SI:AM | College Football’s Wildest Game of the Season

The FCS national championship between Montana State and Illinois State was full of heart-stopping plays.

Montana State and Illinois State played an instant classic in the FCS national championship. / Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. How can you not love college football when the hero of the FCS national championship game is a guy named Taco?

In today’s SI:AM: 
🏆 Chaos in Nashville
⚾ Beltrán’s complex HOF case
🎙️ Q&A with NCAA boss

If you’re reading this on SI.com, click here to subscribe and receive SI:AM directly in your inbox each morning.

Let’s see the CFP top this

Illinois State fans just suffered the same fate last night that Steelers fans feared they would on Sunday. 

The Redbirds’ miracle run through the FCS playoffs came to an end in Nashville with an overtime loss to Montana State in the national championship game that hinged on a blocked extra point. The dramatic conclusion evoked memories of the Steelers-Ravens win-or-go-home game one night earlier in Pittsburgh, when Steelers kicker Chris Boswell’s partially blocked extra-point attempt in the final moments of the game loomed large until Baltimore rookie Tyler Loop’s missed field goal attempt gave the Steelers the victory. 

The FCS title game was even more dramatic than that NFL thriller, though. I’ll do my best to sum it up. 

For one thing, the fact that Illinois State was even in the game was miraculous. The Redbirds were one of the last four teams chosen by the selection committee to be in the 24-team field, and they became the first team in FCS history to win four straight road games to reach the national championship. Their path included a gutsy 29–28 win over No. 1 seed North Dakota State in the second round on Dec. 6, when longtime Illinois State coach Brock Spack opted to go for a two-point conversion after his team scored a touchdown with one minute on the clock. Montana State, on the other hand, was the No. 2 seed. 

It was all Bobcats early on. They took a 21–7 lead into the locker room after Dane Steel hurdled over a defender on a 33-yard touchdown catch. But Illinois State was a completely different team in the second half, marching down the field on three long touchdown drives (17 plays, 85 yards; 15 plays, 81 yards; and eight plays, 60 yards) to tie the game at 28–28. 

That’s when things got really wacky. 

After the game-tying touchdown, the Redbirds forced a three-and-out and got the ball back on their own 37-yard line with 3:09 on the clock—plenty of time for a winning score. Five plays later, Illinois State was lining up for a 38-yard field goal attempt to take the lead with 1:04 left to play. Montana State’s Jhase McMillan came ripping around the edge to block the kick, and Seth Johnson ran it all the way down to the Illinois State 45-yard line. Suddenly, the Bobcats were in position to attempt a winning field goal of their own if they could just gain a few more yards. It didn’t play out that way. 

MADNESS IN NASHVILLE, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! 🫨

The field goal kick gets blocked by @MSUBobcats_FB, scooped up, and returned back to the 45-yard line of Illinois State. #FCSChampionship x 🎥 ESPN pic.twitter.com/apXWzNehjH

— NCAA FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) January 6, 2026

Montana State got into the shadow of field goal range with an eight-yard catch by Steel on first down, but then quarterback Justin Lamson was sacked on second down. Disaster struck on third down when the center snapped the ball prematurely and it sailed right past Lamson’s ear. Lamson fell on it, but it was a 20-yard loss that forced the Bobcats to punt the ball away and send the game to overtime. 

The overtime period was no less chaotic. Illinois State got the ball first and scored on its second play, but the celebration was short-lived as the extra-point attempt was blocked. Montana State answered with an impressive touchdown throw from Lamson to Taco Dowler, and Myles Sansted successfully converted the point after to give the Bobcats their first national championship since 1984. 

“What a hard-fought game, and these things aren’t supposed to come easily, I guess,” Montana State coach Brent Vigen said. 

On the other side, the Redbirds were distraught. 

“Heartbroken, honestly,” Illinois State linebacker Tye Niekamp said. “The worst part is going back in the locker room and seeing the seniors. It’s awful, honestly.

“Every year sucks, but it gets worse and worse every year, because you know the guys more and more. Then not to finish the goal and go back in there and see those guys, it breaks your heart. So it’s tough. It’s tough.”

The best of Sports Illustrated

Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

• Carlos Beltrán was the mastermind of the Astros’ infamous sign-stealing scandal. He’s likely to be elected to the Hall of Fame this year, but should he be? Tom Verducci examines his complex case and presents some comparisons.
• With his 60-home run explosion in 2025, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh joined one of the most exclusive clubs in sports. But SI’s 2025 Breakout Star of the Year was hardly an overnight sensation, Verducci writes.
• NCAA president Charlie Baker, in a Q&A with Pat Forde, defends tournament expansion, explains why he thinks it preserves college basketball and explains why sports gambling poses the biggest integrity threat.
• Matt Verderame and Gilberto Manzano hand out their final grades for the AFC teams and NFC teams that failed to make the playoffs.
• With the 2026 PGA Tour season firing up next week, the SI Golf staff debates Scottie Scheffler's odds of winning a fifth straight Player of the Year award.
• Terence Crawford goes out on top as SI’s 2025 Fighter of the Year in Chris Mannix’s annual boxing awards.

The top five…

… things I saw last night: 
5. A vintage Alex Ovechkin wrister from his usual spot by the left faceoff dot. 
4. Montana State receiver Taco Dowler’s vision on a beautifully designed run. 
3. Illinois State receiver Dylan Lord’s incredible run after the catch for the game-tying touchdown. 
2. The dramatic overtime finish to the Nuggets-Sixers game. 
1. Kevin Durant’s last-second game-winner against the Suns. (KD had some harsh words for his former team after the game.