Banged-up Bobcats hold off NAU

BOZEMAN — No Lamson or Dowler, no problem.

The No. 1 Montana State Bobcats defended home field Saturday evening with a 28-14 victory over the 17th-ranked Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Bobcat Stadium, without their starting quarterback and No. 1 wide out. 

Pat Duchien stepped into the starter role at quarterback and delivered a great performance — 16-for-20 and 204 yards with one touchdown and one interception. 

In addition to Dowler and Lamson’s absence, the team announced that Adam Jones was also nursing an injury prior to kickoff. Colson Coon saw the majority of reps for the Bobcats (5-0 overall, 2-0 in Big Sky games) in the backfield, rushing for 199 yards. Jones had just one carry for two yards. 

At receiver, Gallatin High product Carter Dahlke found his stride with seven grabs and 117 yards. 

Dahlke started the scoring with a 47-yard catch and run for the Bobcats to make it 7-0. 

NAU (3-2, 1-1 in conference) had an answer in the second quarter as Myseth Currie hauled in an 8-yard touchdown from Ty Pennington. 

Duchien then used his legs to give Montana State the lead once again from 15 yards out, making it 14-7. 

Pennington hit Nassim Isaac for a 32-yard score late in the first half to tie it at 14. 

Jared White scored from 1-yard out to give Montana State the lead in the third quarter before the defense showed their might. 

NAU, ranked No. 17, drove into the Bobcats red zone three times in the second half and Montana State held each time. The first drive ended with a fumble as the Lumberjacks reached the 15-yard line. 

The next two drives both reached the Bobcat 5, but each time Pennington was incomplete on fourth down. The latter came with 4:37 left in the game. 

Coon ripped off three big runs and Duchien broke off a 28-yard touchdown burst on the Cats ensuing possession to secure the Bobcats’ 19th straight victory. 

Montana State now heads to Moscow to battle Idaho at the Kibbie Dome in a Friday 7:30 p.m. kickoff.