BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Idaho Vandals fell 52-19 to Montana State in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs on Friday night, officially ending their season.

But the final result doesn’t tell the whole story of how the first quarter and a half played out for Idaho.

The Vandals won the first coin toss and elected to defer to the second half, which was a common decision. But the unusual decisions that followed ultimately had a major impact on the game.

Montana State marched 75 yards in nine plays and scored on its first possession.

The Vandals responded violently after Isiah King intercepted Tommy Mellott. Immediately after the pick, quarterback Jack Layne ran the ball downfield and found Jordan Dwyer for a 55-yard touchdown, tying the game at 7-7.

The Bobcats answered with a field goal and the Vandals matched it.

After Idaho tied the game 10-0 with 8:22 left before halftime, head coach Jason Eck called for a surprise onside kick, but it didn’t go beyond 10 yards. Montana State gained possession at the Idaho 38-yard line. Eight plays later, the Bobcats scored 3:47 before halftime to make it 17-10.

It was a call that started a downward spiral for the Vandals – and Eck took full responsibility for it.

“We knew we had to try and steal some possessions against these guys, so we took a chance. Bad timing on my part,” Eck said. “At one point we were going to try to make a surprise onside kick, and in retrospect we probably should have saved it until we were on the ground or something instead of using it early.”

Idaho’s next offensive play was a pass to Mark Hamper, who hit his own lineman and fumbled the ball. Montana State’s Brody Grebe recovered.

Montana State capitalized and extended the lead to 24-10 with just 75 seconds left before halftime. The Vandals then hit a three-pointer and the Bobcats scored another touchdown to make the score 31-10 at halftime, a quick turnaround from a 10-10 tie just eight minutes earlier.

From then on, the spiral continued for the vandals.

Layne threw an interception on the first play of the second half. Montana State converted it into another touchdown, putting Idaho behind 38-10 with more than nine minutes left in the third quarter.

Then came another turning point – if not the dagger.

The Vandals faced 4th-and-17 from their own 34-yard line and sent out the punting unit. But Eck had no intention of giving the ball back to Montana State. Instead, Idaho attempted a fake punt. Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar threw the ball to punter LJ Harm, who had a clear view but fell 11 yards short of the first down.

Eck said the play was planned all along, but it didn’t come to fruition as hoped.

“Then we had a fake punt that I thought was going to be pretty good and we hit it and the guy just fell down,” Eck said. “Both backfired. I knew we had to take some risks because we are such a good team. I didn’t think we could just play a conservative game plan and have a chance of beating them and that didn’t work, which is my fault.”

In addition to the failed trick plays, Idaho went 2-for-10 on third downs, a formula for losing football games.

“That was probably the most important statistic of this game: We were bad on conversion downs and they were great on conversion downs,” Eck said. “We got them into some third-and-longs early in the game and played in the zone, and Tommy (Mellott) did a good job of finding a dig route. Then we played the man and he did well to make a comeback.”

Mellott dominated Idaho with 305 total yards of offense and three touchdowns. He proved to be unstoppable for most teams all season long.

“Playing any dual-threat QB presents a lot of challenges, and they also have a really good O-line, probably the best line we’ve ever seen,” Jaxton Eck said. “When he’s in space he’s going to make his plays and we have to tackle it better. I missed a few pieces. But yeah, really a good player.”

The Vandals ended their season in Bozeman, but their 10-win season cements a legacy for a young team that has significant potential heading into the offseason.

“Proud of these guys’ performance and proud of this season,” said Coach Eck.