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No. 1 seed Montana State took care of business against 4-seed South Dakota with a 31-17 win at home in the second semifinal game on Saturday.
The first game saw No. 2 seed North Dakota State score a 28-21 win over rival No. 3 seed South Dakota State in the Fargo Dome. The loss ends the Jacks' run at a National Championship 3-peat.
Three of the final four four teams were from the Missouri Valley Football Conference while Montana State is a member of the Big Sky Conference.
For Montana State, Tommy Mellott threw for 134 yards and a 34-yard touchdown, and ran for 125 and 2 scores of 5 and 41 yards. The game was knotted at 14 after the Coyotes got a 45-yard TD run by Charles Pierre, Jr. on the first play of the second quarter, but the Bobcats then took control with 17 unanswered points. South Dakota didn't score again until kicking a 46-yard field goal with 2:55 left to go in the game. The loss brought South Dakota's deepest run in the playoffs to an end.
Montana State is looking to capture its first title since 1984 when the Bobcats defeated Louisiana Tech in Charleston South Carolina in just the 7th title game since D1 split into two divisions. Montana State fell to North Dakota State in the 2021 championship game. This was the fourth time since 2019 that the Bobcats have advanced to the semifinal round.
This was only the third meeting between the schools and the first in the playoffs. The prior two games were also played in Bozeman with the Bobcats winning 37-18 in 2008, and 31-24 in overtime in 2009.
Earlier, the Fargodome was treated to the best game of the day in the FCS or FBS as this one wasn't decided until North Dakota State sacked South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski on a 4th-and-17 for a loss of 9 yards to the Jackrabbits' own 31-yard line. Gronowski threw for 204 and a score, and ran for 50 and a TD. But the Bisons' Cam Miller countered with 179 yards passing and 3 touchdowns while adding 93 on the ground and another score.
North Dakota State captured 9 titles between 2011 and 2021, while South Dakota State had won the last two.
The two teams played for the championship in 2022 when the Jacks won their first title by handing the Bisons a 45-21 loss in John Stiegelmeier's 26th and final season as head coach of SDSU. Jimmy Rogers took over and led the team to a second straight title by throttling Montana 23-3 last year. SDSU also lost the 2020-21 championship game to Sam Houston, 23-21, that took place in May as the country was beginning to emerge from Covid.
Anyone whom follows the FCS, even remotely, knows that South Dakota State and North Dakota State are bitter rivals who now play annually for the Dakota Marker. This year's installment of that rivalry also took place in Fargo with the Bison notching a 13-9 win on October 19 to end a 5-game losing streak in the series. A 20-yard touchdown pass from Cam Miller to RaJa Nelson with 1 minute and 49 seconds remaining provided the winning score for the Bison. Over-all, NDSU is 64-47-5.
Gronowski (49-5) was looking to set a new FCS record for QB wins, including two natties, as he entered the game in a tie with former North Dakota State QB Easton Stick. Stick was 49-3 from 2015-2018, also including two national titles. He topped North Dakota State's Brock Jensen (47-5) who QB'd the Bison to three straight national titles from 2011-2013.
SEE: Odds, Computer picks, Scores
Saturday, December 21
(3) South Dakota State at (2) North Dakota State. NDSU won 28-21.
(4) South Dakota at (1) Montana State. Montana State won 31-17.
Home team on bottom
| 12/7 | 12/14 | 12/21 | C'ship (Frisco) (1/6, 7 PM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UT-Martin 17 1 Montana St. 49 |
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| 8 Idaho 19 1 Montana St. 52 |
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| Lehigh 13 8 Idaho 34 |
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| 4 So. Dakota 17 1 Montana St. 31 |
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| 12 Illinois St. 10 5 UC Davis 42 |
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| 5 UC Davis 21 4 So. Dakota 35 |
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| 13 Tarleton 31 4 So. Dakota 42 |
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| 1 Montana St. 2 NDSU |
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| 14 Montana 18 3 SDSU 35 |
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| 6 UIW 14 3 SDSU 55 |
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| 11 Villanova 6 6 UIW 13 |
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| 3 SDSU 21 2 NDSU 28 |
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| 10 URI 10 7 Mercer 17 |
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| 7 Mercer 7 2 NDSU 31 |
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| 15 ACU 31 2 NDSU 51 |
Friday. December 13
(8) Idaho at (1) Montana State. Montana State won 52-19
Saturday, December 14
(6) UIW at (3) SDSU. South Dakota State won 55-14
(5) UC Davis at (4) South Dakota. South Dakota won 35-21.
