BOZEMAN — With a 28-14 win over Northern Arizona on Saturday night, Montana State improved to 2-0 in Big Sky play despite battling many offensive injuries heading into the matchup.
Bobcats coach Brent Vigen liked his team's response to this week's adversity.
"And if that's the mark of who we are, in that one way or another we are going to figure it out, I like that," Vigen said. "I didn't even have an expectation of what tonight was going to look like, honestly. I just said somehow, some way we are going to put this together and figure it out, and that's what we did."
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With Taco Dowler out, freshman wide receiver Carter Dahlke made his first start and proved the moment was not too big for him, finishing with 117 yards and one touchdown.
Quarterback Patrick Duchien spoke on their chemistry on the field.
"I mean obviously it's an unfortunate situation that Justin (Lamson) and Taco are both out," Duchien said. "But (Dahlke) stepped up big time. It's a new role for him, and he did a great job tonight. And as we saw, he's a good athlete and he can do some really good things with the ball in his hands."
Without running back Adam Jones in, Colson Coon was able to capitalize with 199 yards.
In his first start, Duchien passed for 200 yards and one touchdown and ran for 85 yards and added two rushing scores.
"It takes a minute to get settled in," Duchien said. "But the preparation, the coaches had the game plan and everything and the teammates that were around me, it made it pretty easy just to feel confident out there knowing that I've got the guys around me to be able to go make plays."
The defense also had three big stops/turnovers while Northern Arizona was in the red zone, including a forced fumble by linebacker Bryce Grebe in his first game back from illness.
"Coach (Jody) Owens, he's really been getting on us (to) be aggressive, get downhill (and) play fast," Grebe said. "And I felt like when I was playing fast, playing aggressive, it was just fun. The game was fun and getting hyped up with your buddies on the field, when you're making plays, even when everyone else is making plays, the emotions are high and makes it so much funner."
The Bobcats will next take on Idaho on Friday in Moscow, Idaho.
