Brent Vigen is relatively new to the Treasure State’s fiercest rivalry, but he has plenty of experience with what in-state rivalries are all about.
That doesn’t matter when it comes to the sometimes over-elevated repercussions that accompany the annual result between Montana and Montana State. Vigen is 22-2 in Big Sky Conference games and has led MSU to 12 wins in each of the two seasons preceding this already eight-win campaign.
But because one of the two blemishes in his brief stint leading MSU came in a 29-10 beatdown at the hands of the hated Grizzlies in Missoula in 2021, Saturday’s return to Washington-Grizzly Stadium has major ramifications.
The Bobcats have been in the national championship mix since 2019. MSU has made the final four of the FCS playoffs in three consecutive seasons and raced to the national championship game directly following their disheartening loss in Missoula two years ago.
Yet the tone of the rivalry is still colored by the fact that Montana beat Montana State every single year between 1986 and 2001. “The Streak” poured gasoline on the fire in terms of the vitriol, hatred and mental complexes of the fan bases and followers of both UM and MSU football.
Jeff Choate changed that, at least for a moment in time. The passionate, fiery head coach led MSU to four consecutive wins over Montana, including the 2018 “Miracle in Missoula” that won’t be forgotten any time soon by those who watched it and the “Beatdown in Bozeman” the following season, a 48-14 blowout that ultimately was Choate’s last win, rivalry or otherwise, at Montana State.
Even though Vigen had the Bobcats unbeaten in league play before his first and only loss in Missoula…and even though those ‘Cats raced all the way to Frisco after the lopsided loss….and even though MSU has only lost one conference game and only four games total since then….Saturday looms large for Vigen’s legacy. He must prove he – and the ‘Cats – can rise to the occasion with an outright Big Sky title on the line against a Griz team that comes into the game ranked No. 3 in the FCS.
“When I got the job, you certainly recognize the importance of this game for just this game and the opponent and what it means to the state, but additionally, we felt like, this game being the last game of the year, you want to be playing for conference title, you certainly want to be playing for how the playoffs are going to shake out,” said Vigen, who’s from Buxton, North Dakota, and played tight end at North Dakota State (Class of 1997) when NDSU perennially battled North Dakota. “Three years into it, all three years, to have it come down to this Saturday, in all those aspects, that’s what we’re working for.”
This Saturday in Missoula certainly comes down to it. For the first time in the 122-year history of the fierce rivalry between the ‘Cats and the Griz, the winner will be the outright Big Sky Conference champion. Granted, the league has only existed for 60 years. But in a century-plus of battles, there’s never been a “Brawl” (we refuse to print the rest of the cliché, corny nickname) that pitted two Treasure State teams ranked in the Top 5 of the national polls.
And the winner of Saturday’s showdown will certainly get a Top 3 seed in the FCS playoffs, likely the No. 2 seed and homefield advantage throughout.
“We know what’s on the line, but we don’t need any more motivation,” Montana senior linebacker and captain Levi Janacaro said in an interview six days before his final rivalry game.
Montana has a group of 17 seniors on its roster, although quarterback Clifton McDowell could come back for another year. MSU has 11 seniors getting set for the game, including five sixth-year seniors who endured the coaching change from Choate to Vigen, plus a pandemic cancellation and a whole bunch of ups and downs in between.
“This is it in Montana, every little kid dreams of playing in this game,” Askelson said. “All eyes are going to be on this game. All the eyes in Montana will be watching this. It’s everything man. Going home – there’s so many guys on both teams, whenever you go home anywhere in the state, there’s bragging rights to be had and people are going to get at you either way so you want to make sure you end up on the right side of this one.”
Earlier this season, Montana head coach Bobby Hauck became the all-time leader in total coaching wins while at a Big Sky Conference school when he won his 124th game as the head coach at his alma mater. He has since added another to the total, bringing his overall record at UM to 125-35.
In his first stint between 2003 and 2009, the Big Timber/Butte native went 80-17, including a 47-6 mark in Big Sky play. Hauck lost to Mike Kramer’s Bobcats in 2003 and 2005 only to win four in a row after that to move his record in his first tenure to 5-2 against the rival. Since returning ahead of the 2018 season, Hauck owns one epic win and three eye-opening defeats.
He is 6-5 against the Bobcats overall, a mark that might seem shocking to those that observed Hauck’s dominance in his first stint. UM went 31-1 in Big Sky play in Hauck’s final four seasons and won seven consecutive league crowns overall under his guidance. Montana has not officially won a Big Sky title since 2009, Hauck’s last season of his first stint. That could change on Saturday.
“Our opponent this week, they are a good team, there’s no other way to describe them,” Hauck said in his consistently understated yet steadily antagonistic tone on Monday. “They are a good team. They are leading the conference in scoring and rushing offense. People have had a lot of difficulty stopping them. It should be a good game and a fun week.”
Hauck has numerous records when it comes to coaching wins and the state of Montana. He still needs 13 more wins to surpass Jerome Souers in total in-conference Big Sky victories, although Hauck passed his mentor in total wins a few weeks ago. Hauck has already passed former Montana head coach Don Read, the man who gave Bobby his coaching start, in victories at UM, although Hauck still needs to beat the Bobcats five more times to equal Read’s unblemished 10-0 mark against the rival.
“A college football rivalry is a really cool thing in all of sports and we are really lucky to have a long-standing, traditional, in-state rivalry,” Hauck said. “It’s a cool deal.”
All too often during the last 40 years of this showdown, the coaching staff of the loser faced questionable job security, or was fired. That’s particularly true during the modern era on the MSU side.
Earle Solomonson was a disaster, rivalry game or otherwise, leading MSU. He went 15-40 and only won 10 Big Sky games at MSU. Cliff Hysel went 42-46 in eight seasons at the helm between 1992 and 1999.
Kramer went 3-4 and snapped the streak before getting dismissed for non-rivalry reasons, although he was also on Dave Arnold’s staff in 1986 that got fired despite winning a national title less than two years earlier, in part because Arnold’s ‘Cats couldn’t keep up with the Griz.
Rob Ash is Montana State’s all-time wins leader with 70 total victories (and three Big Sky championships) in his nine seasons at the helm for MSU. He boasts wins in Missoula in 2010 and 2012…and no other rivalry victories. His seventh loss in nine contests against Montana sealed his fate following the 2015 season.
When Choate blasted former UM head coach Bob Stitt for the second straight season on the way to 2017’s 31-23 win in Bozeman, Stitt’s time in Missoula ran out.
Neither Vigen or Hauck are on the hot seat. Neither one has to win this game to stay employed, just like neither one has to win (or lose) to still have a chance to make a national championship run. MSU did it in 2021, losing in Missoula only to beat UT Martin at home, blast top-seeded Sam Houston 42-19 (the first time in program history the Cats won a road playoff game) and take care of South Dakota State at home.
The Bobcats have been recapturing their mojo again in recent weeks after losing to Idaho in the Kibbie Dome. A rivalry with a trophy (x2) and a top seed in the playoffs on the line has Vigen’s attention.
“With this game, there’s so many layers to it,” Vigen said. “The first one is the in-state rivalry that means so much to so many. That starts with all our Montana natives on the roster, the 40+ guys who whether they have buddies on the team who they grew up with, played high school football with, we have a couple of guys on our team that had fathers, grandfathers that played over there and then we have multiple that had the same play here.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez or noted. All Rights Reserved.
