BOZEMAN, Montana — On Friday morning just hours before
Montana State hosted Austin Peay under the Bobcat Stadium lights, Isaiah Ifanse
had his teammates giving him puzzled looks.
The Montana State running back sported a pair of black latex gloves and a
determined look in his eye.
“We were making fun of him and I asked him, ‘What’s that for?’” Montana State sophomore quarterback Tucker Rovig said with a laugh. “He said, ‘I’m feeling dangerous.’ That’s really what he is: he’s dangerous.”
A dangerous Ifanse has been a huge boost for an MSU team that has surged into the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs for the first time since 1984. He has also be a nightmare for opponents since returning from nagging injuries that cost him all or parts of nine games this season.
Ifanse has rushed for 407 yards and five touchowns in MSU’s last three games. He rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns in a resounding 48-14 win over rival Montana, the No. 3 team in the FCS and the top-ranked rushing defense in the Big Sky Conference at the time.
Last week in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs, Ifanse set a Montana State single-game playoff record by rushing for 196 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown on the third play of the game.
“He’s a hard man to stop,” Rovig said with a smile.
“Downhill and aggressive. He’s a guy who is hard to take down. He has the mindset he doesn’t want to get taken down by one guy. He wants to get taken down by the whole defense.”
The 2017 Washington Gatorade Player of the Year has such an aggressive, bucking running style, particularly at the end of rushes, it’s no surprise he has been banged up for basically half of his Bobcat career. But he has also shown toughness and resilience that has him rapidly rising up Montana State’s career record book.
Last fall, despite battling a bum knee for the second half of the season, the 5-foot-10, 210-pounder still became the first Bobcat freshman to ever rush for more than 1,000 yards in his debut season. His 1,025 yards gave him one of 22 seasons in Bobcat history with more than 1,000 yards in a season.
“The biggest adjustment was adjusting to the speed of the game,” Ifanse said. “But I think I figured that out pretty quickly.”
This season, despite getting knocked out of the game early in the second quarter of a 38-17 win over No. 12 Southeast Missouri State (he had 114 yards already) and not returning for more than a month, Ifanse has still rushed for 753 yards and six touchdowns this season. He did not play the last three games of September, managed just 16 carries for 79 yards in three games in October and did not play in MSU’s most prolific rushing games of the season in blowouts against Southern Utah (42-7) and Northern Colorado (45-14).
“He’s just a guy who was always at practice, always encouraging the other running backs even when he wasn’t in,” Rovig said. “When he was hurt, he was still a huge contributor, making sure all of us stayed positive.”
MSU has rushed for more than 400 yards twice this season: in a 56-21 win over Norfolk State and against UNC, the later producing 451 team rushing yards, the third-best single-game total in Bobcat history. And Ifanse did not play in either game.
“I think he would’ve had a year for the ages if he would’ve been healthy,” Choate said. “I think he’s the best back in the league. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to showcase his talents behind the best offensive line in the league. That combination doesn’t come along very often when you have a very special running back and you have a really special five guys in front of them. I’m glad we got him back.”
Since easing his way back in with a 10-carry, 77-yard effort in a 27-17 win at UC Davis, Ifanse has been on fire. He carried the ball 21 times for 171 yards and three touchdowns in an unforgettable performance against the Grizzlies, fully showcasing that combination of an elite offensive line and an elite tailback Choate mentioned.
“It’s just great to be back with my brothers on the field and contributing to our offense and helping them in any way,” Ifanse said in an interview before MSU’s second-round playoff game.
“That Griz game, it was just clear lanes. I have to give credit to my o-line because they did a great job that game opening holes for all the running backs.”
Ifanse’s 1,778 career rushing yards already ranks 13th in school history. He already has eight games of more than 100 yards rushing, more than Bobcat legends like Chad Newel and Shawn Johnson.
And he has at least one more game to add to his season and career totals this fall, an FCS Final Four matchup against No. 1 North Dakota State. The Bison are giving up 133 rushing yards per game this season.
“The guy still might go for 1,000 yards. Think about that. He basically didn’t play for the majority of the season,” Choate said. “He had (77) yards against Texas Tech, (114) yards basically in the first quarter against SEMO and then didn’t play again until Cal Davis. I think it’s pretty epic, really.
“If we are on a national stage, he’ll embrace it. I’m excited for everybody to see our brand of football.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez and Jason Bacaj. All Rights Reserved.
