FRISCO, Texas — For Montana State, Saturday played out like a nightmare.
And for the Bison of North Dakota State, the afternoon was a near carbon copy to NDSU’s reoccurring dream.
On MSU’s first offensive possession, Tommy Mellott juked into a leaping dart throw that resulted in a first down to his favorite receiver near midfield. A few plays later, Mellott again converted, plunging ahead for a first down on a short third down.
Nothing went right for upstart underdogs for most of the next three hours.
From Montana State’s starting quarterback getting knocked out of the action to a botched failed field goal and another missed field goal try, all leading to a full loss of the bravado that was a key factor in the Bobcats reach this point, luck and opportunity did not favor an MSU squad making its first national championship appearance in 37 years.
The turf was wet, the crowd was partisan in favor of the Bison, and the coronation continued. Yet even if every domino fell in Montana State’s favor, it still seems like an impossible task to beat North Dakota State, particularly in the Lone Star State in this Dallas suburb that has certainly earned the nickname of Fargo South.
The Bison have the formula. Regardless of coaching changes, roster overturn or any other factor, the fact remains the same: North Dakota State has no peers in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Using a formula that’s as tried and true as any in college athletics, the Bison reignited a stampede reminiscent of the last decade of dream domination. North Dakota State parlayed all the momentum from start to finish, taking advantage of every Montana State miscue or misfortune. And the Bison did what they do best: run the ball straight down their opponents’ throats.
Bruising NDSU enforcer fullback Hunter Luepke basically sewed up Most Outstanding Player honors before halftime by scoring three first-half touchdowns to spearhead a dominant rushing attack that totaled 268 yards in the first two quarters alone.
By the time the final whistle had sounded, North Dakota State’s players were sprinting to the podium behind the north end-zone of the venue to experience their ninth coronation in the last 10 years.
Luepke led the forceful effort and NDSU’s domination was perfectly on brand as the Bison rushed for 380 yards on the way to a 38-10 victory in front of 18,942 here on a dreary Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve got some kickass kids on this football team,” North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz said after leading his team to its second national championship since he took over ahead of the 2019 season after serving as NDSU’s defensive coordinator and winning four championships in five seasons prior.
“Winning at the the line of scrimmage is critical for us in every game, and that’s one of our emphases that we have going into every game. We always want to lead the country in physicality and that starts with our offensive line.”
North Dakota State entered the contest rushing for 274 yards per game. But Montana State’s vaunted defensive front, led by All-American linebacker Troy Andersen, All-American defensive end Daniel Hardy and All-American defensive tackle Chase Benson helped smother opposing rushing offenses on the march to this point.
Because of those accomplishments and adulation coming into Saturday’s showdown, the visual that played out on the sopping wet Bermuda grass was striking. North Dakota State blew Montana State off the ball consistently, averaging an astounding 7.2 yards per rush on 53 carries. And that’s with MSU piling up 268 yards on 25 carries in the first half, including a 76-yard touchdown on by NDSU junior Kobe Johnson that put the perennial powers up 21-0 before the contest was even 20 minutes old.
“I really think we are one of the only teams in the country that celebrates the offensive line,” Entz said. “Our O-linemen are cult heroes in Fargo, North Dakota. (NDSU senior offensive tackle) Cordell (Volson) everyone knows who No. 67 is. Same with (senior offensive tackle) Cody (Mauch).
“We celebrate those guys. We lean on those guys. I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll keep saying it: This program is built on our O-line and good defense, and if we can do those two things, we have an opportunity to win every game we play.”
Driving rain soaked the field at Toyota Stadium for more of the morning here on Saturday. By the 11 a.m. kickoff, the downpour had turned into a drizzle, yet mist lingered in the air. The Bermuda grass on a soccer field — the Dallas FC team is the primary squad that calls the stadium home — was torn and tattered.
And it was certainly a grey and cloudy afternoon, literally and figuratively, for the Bobcats.
First, Mellott suffered a lower leg injury that knocked the hottest player in the country out of the game. The meteoric phenom from Butte had taken the reigns of MSU’s offense and finally given Montana State the answer that has eluded them at the quarterback for half a decade.
Mellott led the ‘Cats to three consecutive playoff wins following an embarrassing rivalry loss in Missoula to the hated Montana Grizzlies in November. Saturday, after Mellott went down and did not return — he gave way to Tucker Rovig, a senior captain who quarterbacked MSU to 10 wins between 2018 and 2019, including postseason victories the last season of head coach Jeff Choate’s tenure in 2019 — Montana State’s collective galvanization vaporized.
This confident, tough Montana State squad has been spurred on by the swagger that boosted up Mellott to his first playoff win against Tennessee Martin. The Bobcats rode roughshod in a win at defending spring national champion Sam Houston State (42-19 in the quarterfinals) as the man MSU All-American linebacker Troy Andersen calls “Tommy Touchdown” accounted for a receiving score, a throwing score and two more rushing touchdowns in the first 17 minutes of the game.
