BOZEMAN, Mont. – Unfortunately, University of South Dakota football was not scheduled to travel to Frisco, Texas, on Saturday.

Behind a great dual-threat performance from Tommy Mellott, who finished with 134 passing yards, 125 rushing yards and three total touchdowns, Mellott led the Bobcats to a 31-17 FCS semifinal victory over USD on Saturday at Bobcat Stadium, ending the best season in program history, coming just two wins short of a national championship.

Mellott was all over the field on Saturday. The Walter Payton Award finalist had the USD defense on its heels for most of the game. He was always a constant threat to the run on the ground, and the threat that he would tuck the ball and run it himself left the Coyotes struggling to consistently stop the run-pass option.

Despite the loss, head coach Bob Nielson had to hold back tears as he talked about USD’s season, even though it fell short of their ultimate goal of a national championship.

“I’m really proud of our football team,” Nielson said. “We have a group that I think at the start of the season there weren’t many people who thought we would be here. Unfortunately, we have a group that is really disappointed because they wanted to keep playing and thought they were showing.” Everything was good about this football team in the fourth quarter. The fight, the heart, a lot of great young men to train. I couldn’t be prouder.

The Coyotes are finishing their best season in program history with an 11-3 mark, while Montana State (15-0) travels to Frisco, Texas, to face North Dakota State for the national championship.

But it wasn’t just Mellott, there were a lot of little mistakes that bothered the Coyotes. Poorly timed penalties, third-period struggles and errors that derailed drives all contributed to the loss. Although USD only had five penalties, there were several early errors that hampered the drives. The Coyotes went just 3 of 10 on third down, including several three-and-outs.

Then there were the mistakes, and one of the biggest came at a terrible time. With USD trailing by 14 points in the redzone and just under three minutes on the clock, Aidan Bouman was unable to overcome a bad snap that resulted in a loss of five yards. The Coyotes were unable to win third-and-long on the ensuing play and turned the ball over on downs.

A big part of those mistakes was home field advantage. With a packed crowd, the offense struggled to communicate, including the fumble when Bouman reviewed the play and Joey Lombard grabbed the ball early.

“It was a great crowd,” Nielson said. “We worked in a rush throughout the week, but it gave us a couple of procedural penalties, the one miscommunication on a bad snap, Aiden actually reviewed the play and I think the center thought he was running a snap count.” . It’s a tough environment to play in… It’s definitely a home field advantage for them to be in this round of the playoffs.”

These problems that slowed Mellott and Montana State’s defense started right from the start. The Bobcats drove 65 yards on their first drive with little resistance. That would be the theme for most of Montana State’s drives in the first half. Mellott’s dual-threat skills and constant threat of big runs kept the Coyote defense on its heels.

Nathan Swaffar/Mitchell Republic

The Coyote offense made up for the early defensive struggles. Big runs were the name of the game when it came to USD’s valuation. The Bobcats tried to get Aidan Bouman to throw the ball and force him to make plays, but Travis Theis and Charles Pierre both had big touchdown runs of 55 yards and 45 yards, respectively.

But the offense struck twice in the first half, and that was notable because Montana State stayed on the field. The Bobcats had the ball for more than 20 minutes in the first half and kept the Coyotes off the field.

Bouman finished the day with 236 yards on 20 of 29 passes. Theis finished the game with 110 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Pierre finished with 57 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Theis also led all receivers with 80 yards on seven catches.

Nathan Swaffar is a sports reporter for the Mitchell Republic. He joined Mitchell Republic in July 2024 after graduating from the University of Kansas in May 2024 with a degree in journalism and a minor in history. He covers a variety of prep and collegiate sports throughout South Dakota, including USD Football.