BOZEMAN – Montana State continues to pile up wins, and the 2024 Bobcats have now won at a pace that has eclipsed every MSU team before them.

The No. 2 Cats racked up 508 rushing yards en route to a 49-7 loss to Big Sky Conference opponent Sacramento State at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday. The win gives Montana State the first 10-0 start to a season in program history.

Only one previous team had even started 9-0: MSU’s 1956 national championship squad.

“Being able to do that against a team that has played at a very high level in our league – which they have done this year – maybe we took it to the next level in terms of what we could do against them compared to others players. teams,” Bobcats coach Brent Vigen said afterward, referring to MSU’s rushing totals.

Saturday was a bull’s eye from the start.

After forcing a punt on Sac State’s first possession, MSU’s Ty McCullouch took a handoff on a Tommy Mellott sweep, got a block on the edge from teammate Adam Jones and broke down the right sideline untouched for a 64-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Zach Schreiner failed on a 52-yard field goal attempt on the Hornets’ next possession, and the Bobcats countered with another TD, this time a 14-yard keeper from quarterback Tommy Mellott.

Early in the second quarter, Scottre Humphrey took a third-and-1 handoff and jumped through for a 48-yard gain to the 5, and Julius Davis then scored on the next play to make the score 21-0.

It was 28-0 later in the second after Mellott scored his second rushing TD of the day – a 13-yarder – with 3:03 left before halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Humphrey was wiped out on a long run by holding, but Jones took a handoff on the ensuing play and scampered 78 yards to the 3. Humphrey then hit him in the next second.

Jones increased the loss to 42-0 with a 57-yard TD run on the Bobcats’ next possession.

The Bobcats played without standout defensive end Brody Grebe due to injury, but MSU’s defense didn’t miss a beat — though the Hornets broke the shutout midway through the third on a 43-yard touchdown run by Curron Borders.

MSU wasn’t done yet, though, and Davis scored another goal — the team’s seventh rushing score of the afternoon — with the Cats’ backup offense, making the score 49-7 with 13:26 to go.

Jones had 159 rushing yards, Humphrey added 129, Davis chipped in 76 and Mellott had 40 to lead MSU’s rushing dominance.

The win improved Montana State’s home record to 5-0 on the season, but also impressively improved its home record to 30-1 since the last loss at Bobcat Stadium – a 34-21 loss to Sac State in 2019.

MSU coach Brent Vigen is now 27-1 all-time in home games in Bozeman, and has yet to lose a home game to Big Sky in his four seasons with the Cats.

Turning point: With Montana State leading 14-0 early in the second quarter, the game was still in the competitive phase. But that changed when Humphrey burst through the line for his 48-yard run to set up Davis’ 5-yard TD rush, giving the Cats a three-possession lead and taking all the sting out of the Hornets.

Statistics of the game: MSU’s 508 total rushing yards broke the Bobcat Stadium all-time record of 483 against Fresno State in 1973, and the seven total rushing TDs set a new program mark.

The Bobcats finished just under their all-time single-game rushing total of 554 in 2022 at Cal Poly.

Bobcat Toys: RB Adam Jones (Attack). This could go to a number of different players, but Jones was MSU’s most explosive player, rushing for 159 yards in just five attempts, an average of 13.1 yards per carry.

DE Hunter Parsons (Defense). Parsons was deployed in defense for the injured Grebe and more than held his own. Parsons finished with four solo tackles, best among the Bobcats’ first-team defensemen.

What’s next: Montana State (10-0, 6-0 Big Sky) now heads on the road for its biggest game of the year so far, a matchup with UC Davis, which entered the week ranked No. 4 in the national FCS poll. UC Davis was scheduled to face No. 7 Montana in Missoula on Saturday night at 8:15 p.m.

The Bobcats and Aggies entered this Saturday tied for first place in the Big Sky standings, and next week’s game will certainly have a lot to say about the conference championship and playoff positioning.