Blake Glessner's First Walk-Off Winner Boosts Bobcats to Victory

Saturday, November 5

Flagstaff, AZ

2 pm MDT

Montana State University

8-1 , 6-0

Northern Arizona

3-6 , 2-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Montana St.

Northern Ariz.

Blake Glessner

Photo by: Garrett Becker

Blake Glessner's First Walk-Off Winner Boosts Bobcats to Victory

11/5/2022 3:39:00 PM | Football

Box Score

MSU wins on field goal as time expires, set up by Tommy Mellott bomb to Taco Dowler

By: Bill Lamberty

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Most of Tommy Mellott's work came via his legs Saturday. But when the Bobcats needed him the most, he used his arm.

Mellott found Taco Dowler behind the NAU secondary in the game's final 30 seconds, then Blake Glessner nailed a 25 yard field goal as time expired to hand Montana state a 41-38 win at Northern Arizona on Saturday. It was Glessner's first career walk-off winner.

That game-winner was set up by Mellott's calculated heave to Dowler. Under pressure on third-and-10, the sophomore quarterback rolled to his right and found Dowler "running to green grass," as Mellott said. "That's what Taco does. He did it in high school at Billings West and he has a feel for it."

Montana State's game-winning field goal came about after NAU hit a 46-yarder with 1:05 to play that tied the score at 38-38. "We needed to hold them to a field goal there," said Bobcat head coach Brent Vigen, "and we found a way."

The teams combined for 1,023 total yards (552 by NAU, the most by a Bobcat opponent since 2016) and 52 first downs. The teams scored 41 points after halftime.

The first half started with Montana State administering a body blow, and ended with a massive NAU rally. On the first play from scrimmage, Brody Grebe overwhelmed RJ Martinez, and the sack forced a fumble that he recovered on the Lumberjack 16 On the fourth play Mellott flipped a short pass to RJ Fitzgerald, and the Cats led 7-0. After forcing an NAU punt on the next possession, Mellott dashed 44 yards on a third-and-one for a touchdown, and the Bobcats led 14-0. On NAU's third possession the theme held, with Callahan O'Reilly's sack of Martinez resulting in a fumble that Ben Seymour recovered at the Bobcat 29. MSU turned that possession into a 30 yard field goal by Blake Glessner, and a 17-0 lead.

With just less than 12 minutes gone, the Bobcats had dominated the action and led 17-0. Then Martinez, the 2021 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, took control. He capped a 75-yard scoring drive with a 34-yard pass to Coleman Owen for a touchdown, then the Lumberjacks forced a three-and-out. After the teams traded futile offensive possessions three times, Martinez hit Hendrix Johnson on a 48-yard touchdown pass, and the Lumberjacks drew to within 17-14. After another Bobcat punt, NAU marched 77 yards in eight plays and took the 21-17 lead on a pass from Xander Werner to Martinez that covered seven yards.

In spite of MSU's quick start and turnover margin advantage (three to zero), NAU thoroughly dominated the first half statistically. The Lumberjacks out-gained the Cats 342 yards to 200, threw for 290 yards to MSU's 54, and logged 16 first downs to the Bobcats' nine. The halftime deficit was MSU's first against an FCS foe in 2022.