and MSU only has 2:41 to make up the difference.
MSU still got another chance after Mellott hit Taco Dowler for the final points of the game. Brendan Hall’s onside kick tumbled right past two Bobcats only to fall into the hands of an NDSU player. The Bison would go three-and-out and withstood an 11-man rush by MSU to get off a punt that burned the final ten seconds off the clock to secure the win and a 10th national championship in the FCS division.
Montana’s two FCS teams are in a championship slump of epic proportions. UM and MSU have lost six straight title games, including three in the last three years. The Bobcats string of losses – all in the playoffs – to NDSU has now stretched to six games. Three of those losses are among the worst in school history as the Bison beat MSU in Bozeman in 2010 after the Bobcats took a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter only to lose 42-17. Last year’s blocked extra point in overtime is still fresh in the collective memories of MSU’ fans and now this one that saw MSU losing a game that had it just made one of about five plays likely would’ve turned it into a win.
MSU enters 2025 with a good foundation and will be one of the favorites to win the title.
“Our expectation for this program is to win this game, and that’s hard to do,” Vigen said. “It’s really hard to do. It’s really hard to get here first and foremost.
“We needed to learn another lesson, I guess. I don’t know why, but we did. So here we go, on to next year.”
