BOZEMAN – Montana State’s defense and special teams gave their offense all it needed as the Bobcats overwhelmed Weber State 66-14 for their eighth straight win of the season and 14th straight Big Sky Conference win dating back to the start of the 2024 season.
The Bobcats (8-2 overall, 6-0 Big Sky) collected four turnovers and got big returns from Taco Dowler and Dane Steel (punts) and Jabez Woods (kickoff) to set up the offense in good field position all day. MSU had six scoring drives of 52 yards or less on the day and even scored – field goal – on a drive that netted -7 yards.
Safety Caden Dowler forced a fumble and intercepted a pass that he returned 54 yards to the WSU 20 and the Bobcat’ offense converted it into a quick touchdown that put them up 28-0. Takhari Carr had a fumble recovery and an interception that he returned 25 yards to the WSU 26, and it included a personal foul on the Wildcats that moved the ball to their 13 and another quick touchdown that put MSU up 52-7. Neil Daily recovered a fumble, while Ife Ohalete forced a fumble.
“Good complimentary football in the first half,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “The offense taking advantage of really good field position setup by the defense and special teams return game. Defense making it really hard on them again.
“Caden punched that ball out and Caden had the pick that was a big turning point as far as any momentum they could’ve gained at the time. Our ability to take the ball away and not turn it over by the top crew on offense and I think (quarterback) Justin (Lamson) is making good decisions, so that’s the type of football we need to continue to play.”
Dowler is aware of the situation and gravity of his and his team’s play.
“It’s pretty cool and I’m surrounded by my favorite people, too,” Dowler said of his big day. “Being coached by the best coaches in the country and you put all that together and it’s pretty fun to be a Bobcat right now.”
Wide receiver Dane Steel joined Taco Dowler in punt return formation and he ended up getting four returns for 66 yards to go with Dowler’s 34-yard return. His 30-return set up the Bobcats on their own 48 and Julius Davis took the first play after that for a 52-yard touchdown jaunt. After WSU scored with just :35 to go in the half, Woods took the kickoff from three yards deep in his own end zone to the WSU 23 to set up a 48-yard field goal by Myles Sansted, which was the second longest of his career.
“Placekicking-wise the ball’s coming off Myles’ foot very well now, very consistently,” Vigen said. “That’s been huge. We had a little stretch where we were missing too many kicks and now we got three games in a row where we’ve been able to knock them all in and – 48-yarder – that was a really good opportunity for him, and he made the most of it.”
Dowler’s return went to the WSU 37 and Davis took four runs for 20 yards during the following possession and scored from 1-yard out.
“He’s been real steady,” Vigen said of Dowler. “He’s our quarterback of the defense. He’s the communicator. He was missed last year for sure and to get him back and to play the way he’s playing was certainly our expectation to see it come to fruition. That kid has worked so hard to have this season that he’s put together. That’s what you want for the young man who wants it so bad.”
In all, MSU scored 31 points following turnovers or returns.
The Bobcats started the game without stalwart defensive tackle Paul Brott, who appeared to injure his ankle against Northern Colorado last week, and cornerback Seth Johnson, who was coming off possibly his best game of the season. Their teammates more than made up for their absence as they held the Wildcats to 285 yards, including just 107 in the second half and that marked the eighth time in 10 games this season that MSU’s defense has held an opponent under 300 yards. The only teams to break that mark are Oregon (506) and Idaho State (404).
Justin Lamson had a quiet yet effective and efficient day under center. He completed 12 of 16 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, while running nine times for 31 yards and two more scores. Davis finished with 114 yards on just 10 carries, while Adam Jones had 42 yards rushing and 23 yards receiving on just 8 touches. No player caught more than two passes for MSU, and 11 players caught at least one.
Davis didn’t consider Lamson’s day quiet at all from his perspective.
“That competitive edge is contagious for everybody on this team,” Davis said of Lamson’s leadership. “When you have the leader of your offense fired up, it’s going to fire up everybody else.”
Ryan King caught his first touchdown pass at MSU after transferring in 2024.
“I really appreciated (King’s) growth through the last month in particular,” Vigen said. “He was coming off an injury and he didn’t have spring ball and didn’t have much summer and now he’s becoming a guy we can look to, to make plays. I don’t think it was that way before, I think we always hoped we would get to that point.”
Former quarterback Jordan Reed also caught his first touchdown after Patrick Duchein’s pass to Javonte King bounced right to him in the end zone. Reed also completed a pass during the game after taking a lateral from Lamson and throwing it back to him for an 11-yard gain.
“The opportunity to get everybody in the game again,” Vigen said. “See those guys on that stage get game reps is so critical, so another good team effort and the performance we needed today.”
The Bobcat’ offense has now scored 121 points in two weeks and got its third game of 55 points or more out of six Big Sky games.
“We continue to get better, continue to believe we can get better,” Vigen said. “That can be the biggest challenge. Complacency is such an easy place to settle into, and this group has been able to play whoever’s in front of us and make it about the opportunity, not the opponent. That’s not easy. Human nature sets in all too often for anybody, especially young people. Our ability to hold ourselves to the standard of ‘hey we need to go out and take this opportunity as seriously as possible no matter who we play or where we play.’ I appreciate how our guys bought into that. We got a real appreciative group. A group that works together and works for one another.”
While the Bobcats are rolling, they now face their stiffest tests since the start of the season as they prepare to take on UC Davis in a nationally televised game on ESPN at Bobcat Stadium this week and then travel to Missoula to take on archrival No. 2 ranked Montana. The Aggies were undefeated in league play before losing to Idaho State a week ago. The Grizzlies are the lone undefeated team in the Big Sky at 10-0.
