POCATELLO – In a game that had a little bit of everything – mainly drama – Montana State outworked Idaho State in three overtimes to remain atop the Big Sky Conference standings.
The Bengals gave MSU its toughest test thus far in Big Sky play, yet the two-time reigning league champions continued to be the class of the conference even if Idaho State made Montana State have a migraine.
MSU wide receiver Dane Steel connected with tight end Rylan Schlepp on a ‘triple overtime two-point score to help the defending FCS champions to a 28-26 win to move to 6-1 in league with two games to play.
“I’m sure we have to correct a bunch of things, but it’s hard to beat the heart we have,” an emotional MSU head coach Brent Vigen told Keaton Gillogly, Leo Davis and Dan Davies of the Bobcat Radio Network . “So, damn proud of them.”
The No. 3 ranked Bobcats came into the Top 25 matchup with the six-win Bengals as the top team in the latest FCS Playoff Committee’s Top 10, released Thursday.
Coming off a 61-7 decimation of Cal Poly, the Bobcats received a much stiffer test in front of a sold out Holt Arena with a raucous crowd on hand to support an ISU team that entered November with an above .500 record for the first time in more than 20 years.
ISU is one of the best defenses in the Big Sky. But Montana State outlasted the hosts for a triple-overtime to move to 6-1 in Big Sky play, 9-1 overall, while pushing Idaho State to 3-4 in league, 6-4 overall with a trip to Missoula looming next week.
Saturday, MSU survived arguably the toughest defense it has faced all season along with a raucous sold-out crowd of 9,578 in the ICCU Dome. They got through some big hits and questionable calls.
It took a spectacular catch on a fourth down touchdown grab by tight end Rocky Lencioni to tie the game. Then after both teams could only muster field goals in the first two overtimes, the Bobcats stopped ISU on its two-point conversion attempt in the third overtime and scored on a trick play to end the game.
Watch: Justin Lamson to Rocky Lencioni
“But this team, I think, embodies this mindset of some way, somehow, we’re going to do it,” Vigen said. “We’ve been through a lot of trials and tests, and this was just another version of it.
“It’s hard to replicate the belief and the heart that this crew has, and that’s something for us all to be proud of. It was a whole host of guys making plays, and that’s the beauty of this team. You don’t know when your number is going to be called, but you’ve got to make the play when it’s there for you. I thought our coaches hung in there and made some adjustments for sure, and got the guys coached up. Again, that’s a good team over there. I give Coach Hawkins and his crew a ton of credit for how they competed today.”
The third overtime of NCAA college football has each team alternate two-point conversion attempts until one is stopped and the other scores. On Montana State’s game-winning deuce, MSU had quarterback Justin Lamson took the snap out of the shotgun, lateraled the pigskin to Steel on a reverse. Steel passed it to Schlepp to end the game.
Great offensive and defensive plays marked the game throughout. There were several controversial no-calls by the officials just to spice it up even more. Lencioni’s backpedaling grab saw him barely get a foot down before falling out of bounds.
Watch: Justin Lamson to Rocky Lencioni
“It wasn’t going to be our last chance, but it was going to be our best chance, the way that was unfolding,” Vigen said. “I hated for us to get into the fourth-and-10, but that’s a matchup we probably haven’t gone after a whole lot, getting Rocky isolated. I just love that Justin trusted him and gave him a ball that he could make a play on.
“You can’t draw it up the way it played out today in so many instances. In our opportunities down there, we fell short over and over again, it felt like. But that one, when we needed it to tie and that was our only option, we figured it out.”
But it was the Bobcats, who have shown great resiliency and fight over the past two seasons, that came out on top. They trailed 10-0, then scored the next 13 points only to fall behind again 20-13. They were down 23-20 in the first overtime, but kicker Myles Sansted was perfect on the night to keep MSU alive. He hit four field goals, including a 43-yarder in the second overtime after the Bobcats failed to gain a yard. He also made both of his extra-point attempts.
Caden Dowler made the stop on the ISU two-point try and was among a host of defensive players that made key plays.
