BOZEMAN — Carter Dahlke set the tone, and No. 3-ranked Montana State followed his lead.
Dahlke, a true freshman out of Gallatin High School in Bozeman, returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and MSU went on to crush Cal Poly 61-7 on Saturday at Bobcat Stadium. With the win, the Cats improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Sky, while Cal Poly is now 4-6 and 3-4 in the league.
On Cal Poly's first possessions after Dahlke's return, following consecutive false-start penalties, Caden Dowler intercepted an Anthony Grigsby Jr. pass, which later led to a 20-yard touchdown run by MSU QB Justin Lamson for a 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
Dahlke also caught a 44-yard touchdown strike from Lamson in the opening quarter as the Bobcats poured it on. Montana State led 27-0 and had nearly 200 yards of offense at the end of the first.
Tight end Luvens Valcin and running back Adam Jones also added touchdowns for Montana State in the opening half.
The Bobcats led 48-0 before Cal Poly finally got on the board on a 28-yard scoring pass from Bo Kelly to Tayvion McCoy with 17 seconds before halftime. But the game, by that point, was well in hand.
FORMIDABLE FRESHMAN: Dahlke's game-opening touchdown came on the first kickoff return attempt of his career. Initially it looked like Dahlke would be bottled up and taken down around the 25- or 30-yard line, but he stayed on his feet, evaded pursuers, cut all the way across the field and outran everybody to the end zone.
In the continued absence of the injured Taco Dowler, Dahlke's first-year impact can't be overstated. Against Cal Poly, he had six receptions for 103 yards, with 54 yards coming after the catch. He also carried the ball once for nine yards.
LAMSON DOES THE JOB: Montana State's Lamson was again on point. The senior finished 15-for-19 passing for 177 yards and three touchdowns, and also added 20 rushing yards and two other scores on the ground before he was pulled in favor of backup Patrick Duchien.
Lamson missed some time earlier in the year due to injury, but he was his usual self against Cal Poly, helping Montana State's offense produce 517 total yards.
VINTAGE NO. 41: Caden Dowler's penchant for big plays was on full display on Saturday, harkening back to last season when he was named the Big Sky's defensive player of the year.
Dowler, who was also voted preseason defensive player of the year for 2026 in the Big Sky, intercepted two passes in the first half, the second of which set up a short touchdown pass from Lamson to Dane Steel as MSU built a 41-0 advantage early in the second quarter.
CLAMPING DOWN: Aside from Dowler's efforts, Montana State's defense rendered Cal Poly QB Anthony Grigsby Jr. completely ineffective.
Grigsby came into the game with 2,142 passing yards and 20 total touchdowns. He was limited to 1-for-8 passing for 11 yards and those two interceptions, and had minus-1 rushing yards before being pulled in favor of QB Bo Kelly.
THE VIGEN FILE: The victory was Vigen's 69th overall in his sixth season at Montana State. He is one win from tying the school record of 70 held by Rob Ash (2007-15).
Beyond that, the Cats are now 45-2 in home games under Vigen, are 42-4 overall in the league, and improved to 22-0 against Big Sky Conference opponents in Bozeman.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Bobcats, winners of four in a row, travel Idaho State to Bozeman next week for a 4 p.m. kickoff in Pocatello, Idaho. The Bengals were 5-3 overall (2-3 Big Sky) entering this week's matchup at Utah Tech. The Bengals opened the season 4-0, including an FBS win over Utah State in Week 2, but came into this week having lost three of their past four.