COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Vandals fall on late touchdown by No. 3 Bobcats

From news services and local reports

BOZEMAN, Mont. — With just one quarterback seeing action on Saturday, the Idaho Vandals put themselves in a position to knock off Montana State, ranked third in the FCS, and the co-leaders of the Big Sky Conference, on Saturday.

But the Bobcats punched in a late touchdown to break a tie and hold off Idaho, 20-13, before a sold-out crowd of 19,447 at Bobcat Stadium.

Quarterback Tommy Mellott ran for his third touchdown with 2:16 remaining for Montana State (9-1, 7-0 Big Sky Conference), which won its ninth straight game.

“Just super proud of our guys,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said on the Vandals’ post-game radio show. “I thought from top to bottom, all our guys fought their tails off. They competed as hard as they could. They fought, they battled, it was just a couple key calls, or plays here and there in the critical zone that just killed us.

“The one time we would have been first and goal on the 8, and we get a holding call … There were a couple things that really hurt us that we couldn’t overcome.

“But I couldn’t be more proud of our players, they played their butt off. They did everything they could.”

Idaho quarterback Zach Borisch, the converted running back, threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Terez Traynor that pulled the Vandals (3-7, 2-5) to 13-10 at halftime. Logan Prescott kicked field goals from 40 and 46 yards, the second one tying the game at 13 with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

Borisch completed 8 of 18 passes for 157 yards, and was sacked five times. He rushed for 108 yards, finishing with a net of 70 following the sacks.

“He just competed his tail off,” Petrino said of Borisch. “He did some really good things, and put us in a position where we had a chance to win. We just didn’t quite get it done, but we were in position to win, and he’s one of the reasons why.”

Mellott’s 3-yard scoring run capped an eight-play, 37-yard drive lasting about four minutes. Caleb Lightbourn’s 28-yard punt on the Vandals’ previous series set up the short field for the Bobcats.

Mellott finished with 13 caries for 68 yards. He also scored on a 9-yard run in the first quarter and a 23-yarder in the second. He threw just two passes with one completion.

Matthew McKay was 9-of-14 passing for 104 yards for the Bobcats.

Tre Walker tallied 11 total tackles and Marcus Harris grabbed an interception to lead the Idaho defense.

Petrino praised his defense for helping keep the Bobcat offense in check.

“I thought the offense helped too, by holding onto the ball,” Petrino said. “We talked about that — both teams were going to try to run the ball, and if we could move the ball, then we’d run clock off and there would be only so many possessions.”

The Bobcats conclude their regular season facing in-state rival and ninth-ranked Montana in Missoula next Saturday. Idaho travels to Idaho State on Saturday for its season finale.

Montana St. 20, Idaho 13

Idaho 0 10 3 0 — 13

Montana St. 7 6 0 7 — 20

First Quarter

MTST_Mellott 9 run (Glessner kick), 03:38

Second Quarter

IDHO_FG Prescott 40, 10:33

MTST_Mellott 23 run (kick blocked), 05:17

IDHO_Traynor 30 pass from Borisch (Prescott kick), 00:34

Third Quarter

IDHO_FG Prescott 46, 02:35

Fourth Quarter

MTST_Mellott 3 run (Glessner kick), 02:16

IDHO MSU

First downs 14 20

Rushes-yards 38-120 50-258

Passing 157 106

Comp-Att-Int 8-18-0 10-16-1

Return Yards 17 0

Punts-Avg. 5-38.2 4-44.5

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0

Penalty-Yards 4-25 3-30

Time of Possession 27:01 32:59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Idaho, Za. Borisch 23-70, Ro. Johnson 12-40, El. Cummings 2-9, Au. Carter 1-1. Montana St., Is. Ifanse 9-84, To. Mellott 13-68, El. Elliott 6-49, La. Sumner 14-46, Wi. Patterson 1-11, Ma. McKay 3-2, De. Hosey 1-1, La. McCutcheon 1-(minus 1), Team 2-(minus 2).

PASSING_Idaho, Za. Borisch 8-18-0-157. Montana St., Ma. McKay 9-14-1-104, To. Mellott 1-2-0-2.

RECEIVING_Idaho, El. Cummings 2-52, Te. Traynor 2-39, Me. Stevenson 2-33, Co. Whitney 1-25, Ro. Johnson 1-8. Montana St., La. McCutcheon 3-61, Na. Stewart 2-21, Is. Ifanse 1-15, Wi. Patterson 3-12, La. Sumner 1-(minus 3).