Mellott, Jones lead Cats into FCS semis

BOZEMAN — Facing a quality opponent for the second time, and one that he knew would “throw the kitchen sink at us,” Montana State coach Brent Vigen went back to basics.

Senior quarterback Tommy Mellott rushed for 131 yards and threw for 174, while Adam Jones added 95 yards on the ground to lead the No. 1 Bobcats to a 52-19 FCS Quarterfinals win over No. 8 Idaho Friday night. 

The win in front of a packed Bobcat Stadium crowd advanced the Cats to the FCS Semifinals for the fourth time in the past five seasons, while ending Idaho’s first 10-win campaign since 1993. 

The Bobcats struck first, Mellott marching his team 75 yards in nine plays and hit Rylan Schlepp on a 3-yard touchdown pass.  

After Montana State held Idaho on downs, Vandals defensive back Isaih King picked off a Mellott pass, and Idaho quarterback Jack Layne hit Jordan Dwyer with a 55-yard touchdown pass on the next snap. 

The teams then traded field goals, with Myles Sansted connecting from 46 yards for the Bobcats and Cameron Pope connecting from 32 yards for Idaho to tie the score 10-10. 

At that point the Vandals, who lost 38-7 on this same turf on Oct. 12, seemed to have momentum. But on the ensuing kickoff Owen Forsman dribbled an onside attempt just three yards, and MSU took over at the Idaho 38.  

Eight plays later, Mellott scampered 8 yards for a touchdown and the Bobcats led 17-10 with 3:47 remaining in the first half. 

It was the beginning of an avalanche. On Idaho’s next possession Layne hit Mark Hamper on a tunnel screen that MSU covered well, and Hamper lost the ball in a collision with one of his linemen. Brody Grebe recovered for the Bobcats at the Vandal 28-yard line. 

Soon, Jones scored the first of his four touchdowns with 1:15 remaining in the half to push the lead to 24-10.  

After an Idaho punt and a 15-yard return by Taco Dowler, Mellott set the Bobcats up for another score with a 63-yard run on a scramble. It was a scintillating run down to the 2-yard line with 23 seconds left in the half; he was escorted by Dowler and twice, two Vandals collided trying to get an angle on the Big Sky’s offensive player of the year. 

“I didn’t like what I saw,” Mellott said of the pass coverage. “And I took off. It kind of parted for me.” 

Jones scored one play later, and the Cats had turned a 10-10 tie into a 31-10 halftime advantage. 

The Cats scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns — one by Dowler on a 5-yard pass from Mellott, and one by Jones on a 2-yard run — to extend their scoring run to 42 points.  

Idaho got a couple of fourth-quarter scores. 

The Vandals gained 407 yards — second-most allowed by the Bobcats all season, though 193 of those yards came in the fourth quarter with the game well out of reach. 

Layne finished 20 of 30 for 239 yards with two touchdowns.  He connected on his first seven passes for 137 yards before missing Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar on what could’ve been a touchdown from the MSU 15. Idaho settled for the field goal and that 10-10 tie. 

Dwyer caught 11 passes for 189 yards and both Idaho touchdowns, the second one covering 25 yards with 12:31 left. On defense Jaxton Eck finished with a game-high 13 tackles. 

Jones’ 95 yards pushed him past Isaiah Ifanse (1,025 in 2018) for the MSU’s freshman rushing record. Jones now has 1,068 yards. He had 23 carries — 17 in the first half — while the Bobcats played without leading rushing Scottre Humphrey (ankle). 

Colson Coon added 44 yards on 10 carries. The Bobcats piled up 287 rushing yards, after gaining 360 against the Vandals in October. 

The Bobcats host the semifinal game next Saturday at 1:30 p.m., with either Big Sky rival UC Davis or South Dakota traveling to Bozeman.