BOZEMAN – Montana State sent a big message to their critics with a 38-7 dismantling of the No. 7 Idaho Vandals as Tommy Mellott and the Bobcats dominated every facet of the game billed as the biggest game of the Big Sky Conference season to date.
Maligned for playing a weak schedule over the first six games, the No. 3 Bobcats, now 3-0 in the Big Sky and 7-0 overall, held Idaho to 2 for 12 on third downs, while converting 9 of their 13 attempts. MSU had the ball for nearly 40 minutes and had nearly 250 more total yards. Montana State out-rushed the Vandals by 270 yards. Those figures were more glaring before Idaho had its lone scoring drive of the game in the waning minutes.
“Really proud of the guys, really proud, because a lot has been said about, we haven’t played anybody,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “You know what? We play the next team in front of us. Our guys keep showing up and playing.”
Idaho turned the ball over on downs on its first possession and it was all Bobcats after that as Mellott ran for two scores and threw for two more in building a 31-0 lead just two minutes into the second half.
“It probably meant more to our defense to say okay, this is something we didn’t do last year that extended that early part of that game,” said Vigen, referring to MSU’s 24-21 loss at the Kibbie Dome last year. “We got them off the field and here we go.”
That stop also thwarted Idaho’s ball-control style and put the Vandals behind the eight-ball. With Mellott running wild (he finished with a season-high 140 yards and two touchdowns), MSU bull-dozed the highly-regarded Vandals to drop Idaho to 1-2 in league play and 4-3 overall, pushing UI’s place as a national contender and a conference title challenger to the brink.
The Bobcats finished with 361 yards rushing, netting just under seven yards per carry. Idaho was leading the Big Sky Conference in average yards rushing per game (98.2) and per carry (2.8). The most they had allowed to anyone all year was 144 to Wyoming in the second game. They held Oregon, which may ascend to No. 1 in the FBS after beating Ohio State on Saturday, to just 107 yards in their season opener, a 24-14 UI loss in Eugene.
Mellott got the scoring started on MSU’s second possession when he went off the left side for 65 yards on third down. On the next drive, MSU’s senior quarterback hit Taco Dowler in stride with a dart as Dowler sprinted down the sideline and into the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown.
“I enjoy to run,” Mellott said. “That’s part of my skill set that’s part of what makes me different. I loved it.”
“He hasn’t been appreciated as much this year because of who we’ve played,” Vigen said of Mellott. “That’s not his fault. He’s continued to get better and better certainly the signature moment would’ve been how he kept together and how he played at the end of the New Mexico game. No moment’s too big for that young man and he’s competitive. His leadership is tremendous, and I think his poise in the passing game was significant tonight. It looks different for him because we only pass 15 times, and he has 121 yards but the yards he made running on pass calls that all adds up.”
Mellott has thrown for 14 touchdowns against no interceptions this season. He came into the game with a 182.2 passer rating and didn’t have a letup against the stronger Idaho defense as his rating was 185.1 in this game.
Mellott capped off a 78-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. After a Myles Sansted field goal, Mellott connected with Rohan Jones to make it 31-0. Two of those scoring marches followed forced turnovers by Bobcat captains Danny Uluilakepa and Rylan Ortt.
Adam Jones finished off the scoring for the Bobcats when he scampered in from four yards out. Idaho spoiled MSU’s shutout bid when it scored with 43 seconds to play long after the Bobcats had begun running their third string on the field.
Mellott finished with 140 yards rushing on just 11 carries. He was 11 for 15 passing for 121 yards. Scottre Humphrey finished with 124 yards on 19 carries. Rohan Jones, Ty McCullouch and Taco Dowler all had 28 yards receiving on two catches. Lonyatta Alexander, Jr. had 23 yards receiving on one catch.
“(Humphrey) runs the ball hard, he loves football,” Mellott said. “Day in and day out he’s one of the most happy guys. He enjoys football. He’s got joy every single morning and it doesn’t matter if it’s the 17th week since camp started or if it’s day one.”
Idaho had 176 yards passing but was just 15 for 31 with one interception. The Vandals needed 28 carries to get 91 yards.
“I thought that was our best performance yet,” defensive tackle Paul Brott said. “Each day this week we went out there with ‘knock back’ (get off the line) hustle. In this room we had a film session, and it was not a very happy session. Every day we yelled, “get knock back, knock back. Make a play and hustle.’”
Brott had a sack in the game, and he performed a celebration move dedicated to teammate Blake Schmidt who suffered a career-ending torn ACL two weeks ago.
“Every time I make a play, I’m gonna do that for Blake,” Brott said. “He wishes he could be out there. That’s my brother so that’s for him.”
The game had a huge low point for MSU when Uluilakepa went out of the game with what appeared to be a serious knee injury just before the end of the first half. The middle linebacker had just intercepted a pass – his second in two games – and returned it all the way back to the Idaho 20. The play had inadvertently been blown dead, but the Idaho players continued chasing Uluilakepa and tackled him awkwardly.
“Unfortunately, Danny went down on that play,” Vigen said. “He went down in a blaze of glory, I guess. It was a helluva play and obviously getting a chance to score again was huge.”
The Bobcats, who are 7-0 for the first time since 1978, continue their march through the Big Sky schedule next week when they travel to Portland to take on the Portland State Vikings. The Vikings defeated Idaho State 42-38 for their first win of the season.
