Mellott lifts Bobcats on Senior Day

Tommy Mellott lifted the Bobcats over Idaho

11/13/2021 4:35:00 PM | Football

MSU wins 9th straight, 20-13, and stays undefeated in Big Sky Conference play

Tommy Mellott scored three rushing touchdowns to lead Montana State past visiting Idaho on Saturday, 20-13, at Bobcat Stadium.

On Senior Day in MSU's final regular season home game, Mellott's final score came with just over 2 minutes to play, giving the third-ranked Bobcats their ninth straight victory and keeping them undefeated (7-0) in Big Sky Conference play and 9-1 overall.

With the game tied at 13, Bobcat defender Eric Zambrano broke up a long pass by Idaho and forced the Vandals (2-5, 3-7) to punt into the wind from their own end zone. A short punt gave the Bobcats good field position, starting their final drive from the Idaho 37. Five straight running plays by Lane Sumner put the ball on the 12-yard line. From there Mellott took over, finally getting into the end zone from 3 yards out thanks to a key block by RJ Fitzgerald.

Sumner got the bulk of the fourth-quarter carries due to injuries to both Isaiah Ifanse and Elijah Elliott. The sophomore from Huntley Project finished with 46 yards on a game-high 14 carries. Before getting hurt, Ifanse gained 84 yards, all in the first half. Ifanse's total leaves him with 3,046 in his MSU career, and moved him past Steve Kracher into third place on MSU's all-time list, trailing only Ryan Johnson and Cody Kirk.

Mellott's first score came on MSU's first possession of the game. The freshman from Butte gave the Bobcats a 7-0 lead with a 9-yard run. Idaho answered with a field goal before Mellott made it 13-3 on a tough run down the right sideline from 23 yards out. Mellott finished with 13 carries and 68 yards. Overall, the Bobcats rushed for 258 yards and passed for 106 while holding Idaho to 277 total yards.

Idaho was led by Zach Borisch who entered the game with just nine pass attempts. The surprise starter at quarterback completed eight of 18 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown and rushed 23 times for 70 yards.

MSU's quarterback Matt McKay completed nine of 14 passes for 107 yards. Senior Lance McCutcheon caught three passes for 61 yards. The Bobcats defense was sparked by senior Troy Andersen with 17 tackles with fellow senior Daniel Hardy collecting a pair of sacks.

The game sets up the final regular season game of the year next week in the Brawl of the Wild at Montana (5-2, 8-2). The Bobcats have beat Montana in each of the past four encounters.