Snowball effect: Second-quarter miscues cost Vandals as Bobcats turn close game into rout

BOZEMAN, Mont. — The eighth-seeded Idaho Vandals knew they had to play a near-perfect game, and catch a break or two, to upset the top-seeded Montana State Bobcats in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs Friday night.  

But a couple of miscues in the second quarter — a failed onside kick and a lost fumble — opened the door for Montana State, and the Bobcats ran away for a 52-19 victory before 18,127 at Bobcat Stadium. 

“It was a close game for a while, then it kinda snowballed,” third-year Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “Tommy Mellott (MSU quarterback), he should win the Payton trophy; there’s no better player in FCS football. That was a tremendous performance by him, and they have a great overall team.” 

Adam Jones, a freshman starting in place of the injured Scottre Humphrey, rushed for 95 yards and four touchdowns for Montana State (14-0), which plays host to the winner of today’s UC Davis-South Dakota game next Saturday in the semifinals. 

Mellott ran for 131 yards on 14 carries. 

Idaho finished 10-4. 

After Idaho tied the game at 10 on a field goal, Eck called for a surprise onside kick. 

But the kick by Owen Forsman, a freshman from Lakeland High, failed to go 10 yards, and Montana State took over at the Vandal 38. 

“It hurt us,” Eck said. “We were going to try it at some time in the game, try to steal a possession. Looking back, probably should have saved it until we were down, rather than use it early. Then we had a fake punt that I thought was going to be pretty good, and the guy falls down. Both backfired, but I thought we had to take some chances because they have such a good team ... that was on me.” 

The Bobcats turned that into a touchdown, quarterback Tommy Mellott keeping the ball and running 6 yards up the middle on third and 1 for a 17-10 lead. 

Eck chatted with Forsman as he came off the field after that kick. 

“I told him it was my fault for calling it,” Eck said. “Just reminded him we want to make sure we give it a chance ... rather it be 5 yards longer than we wanted it, rather than 5 yards too short. But that was not his fault; that was my idea. He did a good job with it in practice, but it’s a tough situation to put a freshman in in a big game like this.” 

Idaho tried a tunnel screen to Mark Hamper — a play which has worked well in recent weeks — but Hamper ran into his own lineman, fumbled and MSU’s Brody Grebe recovered at the Vandal 28. 

The Bobcats turned that into Jones’ 1-yard plunge for a 24-10 lead with 1:15 left in the half. 

“Both were big,” Eck said of the onside kick and the fumble, “because they gave them short fields. The fumble’s a shame because it was our guy that knocked it out. But they’re a good team and they capitalized, turned those both into touchdowns.” 

Idaho got a quick first down on a pass to Dwyer, but then had to punt. 

Mellott scrambled for 63 yards to the Idaho 2, and Jones plowed in from a yard out with :08 left for a 31-10 halftime lead. 

Idaho quarterback Jack Layne, who missed the first Montana State game with a broken collarbone, opened the second half by throwing an interception to John Johnson at the Idaho 45. Jones ran it in on a sweep from 9 yards out and it was 38-10. 

Idaho then tried a fake punt in its own territory, with Cortez-Menjivar throwing to punter LJ Harm. Harm was open for the first down, but the pass took Harm to the turf as he caught it, short of the first down. 

Montana State turned that into a 5-yard scoring toss from Mellott to Taco Dowler and a 45-10 lead late in the third. 

Jones’ fourth TD of the night, early in the fourth, upped it to 52-10. 

“They’ve got a great O-line,” Eck said of Montana State. “A lot of Tommy’s big runs were on scrambles. The time of possession and the number of plays really got out of whack. It wears you down; you may miss a few more tackles when you get tired.” 

Montana State rushed for 283 yards and totaled 457. Idaho had 407 yards, 143 on the ground. 

“We did get them in some third-and-longs; we just couldn’t get them off the field,” said Idaho linebacker Jaxton Eck, Jason’s son. 

Montana State took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards for a touchdown. Jones broke a 35-yard run to the Vandal 9 on third and 1, and Rylan Schlepp out-jumped Idaho cornerback Dwayne McDougle to snatch a 3-yard TD pass from Mellott. 

Idaho opened with a promising drive, but Rocco Koch (a quarterback playing with a cast on his left arm) and Deshaun Buchanan were each stopped short on third and fourth and 1, respectively, from the Montana State 18. 

But Zach Johnson, a redshirt freshman from Lake City, pressured Mellott into an interception by Isiah King at the Idaho 45. 

On the next play, Layne hit Dwyer deep and wide open on a post route for a 55-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7. 

Ty McCullouch dropped a deep pass from Mellott on the next drive that may have been a touchdown, but MSU got a 46-yard field goal from Ty Sansted for a 10-7 lead. 

Layne hit Dwyer for 35 yards to the MSU 15. Layne overthrew Emerson Cortez-Menjivar on a potential TD pass, and the Vandals settled for Cameron Pope’s 22-yard field goal and a 10-10 tie. 

Dwyer caught seven passes for 145 yards in the first half, and finished with 11 catches for 189 yards and two scores.  

Humphrey ran for 124 yards against Idaho in October. Montana State also played without tight end Rohan Jones, who caught a touchdown pass in that game. 

It was Idaho’s third straight trip to the playoffs, and second straight quarterfinal appearance. The Vandals were bidding for their first trip to the semifinals since 1993, and third all-time. 

“Obviously this a sour note to go out on,” Jason Eck said. “But a lot to build on, a lot to be proud of.” 

Idaho     7    3    0    9    --    19 

Montana St.     7    24    14    7    --    52 

First quarter 

MSU — Schlepp 3 pass from Mellott (Sansted kick), 10:07 

IDAHO — Dwyer 55 pass from Layne (Pope kick), 2:22 

Second quarter 

MSU — FG Sansted 46, 11:19 

IDAHO — FG Pope 32, 8:22 

MSU — Mellott 6 run (Sansted kick). 3:47 

MSU — Jones 1 run (Sansted kick), 1:15 

MSU — Jones 1 run (Sansted kick), :08 

Third quarter 

MSU — Jones 9 run (Sansted kick), 9:41 

MSU – Dowler 5 pass from Mellott (Sansted kick), :59 

Fourth quarter 

MSU – Jones 2 run (Sansted kick), 14:04 

IDAHO – Dwyer 25 pass from Layne (pass failed), 12:31 

IDAHO – FG Pope 43, 3:55 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING – Idaho, Buchanan 10-95, Cummings 2-26, Williams 3-22, Josifek 4-12, Koch 1-0, Layne 2-(minus 11). MSU, Mellott 14-131, Jones 23-95, Coon 10-44, Wilson 3-11, White 2-3. 

PASSING – Idaho, Layne 20-30-1-239, Josifek 2-5-0-18, Cortez-Menjivar 1-1-0-7. MSU, Mellott 12-18-1-174, Wilson 0-1-0-0. 

RECEIVING – Idaho, Dwyer 11-189, Buchanan 3-0, Cortez-Menjivar 2-36, West-Barranco 2-12, Hamper 2-11, Williams 1-11, Harm 1-7, Knapik 1-(minus 2). MSU, Jones 3-66, Dowler 3-15, Alexander 2-37, McCullouch 1-25, Coon 1-14, Lonergan 1-14, Schlepp 1-3.

    Photo by IDAHO ATHLETICS Isiah King (4) of Idaho celebrates a first-quarter interception against Montana State in an FCS quarterfinal game Friday night in Bozeman, Mont.