Things don’t always go as planned. Scheduling opponents in college football isn’t immune to that reality.
Montana State worked out a deal with Stephen F. Austin to play a home-and-home series for this season and in 2025, but that ran into a snag for some unknown reason for SFA. The Lumberjacks paid $150,000 to get out of the game in Bozeman and MSU used that money as part of a payment to this week’s opponent, Mercyhurst.
The conundrum doesn’t end there for the Bobcats, however, as they had designed the schedule to have a good balance of teams in terms of strength of opposition. MSU was expecting the matchup with SFA to be a bigger challenge than that of Mercyhurst. Earlier opponent New Mexico was a strong challenge, but neither Utah Tech or Maine presented what anyone would call ‘stiff competition.’
“This is a game that got scheduled late,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “Late, late. It was almost June when this game got scheduled.”
The difference between SFA and the Lakers is considerable. SFA, despite some down seasons, has made numerous trips to the FCS playoffs over the years and is a team not unlike a lot of the opponents on MSU’s Big Sky Conference slate.
Mercyhurst has been at the FCS level for just one year and didn’t do well last year despite playing a light schedule. The Lakers were just 2-9 against an all-NCAA Division II schedule in 2023. After opening the season with a win over a DII opponent, they did come close (32-31) to winning their second game against Howard, which is in the FCS.
Just how much a preseason schedule affects how a team does when conference games begin is hard to quantify. Some teams like to bulk up on lighter competition in order to enhance their chances of making the FCS postseason tournament. Others go with the steel-sharpens-steel concept and play top-notch FCS teams and FBS teams in hopes of improving as much as possible. Most teams, like MSU, look for a mix.
There are positives and negatives in how things worked for the Bobcats. On the plus side, they have been marred by a rash of injuries to key players since last spring and after this past weekend’s open date, the ability to heal up and rest could be a huge benefit as the season progresses. The downer is that any perceived success is left with the caveat of that success only coming out due to the opponent’s inabilities.
“We need a lot of guys to continue to progress,” Vigen said. “That’s starters, that’s backups, that’s special teams guys. This team is continuing to formulate. I thought last week was a good step towards that and I’m excited about guys getting out there and showing what they can do on the game field.”
Games like this can be perfect for what Vigen describes. Players returning from injury can work off the rust, while others that have areas of their games that are in need of work can do that without being overwhelmed.
In their most recent game, the Bobcats got a chance to roll out their backups after taking a 38-7 halftime lead over Maine. The opportunity to shine for those players quickly became an opportunity for the coaching staff to get some learning moments on video.
Maine held MSU to just three second half points and the Black Bears turned that 31-point deficit into a more respectable 41-24 loss. Bobcat’ quarterbacks Jordan Reed and Chance Wilson were just 3 for 7 passing for 42 yards with Reed coughing up the ball when he was sacked on his first drop back. Of the 373 yards allowed 251 of those came in the second half and the backups gained just 149 yards after a first half with 372 yards generated by the starters.
The game may not be what the players, coaches, and fans were expecting, but it might the best case scenario for a Bobcat’ team that is still a work-in-progress despite the season entering its fourth week. Mercyhurst will be MSU’s last chance to work out the kinks before it takes to the road to face a relatively formidable Idaho State squad next weekend in Pocatello.
The Bobcats and Lakers kickoff at 1:00 in Bobcat Stadium.
