Montana State University’s fans came out poppin’ on Saturday morning and the football team followed suit on its first possession, driving into field goal range effortlessly.
The drive stalled.
Quarterback Tommy Mellott hobbled off the field favoring his right ankle.
The field goal attempt became an attempted fake.
The attempted fake became a pooch punt attempt.
The pooch sailed into the end zone for a touchback, netting just eight yards as North Dakota State would take over on its own 20.
“Well, the sequence of events that happened on (the fake field goal) I knew Tommy got hurt the play before,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said (Mellott was actually injured three plays earlier). “I think we were sitting about fourth-and-four. We were probably within Blake’s (Glessner) range, but it was a two-way play and it didn’t work out for us. We certainly didn’t want to kick it in the end zone, but that one didn’t work out.”
While MSU’s contingent remained engaged, the play served as a portent of things to come as the Bobcats allowed three straight long scoring drives by the Bison, then another just before the end of the first half to fall in a 28-0 hole before losing the game 38-10.
Mellott was injured on a third and one play from the NDSU 38. He would gain a first down on the play with a two-yard run. While doing so Mellott’s plant foot got rolled up on by an NDSU defender as he slipped on the wet hybrid (half natural grass, half synthetic turf) playing surface.
He would remain in the game for the next set of downs, but he didn’t attempt to run. He completed a five-yard pass to Lance McCutcheon on first down, then Isaiah Ifanse ran for three yards on second down. On third and two he opted to throw a pass – perhaps eschewing an attempt to run to get the two yards necessary to sustain the drive – to receiver Matt McCutcheon in the end zone and it fell incomplete. His limp was obvious as he left the field on fourth down and was taken to a training table, which was soon enclosed.
Mellott emerged from the tent and attempted to make cuts on the sideline, but it was obvious that he had lost the ability to do just that – one of the biggest assets of his game – was gone.
“Actually, it was the play before third down,” a somber and uncertain Vigen said without further information after the game when explaining the injury. Mellott was injured carrying the ball for a first down on a third down play during the previous set of downs.
Mellott had been the proverbial “one” during Montana State’s mercurial run through the FCS playoffs following a shocking 29-10 loss to rival Montana in MSU’s regular season finale. The Butte native was inserted as the starting quarterback shortly after and took the Bobcats from the No. 8 seed all the way to the title game with virtual ease.
Just over three minutes into MSU’s first title appearance in 37 years the shooting star was taken out of the sky. A heartbreaking site for the MSU faithful and perhaps its players. The defense, which had allowed just 17 touchdowns in 14 games (roughly 1.2 per game) this season inexplicably allowed five in just over a half of the game.
The playing surface at Toyota Stadium has drawn scrutiny over the past few years. Last season the South Dakota State University quarterback was injured in similar fashion. According to a former player with experience on the field, linemen on both sides of the ball in past games were able to roll up portions of the surface and use it as type of starting block to come out of their stances more quickly.
Despite the injury, the game was going to be a difficult one for the Bobcats to win. NDSU has only lost nine games in the past 11 seasons. They have a handful former offensive linemen starting for National Football League teams and their last four quarterbacks have all been drafted and two are currently starting.
The Bobcats have lost to NDSU four straight times – each loss a playoff game – and has never lost by less than 25 points. The 38 points is the lowest output by NDSU in all of those games. MSU has moved up the FCS playoff ladder in each of the past three full FCS seasons. In 2018, they made the quarterfinal, then the semifinal in 2019 before advancing to the final this season. Not coincidentally each exit was at the hands of the Bison.
“The momentum of North Dakota State proved to be really challenging today. By no means did we make them one-dimensional, and by no means did we put a lot of pressure on their quarterback and by no means did we make plays.
“The ball got rolling, and it was really hard for us to stop it today.”
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