BOZEMAN, Mont. — Tommy Mellott rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another to lead Montana State to a 31-17 victory over South Dakota on Saturday and a berth in the Football Championship Subdivision’s national title game.
The top-seeded Bobcats (15-0) will play No. 2 seed North Dakota State University (13-2) in the title game for NCAA Division I’s lower tier on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas. NDSU defeated Montana State 38-10 for the 2021 championship. The Bobcats’ only FCS title came in 1984, when they beat Louisiana Tech 19-6.
Mellott fumbled a bad shotgun snap, but the ball bounced back into his hands and he went up the middle, hurdling a defender for a 41-yard touchdown run and a 31-14 lead early in the third quarter.
A field goal cut the lead to 14, and then fourth-seeded South Dakota (11-3) drove to the Montana State 11-yard line midway through the fourth quarter but came up short on a fourth-down pass to the 2. The Coyotes again drove deep into Montana State territory, but a bad snap cost them yardage and a down before a fourth-down pass to the end zone was broken up. A final possession ended on the first play with a fumble.
The Bobcats went in front 24-14 on Scottre Humphrey’s 1-yard run to finish a long drive midway through the second quarter and Myles Sansted’s 28-yard field goal, taking that 10-point lead into halftime.