BOZEMAN — In Saturday’s postgame press conference, Montana State head football coach Brent Vigen was asked to assess his team’s progress from game three to game four. Vigen said, “Hmm,” and didn’t start his full answer until four seconds later.
It wasn’t a trick question, but it had a tricky answer.
The No. 4-ranked Bobcats (2-2) appeared to regress in some areas during their 17-0 win over unranked Mercyhurst (1-3) Saturday at Bobcat Stadium. They certainly looked less sharp than in last week’s 41-7 win over San Diego.
Some of MSU’s issues in its nonconference finale can be attributed to Mercyhurst, which Vigen said was better than last year (when it lost 52-13 at Bobcat Stadium in its first season of transition from Division II to FCS) and “a greater challenge” than San Diego. The Cats also made some unforced errors and tinkered with their offensive line in their second shutout since Vigen became a Bobcat.
“We’ve raised the bar, so our expectation is super high. It doesn’t mean you’re always going to meet it,” Vigen said, adding, “A lot of our guys felt like we didn’t play up to our standard, but I think you’ve got to take a step back and look at why. Again, your opponent has a contribution to that. Then, OK, what did we do within that to make it a little harder on ourselves then we would’ve liked?”
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Lamson hits rough patch
MSU quarterback Justin Lamson picked up where he left off in Week 3, when he completed 23 of 26 passes for 293 yards against San Diego. Then the Stanford transfer made a string of mistakes.
Lamson went 6 of 7 for 58 yards in the first quarter and connected with Adam Jones for 14 yards on his first pass of the second. Two plays later, Lamson airmailed an open Jabez Woods in the end zone on a 17-yard out route.
Lamson rebounded two plays after that, scrambling toward the line of scrimmage but keeping his eyes downfield (as Vigen has urged) and finding Chris Long for a 16-yard gain that set up a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
On the next play, Lamson faked a handoff to Jones and was tackled for a 3-yard loss.
“Hand the ball off,” Vigen said, as if he was addressing Lamson instead of a reporter. “Whether we get a yard or not, we’re (still) at the 1-yard line.”
One play after that, Lamson rolled to his right and saw two open tight ends in the end zone. His pass hit the turf short of Rocky Lencioni, who was on the goal line 11 yards away from Lamson and about 5 yards away from the closest defender.
Lamson fired over the middle to Taco Dowler on the next play. A Mercyhurst defender got his hands up, and it wasn’t clear on the broadcast if he deflected the pass or not. Either way, it was off target, and MSU settled for a field goal.
“For him, there’ll be plenty of learning,” Vigen said of Lamson.
Lamson completed two passes on MSU’s next drive: a 14-yard strike to Dowler in which he avoided a blitzer and threw on the run, and pop pass (basically a handoff) to Dowler that traversed 6 yards. Jones put MSU up 17-0 on a touchdown run three plays later.
On MSU’s first drive of the second half, Lamson completed a 6-yard dump-off to Julius Davis and found Ryan King on a 6-yard curl three plays later — MSU’s last completion of the game.
Three plays after that, Lamson launched a deep ball to a double-covered Dane Steel by the left sideline of the end zone on first-and-10. Instead of putting it where only Steel could catch it or throwing it out of bounds, Lamson threw it a little too far in bounds, allowing a Mercyhurst defensive back to intercept it.
Lamson completed 12 of 17 (70.6%) passes for 121 yards, no TDs and one turnover against the Lakers — his fewest passing yards, completions and attempts and his second-lowest completion percentage in a game this season. Long, the starting “Z” wide receiver, played for the first time since the opener at Oregon, and first-string O-lineman Burke Mastel made his season debut, giving MSU its full complement of key offensive players for the first time this year.
Mercyhurst’s nearly three-minute time of possession advantage contributed to Lamson’s low numbers, but the redshirt junior also forfeited pass attempts for scrambles on multiple occasions.
“He doesn’t have to make every play with his feet,” Vigen said, adding, “For all the plays he’s made with his legs, we’ve got guys out there that we want to distribute the ball to, that can do something. So we’ve got to keep finding ways to do just that.”
Cats get limited looks at new O-line combinations
Mastel was MSU’s first-string center throughout the preseason. An injury to his snapping hand shortly before the opener caused him to miss the first three games. The redshirt junior from Red Lodge returned Saturday and didn’t snap the ball once, instead lining up at left guard all game (he also made his 2024 season debut against Mercyhurst)
“Getting him back at least one game before conference starts is great,” Vigen said. “We just have to figure out how to work it from there.”
