Montana State Routs Cal Poly 61-7 as Carter Dahlke Opens With 98-Yard Kickoff Return

Cal Poly kicked off to open the game at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday. Carter Dahlke caught it at the 2 and did not stop running until the end zone. Eighteen seconds in, Montana State led 7-0, and the rest of the afternoon was more or less a formality.

No. 3 Montana State scored the game's first 48 points and routed Cal Poly 61-7 on Military and Ag Appreciation Day in Bozeman. Justin Lamson threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more before the backups took over, and the Bobcats moved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Sky. Cal Poly fell to 4-6 and 3-4.

A week after needing 21 straight second-half points to survive Weber State, Montana State left nothing to chance.

Eighteen seconds, then a flood

Dahlke's 98-yard kickoff return set the tone, and the offense followed it up with three straight touchdown drives in the first quarter. Lamson kept the ball on a 20-yard touchdown run at 10:30. At 4:10, Lamson hit Dahlke for a 44-yard score to finish a 10-play, 82-yard drive. Less than three minutes later, a quick four-play, 60-yard drive ended with Lamson finding Luvens Valcin from 2 yards out. The extra point was blocked, which was about the only thing that went wrong for Montana State in the first 15 minutes.

It was 27-0 after one quarter. Montana State had run 20 offensive plays and scored four touchdowns, three of them on drives that took under five minutes.

The second quarter was worse for Cal Poly

The Mustangs came to Bozeman already reeling. A week earlier they had turned the ball over six times in a 43-26 home loss to Utah Tech, the Trailblazers' first Big Sky win ever. Ball security was the obvious point of emphasis. It did not take.

Lamson scored on a 1-yard run at 12:27 of the second quarter to cap a 34-yard drive, then threw a 5-yard touchdown to Dane Steel at 10:41 after a three-play, 20-yard drive. Adam Jones, the Bobcats' leading rusher, finished a 13-play, 85-yard march with a 1-yard plunge at 3:00. It was 48-0 with three minutes left in the half.

Cal Poly finally got on the board in the last minute of the half. Bo Kelly hit Tayvion McCoy for a 28-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive. It was a nice throw and a nice catch. It also made the score 48-7.

The turning point was the opening kickoff

There is no real turning point in a 54-point game, but if you need one, it is the first play. Cal Poly's plan in a hostile environment, against the No. 3 team in the country, had to be to shorten the game, hold the ball and hang around. Dahlke's return made that plan obsolete before the Mustangs ran a single offensive snap.

After that, the Bobcats played from ahead the entire afternoon, and Montana State playing from ahead is a miserable thing to chase. Cal Poly had to throw. Montana State knew it. The Mustangs finished with three interceptions, and the Bobcats never had to work very hard for anything.

Lamson's efficient afternoon

Lamson did not need to be a hero, and never tried to be one. The Bobcats' quarterback completed 15 of 19 passes for 177 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, and added two rushing scores before giving way. Lamson came in with 10 touchdown passes and just one interception on the season, and that kind of ball security showed up again here.

Dahlke was the star of the day. Beyond the kickoff return, the Bobcats' leading receiver caught six passes for 103 yards, including the 44-yard touchdown. Add the 98-yard return and Dahlke finished with 201 all-purpose yards.

The backups got their turn after halftime. Colson Coon ran 9 yards for a touchdown at 7:20 of the third quarter, and backup quarterback Patrick Duchien found Jordan Reed for a 26-yard score at 3:28 to make it 61-7. Jared White had 69 yards on just four carries, including a 57-yard burst, and Cale Breslin added 42 yards on seven carries.

The numbers that tell the story

Montana State converted 10 of 11 on third down. That is not a typo. The Bobcats never once needed a fourth-down try, while Cal Poly went 4 of 13 on third down and 1 of 4 on fourth down.

The Bobcats outgained Cal Poly 518 to 258, won the turnover battle 3-0, and ran for 285 yards at 7.0 per carry. The Bobcats piled up 27 first downs to Cal Poly's 15. Misa Paiau led the Mustangs with 70 yards on 16 carries, and McCoy had seven catches for 78 yards.

Defensively, Blaine Downing had a sack and linebacker Brock Steel led the Bobcats in tackles. For Cal Poly, linebacker Shane Ramstad led all players with seven tackles, which in a game like this is rarely a good sign.

Every snap is in the official box score (opens in a new tab).

A long day for the Mustangs

There were a few bright spots for Cal Poly, and they deserve a mention. Kelly completed 14 of 26 passes for 128 yards, and the touchdown drive before halftime was the Mustangs' best stretch of football all day: eight plays, 75 yards, finished by McCoy's 28-yard catch. Paiau ran hard, Trey Wilson added 41 yards on six carries, and Brooks Wheatley caught three passes for 37 yards.

The problem was that every promising drive seemed to end the same way. Cal Poly went for it on fourth down four times and converted once. Its quarterbacks combined to go 15 of 34 for 139 yards, an average of 4.1 yards per attempt, against a Montana State defense that never had to worry about the run once the score got out of hand. The Mustangs did not punt the ball away so much as hand it back.

Montana State, meanwhile, was balanced in the most demoralizing way possible. Lamson and Duchien combined to go 23 of 29 for 233 yards and four touchdowns, and the Bobcats ran 41 times for 285 yards and four more scores. Seven different players scored a touchdown. Jordan Reed caught only two passes, and they went for 54 yards.

What it means

For Montana State, this was a reset after a week that was far too close for comfort. The Bobcats sit at 5-1 in the Big Sky, and they hold the head-to-head edge over Northern Arizona after beating the Lumberjacks 28-14 on Sept. 26. Brent Vigen's team is 8-1 and has won every game since the one-point loss at Idaho on Oct. 2. Montana State is scheduled to visit Idaho State on Nov. 7.

For Cal Poly, this is two straight weeks of the same problem. The Mustangs had six giveaways against Utah Tech and three more here, and you cannot beat anyone in this league, let alone Montana State, while giving the ball away that often. A team that was hanging around the middle of the Big Sky two weeks ago is now 4-6 and needs to regroup quickly.

The last word

Some games are decided in the fourth quarter. Some are decided at halftime. This one was decided by the time the kickoff team got back to the sideline.

Montana State did what a national title contender is supposed to do to a struggling opponent at home: score early, score often and get the starters a little rest before the stretch run. With Idaho State, Northern Colorado and Montana still ahead, the Bobcats will take every bit of it.

Sources: ESPN box score, team stats and play-by-play, and Montana State Athletics. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Montana State Athletics.