Playoff preview: Bobcats look to overcome woes, prove FCS status against North Dakota State 

By Colter Nuanez SKYLINE SPORTS 

BOZEMAN—What looked like a clash of titans now needs a serious resuscitation.  

South Dakota State rides a 25-game winning streak into the FCS playoffs, the fourth-longest winning streak entering a playoff run in subdivision history. SDSU last lost on Sept. 3, 2022 to an Iowa team that continues to reset the metrics for what makes a great college football defense.  

Since then, the Jackrabbits have rolled, claiming the first national title in school history by toppling the perennial power in 2022, beating rival North Dakota State, 45-21. 

SDSU has not lost since, although Montana State was an inch away from beating the ‘Jacks in Brookings, S.D. the second week of this regular season. The instant replay of Sean Chambers’ touchdown pass to fellow senior Clevan Thomas ruled no touchdown, ensuring that SDSU’s winning streak would continue.  

Since the 20-16 loss in Brookings, Montana State has consistently battled with the narrative of personifying the second-best team in the subdivision or one that’s still fighting to get into the ranks of the elite.  

The ‘Cats 42-30 win at Top-10-ranked Sacramento State indicated the former. A 24-21 loss at Idaho the following week indicated the latter.  

Challenged in Missoula 

Montana State steamrolled Northern Arizona, winning 45-21, and Eastern Washington, 57-14, in the first two weeks of November to set up the showdown of the modern generation against rival Montana. For the first time in the 122nd rendition of the rivalry, both teams were ranked in the Top 5 of the national polls. And for the first time in the 60-year history of the Big Sky Conference, the rivalry clash would be for the outright league title.  

The resuscitation stems from what comes next: Montana State’s no-show in Missoula. The Grizzlies exerted their dominance from the outset in front of the largest crowd in Washington-Grizzly Stadium history (27,178 fans), building a 14-0 lead, then riding the momentum of what turned into a tidal wave on the way to a 37-7 win that sewed up UM’s first outright Big Sky title since 2009 and secured the No. 2 seed in the FCS playoffs for the Griz.  

That second seed was supposed to belong to the Bobcats. Montana State was ranked No. 2 in the country for eight of the 11 weeks this regular season and in the Top 5 throughout. The Las Vegas books favored MSU by 3.5 points in the rivalry game in Missoula.  

Now, Montana State has plenty of questions to answer while it pursues a fourth consecutive run to the Final Four of the FCS playoff bracket. MSU’s lopsided loss dropped the ‘Cats to the No. 6 seed.  

“This game does not end our season,” Vigen said following the loss to the Griz on Nov. 18. “We have to go back to work… We have to get off the mat, get up off the mat and go after that next opportunity.” 

Montana State has experience bouncing back from beatdowns in Missoula.  

The Bobcats were on the wrong side of a 29-10 thrashing in the Garden City in 2021, then proceeded to win three straight playoff games to advance to the title game. Can MSU reach that precedent again?  

“It’s a different year, yes, but we had a lot of guys that were on that 2021 team, a lot of guys who didn’t let their season end with how they felt here today two years ago,” Vigen said in Missoula. “We have to regroup…and not look back. 

“We have put ourselves in position where we are going to be in the playoffs. You are in the playoffs, you have a shot, whether you are home or away, you have a shot. We have a good enough team where if we play well, I like our chances against anybody. But we have to play well and that’s what’s in front of us.” 

The road ahead 

Following North Dakota State’s 66-3 win over Drake on Nov. 25, the Bobcats will play the Bison for the fourth time since 2018.  

In 2018, MSU lost 52-10 in the second round of the FCS Playoffs to the eventual national champions. In 2019, Montana State fell 49-14 in the semifinals. And in 2021, MSU rode the wave to its first national title game appearance since 1984, only to lose 38-10 to the next version of the NDSU freight train that seemed to have no weakness. 

Last season, Montana State hit a brick wall—not in Fargo or Frisco and not against the Bison, but rather in Brookings against the new bearers of the FCS throne. South Dakota State ice skated and maneuvered its way to a dominant 38-19 victory over MSU.  

If Montana State is to forge another run, it will certainly start with a familiar nemesis in NDSU and will likely include all-too-familiar foes in Montana—the Griz, as the No. 2 seed, will host the semifinals if they win out—and South Dakota State, as the ‘Jacks received the top seed in the bracket. They are the betting favorite to return to Frisco for the second time in a row—and the third time in four seasons if you include the 2020 spring playoffs in which SDSU finished as the runner-up to Sam Houston.  

“I think there’s two ways you can go after this: you can either let it define you or you can respond,” said Brody Grebe, Montana State first-team All-Big Sky defensive end. “I think I know this team well enough and the choice we are going to make.” 

Despite the 24-21 loss at Idaho the final weekend of October and the disheartening loss to the Griz in Missoula before Thanksgiving, Montana State had another standout regular season.  

The Bobcats are into the playoffs for the fifth season in a row, a program record. MSU enters Saturday’s matchup against NDSU with a 25-game home winning streak, which is the longest in Division I college football.  

A total of 14 MSU players were named to the All-Big Sky all-league squads, including eight to the first team. Defensive end Brody Grebe is a Buck Buchanan Award finalist given to the best defensive player in the FCS while offensive lineman Connor Moore is a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award given to the top FCS freshman.  

Senior quarterback Sean Chambers (as an all-purpose player), senior H-back Derryk Snell, senior tight end Treyton Pickering, junior punter Brendan Hall, junior offensive linemen Marcus Wehr and Rush Reimer plus Grebe are each All-American candidates.  

Montana State has established itself as one of the top programs in small-school college football. No one has a longer home winning streak, and no program claims selling more than maximum capacity at its stadium over the last few years. 

“Every home game we have, every game we have in general, we tell ourselves to not take it for granted,” Montana State senior defensive back Level Price Jr. said in early November. “It goes by so fast, our college career went by so fast, so we are trying to appreciate it, appreciate everyone that’s been around us and go out there and leave it all out on the field because you never know when it’s your last game.” 

For potential to become reality, though, Montana State will have to figure out how to bounce back once again. The Bobcats did it in Vigen’s first season at the helm. But a wholesale change at quarterback gave MSU the element of surprise.  

When MSU lost to UM in 2021, Vigen benched quarterback Matt McKay. That sparked the rise of Tommy Mellott.  

Coming into the Bobcats’ Dec. 2 playoff matchup, Mellott and Chambers will both have to play crucial roles. An abrupt quarterback change isn’t going to ignite the trajectory of another MSU playoff run.  

Instead, the Bobcats will have to ignore the elephant standing in the way of a spurt and also not look forward to a potential semifinal rematch in Missoula.  

“You are happy you are one of 16,” Vigen said. “No matter if it’s North Dakota State or not, we are happy to still be playing. Sometimes, you might get a playoff draw like we did last year with William & Mary (55-7) that you just don’t know or Tennessee Martin in 2021, you just don’t know. With NDSU, we definitely know what they are all about.” 

If the Bobcats can embrace the present, they can reaffirm their position as one of the top contenders in the FCS.  
 
“We see this as another measure, another challenge for our guys,” Vigen said. “We need to rise up to that challenge. And if we don’t, we know it’s going to be a long off season.”