North Dakota State Athletics
10-3 , 5-3
Montana State
8-4 , 6-2
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota St. | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Montana St. | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 34 |
Bison Block Bobcats in Overtime for 35-34 Second Round Playoff Win
12/2/2023 7:07:00 PM | Football
The victory moved North Dakota State (10-3) into the FCS quarterfinals for the 14th straight year, where the Bison will play No. 3 seed South Dakota (10-2) next weekend at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.
NDSU snapped No. 6 seed Montana State's 26-game home winning streak and broke Georgia Southern's record of 45 FCS playoff victories. The Bison are now 46-4 in the FCS playoffs since 2010.
Neither team led by more than seven points all day.
TK Marshall's 29-yard touchdown run and Griffin Crosa's PAT kick with 2:33 left tied the game at 28, and the Bison defense held after a 29-yard run by MSU quarterback Sean Chambers got the Bobcats to the Bison 36.
Eli Mostaert stuffed a run for 0 yards and Jake Kava and Dylan Hendricks had back-to-back sacks to force a punt with 35 seconds left.
NDSU had the first possession in overtime. TaMerik Williams and Cole Payton got the Bison two first downs rushing before Cam Miller's 3-yard touchdown. Scottre Humphrey scored on a 25-yard run on MSU's first play of overtime before the blocked PAT.
Williams rushed 11 times for a career-high 162 yards including a pair of go-ahead touchdowns from 44 yards in the second quarter and 75 yards on the first play of the third quarter.
Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott ran 18 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns while completing 13 of 17 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game with an injury in the fourth quarter.
Cole Wisniewski made a team-high nine tackles for North Dakota State including one of NDSU's eight tackles for loss and an interception on the final play of the first half.
Team Stats
NDS 0, MSU 7
MSU - McCullouch,Ty 34 yd pass from Mellott,Tommy (Kautzman,Casey kick) 3 plays, 63 yards, TOP 01:11
NDS 7, MSU 7
NDS - Mathis,Zach 3 yd pass from Miller,Cam (Crosa,Griffin kick) 5 plays, 39 yards, TOP 02:56
NDS 14, MSU 7
NDS - Williams,TaMerik 44 yd run (Crosa,Griffin kick), 5 plays, 93 yards, TOP 02:58
NDS 14, MSU 14
MSU - Mellott,Tommy 6 yd run (Kautzman,Casey kick), 6 plays, 71 yards, TOP 03:02
NDS 21, MSU 14
NDS - Williams,TaMerik 75 yd run (Crosa,Griffin kick), 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:10
NDS 21, MSU 21
MSU - Mellott,Tommy 76 yd run (Kautzman,Casey kick), 2 plays, 86 yards, TOP 00:48
NDS 21, MSU 28
MSU - Thomas Jr.,Clevan 9 yd pass from Mellott,Tommy (Kautzman,Casey kick) 8 plays, 69 yards, TOP 04:11
NDS 28, MSU 28
NDS - Marshall,TK 29 yd run (Crosa,Griffin kick), 9 plays, 89 yards, TOP 04:48
NDS 35, MSU 28
NDS - Miller,Cam 3 yd run (Crosa,Griffin kick), 5 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00
NDS 35, MSU 34
MSU - Humphrey,Scottre 25 yd run (), 1 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00
