NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Montana State waited four long decades to experience the euphoria of winning a national championship.
The Bobcats hit enough of the right notes Monday night in Music City to earn a thrilling 35-34 FCS championship overtime win over Illinois State in front of 24,105 fans at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University.
Quarterback Justin Lamson started the game hot and finished with a pass that will be remembered in Bobcat lore for years to come. With the Bobcats trailing 34-28 in overtime and facing a fourth-and-10 play from the 14-yard line, Lamson faded back with pressure in his face and lofted a high-arcing pass to Taco Dowler in the end zone for the game-tying score.
When Myles Sansted booted through the point-after try, Montana State was the national champion for the first time since 1984.
RELATED:FCS national championshipLamson, who transferred to Montana State from Stanford last spring, was nearly perfect in the first 30 minutes. He completed 12 of 13 passes — the lone incompletion a batted ball at the line of scrimmage — for 228 yards and the TD to Steel. Add in his two rushing scores and Lamson had a hand in all three first-half touchdowns for MSU.
Also in the first half, Dowler caught six passes for 96 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the season. It’s just the seventh 1,000-yard receiving season in MSU history.
But Illinois State didn’t go quietly into the Nashville night. The Redbirds stopped MSU’s opening possession of the second half and immediately drove the field to get into Bobcat territory.
MSU’s defense stiffened in the red zone, but the Redbirds eventually found paydirt when offensive lineman Logan Brasfield recovered a Victor Dawson fumble in the end zone. The point-after try made the score 21-14 in favor of MSU, and ISU had seemingly grasped momentum — especially after batting down Lamson’s first two passes of MSU’s next drive.
But the Bobcat QB found Woods for 21 yards to breathe new life into the Cats’ drive. They capitalized three players later when Dowler took a jet sweep, juked multiple defenders and splashed into the end zone to put Montana State back up 28-14.
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