South Dakota vs. Montana State: Box score, stats, and summary feat. Taco Dowler (Dec. 21)

The Montana State Bobcats secured a 31-17 victory over the South Dakota Coyotes on Saturday afternoon to clinch a berth into the FCS Championship Game. The Bobcats will play North Dakota State on Jan. 6 in the championship game and quarterback Tommy Mellott stepped up with three total touchdowns (one passing, two rushing).

The Coyotes (11-3) now see their season end and were not able to get much going offensively, specifically in the second half of the game. The Bobcats (15-0) avoided being upset as they controlled the game from the jump.

Let’s take a closer look at the box scores to discuss how the game went for both teams. South Dakota vs. Montana State box score

South Dakota vs. Montana State box score

South Dakota vs. Montana State box score

Team	First Quarter	Second Quarter	Third Quarter	Fourth Quarter	Final Score
South Dakota	7	7	3	0	17
Montana State	14	10	7	0	31

South Dakota Coyotes box score

Quarterback:

Player	Carries	Rushing Yards	Rushing TDs	Passing Completions	Passing Yards	Passing TDs	Interceptions
Aidan Bouman	2	-16	0	20-29	236	0	0

Rushing & Receiving:

Player	Carries	Rushing Yards	Rushing TDs	Receptions	Receiving Yards	Receiving TDs
Travis Theis	14	110	1	7	80	0
Charles Pierre Jr	4	57	1	1	5	0
Keyondray Jones-Logan	1	1	0	0	0	0
Aidan Bouman	2	-16	0	0	0	0
JJ Galbreath	0	0	0	6	68	0
Carter Bell	0	0	0	3	53	0
Quaron Adams	0	0	0	1	15	0
Jack Martens	0	0	0	1	8	0
L.J. Phillips Jr	0	0	0	1	7	0

Kicking:

Player	Extra Points Made/Attempted	Field Goals Made/Attempted	Long
Will Leyland	2-2	1-1	46

Montana State Bobcats box score

Quarterback:

Player	Carries	Rushing Yards	Rushing TDs	Passing Completions	Passing Yards	Passing TDs	Interceptions
Tommy Mellott	7	125	2	8-17	134	1	0

Rushing & Receiving:

Player	Carries	Rushing Yards	Rushing TDs	Receptions	Receiving Yards	Receiving TDs
Tommy Mellott	17	125	2	0	0	0
Adam Jones	18	66	0	0	0	0
Scottre Humphrey	11	35	1	0	0	0
Ty McCullouch	1	-2	0	3	27	0
Taco Dowler	0	0	0	4	94	1
Lonyatta Alexander Jr	0	0	0	1	13	0

Kicking:

Player	Extra Points Made/Attempted	Field Goals Made/Attempted	Long
Myles Sansted	4-4	1-1	28

Player	Interceptions	Fumble Recoveries
Brody Grebe	0	1

South Dakota vs. Montana State Game Summary

The South Dakota Coyotes had a decent offensive game as they were able to record 17 points on 371 total yards of offense (236 passing, 135 rushing). However, they struggled on the key downs, going 3-of-10 on third downs and failing to convert on both fourth-down opportunities.

The team passed the ball for 8.1 yards per pass. The Coyotes committed the only turnover in the game with a lost fumble and only were able to record 16 total first downs.

The Montana State Bobcats looked sharp offensively as they had 31 total points and 356 yards of offense. The team only threw for 134 yards and was 8-of-17 passing but ran the ball 50 times for 222 yards (4.4 yards per carry). The team converted on 7-of-15 third-down attempts to extend drives and eventually win the game.

Below is the scoring breakdown to see how this game played out.

• 11:56 1Q: Tommy Mellott 34 Yard Passing TD to Taco Dowler | Montana State 7-0
• 8:52 1Q: Travis Theis 55 Yard Rushing TD | 7-7
• 1:04 1Q: Tommy Mellott 5 Yard Rushing TD | Montana State 14-7
• 14:51 2Q: Charles Pierre Jr 45 Yard Rushing TD | 14-14
• 8:24 2Q: Scottre Humphrey 1 Yard Rushing TD | Montana State 21-14
• 0:08 2Q: Myles Sansted 28 Yard Field Goal | Montana State 24-14
• 10:30 3Q: Tommy Mellott 41 Yard Rushing TD | Montana State 31-14
• 2:55 3Q: Will Leyland 46 Yard Field Goal | Montana State 31-17