Bobcat ground attack too much for UT Martin

Saturday, December 4

BOZEMAN

2 p.m.

Montana State University

10-2 , 7-1

UT Martin

10-3 , 5-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UT Martin

Montana St.

Isaiah Ifanse gained 176 yards on the ground on Saturday.

Photo by: Garrett Becker

12/4/2021 5:24:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Mellott, Ifanse combine for 356 yards rushing in Montana State's 2nd round win over the Skyhawks

Doing what they do best, the Montana State Bobcats ran past UT Martin on Saturday, finishing off their 26-7 win with 387 yards on the ground while holding the visiting Skyhawks to just 178 total yards. The playoff victory sets up a Bobcat trip to Huntsville, Texas, on Dec. 10 or Dec. 11 to play Sam Houston State.

The Bobcats were sparked by freshman quarterback Tommy Mellott's first start as he scored twice and finished with a career-best 180 yards rushing. Just as he's done all season, Isaiah Ifanse had another stellar day with 176 yards of his own and a fourth quarter touchdown that put the game out of reach.

The Bobcats (10-2) got on the scoreboard first as Mellott, who hails from Butte, scored in the second quarter from 1 yard out behind the line surge generated by left tackle Lewis Kidd and left guard Zach Redd. Those two, along with Justus Perkins, Taylor Tuiasosopo and Rush Reimer spent most of the day carving holes in the UTM defense. Overall MSU totaled 438 yards as Lane Sumner also got in the running action finishing with 30 yards of his own.

A Blake Glessner field goal made it 10-0 before UTM's Jay Woods returned a fumble 68 yards just before halftime to give the Skyhawks (10-3) their lone trip to the end zone.

Glessner's second field goal was the lone score in the third quarter and made the score 13-7. In the fourth quarter, Mellott ripped off his longest run by dashing up the middle before swerving to the left sideline, breaking a tackle at the 35 and jogging into the end zone to complete a 73-yard run. MSU's final score came on Ifanse's 17-yarder. Ifanse, who led the Big Sky Conference in rushing this fall, now has 1,459 yards on the season. His total is third on MSU's all time single-season list and is just one yard behind Don Hass who rushed for 1,460 yards in 1966. Ryan Johnson leads the list with 1,537 yards in 2001.

In front of a crowd of 15,327, Mellott, who came into the game with just four pass attempts on the season, finished the day with eight completions on 20 attempts for 51 yards. Willie Patterson was his favorite target, collecting four passes for 27 yards.

Defensively, the Bobcats collectively stymied the Skyhawks, holding them to just 11 first downs and only 57 offensive plays. Callahan O'Reilly led the charge with 10 tackles while Daniel Hardy was in on two sacks and Simeon Woodard had the game's only interception.