Ben Seymour heads upfield with a recovered fumble on Saturday against Eastern Washington.
Balanced offense keys Bobcats win over Eagles
11/11/2023 4:52:00 PM | Football, General
Montana State used a balanced attack to smother Eastern Washington 57-14 on Saturday in Bozeman. The fifth-ranked Bobcats totaled 531 yards with 276 through the air and 255 on the ground.
In the first half, the Bobcats (8-2 overall, 6-1 Big Sky Conference) scored four times through the air and Sean Chambers added two more touchdowns on the ground. It was the senior quarterback who got the scoring started, going up the middle for 68 yards midway through the opening quarter. Before the first quarter ended, Chambers added a 15-yard scoring pass to Clevan Thomas, making it 14-0 headed into the second quarter.
A hard tackle by Simeon Woodard on an EWU receiver jarred the ball loose moments later. Ben Seymour picked up the fumble and rumbled 33 yards to the 2-yard line. From there Chambers again found the end zone for the 33rd time in his MSU career, tying him with Troy Andersen for second place on the alltime Bobcat list. Cody Kirk holds the mark with 47 career scores.
Another big defensive play came when senior linebacker Nolan Askelson intercepted an Eagle pass which set up a 51-yard toss from Chambers to Ty McCullough early in the second quarter. McCullough finished with four catches for 125 yards.
Chambers and Tommy Mellott combined to complete their first eight passes. Mellott's 63-yard scoring pass to Scottre Humphrey put the Bobcats ahead 34-0. The Eagles (4-6, 3-4), who had won their last four games in Bobcat Stadium, started going for it on fourth down in the second quarter. MSU's Sebastian Valdez broke through on fourth down for a 5-yard loss, giving the Bobcats the ball just before halftime. Two plays later, the first a 32-yard gallop by Mellott and the second a 43-yard Chambers-to-McCullough pass, gave the Bobcats a 41-0 edge.
Neither Chambers nor Mellott played in the second half. One half was enough for Chambers to account for the five scores on just nine plays.
In the second half Humphrey nearly reached the end zone again, this time on a 74-yard dash up the middle, before being tackled on the 1 yard line. Senior Lane Sumner finished the drive for his first score of the season, and a Casey Kautzman 35-yard field goal put MSU ahead 51-14 after three quarters.
The Bobcats final score came when freshman Zac Crews batted an EWU pass into the air and then hauled the ball in like a basketball rebounder before running untouched 6 yards into the end zone to finish the scoring. Earlier in the game, Crews also forced a fumble on a sack and blocked a punt on EWU's opening drive.
Overall, MSU totaled five sacks while holding EWU to 394 yards, just 63 on the ground. Blake Stillwell and Askelson combined for 17 tackles for MSU while McCade O'Reilly and Paul Brott collected seven tackles apiece with two of Brott's occurring behind the line of scrimmage.
Humphrey led the Bobcat runners with 84 yards while Elijah Elliott's eight carries (for 31 yards) led the team. MSU averaged 9.5 yards per play.
Next up for MSU is the regular season finale in Missoula this week while EWU is at home against Northern Arizona.
In the first half, the Bobcats (8-2 overall, 6-1 Big Sky Conference) scored four times through the air and Sean Chambers added two more touchdowns on the ground. It was the senior quarterback who got the scoring started, going up the middle for 68 yards midway through the opening quarter. Before the first quarter ended, Chambers added a 15-yard scoring pass to Clevan Thomas, making it 14-0 headed into the second quarter.
A hard tackle by Simeon Woodard on an EWU receiver jarred the ball loose moments later. Ben Seymour picked up the fumble and rumbled 33 yards to the 2-yard line. From there Chambers again found the end zone for the 33rd time in his MSU career, tying him with Troy Andersen for second place on the alltime Bobcat list. Cody Kirk holds the mark with 47 career scores.
Another big defensive play came when senior linebacker Nolan Askelson intercepted an Eagle pass which set up a 51-yard toss from Chambers to Ty McCullough early in the second quarter. McCullough finished with four catches for 125 yards.
Chambers and Tommy Mellott combined to complete their first eight passes. Mellott's 63-yard scoring pass to Scottre Humphrey put the Bobcats ahead 34-0. The Eagles (4-6, 3-4), who had won their last four games in Bobcat Stadium, started going for it on fourth down in the second quarter. MSU's Sebastian Valdez broke through on fourth down for a 5-yard loss, giving the Bobcats the ball just before halftime. Two plays later, the first a 32-yard gallop by Mellott and the second a 43-yard Chambers-to-McCullough pass, gave the Bobcats a 41-0 edge.
Neither Chambers nor Mellott played in the second half. One half was enough for Chambers to account for the five scores on just nine plays.
In the second half Humphrey nearly reached the end zone again, this time on a 74-yard dash up the middle, before being tackled on the 1 yard line. Senior Lane Sumner finished the drive for his first score of the season, and a Casey Kautzman 35-yard field goal put MSU ahead 51-14 after three quarters.
The Bobcats final score came when freshman Zac Crews batted an EWU pass into the air and then hauled the ball in like a basketball rebounder before running untouched 6 yards into the end zone to finish the scoring. Earlier in the game, Crews also forced a fumble on a sack and blocked a punt on EWU's opening drive.
Overall, MSU totaled five sacks while holding EWU to 394 yards, just 63 on the ground. Blake Stillwell and Askelson combined for 17 tackles for MSU while McCade O'Reilly and Paul Brott collected seven tackles apiece with two of Brott's occurring behind the line of scrimmage.
Humphrey led the Bobcat runners with 84 yards while Elijah Elliott's eight carries (for 31 yards) led the team. MSU averaged 9.5 yards per play.
Next up for MSU is the regular season finale in Missoula this week while EWU is at home against Northern Arizona.
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