Cats, Griz back at it

Dec. 1—The Big Sky Conference will start playing in the afternoon and go well until after dark Saturday, with four teams having Football Championship Subdivision second-round playoff games.

Leading off is Sacramento State, which kicks off with South Dakota at noon Mountain time.

Of greater interest around these parts is Montana State’s matchup with North Dakota State, the latest in many, but this one at Bobcat Stadium.

Montana then kicks off against visiting Delaware at 7 p.m., and Southern Illinois gets started against Idaho in the Vandals’ Kibbie Dome at 8.

Bobcats vs. Bison

North Dakota State ended Montana State’s postseason in 2010, 2018, 2019 and — in the FCS title game — 2021.

Bobcat coach Brent Vigen was on the NDSU staff in 2010 when, a year after going 3-8, the Bison came into Bobcat Stadium and won a second-round game 42-17.

Starting in 2011 they tore off five straight national championships.

“That was the start,” Vigen said of the 2010 contest. “We snuck into the playoffs that year. What I remember about that day is it was really cold and it was a really raucous crowd, and that thought never left me.”

He was the offensive coordinator at Wyoming when the MSU job came open in the spring of 2021, and his hiring was obviously a best-case scenario for the Cats: Nine months later they were in the title game, losing to Cam Miller and the Bison 38-10 in Frisco, Texas.

“He’s continued to get better,” Vigen said of Miller, now a senior. “What’s happened in the two years (since) is he’s become their best player on offense. Then the backup (Cole Payton)… they’re getting a lot of mileage out of both those guys.”

Montana State gets a lot of mileage out of QBs Tommy Mellott and Sean Chambers, or has in its eight wins. In two league losses Chambers didn’t see the field much.

“In our conference losses we didn’t get going…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/cats-griz-back-140200593.html

Author : Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell, Mont.

Publish date : 2023-12-01 14:02:00

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