Vandals knock off No. 2 Bobcats
MOSCOW, Idaho — It’s a bottleneck atop the Big Sky Conference.
Gevani McCoy hit Hayden Hatten on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 2:47 to play and No. 8 Idaho beat second-ranked Montana State 24-21 in Moscow on Saturday.
McCoy was 22 of 29 passing for 229 yards and two touchdowns, including a 6-yard scoring strike to Terez Taylor that put the Vandals (6-2, 4-1 in the Big Sky) up 10-0 at 7:58 of the second quarter. That lead held up well into the third quarter.
The Bobcats (6-2, 4-1 in the Big Sky) eventually pulled ahead 14-10 and 21-17, but surrendered both leads. They then drove to Idaho’s 18 in the final seconds before Tommy Mellott was sacked and Brendan Hall missed a game-tying 43-yard field goal.
"(Idaho) gave a really good effort today on both sides of the ball," Bobcat coach Brent Vigen said. "They were able to jump on us in the first half in so many ways, and I think that paid dividends for them at the end.
“Our defense really wore down, in part because our offense couldn't stay on the field in the first half. Even though we got some things going offensively in the second half ultimately the damage had been done."
Anthony Woods rushed for 64 yards, including a 3-yard TD that put Idaho up 17-14, and the Vandals gained 336 yards. But the most glaring statistic was their 41 minutes, 27 seconds of possession time. Montana State had the ball for 18:33.
It was almost enough. Julius Davis rushed 11 times for 84 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown run that put the Cats up 21-17 with just under eight minutes left. Mellott threw for 191 yards on 12 of 24 passing with two touchdowns, including a 2-yard pass to Clevon Thomas, Jr., that put MSU up 14-10 at 5:29 of the third quarter.. .
After Davis’ TD, the Vandals marched 75 yards and scored the winning touchdown. Hatten had four catches for 63 yards.
Idaho dominated the first half, controlling the ball for 24:05 and holding the Cats to 18 plays and 52 yards. Montana State's initial first down didn't come until less than two minutes before halftime.
Treyton Pickering had four catches for 87 yards, while Jacob Trimble had one catch that gained 46 yards for the Bobcats, who suffered their first loss to Idaho since the Vandals rejoined the Big Sky.
Rylan Ortt and Nolan Askelson each had 14 tackles for MSU, and Brody Grebe had 10
Montana State is now in a three-way tie with Idaho and Montana atop the Big Sky standings, and plays Northern Arizona at home next Saturday.
Montana St. 0 0 14 7 - 21
Idaho 3 7 0 14 - 24
First Quarter
UI — Chavez 53 FG, 1:06
Second Quarter
UI — Taylor 6 pass from McCoy (Chavez kick), 7:58
Third Quarter
MSU — White 16 pass from Mellott (Hall kick), 9:36
MSU — Thomas, Jr. 2 pass from Mellott (Hall kick), 5:29
Fourth Quarter
UI — Woods 3 run (Chavez kick),11:24
MSU — Davis 24 run (Hall kick), 7:58
UI — Hatten 12 pass from McCoy (Chavez kick), 2:47
A_22,629.
MSU UI
First downs 17 22
Total Net Yards 319 336
Rushes-yards 23-128 44-107
Passing 191 229
Punt Returns 0-0 1-6
Kickoff Returns 1-20 0-0
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 12-24-0 22-29-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-8 4-22
Punts 3-50.7 2-39.5
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 3-20 3-35
Time of Possession 18:33 41:27
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—MSU, Davis 11-84, Mellott 6-20, White 2-17, Chambers 3-7, TGrimble 1-0. Idaho, Woods 20-64, Romano 10-43, Hakcson 1-16, McCoy 10-9, Team 1-minus 1, Hatten 1-minus 23.
PASSING—MSU, Mellott 12-24-0-191. Idaho, McCoy 22-29-0-229.
RECEIVING—MSU, Pickering 4-87, Trimble 1-46, Thomas Jr. 3-23, McCullouch 3-19, White 1-16. Idaho, Hatten 4-63, Jackson 5-58, Trayner 5-48, Woods 3-28, Dwyer 2-12, Roman 2-11, Ivy Jr. 1-9.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—MSU, Hall 48, 43.