Bison top Bobcats

FRISCO, Texas — The Montana State Bobcats and the Big Sky Conference are going to have to wait a while longer for that elusive championship, thanks to familiar foe North Dakota State.

Led by Cam Miller’s two touchdowns throwing and two more rushing, the Bison held off the Montana State Bobcats 35-32 for the FCS title Monday at Toyota Stadium. It marked NDSU’s 10th national championship at this level, all in the last 15 years. 

The loss denied Montana State (15-1) an unbeaten season and a second FCS title to go with the one from 1984. At the time it was the Big Sky’s third national championship in five seasons; they’ve been rare since. Eastern Washington’s owns the last, in 2010. Montana picked up two in 1995 and 2001. 

“You end up rattling off 15 victories and you can’t finish it off, this is not how we wanted this day to end,” fourth-year MSU coach Brent Vigen said. “But I know the program’s much better for their efforts.” 

The Bison looked dominant early, leading 14-0 in the first quarter — with Miller running for touchdowns covering 2 and 64 yards — and 21-3 at halftime. Then Tommy Mellott, who edged out Miller for the Walter Payton Award on Saturday evening, got going.  

First, he hit Ryan King with a 41-yard pass, setting up Scottre Humphrey’s 1-yard scoring run at 8:09 of the third quarter. 

Four minutes later Mellott capped a 58-yard drive with a 5-yard TD strike to Rohan Jones. When he found Ryan Lonergan with the two-point PAT pass, the gap was just 21-18 at 4:03 of the third. 

“Coach (Tyler) Walker got us going,” said Mellott, who threw for 178 yards and ran for 93 after halftime. “Players are making plays, guys kept fighting. It’s very easy, 21-3, to quit in a National Championship game. It is. And we came back out there and we had a group of guys that fought for this team, fought for the seniors and just came up short.” 

Miller hit Joe Stoffel with a short TD pass — set up by a diving, 39-yard reception by sensational receiver Bryce Lance — to put NDSU up 28-18 early in the fourth quarter. But Mellott answered that with a 44-yard touchdown up the right sideline, his longest run of the day. The lead was back to 28-25.  

By the end Mellott and Miller had very comparable numbers, as did their teams. Miller was 19 of 22 passing for 200 yards and ran 18 times for 121; Mellott was 13 of 24 passing for 195 yards and picked up 135 rushing yards on 14 carries. 

Two key moments stand out. The first was when MSU went for it on fourth-and-5 from near midfield, and Mellott was forced into an incompletion with a minute left in the first half. The second came after Mellott’s long TD: The Cats forced an NDSU punt but then had a 3-and-out from their own 23 midway through the fourth quarter.  

The Bison (14-2) answered both those mishaps with touchdowns.  

Lance caught a 1-yard scoring strike that made it 21-3 with 12 seconds before halftime, and Marty Brown’s 3-yard TD run made it 35-25 with 2:41 left in the game. 

“I certainly took a chance going for that fourth down,” Vigen said. “... And if we punt and pin them down, maybe it’s harder for them to get that last score before the half. 

“But I just think we needed something to jolt us. If nothing else, Tommy was making some plays with his feet, and it didn’t happen there.” 

Montana State kept the pressure on, with Mellott’s fourth-down, 19-yard TD strike to bring the Bobcats to 35-32 with 1:09 remaining. They then hit the ensuing onside kick perfectly, but the ball was recovered by Lance at MSU’s 48-yard line.  

The end was academic, and underwhelming: The Bison ran the last 10 seconds off the clock with a punt. The Cats, who went for the block, didn’t try to return. 

Bison coach Tim Polasek matched the guy he replaced, Matt Entz, with a title in his first season at the helm and beat his fellow former NDSU assistant and friend Vigen in the process.  

Lance had nine catches for 107 yards. Adam Jones had 11 carries for 40 yards; Brown had 17 for 77. 

Bobcat safety Rylan Ortt had 10 tackles, many of his eight solo stops came on Miller. 

In the third playoff matchup in four seasons, including the 2021 title game, NDSU had 401 yards to MSU’s 393, and 18 first downs to the Bobcats’ 19. There were no turnovers in the game. The Bobcats scored on all their second-half possessions except that 3-and-out. 

“We moved the ball,” Vigen said. “We got a couple first downs. I think we had a 17-play drive that resulted in three points (in the second quarter). I think just our inability to finish that drive in particular came down to — God, just a couple yards here and there. 

"I think we came here with one expectation. I know it stings a lot for these guys, for these seniors in particular that have laid such a foundation for our program.”