BOZEMAN — As momentum began to slip out of its grasp, Montana State looked to the players that have led the team all season long.
Quarterback Justin Lamson accounted for three of his four touchdowns in the second half, including a game-changing 87-yard scoring connection with Taco Dowler in the fourth quarter, and the Bobcats raced past archrival Montana 48-23 in the FCS semifinals in front of an announced crowd of 25,437.
Photos: Montana State beats Montana in historic playoff meeting
MSU broke the game open early, taking a 20-3 advantage. But at one point the Grizzlies reeled off 20 consecutive points to grab the momentum — and the lead. MSU, though, wouldn’t be denied, and is now heading back to the national title game for the second consecutive season in the Music City of Nashville, Tenn.
The Bobcats put up 225 yards on three drives with the game hanging in the balance in the second half.
The game started in the same fashion it ended.
After its defense forced a quick three-and-out, the Bobcats went 60 yards in seven plays, capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by Lamson and a 7-0 MSU lead.
The Bobcat defense forced another punt, and MSU cashed in a again on an 11-yard TD run by running back Adam Jones. The point-after snap was botched, and at that point the Cats had a 13-0 lead.
Montana got on the board early in the second quarter with a 21-yard field goal from Jo Silver, but the Bobcats quickly found the end zone again as Jones sprinted 54 yards untouched to extend the advantage to 20-3.
The Griz had to have an answer after that, and they had more than one. Eli Gillman provided the first with a 17-yard touchdown scamper. That was followed by the first turnover of the game — a fumble by MSU’s Jabez Woods forced by Montana linebacker Peyton Wing and recovered by safety T.J. Rausch at MSU’s 40.
That eventually led to a 5-yard touchdown on a draw play by quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat to close the gap to 20-16 with just 12 seconds before halftime.
Montana continued its momentum-stealing effort early after halftime, as its defense forced a punt to eventually set up a short Ah Yat-to-Jake Olson touchdown pass to give the Griz their first lead of the game at 23-20.
But it didn’t last. Montana State put together its own answer — a 14-yard, 75-yard drive capped by a 2-yard TD pass from Lamson to tight end Rocky Lencioni as the Cats went back in front 27-23 late in the third.
Then, after getting the ball back, Lamson and receiver Dowler converged for the play of the game to that point, an 87-yard touchdown connection on third and 20.
Lamson broke the pocket, rolled right and laid the ball out perfectly for Dowler, who caught it and weaved his way through UM defenders to give the Bobcats an all-important two-score lead, 34-23 with 12:05 remaining.
Lamson later scored his second rushing TD in the fourth quarter after Lencioni made a terrific diving catch in the red zone, and by the time Bryce Grebe returned an interception for a touchdown the game was in the bag.
TACO TIME, AGAIN: MSU receiver Taco Dowler has done it so many times, and he came through again for the Bobcats with his spectacular connection with Lamson on their 87-yard touchdown.
But that wasn’t all. Dowler finished with 125 receiving yards and 41 punt return yards. His 170 all-purpose yards led all players.
Lamson was equally impressive. He finished with 209 passing yards and 43 rushing yards, and his four total TDs made the ultimate difference.
TOUGH LOSSES: Each team lost a key player during the course of the game as they left everything on the field.
On the first play of Montana’s second offensive possession, Montana State lost star safety Caden Dowler after converging to tackle running back Eli Gillman. Dowler, the Big Sky’s defensive player of the year, went to the locker room in obvious pain, seeming to favor his right arm, and didn’t return to the game.
Later, the Grizzlies lost standout receiver Brooks Davis to an apparent left leg or foot injury. Davis was hurt after catching a pass along the Bobcats' sideline and had to be helped off as he put little to no weight on his foot. He also didn’t return.
Early in the second quarter, Montana tight end Evan Shafter had to be helped off, also with a left leg injury, after catching a pass at MSU’s 9-yard line to set the Grizzlies up with first and goal. He never game back, either.
The Griz also were without defensive back Micah Harper, who was disqualified early in the second for targeting on a hit on Bobcats wideout Taco Dowler. And defensive lineman Jereb Ramos also left with an injury in the second half.
QUOTABLE: "I kept dreaming about it, telling myself it's going to happen. I just had to be patient and just be able to do that at that time, shut the game out. It was amazing. It hit me right in the chest, I'm not going to lie, so I didn't have to do a lot there. But ultimately running it into the end zone was something."
- Montana State's Bryce Grebe on his interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter
"We kind of got off to a little bit of an atrocious start. Things were not going our way. Thought our guys handled it really well. Composed, like our team is. There's a reason why we won 13 games this year. Our guys did a great job fighting their way back into it, taking the lead. We felt pretty good about those things. And then the targeting call on third down. I mean, you say what you want about that. I know what I think. And then the (deep) post on third and 20 wasn't very good by us. But other than that, it was a heck of a game and and, you know, we're certainly disappointed not to not to win."
- Montana coach Bobby Hauck after the game
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Montana State will be making its fourth trip in the national championship game, its second in a row and its third under coach Brent Vigen since 2021. The Cats will be looking to win their first title since 1984.
Montana still leads the all-time series against MSU 74-45-5, but the Bobcats, after beating UM for the second time this season, lead 13-10 since 2002 and have won 8 of the past 10.
Vigen improved his home record against opponents from the Big Sky Conference to 23-0 (including playoffs) and is now 40-2 all-time at Bobcat Stadium. Hauck is now 7-8 all-time against MSU and 2-6 since returning as coach prior to the 2018 season. The Griz haven’t won in Bozeman since 2015 and Hauck hasn’t won on the road against the Bobcats since 2009.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Bobcats will be on their way to Nashville, Tenn., for the FCS national title game Jan. 5 at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University. The title game is in Nashville after a 15-year run in Frisco, Texas.
MSU, the No. 2 seed in the postseason, will play either unseeded Illinois State or No. 12 Villanova, who were playing in the day’s other semifinal game on Saturday in Philadelphia.
