Huge Play Propels No. 2 Montana State Past No. 3 Montana, Back to FCS Title Game

BOZEMAN — With his twin brother standing injured on the sideline, Taco Dowler made one of the biggest plays in Montana State football history.

The second-seeded Bobcats were faced with a third down and 20 deep in their own territory, clinging to a 27-23 lead early in the fourth quarter. Justin Lamson stepped up in the pocket, scrambled to the right and fired a pass almost 40 yards down the field on the run. It hit Dowler in stride on the midfield Bobcat logo, and the Billings native avoided a few tacklers on his way to an 87-yard touchdown.

“If that’s not the best play ever in the history of our program, I don’t know,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said after the game. “It certainly was the biggest play today.”

MSU (13-2) scored two more TDs in the quarter en route to a 48-23 win over No. 3 Montana (13-2) in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs. The win, less than a month after a 31-28 win in Missoula, sent the Cats to the national title game for the second straight season and the third time in five years.

The 125th Brawl of the Wild was the first time MSU and UM met in the postseason, and the first time since 1913 the rivals faced off twice in the same season. 

MSU scored the first 13 points of the game, on red zone rushes from Justin Lamson and Adam Jones (a high snap derailed the second point after-try).

The Griz kicked a field goal after getting a second-and-goal from the 6-yard line, and Jones put MSU up 20-3 on a 54-yard TD run. It handed UM its largest deficit of the season up to that point.

The Griz responded with a scoring drive capped by an Eli Gillman TD run (and a botched PAT after a bobbled snap).

UM linebacker Peyton Wing forced Jabez Woods to fumble, and Griz safety TJ Rausch recovered it. That led to a 5-yard TD run from Keali’i Ah Yat to cut UM’s deficit to 20-16, which was the score at halftime.

Taco’s twin and Big Sky Conference defensive player of the year Caden Dowler left the game in the first half with an apparent right arm injury. UM starting receiver Brooks Davis and starting tight end Evan Shafer had to be helped off the field in the first half with leg injury.

As was the case with Shafer, Griz All-American all-purpose player Michael Wortham went back to the locker room early in the second half after getting tackled on a 35-yard reception. He returned to the game on UM’s next offensive possession.

That 35-yard gain helped give UM its first lead of the game, 23-20 with 8 minutes, 47 seconds left in the third quarter.

“We got off to a little bit of an atrocious start. Things were not going our way,” said UM head coach Bobby Hauck. “Our guys handled it really well, composed, like our team is. There’s a reason why we won 13 games this year.”

The Cats answered with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 6:40 and ended with a TD pop pass from Lamson to Bozeman native Rocky Lencioni.

UM cornerback Kyon Loud, who missed the final eight games of the regular season with a shoulder injury, wasn’t in for MSU’s first two drives of the second half and immediately left the third, appearing to show pain in his left arm.

MSU forced a punt after Taco Dowler’s 87-yard score and found the end zone on a run from Lamson, who finished with 43 rushing yards and two TDs on 10 attempts. The Stanford transfer completed 13 of 19 passes for 209 yards, two scores and no turnovers.

Cats linebacker Bryce Grebe put the finishing touches on the win with a pick-six, which capped a 28-0 MSU run to end the game.

Taco Dowler finished with 125 yards on five receptions, and Jones rushed for 131 yards and two scores on 16 carries.

Gillman finished with 106 yards rushing and 37 yards receiving on 20 total touches, while Wortham had 85 yards on eight catches.

MSU will face unseeded Illinois State, which beat No. 12 Villanova 30-14 Saturday night, in the FCS title game Jan. 5 in Nashville, Tennessee.

This story originally appeared at 406mtsports.com.