‘Revenge game’ on tap: No. 8 Idaho ready for rematch with No. 1 Montana State

Idaho defensive lineman Dallas Afalava and Montana State running back Scottre Humphrey grew up with the same goal: to play college football. Two years after their Rainier Beach High School playing days in Seattle, the two have stayed in contact — but not this week.

The two high school teammates will meet again at Bobcat Stadium when Afalava’s No. 8 Idaho Vandals (10-3) meet Humphrey’s No. 1 Montana State Bobcats (13-0) at 6 p.m. today in Bozeman, Mont., in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. ESPN will broadcast the game to a national audience.

“Honesty and integrity to the game,” Afalava said. “Yeah, I just think (it’s) best not to (speak to Humphrey this week).

“Revenge game”

The Vandals were unashamed to proclaim Friday’s FCS quarterfinal as a “revenge game” for an Idaho football team that lost to Montana State 38-7 on Oct. 12 in Bozeman.

Idaho’s loss to Montana State was its third of the season and two months later remains the Vandals’ most recent defeat. The Vandals are winners of six-straight since, including a 34-13 second-round FCS playoff win over Patriot League champion Lehigh on Saturday at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome.

“I’m proud of this team to get back to the quarterfinals after a lot of adversity and things we’ve had to go through,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “And probably one of the biggest bits of adversity was getting this butt whooping by Montana State the last time we played them.”

The last time the Vandals clashed with the Bobcats, they were missing several key contributors, including starting quarterback Jack Layne, who continued to recover from a broken collarbone he suffered in Idaho’s season-opening loss to Oregon, the now-No. 1 team in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Backup quarterback Jack Wagner completed 11-of-23 passes for 134 yards, a touchdown and an interception in Idaho’s first meeting with Montana State. The offense was held to 267 yards, while the Bobcats gained a ridiculous 485 yards.

Bobcat quarterback Tommy Mellott had the same number of completions as Wagner and fewer yards, going 11-for-15 for 121 yards and two touchdowns, while the Bobcats’ run game flourished with two triple-digit rushers.

Mellott gained more yards on the ground (140 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns) than he did through the air and Humphrey racked up 124 yards on 19 carries. Adam Jones added 39 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Montana State ran the ball 54 times for 360 yards in the victory.

The staggering ground game allowed MSU to jump out to a 24-0 halftime lead and hold the Vandals scoreless until the fourth quarter.

“We’re excited to have another opportunity, but obviously it’s gonna be a great challenge,” Eck said. “I think they are a great team. I really don’t think they have any weaknesses. We’re going to probably have to play the perfect game to pull this off, but our guys will be motivated. We want to play hard. We got embarrassed last time and definitely want to have a better showing.”

The Idaho defense, consisting of eight All-Big Sky selections, was dismantled by No. 1 scoring offense in the FCS.

However, Idaho’s unit of defensive linemen Keyshawn James-Newby, Malakai Williams and Afalava; linebackers Jaxton Eck, Isiah King and Johnson; and defensive backs Tommy McCormick and Andrew Marshall are ready for Round 2.

“Since it’s a rematch, I know the defense is going to be hungry,” UI linebacker Zach Johnson said. “We obviously didn’t show what we’re capable of the first time we played them. For us, it’s kind of a revenge game.”

Scouting the Bobcats

Montana State is home to the No. 9 rusher in the FCS: Humphrey with 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns. Freshman running back Adam Jones has over 950 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.

The Bobcats quarterback, Mellott is a dual threat who threw for 2,280 yards with 26 touchdowns to one interception and ran for 659 yards and 11 touchdowns. White he is a frequent runner, he picked up over 20% of his season rushing total against the Vandals in October.

Montana State’s top pass-catcher Rohan Jones has 27 catches for 451 yards and eight touchdowns and is one of three Bobcats with over 400 yards receiving and at least five touchdowns joining receivers Ty McCullouch (445 yards, five TDs) and Taco Dowler (437 yards, eight touchdowns).

A dominant rushing and passing attack led Montana State to sport the top-scoring offense in the FCS with 41.3 points per game.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Bobcats boast the No. 6 scoring defense in the FCS with 17 points per game allowed.

Montana State nearly swept the All-Big Sky Conference awards with Mellott earning Offensive Player of the Year, edge Brody Grebe taking home Defensive Player of the Year, Jones taking Freshman of the Year and coach Brent Vigen earning Coach of the Year.

Grebe notched 6.5 sacks for a gritty Bobcat defense.

Eck said the Bobcats play a variety of coverages, presenting a challenge to any opposing quarterback.

His quarterback agreed with him.

“They’re really physical up front. They’re really good, obviously,” Layne said. “They’re just well-coached. I mean, they give a lot of good looks, especially on third down. You can tell they put a lot of time into that. ... I’m excited to go against a team like that.”

The Vandals’ advantage

Idaho did not have Layne under center on its last trip to Bozeman in October. The sophomore quarterback was on the sideline, taking in the cold but blusterous atmosphere.

However, Montana State won’t be the first No. 1 team Layne has faced.

His year began in Eugene, Ore., with a season-opening 24-14 loss to the Oregon Ducks, now the favorites to win the College Football Playoff. Since working his way back from a broken collarbone suffered at the end of that game, Layne said he has remained grateful.

In just five games in 2024, Layne has completed 63% of his throws for 1,238 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. His connection with fellow sophomore Jordan Dwyer has been impeccable as the pair have combined for over 400 yards and five touchdowns while redshirt freshman Mark Hamper has emerged as a “make-em miss” playmaker gaining a good portion of his yards after the catch. In five games with Layne, Hamper has gained over 450 yards and scored five touchdowns.

On the season, Dwyer has 1,003 yards to Hamper’s 955.

The Vandals are healthier than they were on their last trip to Bozeman. With plenty of distractions from the transfer portal opening this week to the daunting challenge of Montana State, all the Vandals can do is learn from their losses.

“Our losses, we know we could have (done) better, and our wins, we also know we could have (done) better. So I think our best game is still out there,” Afalava said. “I think all guys on the field, on this team, want to just make sure we don’t leave this season with any doubt or anything that we left on the table.

“We’re just trying to leave it all on the field. And that’s what everybody wants, everybody’s buying into that. There’s nobody on this team that’s not going to put it all on the line.”

Redshirt freshman running back Deshaun Buchanan, who has taken on a larger role as injuries to veterans in the room opened up opportunity, said that he wants to keep fighting for the seniors.

“There’s not a doubt in the locker room,” Buchanan said. “If anyone’s in the locker room with doubt right now, they might as well get out. One-hundred-percent belief. We walking into this game with the belief we can beat the (Super Bowl champion) Chiefs right now.”

Extra points

Idaho is 26-20-1 all-time vs. Montana State with its most recent meeting a 38-7 loss on Oct. 12 and its first meeting a 50-0 win on Oct. 2, 1905. The Vandals last beat the Bobcats 24-21 on Oct. 28, 2023.

The basics

What: Idaho (10-3) at Montana State (13-0)

Where: Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman, Mont.

When: 6 p.m. today

TV: ESPN

Radio: KOZE-AM/FM (950/95.5), KZFN-FM (106.1), KORT-AM (1230), KLER-AM (1300)

Spread: Montana State -14 1/2 (collegefootballpoll.com)

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.