FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Add a top-15 road win to No. 5 Montana State's 2025 resume. The Cats went on the road Saturday and took care of No. 13 Northern Arizona, 34-10.
"I think this shows our dominance on defense and our offense is clicking," Montana State defensive back Bryant Meredith said. "I think we’re just a great team. Taco (Dowler) had that special teams play too, so I think we dominated in all three phases of the game today."
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Dowler’s 90-yard punt return touchdown, which is the longest in program history, got the Cats on the board in the second quarter to tie it 7-7. It was the spark the team needed, as everything started rolling from there.
"It’s really cool," Dowler said. "I think 10-15 kids on our team could’ve probably done that. I didn’t even get touched until the very end. It was a shoestring tackle, or tried to be a shoestring tackle. But yeah, I mean, I just caught the ball and ran."
Taco Dowler takes it 90 yards to the house for the longest punt return TD in Bobcat history! 🤯
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) October 4, 2025
📺 Scripps/ESPN+@DowlerTaco | #BobcatBuilt pic.twitter.com/sbZnBHFT62
Montana State coach Brent Vigen explained how Dowler is such a threat in the punt return game.
"He’s dangerous back there," Vigen said. "You know, I think teams have done a really good job of punting away from him, and that’s a great strategy, but it’s not easy. I think Taco would be the first one to say there’s 10 other guys out there doing their job.
"He’s just electric in the open field, and if we can continue to find ways to get him in the open field that’s going to be good for the Cats."
That was the first of many explosive plays on Saturday afternoon for MSU. Quarterback Justin Lamson later connected with wide receiver Jabez Woods for a 79-yard touchdown, and running back Julius Davis had a SportsCenter Top-10 hurdle for a touchdown.
"To hurdle someone is insane standing up, but to hurdle someone, stay on your feet and drag someone in the end zone is really impressive," Dowler said.
Another game, another Sports Center Top 10 for @juliusdavis32 👀#BobcatBuilt | 📹: @espn pic.twitter.com/Ocs96I4LQW
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) October 5, 2025
The MSU defense is holding FCS opponents to an average of 10 points per game, and it wasn’t any different Saturday.
NAU's Ty "Pennington is a good quarterback, but when he’s under duress, that’s challenging for anybody, and I think he was under duress quite a bit," Vigen explained.
"Just staying on top of everything," Meredith said. "Our (defensive) line is going to take care of the run, but (defensive backs), just read our keys, stay behind everything, and just play ball."
