BOZEMAN — The stakes were set for Saturday night's showdown when No. 2 Montana State took on No. 4 UC Davis — at least a share of the Big Sky title and an automatic bid to the playoffs were on the line.
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Montana State scored 30 consecutive points to take a 30-8 lead, but the Aggies came storming back in the fourth quarter and to score 20 unanswered of their own.
After Davis got an onside kick and scored a touchdown to make it 30-28 with mere seconds left in the game, they opted to go for the two-point conversion in hopes to send the game to overtime. Miles Hastings' pass to the end zone was intercepted by the Bozeman native and linebacker McCade O’Reilly.
A second onside kick by the Aggies then failed, clinching the win for the Bobcats.
"I think our guys just continue to fight, and any experience you can build upon and not lose belief, not lose belief in the next call," Montana State coach Brent Vigen said. "You know, we give up a touchdown, we have to stop the two-point conversion. And we did just that."
"That was crazy," Montana State tight end Rohan Jones said about the game-clinching play from O'Reilly. "I was jumping up and down on the sidelines. It was a great play, and he just sealed it for us, and we just recovered the ball, and our win."
The win secured the Bobcats at least a share of the Big Sky title and an auto-bid to the FCS playoffs.
"That’s a significant goal for us," Vigen said. "I talked about that on Monday. And to have the auto bid to be one step closer, now we are one step closer to completing the season how we want to."
To go on the road and take down the fourth-ranked team in the country to secure what was at stake on Saturday night was special. Montana State safety Rylan Ortt explained how his team was able to come up with a response when it needed it most.
"It’s just a bunch of resilient and tough individuals that play for each other," Ortt said. "And when you come together, and it felt like us against the world here tonight, and that’s how it’s going to be sometimes.
"We’re able to come together and finish it out in the fourth quarter. And we signed up for 60 (minutes), and we played all 60 (minutes). We just got to get it done."
An outright title can be secured this week if Montana State beats rival Montana in their 123rd meeting this Saturday in Bozeman. Also on the line for MSU, a 12-0 regular season finish for the first time in program history.
That would seemingly secure them a top-two seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
"There’s all kinds of things to continue to play for beyond the rivalry," Vigen explained. "To have the conference outright, to be able to finish the regular season undefeated, I would sure hope to secure home-field (advantage throughout the playoffs).
"Hey, (let's) go back to square one, meet on Monday. We got to figure out how to go 1-0 next week."
"Next week’s the real one," Ortt said. "We've got to get another trophy back to Bozeman. So we’re going to move on from this and worry about next week."