“It was a very similar play to one that was run on a two-point play in Moscow,” Vigen said. “Same exact general concept when you boil it down. We didn’t execute in that previous opportunity, and we were dialed in and executed it there. The coaches had a good sense for what they might go to, and they did, and the guys knocked it down. Then it gave us a chance to win it on offense.”
Idaho State, which has been solid defensively all season, was outstanding against the MSU run game holding the Bobcats to just 123 yards on 31 carries. MSU had run for at least 220 yards in each of its last five games, but found the middle clogged up with defenders all night.
Lamson had blood around both of his eyes after taking numerous big hits. He had his helmet ripped off late in the second quarter and got up with his right eye bleeding. After the game he was seen with another cut over his left eye. He finished with 46 yards on 13 carries and threw for 209 yards but needed 37 attempts to get them as he completed 22 passes. It was his lowest completion percentage in any game this season.
Steel and Lencioni were the main producers for the Bobcats. Steel had a big first down catch in the first overtime to set up an easy field for Sansted and had two other first down catches. Replay showed that he spun out of a tackle without touching the ground in what would’ve been a big gain but was only allowed only four yards. Aside from the game-tying catch in the front corner of the end zone, Lencioni also had three first down catches, including one that he appeared to be getting horse-collared on but despite his protests didn’t draw a flag.
MSU didn’t get a first down until 1:03 of the first quarter and didn’t score until under two minutes to go in the first half. The Bobcats only had 22 yards heading into the drive but went 81 yards on 11 plays capped off by a fourth down completion from Lamson to Steel that got to the ISU four-yard line and was capped off by Adam Jones’ short touchdown run.
The Bobcats could’ve easily been down 20-0 in the first half as they got a strip sack and recovery by defensive end Seth Brock, an Idaho native, deep in MSU territory to save at least three points, then ISU quarterback Jordan Cooke laid perfect pass to Zedekiah Anahu-Ambrosio only to have it dropped to take away a touchdown. Brock would intercept a pass later in the half to set up a field goal attempt by punter turned kicker for one play Colby Frojker. The attempt was from 58 yards out and had the distance but was wide right by a considerable margin.
ISU had a shot to win on the final play when it got into field goal range due in part to a roughing the passer call on freshman defensive tackle John Hurst-Daniels. The 55-yarder attempt was then blocked by Hurst-Daniels. He also hurried Cooke into throwing the interception to Brock in the first half.
“John Hurst-Daniels is a young guy who is continuing to make his impact felt,” Vigen said. “He’s probably got the longest arms on the team. He’s not the tallest guy, but wingspan-wise, he’s probably in that category, and that’s why we want him at the point of attack. That was going to be a long field goal either way, but [we] much more liked the result when it got blocked.”
Cooke took on the load for the ISU offense as he threw 52 passes and ran the ball 16 times out of the 30 rush attempts the Bengals had. He threw for 318 yards with 30 completions and ran for 35 more, including a touchdown. ISU outgained MSU 410 to 332 as it ran 83 plays to just 68 for MSU.
The win allowed MSU to stay in a first-place tie with Northern Arizona, which beat Cal Poly 38-10 to move to 6-1 in the league as well. The Bobcats hold the tiebreaker for the BSC’s automatic big to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
MSU is also seeking to earn a top two seed for the playoffs, which it is expected to get if it wins its remaining two games after No. 2 Stephen F. Austin lost to Lamar 45-28. It plays at Northern Colorado next Saturday and then hosts rival University of Montana the following week. UNC lost to Southern Utah when the Thunderbirds scored to break a 24-24 tie and hang on for a 31-24 win. Montana drubbed Portland State in Missoula 57-24.
The win also tied Vigen with Rob Ash for most wins (70) by an MSU head coach.
“”I didn’t come here to become the winningest coach,” Vigen said. “What we aimed to do was make this a program that could have some national prominence and be the winningest program in the Big Sky. There’s so much credit that goes beyond me, to our many coaches and our players and the support that we have, whether it’s President Cruzado, President Tessman, Leon [Costello], and the amazing fans that we have. I think we all share in this. This has been a heck of a run over these last five-plus years, and we want to keep it going.”
