BOZEMAN — Week 2 brought another blow to Montana State's running back room. Right before Saturday's kickoff against Morehead State, it was announced Lane Sumner, who was last week's leading rusher against McNeese State, was ruled out with an injury promoting true freshman Jared White as the starter.
However, in an unfortunate turn of events, White was injured during Montana State's third drive and had to be helped off the field where he was ultimately ruled out for the rest of the game.
Nonetheless, when one man goes down another steps up, and that was the receiving corp on Saturday helping Montana State roll past the Eagles, 63-13.
"One thing that stood out to me is the run after the catch," head coach Brent Vigen stated. "[That] was great to see this afternoon. Ravi [Alston], Willie [Patterson] in particular, and our tight ends stretching the field."
Mellott completed 16 of 22 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns connecting with Derryk Snell (nine yards) and Willie Patterson (23 yards).
“We completed the ball better with Tommy [Mellott]," Vigen added. "That was one thing we were definitely looking at."
Tight end Treyton Pickering never found the endzone Saturday, but the junior led all receivers with 98 yards on five targets.
On the flip side, quarterback Sean Chambers led all rushers with 127 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Marqui Johnson also punched in two of his own on four carries for 61 yards.
“A two-quarterback system,” Bobcat receiver Willie Patterson said. “I’ve been seeing that since 2018. I’m in love with the two-quarterback system. It can be deadly.”
Defensively, Kenneth Eiden IV led all tacklers with seven (3 solos) and 1.5 sacks. Sebastian Valdez also recorded a strip sack in the first quarter, which was recovered by Callahan O'Reilly. Additionally, Nolan Askelson notched his first interception of the fall.
Montana State closes non-conference play on the road against Oregon State next Saturday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. MT.
