CHENEY, Wash. — Montana State and head coach Brent Vigen looked right at home in Cheney on Saturday.
Coming off a bye that followed a bitter loss at Idaho, MSU continued its recent domination of Eastern Washington at “The Inferno” as Vigen and the Bobcats won for a fourth straight time at EWU. MSU’s 56-20 win was highlighted by six rushing touchdowns and was a resounding response to being upset by the previously winless Vandals two weeks ago in Moscow.
“Honestly, we took that on the chin, had a chip on our shoulder, and we went to work these last two weeks,” MSU running back Adam Jones said. “And the whole line, they had a fire under them, and they lit a fire under us too. I think the whole theme of the week was we were hungry up front and in the backfield to get something going. We felt like we weren’t hearing our name enough, and that’s on us.”
Montana State carried a 19-game winning streak into the Kibbie Dome before suffering a 35-34 loss to Idaho that could easily be categorized as a meltdown.
On Saturday, the Bobcats buried the Eagles. The win, combined with Montana’s second straight loss — a 42-35 home defeat at the hands of Idaho — vaults the Bobcats right back into the national title race.
MSU linebacker Cole Taylor broke open a close game when he intercepted passes on consecutive EWU possessions. He returned the first 36 yards to the Eagles’ 5-yard line to set up Jones’ second touchdown run. Taylor then collected a pick-six moments later, returning it 61 yards to put the Bobcats up 28-6 at halftime.
“Yeah, it was pretty fun,” Taylor said. “It’s been a long time coming this season. We’ve just been trying to take the ball away, and yeah, (defensive coordinator Bobby) Daly put us in a great call, sped up the quarterback’s decision-making, and both times the ball came right to me. So yeah, I was super grateful, and it was a fun time.”
It was the first touchdown of Taylor’s MSU career, although he nearly had one in last season’s playoffs. Taylor was a standout quarterback during his prep days at Great Falls CMR, so scoring is not completely foreign to him.
“I’ve been looking for that one for quite a while after the Cat-Griz one got called back last year,” Taylor said. “But yeah, it was awesome. Something I’ll never forget for sure.”
“Oh, so happy for him,” Jones said of his fellow Montanan. “Man, he’s worked his tail off, and he’s a stud for us. There’s no ifs or buts about it. He’s a player. He makes plays. So happy for him — he finally got those two takeaways that he’s been waiting for. Amazing. Yeah, I think we were about to kill each other these last three weeks, because we were around each other so much in the training room and not out there on the field to let anything loose. So we were so happy, and we smiled the whole game. Like, this is what we should be like.”
The Eagles have lost only 23 times at The Inferno, and MSU owns five of those wins, going 5-4 at EWU since the red turf was installed. Vigen has never lost there in four trips, and he has the most wins of any opposing coach on the red turf.
True freshman wide receiver Carter Dahlke continued his torrid stretch since taking over for the injured Taco Dowler. Dahlke posted his third consecutive 100-yard game, catching five passes for 112 yards and a score.
Quarterback Justin Lamson and Jones made their returns after missing two games. Lamson was a little rusty early but settled down to complete 12 of 19 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. Jones scored MSU’s first points on a 32-yard touchdown run, the first of his three TD runs. He finished with 84 yards on just 12 carries.
Defensive end Zac Crews broke loose for three sacks, while linebacker Bryce Grebe had 10 tackles, including four solo. Defensive end Blaine Downing added an interception in the first quarter.
It was also the first game back for Caden Dowler, the 2025 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, who was injured in the second game of the season. Taylor said having Dowler back on the field made a marked difference.
“I think his communication and his leadership is what Caden does so well, and just the energy,” Taylor said. “He makes everyone around him better, not just himself. So I think that’s what makes Caden so good.”
Eastern ran a whopping 105 plays and held the ball more than twice as long as MSU, 41:01 to 18:59 in time of possession. Those discrepancies were largely due to Taylor’s interceptions, which gave the Eagles consecutive possessions in the first half. EWU moved the ball well all game, tallying 439 yards of total offense, but that equated to just 4.2 yards per play. MSU, meanwhile, piled up 413 yards on just 46 plays — 9.0 yards per play.
“We were three-and-out too many times in the game,” Vigen said. “They had a lot of extended plays, so in doing that, again, that play discrepancy got away from us. But ultimately, the offense put enough together. There’s probably more we left out there, I’m certain, but you score 56, you did a few things right.”
The Bobcats had nine plays of 23 yards or more, including Taylor’s two interception returns. Lamson scampered 41 yards for a touchdown, one of three touchdown runs of 30 yards or more. Jones went 32 yards and Jared White galloped 33 yards for scores.
MSU didn’t pick up a first down on its first two possessions before breaking loose for 28 points in the second quarter. The Bobcats then scored on their first possession of the second half to go up 35-6.
“Yeah, we owned that part of the game, and that turned on a dime,” Vigen said. “All of a sudden, then it’s 35-6. So that is a critical, critical, critical time — you do whatever you can before the half, and then do whatever you can after the half. And I know last time out, that was a big piece of why we didn’t ultimately get it done. So pleased that the guys did that and understand the importance of playing out that half, and then certainly setting the tone in the second half.”
EWU scored the next two touchdowns to cut the lead to 35-20 heading into the final frame — reminiscent of MSU’s previous game, when it led 34-20 in the fourth quarter only to lose. The Bobcats punted the ball back to EWU, giving the Eagles a chance to cut the lead to one score, but the MSU defense answered by pushing them back 10 yards on three plays. Montana State then scored the game’s final 21 points.
The Eagles had 10 plays of 10 yards or more as they gashed the MSU defense at times, but the final tally showed just 3.0 yards per rush. EWU quarterback Nate Bell threw for 283 yards, but he needed 53 attempts to get there and threw three interceptions. EWU had 31 first downs to just 14 for MSU, and the Eagles converted 11 of 24 third-down opportunities.
MSU had its best rushing game of the season, averaging 9.0 yards per carry. Four players ran for 45 yards or more, as Jones led the way with 84, Cale Breslin had 53, White had 50 and Lamson had 45.
Montana State now sits at 3-1 in the Big Sky and 6-1 overall. The Bobcats host Weber State on Saturday. The Wildcats are tied for first place with a 4-1 league record. Last season, Weber was trounced in Bozeman 66-10.
“I think this league proves that anybody can do anything on any given Saturday,” Vigen said. “So we have Weber coming in next week. I think they’re a much improved ball club. It’s going to be great to be back in front of our fans. Great, playing at 1 o’clock. So yeah, I can’t wait to get out there and play again.”
