Montana State Buries Utah Tech 54-0 in a One-sided Opener
Zero. Utah Tech's side of the scoreboard never moved off it, and Montana State needed all nine scoring plays to make sure of that.
The first one set the tone: Justin Lamson hit Dane Steel for 55 yards at 5:39 of the first quarter, and Myles Sansted's 47-yard field goal as the quarter expired made it 10-0. The second quarter got ugly. Xavier Ahrens returned a blocked punt 16 yards for a touchdown, Adam Jones scored from 2 yards (the extra point was blocked), and Sansted added a 33-yarder with 33 seconds left in the half for a 26-0 lead. Lamson found Rylan Schlepp from 3 yards and ran in a 6-yarder in the third to make it 40-0. Patrick Duchien threw a 25-yard score to Carter Dahlke in the fourth, and Brendon Ross returned an interception 28 yards for the last points at 11:50.
Take the blocked-punt touchdown and the pick-six off the board (7 points each) and it is still 40-0. Montana State piled up 447 yards (307 passing, 140 rushing) and threw no interceptions, while Utah Tech finished with 227 yards, two interceptions and 58 yards on 26 carries.
Lamson, Steel and the rest of the offense also did their part with 447 total yards, and the defense and special teams added 14 of the points. Montana State is 1-0. Utah Tech is 0-1 and will want this one back in a drawer.
For fantasy, Steel and Lamson were the clear plays: Steel went for 174 yards on 8 catches, and Lamson accounted for three touchdowns by himself.