3:44 PM
Hunter Luepke scored three times in the first half to lead North Dakota State to a 38-10 victory over Montana State on Saturday and the ninth national championship in the school's history.
The final Football Championship Subdivision game of the season will be played in Frisco, Texas, and the Bison have never lost there since 2011.
Matthew Entz said that they have a process. Our kids believe in it.
The Bobcat struggled after losing their star quarterback to an ankle injury.
Luepke, a 236-pound junior, took a direct snap and ran for a 6-yard touchdown just before halftime that put the game out of reach.
He opened the scoring with an 8-yard run, then had an 11-yard touchdown run before Kobe Johnson broke free for a 76-yard sprint to the end zone.
Montana State won the NCAA Division I-AA title in 1984 and hadn't won a title since. The eighth-seeded Bobcat had won their first three playoff games by at least two touchdown after Mellott took over as the starting quarterback.
The field goal by Glessner midway through the third quarter was the only one the Bobcat's scored in the game.
The most allowed by the Bobcat this season was 506 total yards by North Dakota State. Montana State gave up only 13.4 points and 107.9 yards rushing per game.
In the first three games of the playoffs, he accounted for 11 touchdown and was hurt when he was tackled on a 2-yard run. He remained on the field for the final three plays of that series, but was in pain after throwing a pass and hopping on his left foot. Trainers tried to get him back into the game, but he never came back.
Tucker Rovig had 13 of 28 passes completed for 156 yards and a touchdown. He ran eight times for 51 yards.
Both of their quarterbacks were used by the Bison. Cam Miller completed nine of 13 passes for 126 yards with a 35-yard touchdown to tight end Josh Babicz, and Quincy Patterson ran 11 times for 98 yards.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
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