And Mellott carried the ball 34 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns plus throwing for 229 and two more scores helped MSU win its first semifinal playoff win since 1984, 31-17 against South Dakota State. But the Mining City’s favorite sone was knocked out less than five minutes into the championship game put a prick in MSU’s rapidly rising hot air balloon.
Mellott tried tirelessly to get his injured lower body ready to go. But the training staff took his helmet and Mellott had to put a headset on and fill Rovig’s standard roll of calling plays and serving as the QB coach on the sideline.
“It definitely changed us,” Montana State first-year head coach Brent Vigen, an NDSU alum (Class of 1997) and an assistant at his alma mater from 2001 until 2013, said following his team’s third loss in 15 games this season. “But it’s the next-man-up mentality. It’s Tucker’s first real live bullets going in this season. He’s got a lot of game experience in his past, so I thought he went out there and competed, competed real well, did everything that he could to just — I think both sides of the football we got beat today.
“I’m certain there was part of that that was our doing, and certainly a lot of credit goes to NDSU.”
Mellott’s injury snowballed into a crisis for MSU. Montana State did not execute an attempted fake field goal on the opening drive, instead settling for a Blake Glessner quick kick. NDSU turned that into an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive capped by Luepke’s first score.
Rovig connected on a 15-yard first-down strike to senior Nate Stewart and ripped off a 19-yard first-down run himself on the next MSU possession. Customarily, the Bison defense buckled down, forcing MSU into a field goal attempt that ended in Glessner missing his sixth try in 25 attempts (19 previous makes) from 43 yards out. He’d make a 26-yarder later for his 20th make.
NDSU turned that Glessner miss into Luepke’s second touchdown, an 11-yard untouched burst four seconds into the second quarter to cap a drive sparked by previously injured NDSU wide receiver Christian Watson’s second long gain of the day (18 yards) and a 19-yard burst by Luepke four plays before his touchdown burst.
MSU’s first possession of the second quarter resulted in a 3-and-out that NDSU turned into Johnson’s 76-yard touchdown rip that gave the Bison a 21-0 lead with almost 11 minutes left until halftime.
Rovig threw an interception direction to NDSU safety Dawson Weber on the very next play and the result was never in doubt the final 40:39 of the game.
“They were the better team today for sure,” Vigen said. “We were able to play their brand of football and they grabbed the momentum really quick, and we were never able to get it back.”
And that was only the beginning. As Rovig was only able to find fellow senior Lance McCutcheon every once in awhile — Rovig finished 13-for-28 for 156 yards , while McCutcheon, a Bozeman product, finished with five catches for 106 yards and MSU’s only touchdown. — NDSU continued to tighten its grip.
Behind Luepke’s irreverent and violent running style, NDSU mounted a 14-play, 85-yard drive capped by Luepke’s third score out of a Wildcat formation to give NDSU a four-touchdown lead with 32 seconds left in the first half.
“This just leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and it breeds a little fire in you to take that into the off-season and get back right here and take care of business next time,” MSU junior safety Ty Okada said.
Although North Dakota State hardly ever features individuals — despite having first-round NFL Draft pick quarterbacks like Carson Wentz, the current starts for the Indianapolis Colts, and Trey Lance, the current starter for the San Francisco 49ers — Luepke, a bruiser from Wisconsin, has been the star of this playoff run.
His final touchdown out of the Wildcat in the first half helped punctuate a 14-carry, 82-yard day that spearheaded the steamrolling. NDSU has not had a single player carry the ball more than 19 times in a game this season despite ranking third in America in rushing yards per game. Saturday, Luepke lead the team in totes but nine Bison split the 53 carries for 380 yards (7.2 per carry) as the perennial kings owned a Bobcat squad that entered the game with a front that carried a reputation as one of the best in the country.
“We put in a lot of work after the loss to Sam Houston last year, and I think Coach (Entz) was saying it was like 360-something days that we haven’t had the championship and we’ve been practicing and getting better every day,” Luepke said. “We are always going with (famed strength coach Jim) Kramer and meetings and everything. It’s just awesome to finally achieve your goal that you’ve had for so long.”
The wait for NDSU has been a little over a calendar year. The wait for everybody else in the FCS has been since James Madison was the last fall national title winner in 2016.
The wait for the Big Sky Conference has been since Eastern Washington won the title in 2010. And the wait for Montana State will have to wait until next year, prolonging the Bobcat national title drought to at least 38 years and counting.
“Our intent was not just to get here so it leaves a very sour taste in your mouth,” Vigen said. “It hurts a lot. Our guys put a lot into this for a long time.
“It’s an unbelievable group of young men that will do great things no matter where they head off to, and they’ll always be special to me and they’re always going to be a real special group to this program, there’s no question about it.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez, Jason Bacaj, Blake Hempstead. All Rights Reserved.
