FRISCO, Texas — He burst on the scene four years ago like a supernova, a boy wonder from Butte with raw yet inimitable talent.
His first game as Montana State’s quarterback felt like an apparition — 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a 26-7 playoff victory over UT Martin at Bobcat Stadium. It was the first step on what was a remarkable postseason journey.
It proved to be an advent toward greatness.
Now Tommy Mellott, no longer an untried kid, has a chance to finish his career with the ultimate prize: a national championship.
RELATED: MONTANA STATE QB TOMMY MELLOTT WINS 2024 WALTER PAYTON AWARD
Mellott and the Bobcats, with a 15-0 record, look to reach the summit with a victory over North Dakota State (13-2) in the FCS title game Monday night at Toyota Stadium and end a 40-year championship drought.
If MSU finishes the job, Mellott will surely have played a major role. Just as he has throughout his time in Bozeman.
“Tommy’s been phenomenal,” Bobcats coach Brent Vigen said, “and he needs to be phenomenal one more time.”
Mellott has been making plays at MSU for the duration of his career, but this is the season in which he became a true quarterback.
In years prior Mellott’s throwing ability was, for all intents and purposes, untapped and unrealized. He did most of his damage as a running QB, tearing through defenses with speed and shiftiness, earning him the nickname “Touchdown Tommy” for his penchant to find the end zone.
That’s not to say he didn’t make plays with his arm, but even Mellott admits it was a rudimentary style of quarterbacking — a bit of organized chaos that led the Cats to what can be considered an unexpected appearance in the title game in 2021.
“Freshman year was a whirlwind,” Mellott said. “There’s a lot of things I didn’t know about football at that point. It was just going out there making plays, and ultimately I think we made enough to make it to that game.”
However, he injured his ankle early in the title contest and the overmatched Bobcats lost to North Dakota State 38-10. They left Texas with their championship dreams dashed.
“As I sat on the sideline, you know, just kind of hobbled, and I had to sit out and watch our seniors who had sacrificed so much and blood, sweat and tears in this program to build it up to what it was at that moment, and just see obviously the end of their careers come at the hands of North Dakota State, knowing I couldn’t do anything was an awful feeling,” Mellott said.
The years since have been a time for growth for Mellott, as both a quarterback and a leader.
In his sophomore and junior seasons Mellott split time at QB with Wyoming transfer Sean Chambers, and that Big Cat/Little Cat combo worked well as the Cats won 20 games combined in 2022 and 2023 with a trip to the semifinal round mixed in.
Even so, last year wasn’t exactly smooth for Mellott. Not only was he sharing time in a two-man rotation, but he also missed games due to injury and MSU didn’t make it out of the second round of the playoffs with another loss to the Bison.
The 2024 Bobcats are unequivocally Mellott’s team, and he’s become a prized dual threat behind center. The Bobcats’ offense, coordinated by Tyler Walker, made a point this year to limit hits on Mellott and he has flourished like never before.
In 15 games, Mellott has completed 68.8% of his passes for 2,564 yards with 29 touchdown and just two interceptions. He also has 915 rushing yards and 14 more scores on the ground while averaging 8.4 yards per carry.
Mellott leads an offense that has scored 30 or more points in every game, eclipsed 40 eight times and topped 50 three more times.
“The artistic piece to playing quarterback was essentially all that I really had my freshman year,” Mellott admitted. “And so really since then it’s kind of been a battle to obviously make it more of a science with numbers and stuff like that.
“And so I’ve really learned a great amount from the coordinators that I’ve had, coach Walker this year, coach (Taylor) Housewright before, and coach Vigen as well has played a huge role in understanding numbers, really, in the run game and in the pass game, you know, protections, all that sort of thing.
“It’s been great to try to find that happy medium between it being a science and an art. So I think that it’s certainly slowed down. But I’ve just enjoyed it a lot. I’ve just been enjoying the process of it all.”
On Saturday night, Mellot was named the recipient of the 2024 Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in the FCS. Mellott is the first player from MSU to ever win the honor.
He has also been named a first-team All-American by various media outlets, and won the both the Walter Camp FCS player of the year award and offensive player of the year by the FCS Athletic Directors Association.
“I think back to 2021, me and Tommy are running down on kickoffs next to each other and covering punts and everything, so kind of growing up all the way from that to, you know, him really starting his first game against UT Martin and those playoffs and taking off from there,” safety Rylan Ortt said. “It’s been awesome to watch.
“Tommy’s one of those dudes that just does everything right, and he’s not going to ask anybody to do anything that he’s not going to do himself.”
It’s been about mental development as much as it has physical.
Said Vigen: “Tommy’s growth, in a lot of ways, has been in his willingness Monday through Thursday, let’s say, to sit down with coach Walker, even sit down with me and express his thoughts of the game plan of the opponent, what he likes, what he doesn’t like.
“I think that’s a huge transition for a quarterback, and he’s taken that piece to the level that he needed to this year when you talk about his control of the offense.”
Vigen’s reputation as a “quarterback whisperer” has proved useful for Mellott. As a QB coach and offensive coordinator at both NDSU and Wyoming, Vigen helped turn the likes of Carson Wentz and Josh Allen into first-round NFL draft picks. Allen, the star quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, could very well be NFL MVP this year.
Mellott’s skill set is different, but the focus and drive are equal.
“I think he’s continued to reach these heights because there’s that same common thread of not being satisfied in anything,” Vigen said. “When we lost that game last year to end our season, that was the best he had played quarterback. And we had to really point that out.
“He still had aspirations to how far could this go, and really he’s so humble at the same time. So they all have a lot of similarities in just who they are inside, how they’ve been raised. You know, the hardest working guys on the team. I think those are the common threads.”
Mellott’s career has been an advent toward greatness.
No longer an untried kid from Butte, he has a chance to rectify what happened here three years ago and finish it off with the ultimate prize: a national championship.
“When I walked out onto the field (in 2021) it was just a feeling of, are we ever going to be able to get back here in the next four years? Is this taken for granted at this moment?” Mellott said. “Ever since that, it’s really just been motivation to earn the right to go back and play in the national championship game.
“Growing up in Montana I wanted to always go to Montana State. I wanted to be part of the Cats, wanted to wear the blue and gold. It’s just a privilege and a blessing to play here with the seniors and the guys that have left before me and are obviously going to continue on after me. It’s just been an honor and a privilege to play with those guys.”
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