Montana State’s Justin Lamson dazzles with 3,172 passing yards, 42 total touchdowns

Justin Lamson did not just steady Montana State’s offense. He bent it into a problem few defenses in the FCS could solve, finishing 255 of 356 passing for 3,172 yards, 26 touchdown throws and only three interceptions while adding 734 rushing yards and 16 more scores on the ground.

That is 42 total touchdowns from a 6-foot-2, 210-pound quarterback who arrived from Stanford and immediately changed the math in Bozeman. Montana State added Lamson to its 2025 roster on June 3, and by the time the season was over, the senior from El Dorado Hills, California, had become the kind of dual-threat weapon that forces every coordinator to choose his poison on every snap. Play him tight and he attacks downfield. Sit back and he takes off. That is why his 198.25 pass efficiency and 71.6 percent completion rate mattered as much as the raw yardage.

The league noticed. On Nov. 26, Lamson was named Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, while Brent Vigen earned Coach of the Year and Caden Dowler took Defensive Player of the Year, a clean sweep that reflected how complete Montana State had become. In the Bobcats’ championship-game notes, Lamson was listed as a second-team All-Big Sky selection and a 2025 All-America honoree by Stats Perform, the kind of recognition that usually follows quarterbacks who pile up numbers against weak spots. Lamson did it while helping Montana State win the Big Sky title for the third time in four seasons.

The biggest proof came in the biggest game. On Jan. 5, 2026, Montana State beat Illinois State 35-34 in overtime to win its first football national championship since 1984, and Lamson was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player. In the first FCS championship ever decided in overtime, he completed 18 of 27 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns and added two rushing scores, including the decisive 14-yard touchdown pass to Taco Dowler.

That is the case for Lamson, and it is built on the kind of production that travels. He was efficient, explosive and calm when the season tightened. Montana State did not win a title because it had a system quarterback. It won because Lamson was the system, and in the games that defined the year, he was the player most likely to break the field open on any given snap.