BOZEMAN – There have been momentous eras, seasons and games between the University of Montana and Montana State University over the last 120-plus years. There have been streaks and miraculous comebacks. But never has a single contest been more hyped and more important than Saturday afternoon, when the Bobcats defeated the Grizzlies in the Football Championship Subdivision semifinal 48-23 to book a ticket to Nashville, Tennessee.
The game was a story of three thirds. The Bobcats took a 20-3 lead over the first 20 minutes. The Grizzlies bounced back to score 20 straight points over the next 20 minutes. Then MSU put the hammer down with 28 unanswered to stride past UM and into the history books, not to mention the third national title game appearance in the last five seasons.
“That was a game with a lot of different feels, for sure,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said after moving to 40-2 at home in his five seasons at the helm for the Bobcats. “We got off to an excellent start both offensively and defensively. Ultimately, plenty of back and forth, then all of sudden we find ourselves down. This team has continued to be a forward-thinking outfit and continues to believe, and the offense came out, drove it down and took the lead back and that piece is just a microcosm of what we’ve been about all season. To be able to truly finish it off in the fashion that we did.
“Clearly the play from (quarterback) Justin (Lamson) to (wide receiver) Taco (Dowler), I don’t know if that’s not the best play in the history of our program I don’t know but it certainly was the biggest play today. Our guys just kept going after that.”
The play of the game, which Vigen referred to, was a third down and 20 after MSU had taken the lead on a pop pass from Lamson to tight end Rocky Lencioni and then forced a punt by the Grizzlies that Dowler returned to the MSU 30 only to have it called back and force the possession to start on MSU’s own 10. After a first down, the Bobcats saw Lamson get sacked for a seven-yard loss, then got flagged for a false start to move the ball back to the 13.
Then it happened.
Lamson dropped back and was flushed out of the pocket and appeared to look like he was going to try to run. At that moment, he saw Dowler cutting across the seams about 20 yards downfield. Dowler had the first down but he wasn’t done once he caught the ball. He broke at tackle at the point of his catch, then another 20 more yards downfield, then cut back from the sideline to evade two more UM tacklers for the 87-yard score. Montana State had 34-23 lead and never looked back.
“It was a fun play, but people don’t realize that Justin kept the play alive, scrambled and threw the ball to me,” Dowler said. “If he doesn’t do that then I don’t get to run and score so Justin just made a great play on a great play call.”
The game was a physical and tumultuous one for both teams.
MSU lost Big Sky Conference Defensive Dlayer of the Year Caden Dowler, Taco’s twin brother, in the first quarter on the UM’s second possession when he left the field with an wrist injury and went straight to the locker room. The junior captain returned with no shoulder pads or jersey to root the team on, but his day was over.
Moments later UM wide receiver and a star of the first Cat-Griz game four weeks ago, Brooks Davis, was hit along the MSU sideline and left the game with an apparent ankle injury. The freshman did not return. In the second quarter, UM first-team all-conference tight end Evan Shafer was tackled after a long reception inside the MSU 5-yard line but injured his leg and also didn’t return. There were multiple other big hits and players leaving the field.
The Bobcats didn’t let up after Dowler’s electrifying score as they got a three and out and quickly went 60 yards on five plays. Lamson finished the drive by punching in a touchdown run. Then Bryce Grebe intercepted Griz quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat and returned it 40 yards for a scored, all of a sudden the score was 48-23 and the party was on at Bobcat Stadium.
“I’ve kept dreaming about (getting an interception return for a touchdown) telling myself this is going to happen I just have to be patient,” Grebe said. “It hit me right in the chest, I’m not gonna lie. I kind of figured that was the dagger. We still needed to lock in and go back out and get another stop on defense, which we were able to do, and it was all over from there.”
The Bobcats had their star on their minds and were set on letting him down.
“We were saying at halftime, do it for Caden,” Grebe said of his injured teammate. “You guys know how good he is. He’s got us here. He got us to this point. He’s a huge part of our team, a captain, a huge leader and just to be able to do that for him was amazing.”
Third-year sophomore safety Colter Petre replaced Dowler, finishing the game with six tackles – second most on the team – and a pass breakup. MSU finished with eight tackles for loss, three sacks, five pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and two turnovers.
The unit has been a mark of consistency all season as they only allowed three FCS teams to surpass 400 yards. They had to deal with the adversity of UM’s 20 straight points, which was season first for an opposition, along with the injury to Dowler.
“That’s five games in a row where we’ve faced really good offenses,” Vigen said. “We know that they are going to sort things out on their side and make some plays. They happen to score and I know the short field helped them get the back-to-back (touchdowns) before the half, but I think everybody had faith that the defense would find a way and that’s been the measure of this team. We’ve faced a lot of different types of explosive players and offenses but our ability to really limit the big, big play, the play that where everybody in the stadium can say well, they really screwed that up is the mark of this defense.”
MSU allowed just one play over 20 yards in the game – a 35-yard reception by UM’s mesmerizing wide receiver Michael Wortham – that set up a short touchdown pass to backup tight end Jake Olson, who was filling in for Shafer and gave UM its only lead of the day at 23-20 but also appeared to give the Grizzlies all the momentum.
“I thought Keali’i was a little more on the money,” Hauck said of his quarterback during UM’s run. “Our protection was good, the run game was good, and everything was kind of clicking. We had balance. I wish we’d got off to a little better start and as we started losing those (injured) guys it really hurt. A lot of the game plan, it involved Shafer and Brooks.”
Prior to that drive the Bobcats were desperate to get something going on offense and looked like they got a spark when Taco Dowler was unable to come down with a pass that would’ve given MSU a first down. The play was reviewed and it was revealed that UM defensive back Micah Harper had targeted Dowler, and he was ejected from the game to UM head coach Bobby Hauck’s chagrin.
“The targeting call on third down you can say what you want about that, I know what I think,” Hauck said.
The Bobcats await the winner of the other semifinal game between Illinois State and Villanova as they begin making plans to play in the national championship in Nashville, Tenn. MSU has now defeated UM in eight of its last 10 matchups. It was the Bobcats’ fifth semifinal game in the past six seasons (MSU didn’t participate in the Covid season) and the third trip to the finals in five years.
Between the Bobcats and Grizzlies, neither team has won a national championship without first beating the other on the road. The Bobcats defeated UM in Missoula in 1956, 1976 and 1984 before winning NAIA, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division I-AA titles. The Grizzlies beat the Bobcats in Bozeman in 1995 and 2001 before winning their two national titles.
The Bobcats honor one player with the “41” jersey in memory of the players that fought and died in WWII and also to commemorate the state being the 41st to join the United States. It’s been 41 years since Montana State won a national title. They’ll get a shot to do that on Jan. 5 in Nashville.
