Despite Montana State’s second-shortest road trip being to Pocatello to face Idaho State, the Bobcats haven’t done so since the eighth game 2018. That will change this weekend as MSU makes its first trip to Pokey under fourth-year head coach Brent Vigen. The last trip to Holt Arena is a game served as a turning point that would send two programs that came into the game with 4-3 records in opposite directions.
Knowing that, you’d think coming out of the game that Idaho State’s 24-17 win would serve as a springboard for the Bengals and a lead brick for the Bobcats. But just the opposite occurred.
“That was not a good game from what I’ve heard,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “Some turnover staffing-wise had occurred. One thing I remember from our game with Idaho State in 2021 was our captains talking about that game down there and how disappointing it was to be a part of.
“I hope what’s happened since the middle part of that year is that our expectations have continued to rise and along with that, our level of consistency and what we need to do to meet those expectations has become what our kids are about.”
The staff change refers to when former MSU head coach Jeff Choate released Bob Cole of his duties coaching quarterbacks and co-coordinating the offense. He also demoted Brian Armstrong to coach the offensive line and the run game while promoting wide receivers coach Matt Miller to call the offensive plays.
The result the following week was a sputtering result that pushed MSU’s 2018 season to the breaking point.
The Bobcats trailed 24-7 early in the third quarter in its last trip to Holt Arena before scoring 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and driving to the ISU 16 only to be called for holding and allowing a sack before throwing incomplete on fourth-and-23.
A lot of fans have forgotten about the 2018 game and what it may have meant. That’s understandable, however, because a few short weeks later MSU won a game in Missoula that overshadowed just about everything that occurred that season. That victory served as Montana State’s third of what would become four straight to end that campaign.
At the time, the ISU loss sent a sense of urgency into the MSU locker room as Choate’s squad fell to 4-4 and was looking squarely at a win-or-go-home scenario in terms of making the FCS playoffs for its remaining three games. The Bobcats won the next two and then culminated it with an unforgettable comeback win over rival Montana to secure a playoff spot and etch the season into Bobcat’ lore forever.
MSU would win its first playoff game since 2012 a week later against Incarnate Word, then lose to eventual national champion North Dakota State in the second round. The 4-1 finish sprung the Bobcats into the 2019 season with wind under their sails and they advanced to the national semifinals for the first time in nearly four decades.
The next full season didn’t come until 2021, but the Bobcats advanced all the way to the national title game that year and have been among the top teams in the nation ever since.
MSU’s only FCS losses since the 2018 game are to North Dakota State (four times in the playoffs), Montana (twice in Missoula), South Dakota State (twice in Brookings, including in the 2022 semifinals), North Dakota and Sacramento State (each during the 2019 regular-season). MSU also lost to Oregon State, Texas Tech and Wyoming. Eleven of those 13 losses have been on the road and five in domes.
“We’re in a position where there’s a fair chance we’re going to get everyone’s best shot,” Vigen said. “I’m pleased with our trajectory, but I feel like we have a ways to go yet. We haven’t ultimately accomplished what we want to accomplish but I think what we have in front of us this year is a team – if we can find a way to get better each week, if we can find a way to by-and-large show up with the same mindset and effort – we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win and be there in the fourth quarter. That’s what you need to be about and I’m not sure that back in the middle of 2018 that’s where this program was at.”
Meanwhile, back in Pocatello things didn’t go as swimmingly. The Bengals would only win one more game in 2018 and finished 6-5 with no playoff invite. Still, that was a high-water mark for a program that has been a Big Sky cellar dweller for most the last 40+ years. The 2018 season marked the last time ISU had a winning record and just the 8th winning season since claiming the 1981 national title.
The 2019 season bore only three wins for ISU, then a Covid-shortened season in 2020 saw a 2-4 mark, 2021 continued the downward spiral as ISU was just 1-10. Following firing Rob Phenicie and hiring Charlie Ragle, Idaho State augured in with another 1-10 record in 2022.
The Bengals showed signs of life in 2023 in Cody Hawkins’ first season as head coach, getting to 3-4 with back-to-back wins over Eastern Washington and Portland State only to fall in the remaining four games to finish a familiar 3-8.
Hope springs anew for ISU in 2024 and the Bengals are off to a 2-2 start and now find themselves looking for win to serve as a catalyst for their season and who better than the No. 3 ranked Bobcats to fit the bill. Their passing game has done a bulk of the work and is ranked ninth in the nation in terms of yards passing per game, but that stat is tempered by only getting 6.7 yards per pass and ISU is just fifth in passing efficiency in the Big Sky Conference.
One MSU player is looking forward to this game. Offensive tackle Titan Fleischmann played his prep football in Pocatello and even played a few games at Holt Arena home of the Bengals.
“I’m so excited,” Fleischmann, who’s dad played football and mom played basketball at ISU, said. “I cannot wait to get back to Pocatello and play in the dome. I haven’t played a game there since my junior year, so it’s been a while and I’m fired up to have a bunch of friends and family be able to watch me play.”
The Bobcats have struggled playing in domes going just 1-5 since the 2018 ISU game. MSU’s only win was 38-35 over Northern Arizona in 2022, with losses to North Dakota State (twice), Idaho, Oregon State and North Dakota.
The Bobcats and Bengals kickoff at 4:00 this Saturday in Pocatello.