Redshirt sophomore Everett Carr, who started at LG the previous three weeks, entered Saturday’s game at right guard for the final drive of the first half, while redshirt junior Titan Fleischmann moved over from RG to right tackle (where he started all of last season) and starting RT Cedric Jefferson went to the bench. Mastel, senior JT Reed (center) and redshirt freshman Braden Zimmer (left tackle) remained where they began.
Jefferson, a redshirt sophomore, replaced Zimmer at LT for the first drive of the second half. That unit featured the five first-stringers on MSU’s season-opening depth chart (Carr, Fleischmann, Jefferson, Mastel and Reed).
The Cats and Lakers each finished Saturday’s game with six possessions. MSU and its opponent had at least nine drives apiece in the first three games, including 13 for both MSU and South Dakota State in Week 2.
“Trying to sort out what our best (OL) combination is. When you end up having six possessions, it really didn’t play out,” Vigen said, adding, “You’re looking to have a 10-possession game to really let it play out.”
The first OL rotation Saturday (with Carr out) led back-to-back scoring drives, the second of which lasted 18 plays and nearly eight minutes and only resulted in a field goal because of Lamson’s aforementioned errors. The Cats also scored a TD on the final drive of the first half (with Jefferson out).
With Jefferson in place of Zimmer to start the second half, MSU drove into Mercyhurst territory before Lamson threw the interception. That same OL unit was on the field at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when MSU went three-and-out. The starting group, with Jefferson and Zimmer at the tackle spots, helped the offense run out the clock with eight straight runs in the final 4 minutes, 34 seconds.
“We understand we’re young, but the standard doesn’t drop because we’re young,” Reed said, adding, “We’ve definitely taken steps, but I think we need to continue to take more steps and have a better sense of urgency. I don’t think we can continue to take little baby steps up front, and that all starts with me.”
Holistically, the OL showed growth Saturday.
Lamson took three sacks in each of the first two games, two last week and none Saturday. That was partially due to MSU’s relatively low number of pass attempts, but Lamson also rarely felt pressure. On the INT, for instance, he faked a handoff and stood in the pocket for almost four seconds before firing. The OL didn’t let a defender get within 8 yards of him.
The Cats, who are trying to be more balanced on offense, also set season-highs for rushing yards (233) and yards per carry (5.7) in a game, as well as longest run (a 45-yarder from Colson Coon) against the Lakers.
There were still “too many inefficient runs,” Vigen said. The Cats rushed on first or second down 33 times Saturday, and 13 of those runs went for 3 or fewer yards (not counting Davis’ 3-yard TD run).
“(The run game) had flashes for sure. There was maybe a better level of consistency,” Vigen said, adding, “But I think we clearly have a ways to go.”
Third downs continue to skew MSU
The Lakers converted 4 of 7 fourth downs Saturday, including three on their 19-play, 58-yard second half drive that lasted 10:55. Many teams would’ve punted or kicked field goals in those situations, potentially avoiding a shutout but also giving MSU’s offense more chances to find a rhythm.
A more conservative approach would’ve shined a brighter spotlight on the preceding plays as well.
Mercyhurst converted 4 of 14 third downs Saturday. That 28.6% success rate nearly matched the percentage MSU had allowed entering the game (29.4%, a top-15 mark in the FCS).
Not every third down stop was created equal. On the 19-play drive, Mercyhurst turned a third-and-12 into a fourth-and-3 and a third-and-18 into a fourth-and-4.
“We allowed them to get to midfield all too often, and once they were in that mode, they were going to go for it on fourth downs,” Vigen said, adding, “When they were backed up, what plays could we have made there to make them more of a three-down team than, ultimately, the four-down team they became?”
The four third down conversions were one more than the Cats allowed in their previous two games combined. Still, MSU will take 4 of 14 most Saturdays, especially when the offense converts 9 of 11 third downs as it did against the Lakers. The Cats now rank 24th among FCS teams in third down conversion rate (45.1%).
On an afternoon when many things didn’t go right for MSU, that third down disparity played a big role in the three-score margin.
“These teams coming in on third down and not having any success, we know how good we are, but when we see it in person, it feels different,” said MSU cornerback Takhari Carr.
Victor Flores is the Montana State Bobcats beat writer for 406 MT Sports. Email him at victor.flores@406mtsports.com and follow him on Twitter/X at @VictorFlores406
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