RENO, Nev. — No. 1-ranked Montana State locked horns with an old Big Sky foe — and an old friend — Saturday night.
For all the subplots surrounding the matchup, what came out of it was another Bobcats victory, this time in a sluggish game plagued by penalties and inconsistency on both sides.
MSU beat FBS Nevada, led by former Bobcats coach Jeff Choate, 20-7 at Mackay Stadium. It was their 17th consecutive victory, a continuation of a school record. It was also the Cats' second win over a Mountain West opponent in the past three seasons, following a 35-31 victory at New Mexico in 2024.
WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS:
The Bobcats received the opening kickoff and quickly marched 75 yards on seven plays, capped by a 24-yard touchdown pass from Justin Lamson to Dane Steel and a 7-0 MSU lead. Lamson was 6-for-6 passing for 84 yards on the drive.
MSU later took a 10-0 lead on a 45-yard field goal by Myles Sansted. Then, in the second quarter, Adam Jones found the end zone on a 6-yard run to make it a 17-point advantage.
Montana State's defense had two first-half takeaways in their own territory, including an interception by Tim Thomas II in the end zone that thwarted a late Nevada scoring threat. The Bobcats finished with four takeaways, and also held Nevada to a 4-of-13 success rate on third-down plays.
Nevada finally got on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter when A.J. Bianco found Marshaun Brown with a 28-yard touchdown pass. It was moving the ball again on a later possession, but MSU safety Colter Petre forced a fumble from Brown that J.J. Dolan recovered, and the Bobcats tacked on another Sansted field goal to ice it.
Petre, who made the key defensive play, was playing in place of reigning Big Sky defensive player of the year Caden Dowler, who was injured last week.
THE CHOATE REUNION: Choate led the MSU program from 2016-20, and went 28-22 over the course of four seasons in Bozeman — famously going 4-0 against rival Montana. He guided the Cats to the FCS playoff semifinals in 2019, finishing that season with an 11-4 record.
Choate is in his third season at Nevada after spending 2021-23 as the inside linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator at Texas. He is now 1-1 this season and 7-20 overall with the Wolf Pack.
Nevada's coaching staff has other MSU connections, including defensive coordinator Kane Ioane, secondary coach Joey Thomas, assistant special teams coordinator B.J. Robertson and GM Cole Moore.
QB COMPARISON: MSU's Lamson came out hot, completing each of his first eight passes, but he finished a modest 15-for-23 passing for 179 yards. Nevada's defense dropped at least three sure interceptions.
Luke Duncan, a UCLA transfer, started at QB for Nevada instead of anticipated starter Carter Jones. Duncan was picked off twice in the first half — Brian Harris had MSU's other interception — and was generally ineffective with some late throws. He was 7 for 16 for 51 yards.
Bianco took the snaps for the Wolf Pack in the second half and did his best to rally the offense. He threw for 116 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
LAUNDRY DAY: The game had a halting nature due to the amount of penalties incurred by both teams, many of the pre-snap variety. In the end, Montana State was flagged 13 times for 125 yards while the Wolf Pack had nine penalties for 86 yards.
The Bobcats had five penalties combined in previous wins over Utah Tech and Butler.
RIVAL REVIVAL: It was the first meeting between Nevada and Montana State in 30 years. The last time they met, on Sept. 14, 1996, Nevada beat the Bobcats 31-7. But longstanding fans will remember that these programs once had a fierce Big Sky rivalry.
The teams faced each other in 13 consecutive seasons from 1979-91 while the Wolf Pack were members of the Big Sky alongside the Bobcats. Nevada moved up to the FBS (then Division I-A) in 1992. The Wolf Pack own the all-time series, now 12-7, including a 9-4 mark when they tangled as conference rivals.
WHAT'S NEXT: Montana State (3-0) will wrap up non-Big Sky play next week when it hosts Central Connecticut State. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium, and the game will be broadcast by Scripps Sports.
Central Connecticut State is located in New Britain, Conn. The Blue Devils play in the FCS Northeast Conference and are coached by Adam Lechtenberg, who is in his fourth season. They visit Bozeman with an 0-2 record, having lost to both South Dakota and FBS Toledo.
