POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — Scottre Humprey ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns and Montana State pulled away for a 37-17 Big Sky Conference opening win over Idaho State on Saturday night.
The Bobcats (5-0), the third-ranked team in the FCS coaches poll, struggled offensively until Tommy Mellott hit a wide-open Rohan Jones for a 70-yard touchdown that changed the momentum early in the fourth quarter.
Idaho State had just pulled within 17-10 on a 33-yard Gabe Panikowski field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter. On the next snap, Mellott had the longest touchdown pass of his career.
After a defensive stop, Humphrey capped a 74-yard drive with a 6-yard run and he ended the game with an 8-yard touchdown as time ran out. In between, Tracy found Jeff Weimer for a 16-yard touchdown.
Mallott had a 7-yard TD run and Humphrey scored from 18 yards out in the second quarter for a 17-0 lead but the Bengals got a last-second 5-yard touchdown reception by Michael Shulikov from Tracy Kobe.
The Bobcats had 410 yards of offense, but just 158 in the first half. Their 268 yards on the ground was almost 100 behind their average.
Tracy was 17 of 33 for 183 yards for the Bengals (2-3) who were held to 276 yards.
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