BOZEMAN — On Saturday, Montana State beat Idaho State 28-26 in a triple-overtime thriller on the road in Pocatello, Idaho.
Bobcats head coach Brent Vigen gave Idaho State a lot of credit to start his postgame press conference.
"That's a good outfit over there," Vigen said. "They came in with a good plan, played well on both sides of the ball."
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Vigen had mixed thoughts on his team's performance.
"Offensively and defensively for us, we had our moments," Vigen said. "Then we had our moments that weren't up to what they needed to be."
Two of those good defensive moments were a strip sack and an interception by defensive end Seth Brock early in the game to give Montana State a spark when it was needed.
"Honestly we want those moments, we want it to be up to the defense and we want to capitalize when those plays come to us," Brock said. "Whether it's (Zac Crews) on the shovel pass or John Hurst getting his hand up to tip the field goal."
And offensively, an incredible catch by tight end Rocky Lencioni at the end of the fourth quarter forced the game into overtime.
"On that play, I kind of locked eyes with Justin (Lamson) pre-snap," Lencioni said. "(We had to) go make a play, it was fourth down. (I had to) give myself enough room and honestly, it was just a really good ball from Justin, like perfect spot. I didn't really have to do anything, I just put my hands up and stayed in bounds."
Ultimately, the Bobcats prevailed in the third overtime with a play call to a wide-open Rylan Schlepp that the defense didn't see coming.
"That's a play we've had in since coach (Pete) Sterbick got here," Schlepp said. "We practice it once a week, every Thursday with some other plays, as well. So I knew there was a good shot I was going to get to play."
The play called for wide receiver Dane Steel to get the ball from Lamson and then pass it to Schlepp.
"(It was) either that or Dane was going to run it in if I was covered," Schlepp said. "As I got open, I looked to my right and I saw Jordan Reed get held to the ground, so I knew I was probably going to be open. ... Then Dane threw a great ball and that's it."
Vigen has given his players and coaches props for their ability to do whatever it takes to somehow, someway find a way in games like these.
"It's hard to replicate just the belief and the heart that this crew has," Vigen said. "And that's something for us all to be proud of."
Next up for the Bobcats is another road matchup against Northern Colorado in Greeley on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
