POCATELLO, Idaho — On the morning of Montana State’s matchup with Idaho State here, MSU head coach Rob Ash and offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey had a discussion over breakfast. Because Kyle Godecke and Alex Eekhoff, two senior starters on the MSU offensive line did not make the trip, Ash wanted to know if Cramsey thought it was prudent to start junior Dakota Prukop at quarterback. The duo decided it was going to be a game-time decision.
For Prukop, there was no decision. Despite an ailing neck that disallowed him from practicing with a helmet all week and soreness in both his previously injured knee and newly injured ankle, Prukop left no decision in any coach’s hands. He knew he would play.
Montana State is glad he did.
MSU quarterback Dakota Prukop vs. Idaho State
Prukop found limited mobility in the pocket but showed off his skills in other ways. The Walter Payton Award candidate threw four touchdowns and rushed for a fifth as Montana State cruised to a 44-20 win in parsley populated Holt Arena on Saturday afternoon.
“There was no doubt I would play today, not in my mind,” said Prukop, who tied Kelly Bradley’s 31-year old program record of 35 total touchdowns in a single season. “Coach Cramsey told me it was going to be a game time decision and I said it was not going to be a game time decision. I knew I would play.”
The win moves Montana State to 3-4 in Big Sky Conference play and 5-5 overall. Idaho State is now 1-6 in league play, 2-8 overall after beginning the season with a preseason No. 23 ranking and high hopes after last fall’s 8-4 campaign.
“Well, the home season is done and this is the first time in a long time we haven’t won a home conference game,” said ISU fifth-year head coach Mike Kramer, who led Montana State to three Big Sky titles in seven seasons at the helm for the Bobcats between 2000 and 2006. “That’s pretty stressful. Tough all the way around. We fight the process too much. They were just better than we were, especially on offense, especially at quarterback. The guy played great.”
Montana State built a 27-0 halftime lead thanks to a two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown from Prukop along with a pair of field goals long field goals from Luke Daly. MSU extended its lead to 34-0 on the first possession of the second half on Prukop’s third touchdown pass, a 34-yard flick of the wrist to sophomore Justin Paige. After two straight stops and scores by the Bengals, Prukop threw his fourth touchdown pass to sophomore Mitchell Herbert give MSU a 41-14 lead as the third quarter came to an end.
The victory served as Montana State’s first away from Bozeman since a 77-37 win over UC Davis last
October. The ‘Cats entered Saturday having lost six straight on the road and eight of 10 overall away from Bozeman.
MSU running back Chad Newell looks for space against ISU
“This is one we were trying to get for awhile now,” said Prukop, who threw for 263 yards and ran for 40 to surpass 7,000 yards of total offense for his career, the fourth Bobcat to do so. “All week in practice, we talked about how we to change things when preparing for a road game and it worked. We changed how we practiced all week and we came out here and changed how we played on the road.”
Prukop was not the only Bobcat who entered the game battered. Junior J.P. Flynn, a two-time All-Big Sky offensive guard, left the action after two plays with a right shoulder injury. He wore a sling after exiting the locker room following the game. Sophomore Monte Folsom, a converted defensive tackle, saw his first extended action of his career in Flynn’s place. Godecke, MSU’s right guard, and Eekhoff, MSU’s right tackle, did not make the trip, giving way to sophomores Caleb Gillis and Dylan Mahoney to start on the right side of the line.
Even with Prukop not much of a factor in the run game — he did use a great perimeter block from senior wide receiver Manny Kalfell to score his 10th touchdown of the season from 20 yards out — the Bobcat rushing attack piled up 217 yards on 44 rushes. Junior running back Chad Newell surpassed 100 yards for the second time this season. He finished with 110 yards on 18 carries, including a season-long 39-yard run to set up Prukop’s touchdown scamper with 5:10 left in the first half.
“I couldn’t be more proud from Monte Folsom and Caleb Gillis, a couple of Dillon guys stepping up to the plate big time today,” Newell said. “It was their first game, they had first game jitters but they came out and stepped up. Couldn’t be more proud of how those guys battled today.”
