BOZEMAN — Montana State defensive end Caleb Schreibeis forced the last of three lost Stony Brook fumbles with 45 seconds to play to preserve at 16-10 second-round FCS playoff victory on Saturday night.
The No. 3-seeded Bobcats (11-1) got a 69-yard touchdown pass from DeNarius McGhee to Tanner Bleskin in the first quarter and never trailed. Montana State hosts Sam Houston State in a quarterfinal on Friday night.
“Our recipe for winning worked very good,” Bobcats coach Rob Ash said. “We got ahead and stayed ahead, which maybe forced them to pass a little more.”
McGhee finished 12 of 22 passing for 208 yards and ran for 75 yards on 18 carries.
Montana State’s other defensive end, Brad Daly, recovered the late fumble forced by Schreibeis.
“I was up against the biggest human I’ve ever seen in my life,” Daly said of 6-foot-8, 345-pound Stony Brook tackle Michael Bamiro.
The Montana State defense held the Seawolves (10-3) to 123 yards rushing on 37 carries, well below their season average.
Bleskin had four catches for 130 yards.
Rory Perez made the second of his three field goals to put the Bobcats up 13-10 in the third quarter.
Miguel Maysonet ran 19 times for 83 yards and Marcus Coker had 56 yards on 12 carries for the Seawolves.
Kyle Essington completed 10 of 19 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown to Kevin Norrell that cut Montana State’s lead to 13-10 with 11:53 remaining.
The 11 wins are the most for the Bobcats since 1984.