BOZEMAN — Montana State is raking in the accolades Monday after its Brawl of the Wild win over rival Montana.
The Bobcats, who secured the Big Sky championship and No. 2 seed for the FCS playoffs with the 31-28 victory, had two players receive player of the week honors. Justin Lamson and Caden Dowler were named the conference's offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively, Monday. Dowler also took home FCS national defensive player of the week honors from Stats Perform.
A junior defensive back from Billings, Dowler had the pivotal play in MSU's Brawl of the Wild win. In the second half with the Bobcats trailing 21-17, Dowler caught an interception off a deflected pass and returned it for a touchdown. The pick-6 propelled the Cats to a 24-21 lead, which they later grew to 31-21 on a touchdown run by Lamson.
Dowler finished the game with six solo tackles and has now been the Big Sky's defensive player of the week three consecutive weeks. In his past three games — versus Weber State, UC Davis and Montana — he has four interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns.
For the season, Dowler has 78 total tackles (50 solo) to lead the Bobcats, who have the No. 7-ranked scoring defense in the FCS.
Lamson, meanwhile, received MSU's first offensive player of the week nod of the season from the conference. The junior quarterback led the Cats to the first road win in the Brawl since 2018, accumulating 255 yards of offense and two touchdowns.
Lamson was a hyper-efficient 18-of-20 passing for 175 yards and one touchdown. He added 80 yards and another score on the ground. It was Lamson's seventh consecutive game with both a passing and rushing touchdown.
On the season, Lamson has passed for 2,345 yards, 20 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He didn't throw a pick in Big Sky play with his last INT coming back on Sept. 20 against Mercyhurst. On the ground, he has 589 yards and 11 more touchdowns.
Montana State finished the regular season 11th in the FCS in scoring offense at 38.2 points per game. The Bobcats averaged 45.4 points in Big Sky games.
