BOZEMAN – The Don Joy Mafia returned to Bobcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon, helping Adam Jones look like the Godfather of the Bobcat run game once again.
Sometimes, what you’ve been seeing is not what you’re going to get. That was the case for Montana State when it saw its running game make a return to the “Run The Damn Ball” motto in a 48-14 win over Idaho State that saw Bobcat’ runners total 384 rushing yards, including 163 yards from Jones, the preseason Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year entering his sophomore campaign.
Questions have abounded for MSU’s run game, which, despite leading the league in rushing yards per game, hasn’t looked like its old self this season, at least not compared to the last six or seven seasons. Some have been perplexed at the lack of production under first-year offensive coordinator Pete Sterbick’s direction despite the graduation of the only two-time first-team All-American offensive lineman in program history in Marcus Wehr, the transfer of first-team All-American tackle Conner Moore to Michigan State and the transfer of All-American running back Scottre Humphrey to New Mexico.
Jones, the runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the FCS last season, came into the game with 242 rush yards through six games. He broke loose for 173 yards on 16 carries with a 24-yard touchdown, one of his four carries or more than 20 yards. That helped the Bobcats control the game against the explosive and pesky Bengals, a team that took Montana down to the wire last week before losing 42-38 in Pocatello, Idaho.
After MSU surged to 15 straight victories and the Big Sky Conference best championship, Jones was named the preseason Big Sky Offensive MVP. And in the eyes of some, he hadn’t been living up to the billing after enduring off-season surgery and a wave of change on the Bobcat offense, including the aforementioned and the graduation of Walter Payton Award-winning quarterback Tommy Mellott, arguably the best running QB in conference history.
“Adam’s been running the ball fine all year,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said with a little extra pitch to his voice. “He hasn’t had the opportunities maybe and hopefully this will get everybody beyond that thought, ‘what’s wrong with Adam.’ Adam’s a good football player; he’s a really good football player and that showed up today.”
His senior running mate Julius Davis also had a big day, which started with a 22-yard touchdown reception from Justin Lamson the first time he stepped on the field. Davis ran for 65 yards on eight carries. Lamson and backup quarterback Patrick Duchien combined for 106 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on an afternoon where Lamson also threw four touchdowns as MSU won for the fifth week in a row.
Jones gives Davis credit for keeping him upbeat.
“We feed off each other,” Jones said. “Julius is a different kind of dude on game day. He gives me the energy and confidence to do that and when I see him break a play like that it makes me want to do it that much more. Us feeding off each other and we’re both really competitive. We’re going to support each other but I know we’re both hungry dogs out there.”
After bolting out to a 14-0 lead, MSU got a dose of what makes the Bengals a scary team as quarterback Jordan Cooke connected on a 40-yard strike to Tsion Nunnally to set up their first touchdown, then after another MSU score, he found Nunnally again for a 69-yard touchdown – the longest play against the Bobcat’ defense this season – to make it a 20-14 game. Nunnally finished with nine catches for 169 yards.
The Bobcats kept their composure as they did last week against Northern Arizona when they trailed 7-0 midway through the second quarter on the road.
“Things are going to happen, good teams are going to make plays, it’s part of the deal,” Vigen said. “They might even score, and they did today. The defense set the offense up early with just how it went, offensively we really answered their scores. That stretch where we kept the ball as long as we did and then opened the lead up again. Can’t say enough about the complimentary aspect of how we played.
“That’s a really explosive offense. They got some yards, but they didn’t get some points we turned them over a bunch of times and ultimately you win by that margin, it’s really a task because that team has played really well against some good teams.”
ISU led FBS teams UNLV and New Mexico, and the No. 4 ranked FCS team in the nation – University of Montana – in the fourth quarter only to falter down the stretch.
It was all MSU after Nunnally’s touchdown, as the Bobcats got a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that lasted 7:53 with Lamson scurrying in from seven yards out. After a quick three and out, the Bobcats went 94 yards on 11 plays with Lamson throwing another pinpoint pass into the corner of the end zone that freshman tight end Rocky Lencioni hauled in for a 13-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left in the first half.
Lencioni caught another touchdown from Lamson on MSU’s second possession of the second half to put the Bobcats up 41-14. It was the third touchdown reception for Lencioni in the last two games.
“Really mature for a young player,” Vigen said of Lencioni, who played for Bozeman High School. “Just seven games into his career here. I have complete confidence in him being able to take advantage of the opportunity. It doesn’t surprise me for a young player like him to do the things he has. It’s kind of what we expect right now and I’m glad we got him on our side.”
Hidden in all that was the performance of Lamson, who connected on 17 of 21 passes for 184 yards and four touchdowns. Lamson has thrown nine touchdown passes in the last three games. He also connected with Dane Steel for MSU’s second score. Those nine touchdown passes have been to six different receivers. His passer efficiency rating rose to 168.1, which leads the Big Sky.
“You go back to last year, the run game was so good because they were focused on Tommy (Mellott) and now this year with Justin, who can run the ball really well, but he’s thrown the ball at a different level than we’ve seen at Montana State,” Jones said. “It helps a lot to have guys like Taco (Dowler) and Dane (Steel) and Jabez (Woods). Those guys are doing a heckuva job out there, so like I said it’s really hard on teams. I don’t know what the answer would be to cover us.”
“Dane has stood out to me,” Jones continued. “He blocks so well. To see him finally get his opportunities in the pass game and what he does with the ball. I couldn’t be happier for someone like that. And for Rocky, too. He’s someone who’s worked his tail off. I told him it’s going to be a big year for him, and he told me he’s not going to believe it until he sees it. Now he’s seeing it.”
The Bobcat’ defense gave up 300 yards for the first time this season against an FCS team as the Bengals finished with 404. Despite that, they shut ISU out and forced three turnovers over the last 43:47. Four secondary players were in the top five in tackles with cornerback Carson Williams forcing a fumble that was recovered by Cole Taylor and all but ended any chance the Bengals would make a comeback.
Williams tracked down wide receiver Julian Mason, who had hauled in a 28-yard pass to the MSU 14-yard line and punched the ball out.
“We work the simul-punch dang near every day with coach (Trenton) Green,” Williams said. “I seen that (the receiver) was looking at me and coach Green always says, ‘the punch you can’t see is the one that knocks you out.’ It felt real good, I lost my mind. That’s not for fake; that’s a passion for the game. That’s the first force fumble I ever made in my life.”
Williams celebrated his birthday earlier in the week with fellow cornerbacks.
“We go out to eat together, there’s no man left behind,” Williams said. “If you mess up in practice, all the other DB’s are coming to lift you up. It’s just little things like that, we went out to dinner the other day for my birthday. It was all the DB’s, and it was special.”
Cooke finished with 307 yards passing and two touchdowns as he connected on 20 of 37 attempts. Nunnally had nine receptions for 169 yards, while 6-foot-6 Michael Shulikov had 10 grabs for 124 yards. MSU held ISU runners to just 36 yards on 17 carries. The Bengals had four plays of 25 yards or more. It all amounted to Idaho State falling to 2-5, including 1-5 against Division I opponents
MSU got linebacker Neil Daily back for his first appearance since the season opener at Oregon. Daily played sparingly but his lone tackle was for a loss. Safety Caden Dowler led MSU with seven tackles.
The Bobcats have an open weekend before traveling to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, which lost to No. 4 ranked Montana 28-9.
