MISSOULA, Mont. — No. 1 seed Montana State University scored 42 unanswered points to secure a 52-19 victory over No. 8 seed Idaho in the FCS quarterfinals on Friday.

The vandals kept it close early on. After seven downs and a turnover on downs, Isiah King intercepted MSU senior quarterback Tommy Mellott to give Idaho a boost.

Quarterback Jack Layne hit Jordan Dwyer with a 55-yard touchdown pass on the next play, tying the game. This score was the first allowed by the Bobcat defense in the first quarter this season at Bobcat Stadium.

A 32-yard field goal by Cameron Pope tied the game at 10-10 with 8:22 left in the first half. But then Montana State capitalized on Idaho’s errors on five of its next six shots and began the 42-point run sparked by Mellott and redshirt freshman Adam Jones.

A surprise onside kick didn’t reach more than 10 yards and gave the Bobcats a short field. This turned into an 8-yard touchdown run by Mellott for Montana State, which took the lead for good at 17:10.

On the ensuing drive, Idaho’s Mark Hamper hit his offensive lineman on a screen and senior defensive end Brody Grebe recovered the fumble. Five players later, Jones reached the end zone for the first time with a 2-yard touchdown run.

The Bobcats got the ball back after a punt with less than a minute left in the first half, but Mellott fought his way 63 yards to set up Jones for a 1-yard touchdown run and a 31-10 lead at halftime.

An interception by Jon Johnson on the first play of the second half led to a 9-yard touchdown run by Jones. A failed fake punt gave MSU another short field and ended with Mellott finding Taco Dowler for a 9-yard touchdown pass.

Jones capped the Bobcats’ scoring run with a 2-yard touchdown run following a 56-yard catch-and-run by Mellott. This came after a turnover on Vandals downs in MSU territory

Mellott completed 12 of 18 passes for 174 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while adding a team-high 131 rushing yards on 14 carries and one touchdown.

Jones finished the game with 95 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries, but was also the Bobcats’ leading receiver with 66 yards on three catches. It is the first four-rushing touchdown game by a Bobcat since Marqui Johnson in 2022 against Cal Poly.

The game put Jones at 1,068 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on the season. Those are now both single-season records for an MSU freshman.

The Bobcats scored on their first drive when Mellott connected with Gallatin product and sophomore tight end Rylan Schleif for a three-yard touchdown. It’s Schleif’s first time in the end zone since he caught MSU’s first touchdown of the season in the opener at FBS New Mexico.

Sophomore kicker Myles Sansted hit a 46-yard field goal on his only attempt of the game.

Montana State finished with 457 total yards, with its 283 rushing yards being the second-most allowed by the Vandal defense, followed by the Bobcats’ 360 rushing yards in the two’s regular-season meeting on October 12.

Layne and Dwyer were able to end the scoring series with a 25-yard touchdown connection. Layne completed 20 of 30 passes for 239 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while Dwyer had a team-high 11 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

At the 3:55 mark of the fourth quarter, Pope hit another field goal from 43 yards to finish the night 2-for-2.

Although Idaho’s 407 total yards are the second-most yards allowed by the Bobcat defense this season, the turnovers and stops on late downs fall into the hands of Mellott and Jones.

The MSU defense held the Vandals to 2 of 10 on third down and 1 of 5 on fourth down. Idaho converted on third down with 7:02 to play.

That’s in contrast to the Bobcat offense, which converted 11 of 15 on third-down conversions, 11 of 13 on starting offense and a single attempt on fourth down.

Time of possession also favored MSU at 38:51 compared to the Vandals at 21:09.

The Bobcats spread the love when it came to tackling, as freshman defensive back Jhase McMillan finished the game with a team-high four tackles.

MSU recorded six tackles for a loss, including three sacks for a 1.5 from redshirt freshman defensive tackle Hunter Sharbono, one from Bozeman native and junior defensive end Kenneth Eiden IV, and half a sack from Logan Fredericksen.

Montana State will play one final home game of the 2024 season as the Bobcats host the winner of fifth-seeded UC Davis and fourth-seeded South Dakota in the FCS semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 21.