One week after getting a big challenge from the Idaho State defense, Montana State can expect some of the same when it ventures to Northern Colorado for a high noon showdown with the Bears, who surprisingly boast the No. 3 ranked defense in terms of points allowed and total defense in league games and are No. 2 against the run in all games.
UNC head coach Ed Lamb has a good idea about what it will take for his squad to have a shot at beating the defending national champions.
“To have any opportunity against a quality offensive team, you’ve got to keep that offense off the field as much as possible,” Lamb said. “Then you’ve got the clock stopping, and Montana State’s offense, when they did get back on the field, is getting more and more opportunities, more and more plays, more and more series, and it’s really difficult to hold a team like that.”
After topping 220 yards rushing for five straight games and averaging 260 per game, including 6.8 yards per carry, the vaunted MSU run game was held to just 123 by the Bengals. Northern Colorado is allowing just 129.0 yards per game at 4.3 per carry. They’ve given up just 26.8 points per game, and that’s with giving up 31 or more four of the last five weeks.
“They want to be able to run it on offense, and they want to be able to stop it on defense, and they’ve been able to do that,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “And that in itself is going head-to-head with what we want to be able to do. So, it is a definite challenge. They’ve proven to be more than capable to be one of those teams that can rise up in a given weekend, so we’ve got to expect that.”
The Bobcats’ run game struggles against Idaho State puts the spotlight back on the offensive line and running backs.
“I want our guys to take the onus of ‘we could play better’,” Vigen said. “We need to play better. We had opportunities to spring some runs, and we didn’t do a good enough job in some of those situations on the second level. We’ve got to play better up front than we did the other night, and that was abundantly clear. You could feel it as the game was going along. Our ability to stay on schedule, ahead of the chains, whatever you want to say, is so dependent on our run game just being efficient. That’s not a whole bunch of double-digit runs necessarily, but the runs better be 4, 5, 6 versus 1, 2 and 3. And there were far too many 1, 2 and 3s in there.”
Despite not getting a lot of fan or media attention, Vigen recognizes that the Bears have the staples on the defensive side of the ball to be formidable.
“Well, they’ve got a good front,” he said. “All these teams that are in that category of being in the upper third, whatever you want to say, in defense it starts with the guys up front. I do think they know what they want to do, and there’s an aggressive nature to how they play. There are some, I suppose, similarities (with Idaho State) in their ability to want to move and twist up front. That’s got to be well thought out, well-coordinated, and it certainly is.
“That makes it hard on a run game. So, I think it’s a combination of having good players, having a scheme they understand that they can go out and execute, and having a mindset as a football team that they want to be able to run it on offense and they want to be able to stop it on defense.”
The Bears hired former Southern Utah head coach and Brigham Young special teams assistant Lamb in 2022, and his teams have shown continued progress. Lamb has stressed being more physical in the trenches and looks forward to seeing how his team stacks up against MSU.
“We’re certainly going to find out,” Lamb said. “Our guys are excited about that, and I know this: we’re better than we were a year ago. Whether that shows up on the scoreboard, that’ll be for our guys and their guys to work out, with the momentum and opportunities that come with any given game. But I know that we’re a better football program, and we’re a better football program at the line of scrimmage.
“If we go back and study the last couple years’ films, for us it’s the same guys that are just a year and two years older, and it’ll largely be that same exact group of offensive and defensive linemen next year, for that matter. So, our key is going to be retention and player development, and I’m really interested to see how that stacks up. Last year, the game was just not even close or competitive in any way.”
“He’s got a track record,” Vigen said of Lamb. “I think you just look at that track record. I wasn’t part of the league when he was at Southern Utah, but he had a successful run there. His time at BYU and what they have established there. I have a great deal of respect for Coach (Kelani) Sitake there, so just an association with what that program’s been adds to it. We don’t get a lot of chances as head coaches to interact. In talking with Coach Lamb in those opportunities the last few years, when he speaks, it’s very well thought out. He speaks from experience. He speaks from having a vision for his program at Northern Colorado. And what you see is what you get, too.”
One player that has flashed for the Bears plays in that area of the field. Defensive end Ezra Ekuban is one of the best in the Big Sky at the position. He has three sacks and eight tackles-for-lost on the season despite missing all but one game in the month of October.
“He plays with a lot of tenacity,” Lamb said. “A lot of times on defense, what we’re looking for is that kind of stuff rate or havoc rate. When a guy can pop through on the defensive line and create a second-and-10 play or a third-and-long play and then follow that up with a good pass rush in a more obvious passing situation, that’s really the crux of good defensive line play, or winning defensive line play. And Ezra is able to do those things. He’s strong enough to hold up at the point of attack and be able to fight through and hold ground on double teams. But really, when he can get that one-on-one and win, then sometimes that penetration can lead to the stuff-rate play for us.”
Lamb says one of the big keys for his defense is not letting Justin Lamson get too comfortable. Lamson lit up UNC last season in Greeley with one of the best games of his career when he threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns on 16 of 22 passing. He also ran for 57 yards on nine carries and scored a touchdown.
The Bobcats will need to take extra care to not let their minds wander into the next week with their annual showdown with cross-state rival Montana looming.
“I think November football is just important, and if you don’t take it one game at a time, especially in the league this year, you’re going to get caught,” MSU quarterback Justin Lamson said. “So ultimately, I’m worried about Northern Colorado. I think they play really hard, and I’ve got a lot of respect for their program. I’m really just trying to reach a greater effort for myself and the offensive line and the rest of the offensive guys. We’ve got to take a step this week, and I think this is a great opportunity for us to go out and get tested by another great team.”
Vigen as well knows that peering around the corner is just asking for trouble.
“(The Bears have) proven to be more than capable to be one of those teams that can rise up in a given weekend, so we’ve got to expect that,” Vigen said. “And all we have to worry about is Northern Colorado. That is the only thing. This game in front of us is the only thing that matters right now, and that’s going to be the message all the way through.”
While the Bobcats are ranked No. 2 in the nation in both the media and coaches’ polls, as well as having the No. 1 spot in the sneak-peek Football Championship Subdivision selection committee ranking, they aren’t resting on their laurels.
“Sometimes it feels like we haven’t even won a game,” Lamson said. “It’s the way we go about our film and our practices. At Stanford, you won a game, everybody’s really happy. Here, it’s like, no, that’s the expectation, and you’re gonna go do it again and again. And if you don’t, you’re not meeting that expectation. So, it’s just taught me how to chase something greater than myself and just put my head down and work every single day.”
The teams will face off Saturday at noon in Greeley, Colorado.
