BOZEMAN — Out of sorts for much of the day, Montana State had to dig deep Saturday to extend its school-record winning streak.
At a soggy Bobcat Stadium, No. 1-ranked MSU finally found its game to beat unranked Central Connecticut State 35-30 and avert a monumental upset.
Second-half touchdowns from tight end Rocky Lencioni, receiver Dane Steel and running back Adam Jones, along with some crucial third-down conversions late in the game, pushed MSU to its 18th consecutive victory.
Central Connecticut State, of the Northeast Conference, made the FCS playoffs in each of the past two seasons as back-to-back league champions and proved their mettle on Saturday.
Montana State's offense had 19 total yards in the first quarter, but got going on its first drive of the second quarter — a nine-play, 65-yard march capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by Patrick Duchien that tied the game 7-7.
False-start problems plagued the Blue Devils in a major way. They finished the day with a whopping 10 false starts, including three in a row in the low red zone on a late second-quarter possession that ended when Zac Crews sacked Brett Griffis and forced a fumble that teammate Blaine Downing recovered.
But at the outset of the second half, with the game still tied, the Blue Devils easily moved down the field for a 42-yard touchdown pass from Griffis to Eli Daniels and a 14-7 lead.
Then, on MSU's first play after Daniels' TD catch, Jones fumbled and the ball was scooped up by Navon Mitchell who raced 42 yards untouched to give Central Connecticut State a 21-7 lead.
The Bobcats had a much-needed answer, though, with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Justin Lamson to Lencioni — on fourth down — which was helped set up by 37-yard catch and run by Jones, which set the stage for what was to come.
Jones had a big all-around effort for the Cats, 112 rushing yards, 92 receiving yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
THE GAME TURNED WHEN ...: Montana State's Lamson whistled a 31-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Steel with 33 seconds left in the third quarter to tie the game 21-21. After falling behind by 14 points, the Bobcats' defense forced consecutive three-and-outs in the third quarter, which proved crucial.
A 36-yard punt return by Taco Dowler early in the fourth put the Bobcats on the Blue Devils' 39-yard line. From there, Jones broke a tackle and raced up the middle for a 32-yard score and MSU took its first lead, 28-21, with 12:38 left.
TACO RECORD WATCH: Dowler now has 1,579 career punt return yards, which extends his Big Sky Conference record. Dowler is now 89 yards away from the career FCS record of 1,668 yards held by Marquay McDaniel of Hampton (2002-05).
WHAT? AN INTERCEPTION?: Lamson's efficiency is unquestioned, but he threw his first interception of the season on Saturday when CCS linebacker Jacob Stanton snared a tipped pass in the end zone in the third quarter. At the time, the Cats were trying to go in for a tying score.
It was only the fourth time Lamson has been intercepted in his time at Montana State — 20 games — and his first since the second quarter of a quarterfinal playoff game against Stephen F. Austin last Dec. 12. Lamson is yet to be intercepted in a Big Sky Conference game, a streak of 196 attempts entering next week.
EDGE PRESENCE: Crews was highly effective from his defensive end position all day. So was teammate Seth Brock. They helped give the Bobcats a big boost when it was desperately needed.
Crews, a fifth-year senior out of Missoula Sentinel, finished with four tackles, a sack, two pass breakups and a forced fumble, while Brock, a junior from Eagle, Idaho, had five tackles (three for loss) and two sacks.
WHAT'S NEXT: Montana State, now 4-0 overall, will jump headlong into the Big Sky Conference schedule when it hosts Northern Arizona next Saturday at 8:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. The Bobcats are already 1-0 in league play after routing Utah Tech in their season opener on Aug. 29.
Northern Arizona is coached by Brian Wright, who served as MSU's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Rob Ash during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. The Lumberjacks were 2-1 overall (1-0 Big Sky) entering their game this week at Utah Tech, which does not count toward the league standings.