(7) Mercer at (2) NDSU. North Dakota State won 31-7.
All games December 7
Home Team in CAPS
Winner in BOLD
(14) Montana (9-5) 18, (3) SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (11-2) 35
(11) Villanova (10-4) 6, (6) UIW (11-2) 13
(10) Rhode Island (11-3) 10, (7) MERCER (11-2) 17
UT Martin (9-5) 17, (1) MONTANA STATE (13-0) 49
(13) Tarleton (10-4) 31, (4) SOUTH DAKOTA (10-2) 42
(15) Abilene Christian (9-5) 31, (2) NORTH DAKOTA STATE (11-2) 51
(12) Illinois State (10-3), (5) UC DAVIS (11-2) 42
Lehigh (9-4) 13, (8) IDAHO (10-3) 34
All games November 30
Home Team in CAPS
Winner in BOLD
UT Martin (9-4) 41, (16) NEW HAMPSHIRE (8-5) 10
Lehigh (9-3) 20, (9) RICHMOND (10-3) 16
(12) Illinois State (10-3) 35, SEMO (9-4), 27
Drake (8-3) 29, (13) TARLETON (10-3) 43
Tennessee State (9-4) 27, (14) MONTANA (9-4) 41
Eastern Kentucky (8-5) 17, (11) VILLANOVA (10-3) 22
CCSU (7-6) 17, (10) RHODE ISLAND (11-2) 21
Northern Arizona (8-5) 0, (15) ABILENE CHRISTIAN (9-4) 24
MONTANA STATE - Won 15 straight overall. Won 6 straight road games. Won 8 straight conference games (tied with UIW, Richmond, and Jackson State).
Last: No.1 seed won 31-17 at home over #4 seed South Dakota in an FCS Semifinal game on Saturday, December 21.
Next: Will play No. 2 seed North Dakota State for the National Championship on Monday January 2 in Frisco, Texas.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE - 28-game home winning streak.
Last: No. 3 seed lost 28-21 at No. 2 seed North Dakota State on Saturday, December 21.
Next: Season complete.
NW STATE - Lost 20 straight over-all. Lost 10 straight home games (tied with Northern Colorado)
Last: Lost 62-24 at Houston Christian on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Season complete.
NORTHERN COLORADO - Lost 10 straight at home (tied with NW State, LA).
Last: Lost 45-13 at Portland State on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Season complete.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T - Lost 16 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 31-21 at home to Elon on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Season complete.
MURRAY STATE - Lost 18 straight road games. Lost 15 straight conference games (second to NC A&T).
Last: Lost 62-0 at Southern Illinois on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Season complete.
FBS schools were 115-6 in FBS-FCS games this season, and are a cumulative 1,915-158 (.924) since we began tracking this in 2003.
In 2024, there were 121 matchups scheduled between FBS and FCS schools with 119 playing one such game, while Hawaii and UMass each play two.
15 schools were not scheduled to play a FCS opponent. Of those fifteen schools, 5 are in the B1G (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC and UCLA). Texas is the only school in the SEC that will not play a FCS program. The same is true for Virginia Tech in the ACC. In fact, Texas and Virginia Tech, along with Michigan and Houston, were repeats from the list of schools in 2023 that played all FBS programs.
2024 FCS wins vs. FBS:
August 24: Montana State 35, New Mexico 31
September 7: St. Francis (PA) 23, Kent State 17
September 7: Idaho 17, Wyoming 13
September 7: Southern Utah 27, UTEP 24 (OT)
September 21: Monmouth 45, FIU 42
September 28: UT-Martin 24, Kennesaw 13
In 2023, FBS schools were 114-4. These were the FCS wins last year:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23