BOZEMAN – Senior Day for the Montana State seniors was an explosive one led by quarterback Sean Chambers, who had five total touchdowns in the first half alone, leading the fifth-ranked Bobcats to a 57-14 win over Eastern Washington.
Senior defensive end Ben Seymour nearly returned a fumble for a touchdown, senior linebacker Nolan Askelson had an interception, senior wide receiver Clevan Thomas, Jr. caught a TD pass and senior running back Lane Sumner scored his first touchdown since 2019 – four years and two days ago.
“Really proud of how our guys came out and got after it much like last week,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “I know our guys appreciate our fans so much. We have the great fortune to be able to play in front of the best fans in the country, in my opinion, as far as how they show up and how they’re into the game.”
The Bobcats, now 6-1 Big Sky Conference and 8-2 overall, moved into first place albeit temporarily when Idaho was upset by Weber State, 31-29. That means next week’s rivalry game against No. 3 Montana in Missoula will be for the outright Big Sky title.
Montana State dominated a second straight opponent after falling for the first time this season in Big Sky play. In the process, the ‘Cats beat EWU by more points than any time in the history of the series, posting a 12th overall win over the Eagles. And it also stamped a second straight losing season for EWU, the first time that’s occurred since 1994 and 1995. Those two years were the first two years under Mike Kramer, a former Big Sky Coach of the Year who won the award at Eastern, Montana State and Idaho State.
“(Montana State is) a great team,” Eastern Washington head coach Aaron Best said. “They played like the top-5 team that they are. You can’t go on the road and play well below average in the first half and beat anybody, let alone a top-5 team… we got beat by a really good football team.”
Saturday, Montana State’s offense was very balanced with 276 yards passing and 275 rushing. MSU averaged 9.5 yards per play. Quarterbacks Chambers and Tommy Mellott combined to complete all eight of their passes – they were both 4-for-4 – for 217 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half before giving way to redshirt freshman Jordan Reed for the second two quarters.
“He was on point,” Vigen said of Chambers. “There’s this misconception that we’re going to throw him out there and we’re just going to run the football. He can throw it. (EWU’s defense) was all piled in there and if you do that we’ve got some guys that can get behind the defense.”
Vigen wasn’t the only one to notice Chambers’ exploits.
“When we brought Sean in, I was like, I thought Tommy was the guy,” Sumner said. “What are we doing? And then you see Chambers play and you’re like, oh yeah, that’s why. They compliment each other, they’re unselfish, he’s a great guy obviously he’s a team captain. He’s a leader, he’s a good friend of mine. Love the guy.”
The Bobcats had plays of 74, 68, 63, 51, 43, 34 and 32 yards during the onslaught. The defense forced three turnovers, including a pick-6 by freshman Zac Crews, who also blocked a punt, and punter Brendan Hall averaged 51.6 yards per punt and probably close to five seconds of hang time.
“He’s (Crews) played a real critical role on special teams all year,” Vigen said. “He’s been in there, here and there, on defense. He’s a tremendous athlete and that’s shown a lot in the special teams game and that blocked punt was the first it really showed to the fan in the stands and then the athleticism on the interception. We’re really glad we have him here and he’s only going to continue to contribute as he gets bigger and stronger.
MSU saw a promising first drive thwarted by a personal foul penalty, but then broke loose. Chambers ignited the capacity crowd of 20,897 with an electric 68-yard touchdown run. Moments later he’d connect with Thomas, Jr. for a 15-yard score that saw Thomas break a tackle at the 5-yard line before scooting into the end zone.
Seymour’s fumble return to the EWU two-yard line set up a short Chambers TD run and after Askelson’s interception he hit a streaking Ty McCullouch for a 51-yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead. Mellott then hit Scottre Humphrey for a 63-yard touchdown before Chambers hit McCullouch for another score – this one from 43 yards away.
The scoreboard read 41-0 before anyone could catch their breath.
“Simeon (Woodard) smacked the tight end, and the ball came out,” Seymour said. “I seen Nolan (Askelson) and me going for the ball and I kinda stole it from him to be honest and luckily Nolan didn’t fight me over it, he just let me have it and I took off running.”
Sumner scored his touchdown on the first possession of the second half before MSU got a field goal from Casey Kautzman, who saw two of his extra points blocked. MSU’s final score came on Crews’ pick-6 – an athletic play that saw him deflect the ball into the air and then catch it before scooting six yards for the score.
MSU had just 22 yards on seven carries to start the game, but then Chambers broke loose on his 68-yard touchdown and the run game was back on track. Humphrey rumbled 74 yards to the EWU three-yard line and led all rushers with 84 yards on just three carries, plus the long TD reception. Only one rusher had more than five carries – Elliott had eight for 31 yards – with Chambers had five carries for 75 yards, Mellott had 43 yards on three carries.
McCullouch, a former Colorado State receiver who got the wind knockedout of him early, had the best game of his career with the Bobcats as he caught four passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns – all in the first half. Reed, MSU’s 6-foot-6 third-string quarterback from Southern California, was 7-for-11 passing for 59 yards.
The Bobcats were working in second and third string players late in the second quarter. Third string defensive ends Hunter Parsons and Crews were both in late in the first half.
EWU quarterback Kekoa Visperas has been catching a lot of attention this season and he had his moments in this game. He threw for both of the Eagles scores and 329 yards, but also threw a pair of interceptions and was sacked four times.
MSU’s defense had five sacks and 10 tackles-for-loss. Defensive tackle Paul Brott had a sack, two tackles-for-loss and six tackles. Blake Stillwell led the team in tackles with nine, Askelson had eight and McCade O’Reilly had seven. Defensive end Brody Grebe had 1.5 sacks, helping him keep chase in for the Big Sky lead.
The Bobcats begin preparing for rival University of Montana on Monday. Their game with the Grizzlies is slated for a noon kickoff in Missoula at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
