BOZEMAN, Montana — Damien Washington remembers barely missing an upset victory in the first game of the Jeff Choate era against North Dakota in September of 2016.
The Montana State senior cornerback also remembers losing that contest 17-15 and losing five more Big Sky Conference contests before finally breaking through for a league victory under Choate. MSU has won 14 of its last 21 Big Sky games since then, including posting back-to-back 5-3 marks and qualifying for the playoffs last season.
MSU entered this campaign with much more lofty expectations. The Bobcats climbed as high as No. 6 in the polls while riding a five-game winning streak despite an unsettled situation at quarterback, a slew of injuries at running back and cornerback and new coordinators on both sides of the ball.
Many if not most of Montana State’s weaknesses were put on display in a 34-21 homecoming loss to surging Sacramento State. MSU limped into its bye after entering that showdown on its longest winning streak since 2012. But the Bobcats have still banked five wins with five games to play, remain ranked No. 9 in the FCS polls and still have real playoff and Big Sky title aspirations.
“Three years ago, we were 4-7. The next year, we were 5-6. Barely made the playoffs last season,” Washington said on Wednesday. “And we drop a game this season and a few people think it’s the end of the world. We’ve been in way worse scenarios.
“We went 0-6 in league and people believed. One loss is not the end of the world. We have to take every opponent serious. If we take advantage of opportunities we get and take every team serious, we will put ourselves in the position to win the Big Sky or make a playoff run.”
Saturday at the Alerus Center, Montana State takes on a North Dakota team that is playing as an FCS independent for the second straight season. But the Fighting Hawks are playing a slate of eight conference games that count in the Big Sky standings for each league opponent.
That’s a fact that is not lost on Montana State head coach Jeff Choate.
“It is a conference game,” Choate said aggressively at his weekly news conference on Monday. “It’s a conference game for us. I pointed that out to our players on Sunday, make sure they understand the significance of this game for us.
“There have been a couple of teams that have rolled out to North Dakota and maybe not understood the significance or importance of that and paid the price. This is a huge, huge game for us in terms of the way this season sets up, coming off the bye week, getting that taste out of our mouth from that Sacramento State game who evidently is a pretty good football team.”
Sac State thrashed No. 5 Montana 49-22 in Sacramento last week. The Hornets announced their arrival as a Big Sky title contender with a 48-27 win over Eastern Washington the week before taking apart the Bobcats.
Entering the final week of October and the fourth week of Big Sky play, the Hornets and Weber State are 3-0 to sit tied atop the Big Sky standings. Portland State is 3-1 followed by Montana, Montana State and Eastern Washington at 2-1. UC Davis, who hosts Weber State Saturday, is 2-2.
In other words, the league title race remains wide open.
“Every single week in this league is going to be a war,” Choate said. “You look at it and think this team isn’t having a great year but go play them and tell me that’s not a team with talent. Everyone has 63 scholarship players, everyone spends a ridiculous amount of their lives watching each other on tape. Nobody is leaving the office at 4:30. The margin of error is very small.”
Playing a full Big Sky slate despite not being in the league means not getting recognized for conference player of the week honors or postseason all-conference teams for UND. But the Hawks are still approaching the season like a team chasing a playoff berth even if they are not chasing a conference title.
“You just focus on the games,” UND sixth-year head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “That’s what we’ve always done, even when we were a full fledged conference member.
“I will always say this: the University of North Dakota is very thankful and appreciative of the Big Sky Conference. This was a time when we needed a home years ago and they took us in and welcomed us into the league that is made up of a lot of fine institutions and great name recognition, fun places, enthusiastic crowds to play in front of. We are always going to be appreciative of that as it’s part of our Division I history.”
In Montana State’s last trip to Grand Forks, North Dakota, the Bobcats gashed UND’s aggressive defense by getting the host’s aggressive defense out of gaps. Quarterback Chris Murray and running back Troy Andersen each rushed for more than 130 yards and the Bobcats won going away, 49-21.
“In the run game, it starts with not allowing penetration and being able to reset the line of scrimmage down the field,” MSU offensive line coach and run game coordinator Brian Armstrong said. “When teams are moving all over the place and blitzing all over the place, those two things come into conflict. Because of that, they will get their fair share of negatives. But the other part of that is when they are zipping and zapping and stunting, their run fits are changing all the time too. Hopefully we can punt a hole in there and find it, create some explosive runs that way too.”
The health status of Andersen and his ailing ankle remains uncertain. But the All-American all-purpose player is expected to play. Sophomore Isaiah Ifanse is still banged up as well but he still could go, too, just like senior Logan Jones and his tender ribs.
“It all starts with we need to defend the run,” Schweigert said. “If we get down ad distance situations that are advantageous to the defense, that will really help us. If they are able to run at will and control the football, that will give them a huge advantage.
“You start watching their offense and you think, ‘Ok, wildcat…wildcat…more wildcat. It is unique. But I give that staff a lot of credit for using their roster, finding the skills guys possess, getting them on the field in certain situations.
“I think Andersen is tough and he looks like he is running pretty well. He is still a weapon. He doesn’t look really injured to me so he must be really tough.
North Dakota has looked like a playoff-caliber team at home this season. UND took down No. 21 Sam Houston 27-23 in non-conference play. North Dakota also rallied for a 38-36 win over UC Davis when the Aggies were ranked No. 12 in the country.
The hosts sit at 4-3 overall with the Bobcats coming to town, certainly still alive for an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs.
“We want to get in the tournament,” Schweigert said. “That’s our goal every year for our football program and we are working hard at that. And this Saturday we have a huge opportunity to earn a W against a highly-ranked team in the country. We know it will be difficult but it’s a heck of an opportunity.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
