BOZEMAN — Montana State turned two interceptions into points, and the Bobcats advanced to the FCS quarterfinals with a hard-fought 21-13 second-round win over Yale Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Stadium.
No. 2-seeded Montana State was heavily favored by 26½ points just before kickoff in the first-ever meeting between the programs, but it took all the Bobcats had to finally put away the unseeded yet feisty Bulldogs, who overcame a 28-point halftime deficit last week to Youngstown State to win 43-42 in the first round.
Photos: No. 2-seeded Montana State survives playoff matchup with Yale
Yale was within 21-13 with 2:09 to play on a 5-yard touchdown run by Josh Pitsenberger, but Montana State recovered the onside kick and was able to run down the clock enough before punting, leaving Yale exactly one minute to cover 75 yards with no timeouts.
Despite initial success, Yale’s final drive was snuffed out on a failed pass-and-lateral play that ended on the Bulldogs’ own 5-yard line.
The Bobcats, who had a first-round bye last week, used interceptions by Caden Dowler and Cole Taylor — one in each half — to spark touchdown drives, and the bend-don’t-break MSU defense kept Yale out of the end zone until early in the fourth quarter.
Montana State led by eight points until Adam Jones broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and raced 33 yards for a 21-6 lead with 10:20 to play.
Jones’ touchdown came one play after the stadium big screen showed a fan holding an “NDSU LOST” message, prompting a huge ovation from the crowd that forced the Bobcats' players to try and quiet them down so their offense could hear the quarterback’s signals.
The fan’s sign was in reference to the top-ranked Bison losing at home to Illinois State, 29-28.
Yale, the Ivy League champion, had more first-half plays than Montana State (37 to 27) and out-gained the Bobcats (162 totals yard to 144.) Both teams punted four times in the half. But it was the Bobcats who led 7-0 at the break because Chris Long was in the right place at the right time, scooping up a fumble by his quarterback Justin Lamson in the end zone late in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs drove the ball deep into the red zone on their first drive of the second half, but Taylor nabbed a tipped pass just out of the reach of receiver Nico Brown at the 3-yard line and returned it 27 yards.
Montana State promptly drove the ball down the field and took a 14-0 lead on Julius Davis’ 22-yard run.
Yale’s first touchdown came early in the fourth quarter on a on a Dante Reno-to-Brown strike that covered 25 yards. The Bulldogs’ 2-point attempt failed, but the Bobcats’ advantage was cut to 14-6. Brown caught 11 passes for 107 yards.
The teams traded touchdowns from there before the Bobcats snuffed Yale’s final drive.
DOWLER DOES IT AGAIN: Dowler showed his Big Sky defensive player of the year chops by corralling an interception in his fourth straight game. Three plays after a hard hit by Montana State’s Paul Brott knocked Yale’s Reno temporarily out of the game, Dowler picked off Marshall Howe on his first pass attempt and returned it 26 yards to the Yale 40. That set up the Cats’ first touchdown.
Along with Taylor’s interception, Tayden Gray added a fourth-quarter pick to give the Bobcats three on the game.
CENTURY CITY: Montana State’s Davis had rushed for 100 yards or more in three of his previous five games, but he finished Saturday’s game with 63 yards on 12 carries. Teammate Jones, however, gained 113 yards on 18 carries to lead MSU, which had 249 yards on the ground.
Yale, meanwhile, extended its streak of rushing for 100-plus yards as a team. The Bulldogs, led by Pitsenberger (124 yards on 26 carries) churned out 153 yards on the ground and surpassed that marker for the 28th straight game.
IN THE PITS: Pitsenberger, a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, entered the game second on Yale’s career rushing touchdown list with 40 and added one to that list on Saturday. He finished the season with 1,571 rushing yards, leaving him 48 yards shy of the school record set by Mike McLeod in 2007.
PASSING GRADE: Lamson completed 10 of 16 passes (62.5%) on the game, below his season average. He entered the game completing 72.4% of his passes, which ranked third in FCS.
Lamson saw his streak of seven consecutive games of throwing for a touchdown and rushing for a touchdown end.
WHAT'S NEXT: The 11-2 Bobcats, who are 7-1 in home playoff games under coach Brent Vigen, are at Bobcat Stadium again next week against Stephen F. Austin in the quarterfinals. The seventh-seeded Lumberjacks (11-2) beat Abilene Christian 41-34 on Saturday. Former Grizzly Sam Vidlak competed 26 of 35 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns to lead SFA.
Yale finished its season at 9-3. The Bulldogs were playing their latest football game in a calendar year since they tied Princeton 0-0 in 1877. The Ivy League had abstained from participating in any playoffs until this season.
