2023 Montana State Bobcats football team
American college football season
2023 Montana State Bobcats football | |
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NCAA Division I Second Round, L 34–35OT vs. North Dakota State | |
Conference | Big Sky Conference |
Ranking | |
STATS | No. 9 |
FCS Coaches | No. 8 |
Record | 8–4 (6–2 Big Sky) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Taylor Housewright (3rd season) |
Defensive coordinator | Willie Mack Garza (2nd season) |
Home stadium | Bobcat Stadium |
Seasons |
| Conf | Overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 Montana $^ | 7 | – | 1 | 13 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 8 Idaho ^ | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 9 Montana State ^ | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Arizona | 5 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 24 UC Davis | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 13 Sacramento State ^ | 4 | – | 4 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portland State | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weber State | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Washington | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Idaho State | 3 | – | 5 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cal Poly | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Colorado | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | – | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2023 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bobcats were led by third-year head coach Brent Vigen and played home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.
Preseason
Polls
On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Bobcats were predicted to finish first in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[1]
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | Montana State | 120 (10) |
2 | UC Davis | 96 (1) |
3 | Sacramento State | 94 (1) |
4 | Weber State | 91 |
5 | Idaho | 89 |
6 | Montana | 84 |
7 | Eastern Washington | 52 |
8 | Portland State | 45 |
9 | Northern Arizona | 44 |
10 | Northern Colorado | 37 |
11 | Cal Poly | 25 |
12 | Idaho State | 15 |
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
---|---|---|
1 | Montana State | 447 (26) |
2 | Idaho | 410 (8) |
3 | Montana | 359 (2) |
4 | Sacramento State | 334 (3) |
5 | UC Davis | 330 |
6 | Weber State | 320 |
7 | Eastern Washington | 216 |
8 | Northern Arizona | 178 |
9 | Portland State | 167 |
10 | Northern Colorado | 109 |
11 | Cal Poly | 103 |
12 | Idaho State | 69 |
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 2 | 6:00 p.m. | Utah Tech* | No. 3 |
| ESPN+ | W 63–20 | 21,967 |
September 9 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 1 South Dakota State* | No. 3 | ESPN+ | L 16–20 | 19,332 | |
September 16 | 1:00 p.m. | Stetson* | No. 3 |
| ESPN+ | W 57–20 | 21,487 |
September 23 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 10 Weber State | No. 3 | ESPN+ | W 40–0 | 10,905 | |
September 30 | 2:00 p.m. | Portland State![]() | No. 3 |
| ESPN+ | W 38–22 | 22,017 |
October 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Cal Poly | No. 2 |
| ESPN+ | W 59–19 | 21,997 |
October 21 | 8:30 p.m. | at No. 3 Sacramento State | No. 2 |
| ESPN2 | W 42–30 | 16,122 |
October 28 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Idaho | No. 2 | ESPN+ | L 21–24 | 13,073 | |
November 4 | 1:00 p.m. | Northern Arizona | No. 6 |
| ESPN+ | W 45–21 | 21,297 |
November 11 | 1:00 p.m. | Eastern Washington | No. 5 |
| ESPN+ | W 57–14 | 20,897 |
November 18 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 3 Montana | No. 4 | ESPN+ | L 7–37 | 27,178 | |
December 2 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 8 North Dakota State* | No. 5 |
| ESPN+ | L 34–35 OT | 17,247 |
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[2]
Game summaries
vs Utah Tech
at No. 1 South Dakota State
vs Stetson
at No. 10 Weber State
vs Portland State
vs Cal Poly
at No. 3 Sacramento State
No. 2 Montana State Bobcats (5–1) at No. 3 Sacramento State Hornets (5–1) – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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No. 2 Bobcats | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 42 |
No. 3 Hornets | 7 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 30 |
at Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA
Game information | ||
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Statistics | MTST | SAC |
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First downs | 26 | 25 |
Total yards | 448 | 434 |
Rushing yards | 328 | 200 |
Passing yards | 120 | 234 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 10–16–1 | 26–42–2 |
Time of possession | 32:40 | 27:20 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Montana State | Passing | Tommy Mellott | 9/14, 99 yards |
Rushing | Julius Davis | 12 carries, 110 yards, TD | |
Receiving | Ty McCullough | 4 receptions, 53 yards, TD | |
Sacramento State | Passing | Kaiden Bennett | 26/42, 234 yards, TD, 2 INT |
Rushing | Elijah Tau-Tolliver | 8 carries, 100 yards, 2 TD | |
Receiving | Devin Gandy | 5 receptions, 59 yards, TD |
at No. 9 Idaho
No. 2 Montana State Bobcats (6–1) vs No. 9 Idaho Vandals (5–2) – Game summary
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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No. 2 Bobcats | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
No. 9 Vandals | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
at Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID
- Date: October 28, 2023
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
- Game attendance: 13,073
- TV: ESPN+
vs Northern Arizona
vs Eastern Washington
at Montana
Ranking movements
Week | ||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
STATS FCS | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | |
Coaches | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
References
- ^ "Montana State Tabbed Preseason Football Favorites". July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Montana State Football Schedule". msubobcats.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
- ^ "Football vs Montana State on 10/21/2023 - Box Score - Sacramento State". October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
- ^ "Football Falls To No. 2 Montana State, 42–30". October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
- ^ "Mellott runs for 2 TDs to help FCS No. 2 Montana St. beat No. 4 Sacramento St. 42–30". ESPN. October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.