Montana State's side of the ledger was almost boringly efficient by comparison. Lamson completed his first 8 passes, finished 15-of-23 for 179 yards and a touchdown to Dane Steel, and never turned the ball over — the kind of clean, mistake-free night that doesn't need to be flashy when the other sideline is handing over the ball 4 times.
Adam Jones added a 6-yard touchdown run and ground out 86 yards on 25 carries, and Myles Sansted split the difference with a pair of field goals, one in each half. It wasn't a track meet — it was 3 quarters of field position and takeaways piling up until the margin was too big for Nevada's fourth-quarter push to close.
Dominic Kelley did his part for Nevada, running for 73 of his 84 yards before halftime, but a backfield that explosive couldn't overcome a quarterback room that combined for 3 turnovers. Choate's insider knowledge of the program he used to coach didn't translate into slowing it down — Tim Thomas II and Brian Harris both intercepted Duncan, and Colter Petre's forced fumble on Brown, recovered by J.J. Dolan, capped a 4-takeaway night for the Bobcats.
Montana State moves to 3-0 and extends its program-best winning streak to 17 games, a run that now includes a road win over an FBS opponent instead of just FCS competition. Nevada drops to 1-1 and Choate to 1-1 this season on the sideline he once ran for Montana State, with the total offense from Duncan's turnovers doing more to decide this one than any talent gap on the field.