Following the release of the preseason Big Sky Conference football polls, Jeff Choate believed his Montana State Bobcats had a chance to defy expectations in his first season at the helm.
MSU, a team that won 35 of 48 Big Sky games the previous five seasons combined, was picked to finish eighth in the 13-team league. Choate felt if he could help an ailing defense that gave up points in bunches in 2014 and 2015, the Bobcats could at least be in the top half of the league.
MSU’s defense has improved markedly in Choate’s first season, ranking second in the league in scoring defense and fifth in the league in total defense. But the Bobcats have been hit hard by injuries and plagued by a rash of turnovers that have resulted in failing to even meet the modest preseason expectations.
Montana State enters the 116th showdown with rival Montana in Missoula on Saturday with just one Big Sky win, a 27-13 victory over hapless UC Davis last week in the season finale at Bobcat Stadium. MSU is 3-7 overall. The Bobcats enter the rivalry game with nothing to play for but pride. Yet they are taking the challenge on with optimism and a fire stoked by the chance of eliminating the 6-4 Griz from the playoff hunt.
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“That’s our championship this year so all of our chips are going to be in that game,” MSU junior linebacker Mac Bignell, a Drummond product, said last week. “Everything is on the line for us. Even regardless of how bad this season has been, a win would make this season better than last season.”
Last season, Montana State began as the preseason Big Sky favorites and a Top 10 team in the FCS. MSU led the conference and ranked third nationally in both scoring offense and total offense as Dakota Prukop and company lit up scoreboards. But the Bobcat defense never manufactured crucial stops, resulting in a 5-6 record, the first losing mark at MSU since 2001. A 54-35 loss to Montana at home sealed Rob Ash’s fate; the longtime coach was fired two days after his seventh loss to the Griz in nine tries.
Montana State enters Saturday’s game with on a three-game losing streak to the Grizzlies. MSU also enters this contest with a mindset the Bobcats have nothing to lose.
“We are going to let everything out,” MSU fifth-year senior tight end Austin Barth, a Columbia Falls native, said last week. “There will be nothing held back because that is literally it. Any shot we can take, we are going to take and I expect the same for them. That game is so wild and energetic, especially with that crowd. I’m looking forward to that.”
For Barth and four other fifth-year MSU seniors — running back Chad Newell, offensive guard J.P. Flynn, middle linebacker Fletcher Collins, wide receiver Will Krolick — along with fourth-year captain running back Gunnar Brekke, Saturday will mark the group’s fourth matchup with the Griz. This collection of veterans have only played at Washington-Grizzly Stadium one time, a 34-7 loss in 2014.
“You have to prepare to behave,” said Newell, a two-year captain and Billings native. “It’s a hostile environment for us but being from the state, it’s something you expect. I watched games there before I played here so I knew what I was getting into going into it. The Montana guys know the same thing. They’ve been to the stadium, watched games there, they know what it’s about. And if they are not from the state, they’ve read about it. We know what we are getting into.”
“It’s Montana’s Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter where you are in Montana, there’s some sort of party like a Super Bowl party.”
A total of 79 in-state players will participate in the game, including 52 Bobcats. As many as 13 Montana products will start for MSU, including Newell, Brekke, Barth and sophomore defensive end Grant Collins.
“It’s rivalry week, man,” said Brekke, a Helena Capital product. “This is the 116th game. This is something that is a lot bigger than this team. It’s really this entire state. It tears this entire state in half for one week. I think that’s something that is special itself. Neighbors living next to each other, one’s a Cat, one’s a Griz, they probably don’t go out and say hi to each other that day. It’s a really special game and it’s an honor to be a part of it.”
Nine Montana State juniors and eight MSU seniors have experienced the rivalry in Missoula. Just a few handfuls of Bobcats have played in the rivalry at all, but that’s more than most of the MSU coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak will coach in his 13th Cat-Griz game but just his first as a Bobcat. Linebackers coach Kane Ioane will participate in his 16th rivalry game as either a coach or a player. Running backs coach Michael Pitre is entering his third Cat-Griz. The rest of MSU’s staff, including Choate, will coach in the game for the first time.
“This is why you coach, this is why you compete and play,” Choate said. “I think this is a big reason why young men come to places like Montana and Montana State in particular for this rivalry because it is special and unique, especially at our level.”
MSU lost its first three conference games by a total of 11 points. After a 20-14 home loss to Northern Arizona, Choate and offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham elected to go with true freshman Chris Murray as the starting quarterback.
A slew of turnovers followed as the Bobcats suffered lopsided defeats at Weber State, at home against Eastern Washington, and at Southern Utah. MSU did not turn the ball over for the first Big Sky game against Davis, Murray rushed for 98 yards and the ‘Cats won their first Big Sky game.
A winning season is not in the works, nor is the playoffs nor is a conference championship. Yet the significance of earning a second straight win entering the off-season coupled with a chance to beat the Griz in his first career rivalry showdown is not lost on Choate.
“I don’t even think it’s about our season, I think it’s really about our program and some of the goals we have here and the things we want to accomplish,” Choate said. “Certainly, creating momentum into the off-season is important. I understand how important this game is and what it means to people around the state.
“It’s a forever game for our players and our coaches and it’s a 365 day a year deal. I know this: the first thing I’m going to get told or asked wherever I go from the end of the season in the state of Montana is how did this game go this Saturday up there. It’s year-round.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
