North Dakota State held off a second-half comeback from Montana State to end the Bobcats’ undefeated season and claim the 10th FCS title in NDSU history with a 35-32 win on Monday night.

After Montana State QB Tommy Mellott – the winner of the 2024 Walter Payton Award for the best player at the FCS level – cut North Dakota State’s lead to 28-25 with a 44-yard TD run with 11:25 left, The Bison (14-2) ended the game with a nine-play scoring drive later in the quarter.

The two teams traded punts after Mellott’s TD run before CharMar Brown scored on a 3-yard run with 2:41 left to give NDSU another two-score lead.

Montana State (15-1) cut the lead to three with 1:09 left on a fourth TD pass from Mellott to Taco Dowler, but the Bison recovered Montana State’s onside kick attempt and time ran out off as an NDSU punt was slowly rolling down the field.

The Bison led 21-3 at halftime after two touchdown drives spanned more than 10 minutes in the first quarter. NDSU opened the game with a 12-play drive that lasted just over seven minutes, and then QB Cam Miller ran for a 64-yard TD on the team’s second drive after Montana State simply had no one in the middle of the field .

The Bobcats responded with a drive that lasted 11:13 and lasted a remarkable 17 plays. However, NDSU held firm near the end zone and forced Montana State into a field goal.

Montana State had a chance to cut NDSU’s lead to one possession just before halftime, but the Bobcats were stopped on fourth down at NDSU’s 44-yard line with 59 seconds left. That gave NDSU a chance to extend the lead, and the Bison covered 56 yards and ran 10 plays in just 47 seconds when Miller caught Bryce Lance, the brother of NFL QB and former NDSU star Trey Lance, for a 1-yarder -TD scored.

The catch was Lance’s 17th TD grab of the season and he finished the game with nine catches for 108 yards.

Miller scored four total touchdowns, throwing two and running two. He also only threw three incompletions all night as he was 19 of 22 rushing for 199 yards while rushing for 121 yards.

Montana State was looking for its first title since 1984

The Bobcats’ undefeated season included a season-opening win against New Mexico, an FBS team. The Bobcats beat each of their three previous playoff opponents by multiple points, and Mellott entered the game with 43 total touchdowns.

Mellott also finished the game with 135 yards rushing, becoming the third Montana State player to surpass 1,000 yards rushing this season, joining running backs Scottre Humphrey and Adam Jones.

It was easily Montana State’s best chance to win its first national title since 1984, a season that came after a 1-10 season in 1983 and before a 2-9 season in 1985. But FCS dynasty North Dakota State got too far ahead, as Montana State completed just three drives in the first half before regaining possession with four seconds left in the second quarter.

The win gives NDSU a remarkable 10-1 record in FCS title games. The school won its first FCS title in 2011 and the 2019 team is the only FCS team to finish 16-0. Montana State would have been in second place with a win Monday night.

NDSU coach Tim Polasek is also a national champion in his first season as the team’s head coach. Polasek replaced Matt Entz, who led the team to national titles in 2019 and 2021. Entz moved to an assistant coaching job at USC after the 2023 season and was recently hired as Fresno State’s head coach. Polasek is the fourth coach to lead NDSU to a national title, joining Entz, current Kansas State coach Chris Klieman and former Wyoming coach Craig Bohl.