FRISCO, Texas — Cam Miller ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for 2 extra in his 54th consecutive begin as North Dakota State’s quarterback, and the Bison received their report tenth Football Championship Subdivision title, beating top-seeded and beforehand undefeated Montana State 35-32 on Monday night time.
North Dakota State (14-2) made the journey from Fargo to Frisco for the eleventh time in 14 seasons. Its earlier title there was three years in the past, in a sport that additionally had Miller and Montana State’s Tommy Mellott because the beginning quarterbacks.
North Dakota State’s 10 FCS championships have all come up to now 14 seasons (no different faculty has greater than six FCS titles), in line with ESPN Research. The Bison’s solely title sport loss in Frisco was two years in the past to South Dakota State. They are nonetheless the one workforce in trendy school soccer to have a 16-0 season, 5 years in the past when the Bison additionally received the nationwide title.
Miller accomplished 19 of twenty-two passes for 199 yards and ran 18 occasions for 121 yards to win his forty fifth sport (out of 56 begins) and his second nationwide title.
Montana native Mellott had a 44-yard landing run that lower the Bobcats’ deficit to 28-25 early within the fourth quarter. He received the Walter Payton Award this season because the FCS’ prime offensive participant in an in depth vote over Miller.
Mellott ran for 135 yards on 14 carries and was 13-of-24 passing for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He threw a 19-yarder to Taco Dowler with 1:09 left earlier than an unsuccessful onside kick try.
The Bison by no means trailed after Miller capped the sport’s opening drive that took greater than seven minutes with a 2-yard plunge. Miller had an empty backfield behind him on their second possession when he received the snap and sprinted 64 yards untouched up the center for an additional landing.
Miller threw a 1-yard TD to Bryce Lance earlier than halftime for a 21-3 lead. Lance’s FCS-best seventeenth TD got here one play after a catch close to the entrance pylon when he was dominated out of bounds contained in the 1 after a replay overview. Lance had a diving 38-yard reception on the ultimate play of the third quarter to arrange Miller’s 1-yard TD move to Joe Stoffel.
Lance is the youthful brother of former NDSU quarterback Trey Lance, at present of the Dallas Cowboys. He had 9 catches for 107 yards.
Montana State (15-1) has gone 40 years since profitable its nationwide title. The Bobcats have a 21-18 sequence lead over North Dakota State, however have misplaced the previous six conferences — all within the FCS playoffs since 2010. They misplaced 35-34 within the second spherical final season after a blocked additional level try in extra time.
Up subsequent
North Dakota State opens the 2025 season at The Citadel on Aug. 30, which would be the first time since halfway by the 2021 season that somebody apart from Miller will begin at quarterback for the Bison.
Montana State performs its 2025 opener at Oregon of the Big Ten on Aug. 30. The solely earlier assembly in that sequence was in 1947.
Information from The Associated Press was used on this report.
