Logan Jones sprinted 65 yards deep into Hornet territory, the longest play from scrimmage of the Montana State sophomore tailback’s young career. The catch and run flipped the field for the Bobcats in Sacramento as MSU advanced from its own 27-yard line to the Sac State eight.
On the next play, true freshman Chris Murray ran a read option play with Nick LaSane and, just like in the previous week’s 17-15 loss to North Dakota, pulled the ball late and it fell to the turf. Sac State’s Manny Scott-Anderson recovered at the 4-yard line as the third quarter came to a close with Montana State leading 38-21 on Saturday night.
Sac sophomore Nate Ketteringham completed five straight passes for 76 yards and senior Jordan Robinson rushed for 20 of his 60 yards, scoring his second touchdown of the night to cap an 11-play, 96-yard drive to spark the Hornets. That touchdown ignited a 20-point spurt that helped the Hornets turn a 17-point deficit into a 41-38 victory, Sac’s first win of the season.
[restrict paid=”true”]
“The biggest play of the game came when we had a solid two-score lead and they recover it on the three-yard line,” Montana State head coach Jeff Choate lamented on Monday. “Not only that being an opportunity to put the nail in the coffin, but to their credit, they drove the ball all the way down and scored. That changed the dynamic of the game, gave them hope and deflated our sideline. While we came back and battled, we didn’t play efficiently from that point on.”
Montana State went three-and-out on its first two fourth-quarter possessions. MSU forced a stop on the Sac State possession in between thanks to redshirt freshman Marcus Ferriter’s first career sack. Ketteringham threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jaelin Ratliff with four minutes, 28 seconds left to play. Fletcher Collins blocked the extra point to give MSU four-point cushion, 38-34. MSU managed to convert just one first down on the ensuing possession. Murray’s 10-yard scramble was wiped out by a holding penalty that came on the heels of a Mitch Brott false start. Sac burned all three of its timeouts to get the ball back on its own 32 with 1:34 left.
Sac State’s dual-threat quarterback completed three of his six pass attempts for 43 yards and rushed for 10 more, capping an eight-play, 68-yard drive capped by Ratliff’s 15-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left to put Sac up by the final margin.
“There were a lot of opportunities. A lot. A LOT,” Choate said. “When opportunities present themselves, you have to focus on the most important thing. It might be the ball. It might be the snap count. It might be hand placement. It might be where your eyes need to be. There were plenty of chances. We’ve said the same thing about the Idaho game now, we said the same thing about the UND game. We have a pattern developing here and we have to change it.”
Montana State enters Saturday’s matchup against Northern Arizona in Bozeman with a 2-3 record, including 0-2 in Big Sky Conference play. The Bobcats have lost their three games by a combined eight points, including five total points in its first two conference losses under Choate.
“The discouraging part is there is some patterns developing,” Choate said. “Late in games, we are not at our best, whether it’s we need first downs or we need stops or just don’t penalize yourself or drop balls.”
On Sac’s last drive, Ketteringham threw the ball right to true freshman cornerback Damien Washington. An interception would’ve sealed it. Washington likely would’ve scored had he secured the football. Instead, the ball bounced off his hands, the latest in a game filled with errors and missed opportunities for the Bobcats.
“It was embarrassing and frustrating because there was so many points in that game where you thought you could bury them,” Montana State defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak said. “We just don’t have that type of team yet I guess. You look at the ball games we’ve played in and there’s some really tight games. That one was very frustrating.
“I didn’t sleep. I didn’t sleep at all on Saturday night on the plane or when I got home. I was so disappointed in myself and disappointed in the way we played and the opportunity that was there that we let slip away.”
Ferriter, senior defensive tackle Matt Brownlow, junior outside linebacker Mac Bignell and senior cornerback John Walker all notched sacks. The Bobcats notched seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage led by Bignell’s three TFLs. Bignell forced a fumble, Fletcher Collins had an interception after dropping another one and junior safety Khari Garica notched his first interception of the season. Yet Montana State still came up short as Sac State ran 94 plays for 510 yards thanks in large part to Ketteringham’s 356-yard, four-touchdown night.
“You can see our immaturity and lack of experience,” Gregorak said. “There’s some young cats in there. There’s no doubt about it. You can see our inexperience together as coaches. We have to keep working and can’t make the same mistakes twice.”
Sacramento State’s comeback thwarted what was, at times at least, an explosive offensive performance by MSU. The Bobcats scored more than 30 points for the first time in the Choate era coming off a 2015 campaign in which MSU averaged 42 points per game. MSU completed just six passes for 123 yards, including Murray’s 65-yarder in which Jones ran for most of the gain after the catch. MSU piled up 508 yards of total offense, including 385 on the ground as senior Gunnar Brekke rushed for 106 yards, his first 10o-yard game of his career. Murray scored touchdowns of 59 and 58 yards among his three scores and he rushed for 187 yards total, the second-highest rushing total ever by an MSU quarterback. Dakota Prukop rushed for 196 yards in a 55-50 loss to Eastern Washington last season.
But missed opportunities plagued the offense as well. Senior tight end Austin Barth and sophomore Curtis Amos both dropped wide-open touchdowns. Junior quarterback Tyler Bruggman completed just 1-of-8 passes before getting the hook. MSU averaged just 33 yards per punt and fumbled the ball twice.
“What I challenged the players on is it’s time to grow up,” Choate said. “You can make excuses all day long, but the reality is, ‘Hey Chris, you’ve played five games. This isn’t your first rodeo, let’s go.’ Damien Washington, ‘you’ve played five games of Division I football. Opportunity comes, make a play.’ We have veteran guys who need to hear the same message that opportunities are all over the place. (Sophomore tight end) Curtis Amos has to make the catch. Period. That’s not throwing anybody under the bus. That’s just a fact. He would be the first one to say that.
“There’s plenty of blame to go around and it starts with me as the head coach.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
