Montana State wins first FCS title since 1984 over upstart Illinois State, in an overtime thriller

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With North Dakota State, the usual nemesis for Montana State, out of the picture, Illinois State — the upstart that removed the Bison — did all it could to assume that role Monday at Vanderbilt’s FirstBank Stadium.

Illinois State nearly completed a historic run and ruined another would-be Montana State title march after becoming the first team to win four road games in the FCS playoffs on the way to the championship game. However, the No. 2 seed Bobcats prevailed in a wild one, 35-34 in overtime, for the program’s second FCS national title — its first since 1984. Montana State also won a Division II championship in 1976 and an NAIA title in 1956.

Montana State senior quarterback Justin Lamson, in the face of a blitz, lofted a perfect pass to Taco Dowler in the corner of the end zone with the Bobcats (14-2) down to their last chance, fourth-and-10 from the 14 in the extra session. Myles Sansted then drilled the extra point, which followed up two late blocks of Illinois State kicks, to win it and set off a wild celebration on one side of the stadium.

Just as in a shocking semifinal upset at No. 1 seed North Dakota State, Brock Spack’s Redbirds (12-5) trailed by two touchdowns in the second half but refused to relent. And it looked like they were about to score the game’s final 17 points to commit grand theft football and win the first championship in their history.

However, a 38-yard Michael Cosentino field goal attempt with 57 seconds left in regulation was poorly protected and blocked by Montana State’s Jhase McMillan — the sixth blocked Illinois State kick of the season. That led to the first overtime game in the history of a tournament that started in 1978 and led quickly to another block, Montana State’s Hunter Parsons getting a piece of the extra point after the Redbirds scored first in overtime.

That set up the heroics for Lamson (18 for 27, 280 yards, two touchdowns), a Bowling Green transfer who previously played at Stanford and Syracuse. Dowler finished with eight catches for 111 yards and the winning score, while Illinois State got 311 yards and four touchdowns passing from Tommy Rittenhouse, 126 yards rushing from Victor Dawson and 161 yards and two touchdowns receiving from Dylan Lord.

This was Montana State’s third title-game appearance in five years under Brent Vigen, last year finishing with a heartbreaking 35-32 loss to North Dakota State in the title game in Frisco, Texas. That made 10 championships in 15 years for NDSU, and four NDSU eliminations of Montana State since 2018. Losing this one to an upstart seeking its first title might have hurt even more.

The first FCS championship game to be played in Nashville was a huge success in the revamped home of the Commodores, with a crowd of 24,105 on hand — the seventh-biggest in FCS title game history, the most since 1996 and the second-biggest at a neutral site. The game was played in Frisco for the previous 15 years and will be in Nashville again in January 2027.