MSU Bobcats overtake Weber State, 38-33

BOZEMAN — With their backs against the wall, the Bobcats leaned heavily on their defense  to rally past Weber State for a tough 38-33 Big Sky Conference football win Saturday.

The No. 22 Wildcats from Ogden, Utah, came out of a wild first half with a 27-17 lead over the No. 3 Bobcats, thanks in large part to special teams. But in the second half MSU forced Nate Dahle fumbles on back-to-back possessions and three straight punts, scoring 21 straight points. 

The win moved the Bobcats (7-1 overall, 4-1 in Big Sky games) into a first-place tie with Northern Arizona, which had a bye this week. MSU beat the Lumberjacks 28-14 on Sept. 25. 

Dahle’s first fumble, a botched snap recovered by Bobcat defensive end Zac Crews near midfield, led to a 12-yard TD pass from Justin Lamson to Jordan Reed. That cut the gap to 27-24. 

MSU did nothing with the second fumble, forced by Josaiah Asuega; Carter Dahlke lost the ball back at the Weber 18-yard line. But then the Wildcats went three-and-out and MSU drove 55 yards to the go-ahead touchdown. 

Rocky Lencioni ran in from the 1-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter and the Bobcats led 31-27. 

Montana State went up 38-28 with an 88-yard, 11-play drive, capped by Adam Jones’ 27-yard run with 1:54 left. Jones finished with 115 yards on 22 carries. 

Weber State (5-4, 4-2 in Big Sky games) came in hot, scoring on its first three possessions. 

Then there were the Wildcats’ special teams.  

Montana State (7-1 overall, 4-1 in league) had just gone ahead 14-10 in Lamson’s short scoring pass to Rylan Schlepp when Weber’s Dyson Parker took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. 

That put the Wildcats ahead 17-14 at 9:38 of the second quarter. MSU was able to drive to a tying 29-yard Myles Sansted field goal, but the visitors promptly marched 78 yards, capped by Seth Rigtrup’s 31-yard TD burst to retake the lead. 

When Jared White — who ran for 125 yards and a TD — fumbled the ensuing kickoff, David Dellenbach cashed that in for a 37-yard field goal for a 27-17 lead with a minute left in the second quarter. Then the Wildcats blocked a 37-yard attempt by Sansted to end the first half. 

After that Weber State gained just 118 yards, 72 coming on a final clock drive. Dahle capped it with an 11-yard TD pass to Robert Young, but just 2 seconds remained. 

Dahle was 21 of 40 passing for 240 yards; Noah Kjar had 8 catches for 124 yards and Tate Kjar had five receptions for 64. Rigtrup had just six carries, netting 57 yards; fellow back Spencer Ferguson gained 23 yards on seven attempts. 

Montana State ended up with 278 rushing yards; White had a 57-yard touchdown in the first quarter that gave MSU a brief 10-7 lead. He had another 73-yard burst called back on the drive capped by Jones’ TD.  

Lamson was 23 of 35 passing for 232 yards. Dane Steel (74 yards) and Dahlke (69) each caught six passes. 

The Bobcats stay home this Saturday to face Cal Poly, which lost to previously winless Utah Tech.