South Dakota State football powers past Montana State, advances to FCS championship
Dec. 18—BROOKINGS — It was utter domination on the ground.
Top-seeded South Dakota State couldn't be stopped, while fourth-seeded Montana State couldn't generate much of anything on the ground. The Jackrabbits ran for 281 yards — as many yards as the Bobcats' offense totaled all game — and held Montana State to a season-low 52 rushing yards in a 39-18 win to send SDSU to the Football Championship Subdivision title game.
"It started up front," SDSU defensive lineman Caleb Sanders said of stopping the run. "The defensive line was getting after the offensive line, making plays. It really set the tone for our defense that we were going to stop the run."
Running back Isaiah Davis paced the Jacks with 158 rushing yards, a far cry from last year when Montana State bottled him up for 13 yards on nine carries in the FCS semifinals. He rushed the ball 16 times and chipped in a 41-yard, second-quarter touchdown run, marking the eighth time in 11 postseason games that he's eclipsed 100 yards and a score.
"You get (Davis) to that linebacker level, that safety level too many times, that's going to be problems," Montana State head coach Brent Vigen said of Davis. "That just happened over and over again."
"They're a physical, tough team," Montana State defensive end Brody Grebe added. "We got run over a little bit today."
On top of Davis, running back Amar Johnson picked up 69 yards on 10 totes, and quarterback Mark Gronowski rushed 10 times for 52 yards and a score. Gronowski also threw a pair of touchdowns as a part of his 10-for-13 passing performance, which included 189 yards through the air.
But the Jackrabbit defense was able to stymie the nation's best rushing attack. Prior to Saturday, Montana State had failed to eclipse the 200-yard mark on the ground just once — in their game against FBS foe Oregon State. That previous season-low was still 116 yards more than Montana State put up against SDSU. And when the Jacks scored their final points with 11:41 to go in the fourth, the Bobcats had just 23 rushing yards to their credit.
Quarterback Tommy Mellott, the Bobcats' leading rusher on the season, had just three yards on the ground on 17 attempts, though the Jackrabbits sacked him three times for 19 yards.
Stopping Mellott came on the heels of a game where SDSU surrendered 213 yards to Holy Cross quarterback Matthew Sluka.
"Totally different approaches of running the football," SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier said of Sluka and Montana State. "I think Sluka's (performance last week) irritated our defensive coaches. So maybe they raised the level in terms of investment."
Montana State's leading rusher on the game was Isaiah Infanse, who tallied 28 yards on seven carries, while quarterback Sean Chambers, who left the game early with an apparent injury, tacked on 12 yards on five totes.
For SDSU, Davis, Johnson and Gronowski all ran for a touchdown, while Johnson and Tucker Kraft also caught one. The Jacks struck first with a 36-yard pass to Kraft on the game's opening drive. The Bobcats (12-2) responded on the ensuing possession with a score, but a fumbled snap on the extra point kept SDSU in front 7-6. The Jacks then scored the next 21 points, ending the first half up 28-9.
Coming out of halftime, the outcome was more of a formality, with tight end Tucker Kraft saying he felt the win was "inevitable."
The Jacks will now take on their rivals, North Dakota State, in Frisco, Texas, with a different trophy on the line. When the two schools meet on Jan. 8, 2023, they'll be playing for the FCS title, marking the first time across the 113 total matchups, dating back to 1903, that they've ever met in the FCS championship game.
"It feels amazing," Gronowski said of going to the FCS championship. "It means the world to have this opportunity. ... We've been working toward this opportunity again and we're glad to have it."