MSU quarterback Michael Sanders
The Bobcat defense also had to overcome a slew of injuries. Starters senior cornerback Bryson Keeton (concussion), sophomore defensive end Tyrone Fa’anono (unknown), redshirt freshman defensive tackle Tucker Yates (ankle), redshirt freshman cornerback Tre’Von Strong (neck) and redshirt freshman safety DeMonte King (violation of team rules) did not play. The cornerback injuries were key as ISU employs a pass-heavy offense. Senior Trace Timmer broke up three passes and sophomore Bryce Alley played perhaps his best game as MSU limited ISU to 285 yards passing on 54 attempts.
“I’m really impressed with what those guys did,” Ash said. “I’ve said this for years but when a backup goes in, he impresses everybody but himself. Trace Timmer has known he is a good player. He played really well, Bryce Alley played really well.
“It was a roulette wheel of substitutions and that makes it more impressive.”
Idaho State marched the length of the field in 11 plays on its opening drive as junior quarterback Michael Sanders completed five consecutive passes. But a tackle for loss by sophomore Mac Bignell and Timmer’s first pass breakup helped the Bobcats force a turnover on downs.
Nine plays later, MSU found itself with a fourth down and 10 yards to go from the ISU 40. Ash elected to try a field goal with Daly. The sophomore from Billings Central drilled the career-long 57-yarder to ignite the Bobcats. The field goal was the second-longest in MSU history, behind just the 59-yarder kicked by NFL Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud 50 years and one week ago against Montana. Daly would hit a 53-yarder in the first half and a 29-yarder in the second half as he equaled his total of made field goals coming into the game.
MSU kicker Luke Daly on a 57-yard field goal
Following the first boot, MSU forced a 3-and-out and Prukop capitalized with a 40-yard touchdown strike to senior Mitch Griebel. MSU forced another 3-and-out and Prukop found senior tight end Beau Sandland for Sandland’s seventh touchdown catch of the season from four yards out as MSU closed the first quarter with a 17-0 lead.
“I thought it was a great start and that’s what we needed,” Ash said. “I thought both teams were kind of on the skids and sometimes at that point, the team that can get off to the best start can see the light at the end of the tunnel and the other team, it gets tougher. Both teams really needed a win. We desperately needed the win so getting off to a great start was key.”
Despite the hard running of ISU senior Xavier Finney — he finished with 145 yards on 15 carries to break ISU’s school record for rushing yards in a career — the Bobcat defense continued to hold strong. MSU forced three straight punts before junior Jessie Clark sacked and stripped Sanders. Prukop threw his seventh interception of the season on the ensuing possession. On the next ISU possession, Bignell sacked and stripped Sanders. The Bobcats converted the turnover into Prukop’s rushing touchdown.
“We wanted to win and we needed to win,” Timmer said. “We changed a few things with our scheme. We totally changed our practice around. We flipped the script, practiced on the other side of the field. We switched up everything that kept us on our toes. That made us realize it’s not just another game. We had to win.”
MSU safety Bryson McCabe and cornerback Trace Timmer make a tackle on an ISU ball carrier
Following the second fumble, Kramer benched Sanders.
“I was distressed, distraught, disappointed and before I decapitated him, I wanted to give him some time before we cleared him up because he made the wrong check protection,” Kramer said. “He made a check protection that caused him to get sacked that is contrary to what I thought we were doing.
“During the season, I still haven’t been able to white out the bad coaching they’ve received in the past, especially at quarterback. At quarterback, we can’t function and we are a passing offense. Why didn’t we run the ball more? Because we are not built for it. We can’t drive block anybody.”
The MSU victory sets up a showdown with rival Montana that has meaning on both sides. The No. 22 Grizzlies exploded for a 57-16 win over No. 10 Eastern Washington in Missoula on Saturday, meaning a Cat-Griz win next week would boost UM to 7-4. Montana State has not defeated Montana in Bozeman since 2005 and just three times (2003, 1984) in the last 31 years. An MSU victory would clinch a 14th straight winning season for the Bobcats.
“If you are playing meaningful games in November, then you have had a successful season,” Ash said. “Not every team is in that situation. We are now in that situation. Winning season, Cat-Griz game in and of itself. But we also have the opportunity to dash their hopes. They have done that at least once to us since I’ve been here (in 2013). All those things, it adds excitement to the rivalry game. It will be tremendous. I’m very excited this last week of will be a fantastic, fun, exciting week for all the guys in our program because of where we have positioned ourselves right now.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
