Gone, but not forgotten amid all the celebration shortly after Montana State’s national title game win were 14 penalties and multiple bad snaps that held the collective hearts of Bobcat’ boosters everywhere in a vise-like grip.
One of the school’s greatest days wasn’t its prettiest in terms of execution and focus, so nearly eight months later it was still a hot topic. MSU had two false starts on each of its first two drives down in Nashville yet managed to score touchdowns on both. It had another false start in overtime that ultimately led to the Bobcats being in a tenuous fourth and 10 situation with the game on the line. With a chance to win the game in regulation the ball was snapped before quarterback Justin Lamson was ready causing a 20-yard loss.
Combining that with the fact that the opening game is usually the game that has the most miscues and brain lapses, there was a lot of intrigue going into MSU’s clash with Utah Tech on Saturday night in St. George, Utah.
When the dust settled those penalties were still fresh in psyches of everyone involved with Bobcat’ football. The only way to alleviate that angst – it seemed – was to play a game and prove something had been done.
The Bobcats did all that and more against Utah Tech in its season opener and first game since defeating Illinois State 35-34 in overtime despite all their miscues. MSU was whistled for just two penalties, none on an offensive line starter (running back Adam Jones was called for holding in the first half and backup center Tommy Nilsson had an illegal snap infraction during MSU’s last possession of the game).
The Bobcats also didn’t have any turnovers – an area they’ve had great consistency in during the Brent Vigen era.
Season openers are typically fraught with miscues of multiple varieties, but this wasn’t the case for MSU in its 54-0 dismantling of Utah Tech last Saturday. The Bobcats not only eliminated penalties they also excelled in nearly every unit of the team and throughout the depth chart. The defense, special teams and one of the youngest players each scored touchdowns, second-year backup linebacker Xavier Ahrens scooped up backup safety Colter Petre’s blocked punt and scored, while true freshman, backup wide receiver Carter Dahlke caught a touchdown pass and third string safety Brendon Ross returned an interception for a touchdown.
It was hard to find many flaws.
How did they do it? According to Vigen it was the product of the same ol’, same ol’ at MSU. His and the team’s belief in itself and its ability to put out a consistent effort at all times.
“I told the guys on Saturday, I think we’re going to go out there and handle our business; I think we’ll be the more physical team, the team that plays faster, but ultimately they gotta go do it,” Vigen said. “My thoughts were that how we went about our preparation, how we went about our business, all calendar year going back to January, I was able to shift gears in my mind and continue to grow like (we) should through spring and summer and put together a fall camp that you really felt like was consistent, steady and that should reflect in a performance like we had. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to, so I’m proud of the guys for respecting the opportunity and just appreciating the chance to go out there and play again.”
Under Vigen, the Bobcats have been about togetherness and acknowledging that the thing they love the most only occurs at its pinnacle – actual games – for most teams only 12 times per year.
“This team is about all the kinds of shared experiences that we get but most notably going out there and playing the game that they love,” Vigen said. “It played out that way for one game. We set the bar where we set it and now we’re excited for the opportunity to see us raise the bar.”
After getting an interception by nickelback Tayden Gray on the opening drive of the game, the Bobcats would turn the ball over on downs on their first possession after failing to convert on third and 3, then fourth and 3 at the Utah Tech 36. That inability to convert ratcheted up anxiety but the defense gave the offense another chance in short order with a three and out and they would follow with what would likely be one of the most impressive plays of the season.
The Bobcats put together a total team effort when Justin Lamson got rid of the ball just as he was being hit. Dane Steel made the catch and broke a tackle then got block by fellow wide receivers Jordan Reed that took out two UT players before Taco Dowler shoved the lone remaining defender between Steel and the end zone out of the way for a fitting and spectacular first score of the season.
MSU was about to past Week Zero without much of a threat after watching three Big Sky games go down to the wire on Friday night (Weber State at Northern Colorado and Idaho at Cal Poly) and Saturday (Eastern Washington at Northern Arizona), while during its game against Utah Tech, Southern Utah and Montana were in a dogfight that wasn’t settled until the final play.
“Week One (the first game) is so much about the unknown, whether it’s your own team or what you’re seeing,” Vigen said. “There can be an advantage to those new staffs that are playing against a team that is blind as far as what they can anticipate. We as coaches are going to investigate all we can in looking into coaches’ histories and all that kind of stuff and try to put the personnel in this day and age together the best that you can. It’s coming from all over the place, but ultimately until you get on that field it is a little bit of guesswork, so there is maybe an advantage that goes to some of the newness that some of these teams have but ultimately it’s – in my view – our ability to come out and do what we need to do and I suppose whether it’s coaches and players on our team it’s seeing what is happening.”
Northern Colorado lost to Weber State on Friday night 30-29 when its point after touchdown was blocked with :03 to play. Cal Poly knocked off Idaho with a touchdown pass with :09 to play just moments later. On Saturday afternoon, Eastern Washington was up by 21 points early on Northern Arizona before the Lumberjacks came back to win 34-27.
“(After seeing) Thursday night, Friday night and even as Saturday’s going on…we better take care of our business and control what we can control,” Vigen said. “Ultimately, we did that and our mindset has to continue. The scores in our league show that a lot of teams can stake claim to having a shot. That part really doesn’t surprise me. Whoever weathers that storm – and we want to be that team – you better be improving, you gotta be consistent, and you gotta take every opportunity as serious as you can.”
After allowing two first downs on UT’s first drive, MSU only allowed two more until near the end of the third quarter. Meanwhile, MSU was scoring its 54 points in a stretch that saw only three Trailblazer’ first downs.
The Bobcats weren’t perfect as their vaunted ground game only mustered up 145 yards and 4.0 yards per carry.
It was just the seventh time MSU was held under 200 yards by an FCS opponent since the start of the 2022 season and it was the second time in a row dating back to last year’s title game against Illinois State. MSU was held to 196 at NAU and 189 at UNC last season, 198 by North Dakota State in the 2024 title game and 159 by UC Davis early that year. In 2023, Idaho held the Bobcats to 128 and in 2022 they had just 56 at South Dakota State in the 2022 semifinals.
The last time MSU was held to under 200 yards rushing in consecutive games was back in 2021 when Sam Houston State and South Dakota State did so by keeping the Bobcats at 190 and 176, respectively. MSU has only had a combined 241 rushing yards in its last two games. You have to go back to the last two games of the 2013 season when MSU amassed just 199 yards in consecutive games against Southern Utah and Montana to get below that number.
The Bobcats will try to get their run game back on course while maintaining the rest of its units this week in the runup to their Gold Rush game showdown with the University of Butler at Bobcat Stadium. Game time is 6:30.
