It’s no big secret that Montana State is on the cusp of running its record to 10-0 with a win over Sacramento State this Saturday, so the Bobcats’ “1-0” mantra is on head coach Brent Vigen’s mind more than usual.
Being undefeated through 10 games has never happened before in Bobcat football history, so making it happen also must be on the team’s mind, although that would seem out of character judging this current group of Bobcats.
The examples of great teams not fulfilling the dreams that seemed to be laid out right in front of them are more than abundant. The most notable instance is probably the 2007 New England Patriots team that went 16-0 in the regular season and rolled into the Super Bowl at 18-0 only to lose in dramatic fashion to the New York Giants.
The Patriots may have lost a bit of their edge considering they had just beaten the Giants on the road in their regular season finale and the Giants has lost six games that season.
Just two years ago, three Major League Baseball teams went into the postseason with 100 regular season wins. That trio – the Yankees, Dodgers and Orioles – managed just one win amongst them in their opening series and finished a combined 1-9.
With those letdowns as a backdrop, Vigen knows all-to-well that being focused is paramount this weekend. While that may seem easy and innocuous, it’s anything but.
“I hope that we don’t think about things like (setting records),” MSU head coach Brent Vigen. “I hope it’s our ability to live in the present moment that has allowed us to keep stacking these (wins) up. It’s that simple, but it’s really complicated.”
The Bobcats have a motto that keeps things simple, and consequently helps the team maintain their focus: “One and oh” is how they respond to the weekly questions about how they’re going to prepare for the next game or practice or repetition. Just go 1-0 that week, that day and that moment, then everything should take care of itself.
Sports almost seem to be biologically engineered to have distractions, however, and Vigen is all too aware of that fact.
“As you get into November, the stakes do rise and we have goals in this program that are beyond the ‘one and oh,’” Vigen said. “We’ve talked in terms of ‘one and oh’ this year but it’s how we try to preach each and every week, and to every opponent, prior to this year in my three years.”
The Bobcats merely need to look back at their own season from a year ago to see just how things in the sports world can spiral out of control. MSU was riding into its final four games at 6-1 and ranked No. 2 in the nation. The record and ranking were no flukes as the Bobcats were impressive each week, including their lone loss, which came on a controversial play on the road against No. 1 and eventual national champion South Dakota State. They sputtered to a 2-2 finish in the regular season and then lost their opening playoff game to bring the 2023 season to a sudden and inexplicable end.
There’s more to the game than just being good physically and tactically. There’s the mental mindset and approach that, if not welled tended to, can fall on a team’s head like a lead brick.
“(The season has) played out the way it has and we’re fortunate to be the last undefeated team in the FCS,” Vigen said. “We gotta do everything we can to keep that going. Our guys have embodied that, and they’ve come out of last year, where maybe we did get ahead of ourselves sometimes. Maybe we made some assumptions about what was out in front of us. Becoming more grounded, becoming more in the moment. We were more intentional about that going back to January.”
The team’s mentality was put to the test in Cheney, Wash. this past Saturday as it looked like MSU was going to put a beating on Eastern Washington after they forced a fumble on a kickoff and then scored a touchdown on the next play to jump out to a 14-0 lead. The Eagles, who came into the game with a 2-6 overall record, outplayed the Bobcats from that point until late in the third quarter. EWU outscored MSU 28-14 to tie the game on a Tuna Altahir TD run and was looking unstoppable in their ground game.
The Bobcats flipped a switch just one play later as quarterback Tommy Mellott, who had taken a sack on fourth-and-1 on MSU’s previous possession, sprinted 76 yards down the right seam to put MSU back in the lead. The defense went from allowing yards and points to pour out of the Eagle’ offense like a sieve to essentially shutting down the Eagles. After EWU opened the second half with 139 yards on 19 plays (7.1 per play) and 14 points on its first two possessions, MSU held them to just 65 yards on 26 plays (2.5 per play) on their final four.
Then Mellott, following his first interception deep in MSU’s own end of the field, hit Ty McCullouch for a 61-yard touchdown to all but put the game away with just over three minutes to play. After the interception – the first of the season by Mellott – the MSU defense forced a turnover on downs to get him a second shot at regaining control of the game.
MSU’s insistence on being ‘one and oh’ at everything it does has served it well to this point. They still have three games remaining in the 2024 season, but to a man they’ll tell you they’re just trying to win the next moment of their football, and daily, lives.
The Bobcats and Hornets kickoff at 1:00 Saturday in Bobcat Stadium.
