GREELEY, Colo. — Their travel was thrown into flux and the atmosphere was less than high-energy, but the Montana State Bobcats rose to the occasion in a 31-21 victory Saturday night over Northern Colorado at Nottingham Field.
With the win, MSU improved to 10-1 overall and to 7-1 in the Big Sky. The Cats also set themselves up for a chance to win the outright league crown and potentially secure the No. 1 overall seed for the FCS playoffs when they host archrival Montana in the regular-season finale next week.
Montana State will be in sole possession of first place in the Big Sky Conference heading into its rivalry matchup after No. 18 Weber State knocked off No. 5 Northern Arizona 25-21 on Saturday in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Also, coach Brent Vigen secured his 71st overall victory as head coach at Montana State, a new school record.
The Bobcats were sharp on their first offensive possession, moving 75 yards on nine plays. It culminated with a 1-yard touchdown rush by Adam Jones and a 7-0 lead.
But Northern Colorado quickly fired back and tied the game after Trey Olsen took a short pass from Brayten Silbor and raced 68 yards to the end zone. UNC had a chance to take the lead later in the second quarter but Landon Richardson misfired on a 28-yard field goal.
As the first half continued, the defenses began to clamp down. The Bobcats, though, scored a touchdown with 27 seconds left in the second quarter as Justin Lamson scrambled left and raced 16 yards to the end zone, and the Cats were up 14-7 at intermission.
After Montana State took a 17-7 lead in the third quarter, the Bears struck with a 7-yard touchdown run by Kieryus Boone. Yet the Cats pushed it to a 10-point lead again when Lamson — again — found the end zone on the run, this time bursting through the pocket for a 17-yard touchdown to make the score 24-14 early in the fourth.
Lamson was, as usual, a major factor, throwing for 246 yards on 24-of-28 passing. But his biggest impact might have come on the ground, as he rushed for 51 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The MSU offense finished with 227 rushing yards on 38 rushing attempts, establishing a more physical edge in the second half.
HANDLING BUSINESS: Like so many others, the Bobcats faced travel uncertainty Friday due to the Federal Aviation Administration's ground stop on all U.S. flights. After some initial uncertainty about whether the game would even be played, the original noon kickoff time Saturday was pushed back to 5 p.m.
The team was scheduled to take a charter flight out of Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport at 2:15 p.m. Friday but didn't depart until nearly 7:30. Per the travel itinerary, the Bobcats flew into Cheyenne, Wyo., and bused into Greeley, Colo., making it to their destination several hours after originally planned.
The Bobcats, the defending national champions, took it in stride — as best as they could, anyway — and emerged with a key victory before heading into the final week of the regular season.
KEY DRIVE: Leading 24-14, the Bobcats' offense got the ball back with 7:41 remaining. A third-down pass from Lamson to Parker Mady moved the chains, and then Lamson ran for a first down — while running over a UNC defender along the sideline — for another fresh set of downs while establishing a physical tone on what was a key possession.
Lamson and Jared White were the catalysts on the ground during that entire march, and White's 28-yard rushing TD helped put the Cats ahead 31-14 and put the game out of reach. MSU's drive went for 86 yards over eight plays and took 3:36 off the clock.
3,000 FOR JONES: Jones keeps climbing the Montana State record book, and with 65 yards rushing Saturday night he became the fifth rusher to eclipse the 3,000-yard plateau. Jones now has 3,015 career yards, passing "The Iron Tumbleweed" Don Hass (1965-67) and Steve Kracher (1972-75) on the school's all-time list.
WHITE NOISE: Not to be outdone, White continues to impact the Bobcats' ground game. His chunk runs on MSU's first possession of the third quarter helped produce a 37-yard Myles Sansted field goal and a 17-7 lead.
He kept churning in the second half, especially on the drive that put the Bobcats ahead by 17 points in the fourth quarter, and finished the game with a team-high 112 yards on just 12 carries.
VIGEN SEASON: With the victory, Montana State's Vigen set the school record for career coaching wins at 71. Vigen surpassed the previous record of 70 set by Rob Ash.
Now in his sixth season, Vigen is 71-13 overall at MSU (Ash went 70-38 from 2007-15). Also, the Bobcats improved to 44-4 in Big Sky Conference games under Vigen.
WHAT'S NEXT: Next up is the big one — the 125th meeting between the Cats and Montana Grizzlies. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at noon at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman.
Montana State has enjoyed a major home-field advantage over the Griz in recent years. The Bobcats haven't lost to Montana at home since 2015 — which includes last year's semifinal playoff victory. Beyond that, Vigen is yet to lose a Big Sky home game in his tenure at Montana State, going 23-0 so far.