College football: UC Davis falls to Montana State as record drops to to 1-4

No. 4 Montana State is so good that even its backup quarterback was a step ahead on Saturday night.

Starting in place of injured starter Tommy Mellott, Sean Chambers passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 203 on 18 carries and three touchdowns as Montana State defeated UC Davis 41-24 in Big Sky Conference action in Bozeman.

Mellott was a load at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, looking like a linebacker, and he stunned the Aggies with a 78-yard touchdown romp to open the scoring. The junior from Fresno County made it 38-24 with a sealing 65-yard touchdown sprint, and the Bobcats beat UCD for the seventh consecutive time and for the team’s 15th consecutive victory at Bobcat Stadium, one shy of the program record set in the 1950s.

UCD fell to 1-4 and 0-2 in the Big Sky. The other losses were to FBS member Cal and FCS powerhouses in No. 3 South Dakota State and No. 7 Weber State.

Ulonzo Gilliam rushed for 127 yards on 24 carries and a 38-yard touchdown, and UCD’s all-time career rushing leader threw a 22-yard touchdown to McCallen Castles to pull to within 24-21 with 9:58 to to play in the third quarter.

UCD has a bye on Oct. 8 then hosts Cal Poly and Idaho State, teams that are winless in the Big Sky and 1-8 overall. UCD likely would have to run the table for a chance to return to the FCS playoffs for the third time since 2018.