Montana State broke loose with 27 points in a short 5:22 stretch that spanned the end of the first and beginning of the second half to give the Bobcats a school-record 16th straight win as MSU bolted to 51-24 win over Butler in the annual Gold Rush game.
Captain running back Adam Jones and quarterback Justin Lamson got the streak going with consecutive 1- yard touchdown runs, then Lamson connected with Dane Steel from 29 yards with just 0:22 left in the half. That, plus a Jabez Woods 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, took a game that was tied 3-3 and psuhed it to 23-3 at halftime against the non-scholarship visitors from the Pioneer Football League.
After MSU got the second half kick, Lamson hit Taco Dowler on three successive pass plays for 20, 34, and 20 yards with the last landing in the end zone to give MSU a 37-3 lead less than two minutes into the second half.
Prior to Steel’s score, Dowler went 23 yards on a reverse to set up Lamson’s touchdown run. The play featured a two back set that was aligned to the left of Lamson out of the two-minute timeout.
Lamson finished 15 of 20 for 239 yards and three total touchdowns in just over a half of play. Dowler had five catches for 97 yards and also gained 77 yards on three punt returns and didn’t return after the first drive of the second half. He needs just 129 yards to break the FCS record for career return yards. He now has 1,539 yards, the most in the history of Montana State or the Big Sky Conference.
“It was a wide variety tonight for him,” Montana State head coach Brent Vigen said. “He’s something else, and all that being said, I know he dropped one early. He was beside himself after that, but he’s such a competitor that he’s going to continue to find ways to impact this whole team and we just gotta continue to create different ways to get him the football.
“Special teams-wise I know he’s more than made his mark returning the ball on punts over time, but teams continue to wanna kick to him, that’s great. Offensively, he’s continued to grow as a receiver. Teams got choices to make. If they want to pack the box, then let’s get the ball to the perimeter. That’s what we’ve done these first couple games a little bit more and that’s probably a reflection of why our rushing numbers have been a little modest.
“You go back a couple years and some of the same things he’s doing with the football are things that Tommy Mellott was doing only they were going to rushing numbers instead of passing numbers. Just our ability to stretch the width of the field…he’s such a big part of it.”
The Bobcats (2-0) may have decided to started subbing freely a little early as Butler scored 14 straight points after Lamson, Taco Dowler and numerous others stopped playing. MSU was also hindered by an injury to Caden Dowler in the first half. A strange turn of events led to the injury as MSU’s Carter Dahlke blocked a punt but offsetting penalties were called and Butler had to punt again. Caden Dowler was injured during the return and was out for the game. He was wearing a large leg brace on the sidelines in the second half. Vigen said after the game that he did not think the injury was season-ending.
As dynamic as MSU’s start was, Butler (1-1) pushed the Bobcats early in the game after seeing punter Sam Taglia have his first punt get downed at the MSU 1. The Bobcats went 72 yards from there but had to settle for a field goal and Butler was able to mount a long drive of its own to knot the game at 3-3.
But Woods took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown before MSU would go on its quick 27-0 run. Later in the game Woods caught a short pass from backup quarterback Patrick Duchien in stride and sprinted down the sideline for a 35- yard touchdown.
“Jabez didn’t get involved a lot last week,” Vigen said. “So, to see him return that kick…I know he’s been close before so to see him finish that off was great. Getting the ball in his hands, so he can make some plays was big. He’s got playmaking ability along with a bunch of other guys in that receiving corps.”
“Me and Patty, we’ve been tight since I got here and he trusts me to make plays like that,” Woods said. “It was just another regular rep that we have and it was up to me to make the play.”
The Bobcats would turn the ball over downs on a play that featured the aforementioned drop by Taco Dowler. Dowler atoned for the error several times over after that and his 30-yard punt return set up running back Adam Jones, who would take the ball the final 31 yards on four carries – the last from a yard out.
For the second straight game, MSU was able to lots of playing time for its backups. Duchein, a talented backup who led Florence to three straight Class B state championships before joining MSU, was 5 for 7 for 97 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw an interception. The first by a Bobcat’ quarterback since Lamson was intercepted last season in the quarterfinals by Stephen F. Austin. Ten different Bobcats caught passes and MSU averaged 5.7 yards per carry led by Jones who had 77 on 12 rushes. Eight players got rushing attempts.
Breaking the school record for consecutive wins (MSU won 15 straight in 2024 and went 14-0-1 in 1956-57) is something that went by with little fanfare for MSU’s players.
“Honestly, I didn’t know we had a streak going,” defensive end and captain Zac Crews said. “It’s a cool deal, but our mantra has been this way for a while and that’s to go 1-0, so we kinda forget that its 16 in a row and just focus on 1-0 the next week and that number will build and stack and you kind of forget about and just focus on going 1-0.”
The Bobcat’ defense was sharp despite allowing 24 points as most of the starters were out after the first drive of the second half. MSU only allowed 102 yards in the first half, but 58 of those came on one drive. Butler scored back-to-back touchdowns after MSU kicked off out-of-bounds after going ahead 37-3 to give the Bulldogs good field position and then a pass interference call on fourth down and three gave Butler a first down.
On the next drive Duchein threw his interception to set up Butler on a short field, and they went 25 yards on just two plays to make the score 37-17. Duchein bounced back to lead the Bobcats on lengthy scoring drives in succession. The first went 75 yards on 10 plays and was culminated on Jared White’s short touchdown run, the next went for 80
yards on seven plays with Woods taking it the final 35 yards.
White and Carter Dahlke both had solid all-around games. White had one of the key blocks to spring Woods on his kickoff return score, he had three catches for 25 yards and two carries for four yards. He had a 14-yard touchdown run called back on a holding call. Dahlke blocked a punt that appeared to set up MSU at the Butler five-yard line, but offsetting penalties negated that play. He caught two passes for 43 yards and ran the ball once for nine more.
Montana State will now prep for what may be its toughest opponent of the season when it travels to Reno to take on the University of Nevada. The Wolfpack defeated Western Kentucky at home to start their season.
