The coin toss is becoming increasingly important for Montana State.
On Saturday with Sacramento State in town, the Bobcats knew an early lead would do wonders, both because the Hornets have sputtered offensively all season and because Montana State’s defense entered the game searching for confidence after yet another lackluster performance in a loss at Northern Arizona last week.
MSU wide receiver Mitch Herbert breaks loose on a 79-yard TD
Montana State won the coin toss and wasted no time. Junior quarterback Dakota Prukop found sophomore Mitchell Herbert for a 79-yard catch-and-run sprung by a key Mitch Griebel block for a score on the second play of the game. Montana State’s defense promptly responded, forcing a punt after three Sac State plays. On the ensuing drive, junior running back Chad Newell ripped off a 21-yard run, Prukop scurried for another 20 and sophomore Justin Paige scored from nine yards out on a double-wide receiver reverse to give Montana State a 14-0 lead before the game was four minutes old.
Sac State went toe to toe for the next 40 minutes, limiting MSU’s explosive offense until late in the third quarter. The quick start proved to be enough in the final margin of victory as well as to invigorate the Bobcat defense with some much-needed esteem. Montana State’s defense limited Sac State to 142 second-half yards and the Bobcats cruised to a 35-13 victory in front of 19,407 here at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday night.
“We expected to score on the drive but not that fast,” Prukop said after throwing for 277 yards, rushing for 69 and totaling three touchdowns. “We want the ball. Our offense wants to get points on the board and have a fast start because when we have a fast start on offense, I know it gets the defense going too.”
Two weeks ago, Montana State elected to take the ball first and it resulted in a touchdown drive, the first of three straight as MSU mounted a 21-0 first quarter lead in a 45-28 victory over Cal Poly. MSU did not take the ball first in a 55-50 loss at Eastern Washington or the 49-41 loss at NAU last week.
“It’s high-risk to take the ball first and you really need to be able to do something with it,” MSU ninth-year head coach Rob Ash said. “I expected a tough, difficult, long drive to get down the field but the big play to Herby was just fantastic. It was a strange start to the game because we had the ball once, they had the ball once and only one minute have gone off the clock. It was a fabulous start on both sides, just what we needed.”
MSU quarterback Dakota Prukop evades the pocket
Sacramento State came into the game averaging just 13.5 points against Division I opponents but the Hornet defense kept them in the game. After Gates’ rushing touchdown, the Hornets forced four straight Bobcat punts. Beginning with 5:27 left in the first half, Prukop engineered an 86-yard drive boosted by a 44-yard fourth-down run by junior Gunnar Brekke and finished off by Prukop’s first of two rushing touchdowns on the evening. The Bobcats took a 21-10 lead into the locker room.
“We knew all the crazy stuff they did but we kept it pretty simple so our kids could get lined up,” Sac State second-year coach Jody Sears said following his team’s fifth straight loss. “We gave up those big plays but we were in it first half after we forced those three and outs. But we didn’t do enough.”
Sac State running back Jordan Robinson rushed for 108 yards before halftime before pulling his hamstring. He did not carry the ball after intermission. Sac responded after halftime by forcing an MSU punt by mounting a 17-play drive down to the MSU 5-yard line. Sac State sophomore quarterback Kolney Cassel took two hard hits during the drive. Midway through the possession, MSU senior defensive tackle Nate Bignell and junior rush end Jessie Clark combined to smash Cassel to the turf, separating his shoulder. The SMU transfer stayed in the game. The second a hit by MSU senior defensive tackle Taylor Sheridan was the final blow of Cassel’s night. Sac managed just a Cornish field goal despite the 80-yard drive. Cassel, who made his second straight start in place of injured sophomore Daniel Kniffin, did not return to the game.
“The game turned when my quarterback got hurt,” Sears said. “But we have to score. He had a third-degree separation of his shoulder and he is still out there throwing the ball so we have to get a touchdown out of that.”
MSU defenders Mac Bignell and Tyrone Fa’anono blitz
With a lead in hand, Montana State’s defensive front was able to put more pressure on the quarterback than at any time this season. MSU notched a Division I season-high three sacks and hurried the quarterback half a dozen more times.
“The quarterback, he was definitely nervous back there,” said MSU junior defensive end Zach Hutchins, who finished with a sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. “We had to perform like this. Last week, we did not perform our best and we needed to start somewhere.”
Cornish’s second field goal cut the MSU lead to 21-13 with 19 minutes to play. The Montana State offense responded with two powerful drives to seal the game.Following Sac State’s last score, the Bobcats began on their own 25. On the third play of the possession, Prukop scrambled, extended a play by a few seconds and fired to senior tight end Beau Sandland for a 48-yard gain. Three plays later, Brekke scored from eight yards out. The Helena Capital product celebrated his birthday with his first touchdown of the season, a score that put MSU up 28-13.
With true freshman Nate Ketteringham in the game at quarterback, Sacramento State went three-and-out. MSU took over on its own 14 and promptly began to march. Prukop hit Herbert for a 17-yard gain to put the sophomore over 100 yards receiving. The sophomore from Eugene, Oregon finished with four catches for 115 yards and his fifth TD of the season. Prukop’s next pass was a frozen rope to Griebel for a 22-yard gain on a corner rout. Newell made it three straight big plays with a 16-yard scamper. Seven plays later, all runs, Prukop faked to Newell on a zone read option play and walked in untouched for the final margin of victory.
“It was nice to get on track again,” Ash said. “We started finally finding some holes in the running game. I think our offensive line is very strong. As the game wore on, our offensive line got stronger. It was a psychological thing. We wore them down a little bit.”
MSU running back Gunnar Brekke gets the edge
Montana State rushed for 234 yards and averaged 6.2 yards per carry. Prukop finished with 69 yards on 16 carries while Newell chipped in 68 on eight carries and Brekke added 61 yards on five carries.
Sac State middle linebacker Darnell Sankey entered the game averaging an FCS-best 14.2 tackles per game. Montana State made a concerted effort to get a lineman to the second level to impede the 6-foot-2, 255-pounder’s ability to run sideline to sideline. Sankey finished with nine tackles but just two solo stops.
“This is hard, but we have to just get back into practice and keep moving forward,” Sankey said following Sac’s fifth straight loss. “The games are close. We are not getting blown out. We have to find a way to finish.”
Montana State’s defense found a way to finish on Saturday evening. The Bobcats allowed 3.7 yards per play in the second half and consistently pressured the quarterback for the first time this season. Sophomore linebacker Mac Bignell led the charge with 11 tackles, including nine solo stops and two tackles right at the line of scrimmage. Redshirt freshman middle linebacker Grant Collins added eight tackles and a forced fumble that went out of bounds. Hutchins and sophomore Tyrone Fa’anono had solo sacks while senior tackle Nate Bignell and junior end Jessie Clark shared the third.
“That was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in a long time here,” Ash said. “Hat’s off to the defensive line. They did a great job today.
“Because our defense played well, in hindsight it’s probably good for our defense to figure out that our offense doesn’t have to score on every possession and we can still be in a game. That’s probably just what the doctor ordered to take some pressure off the offense. Instead of feeling like you have to score every single time, if we stall out for a minute, the defense will be there to have our backs and maybe we can be a more conventional football team from this point forward.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
