BOZEMAN – Most pundits wondered if Montana State University’s irresistible run game would be able to gain ground on the University of Montana’s immovable run defense.
That’s exactly what it came down to Saturday here in the 121st rivalry matchup. And in the end, it was about as convincing as it could possibly be.
The Bobcats ran for 439 yards in their 55-21 rout of the Grizzlies and were far superior on this day in that element of the contest. The UM defense that hadn’t allowed more than 192 in a game all season was more than doubled up on that total by the time the beat down came to an end on Saturday.
“That first punch is so important in a rivalry game like this,” MSU sophomore quarterback and Butte product Tommy Mellott, who had a game-high 141 yards rushing, said following his first rivalry game victory. “They twist a lot up front, and it makes them not very gap sound. And that doesn’t happen in Division I football.”
Montana, now 7-4 on the season and 4-4 in the Big Sky Conference, took an array of blows from the first snap to the last as the Bobcats (10-1, 8-0) wrapped up a share of its first league title since 2012.
The first play of the game was a 12-yard run by quarterback Tommy Mellott, the next was tailback Elijah Elliott getting 20 yards, and then the next topped that as Mellott went for 31 yards. By then the Bobcats could not top themselves because they were already within 12 yards of pay dirt, which they found three plays later.
MSU started out taking it to the edges of the UM defense with great success going 75 yards in six plays – all rushing – to take a 7-0 lead just 2:39 into the game. The Bobcats proved that was no fluke going 80 yards on their next possession on just seven plays – again all rushes.
“We felt like we could get to some things (outside) and we’ve got some electric guys running the football for us,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “We have a good variety of runs and an offensive line that continues to execute at a high rate.”
The Grizzlies came into the game allowing just 2.6 yards per carry and just 97 yards per game, a full 30 yards better in per-game average than the next-best rush defense (Weber State) in the Big Sky Conference.
The Bobcats scored on all four of their first half drives and had 306 rushing yards by halftime on 37 carries – 8.3 per carry – with 162 coming in the first quarter and another 144 in the second.
Mellott also had two touchdowns on his 15 carries, Elliott had 126 on 18 totes, secondary quarterback Sean Chambers – playing his first game in more than a month – had 86 yards and a touchdown and offensive coordinator Taylor Housewright’s shiny new toy Marqui Johnson had 74 yards and a score on a scant six handoffs on the heels of his national and Big Sky player of the week performance last week at Cal Poly.
In other words, it didn’t matter who ran the ball for the Bobcats. Montana had zero answers.
“He continues to play with all the things that make him what he is,” Vigen said of Mellott. “He’s an unbelievable competitor, he’s extremely intelligent, and he’s incredibly talented.”
For the most part, the Bobcats did what they’ve been doing in the run game. The difference was that they didn’t deviate to the pass. The first 17 and 31 of the first 32 plays were runs. They gained 292 yards on them.
“You’re always thinking that no one can stop you,” MSU fullback and captain RJ Fitzgerald said. “They’re one of the best run defenses in the entire country. We had to come off the ball as the most physical team on every play and I thought we did that four straight quarters.”
Bobcat Stadium has turned into house of horrors for UM’s run defense. The Bobcats ran for 382 yards in 2019 – the last time the teams met in Bozeman – in a 48-14 rout.
MSU has more than 800 yards in the two games and has outscored UM by 68 points the last two times the historic rivalry has been played in Bozeman.
The 34-point margins are tied for the second biggest wins in the series by MSU.
UM head coach Bobby Hauck is now 2-4 in Bobcat Stadium and is 6-5 as a head coach in the rivalry game.
“(Running the ball is) what they do,” UM safety Robbie Hauck. “We know that they know that. It’s all about having discipline. Good eyes and getting off blocks and make tackles and we didn’t do that, myself included.”
The Bobcats will draw a first-round bye and play at home in the second round of the FCS playoffs. They’ll most likely be the No. 2 or No. 3 seed.
Last season, they were the No. 8 seed and then knocked off No. 1 Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals. A semifinal win over South Dakota State, this years projected No. 1 seed got them to the national title game.
The selection show for the FCS playoffs begins at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
