You don’t have to follow football closely to notice that Montana State has gotten better – steadily better – since the beginning of the season.
Doing so doesn’t come from some magic words or at the spur of the moment. It’s a process. And a review of MSU’s season lays that unveiling out right in front of you.
“You got to continue to remind (your players) that in the game of football each week is its own,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “Try to make that a mark every week. What can we do to get better this week and, in fact, daily? Try to create this consistent model and not make it about who you play, where you play, when you play. Then that allows you to make it about: what am I doing as an individual to get better?
“One thing that is very important is our guys stay committed in the weight room. Staying strong through the season is really important. (Strength and conditioning) Coach (Sean) Herrin does a great job with them during the season. Everyone talks about the offseason. It’s not so much about making gains, it’s about staying strong. I think you have to have that mindset as an individual that the result of the team is what it’s all about. We have a group of guys that are team oriented. Our guys understand that. I think it feeds from older guys to younger guys how you go about your business on a daily basis. Our results reflect that just the way our guys see things. “
And it’s not just physical.
“There’s a humility that’s necessary. Our guys being humble and not letting highs be too high is really important. You’re hungry enough where the lows aren’t too low. That’s a real balance.
“That’s coming out of a game like we had way back in Cheney (a 38-35 win at Eastern Washington). Alright, we won that game but let’s celebrate that and recognize all the things we can improve from that game. The self-awareness that comes with being humble and really being able to look at yourself and say how I can better and understand how impactful that is to the sum. Whether it’s the scout team guys continuing to go out there day after day. Their buddies, playing on other teams are going home this week. It’s hard going out there and doing this weeks on end, but those guys understand how important their role is, too, and we tell them that.
“It’s a lot between the ears. It’s certainly the physical component, but it’s having the right frame of mind for a lot of guys. It’s 100-plus people being on the right track.”
It took the Bobcats a full quarter to score its first points of 2022 against a McNeese State team that didn’t win its first game against an FCS opponent until its ninth week of the season. MSU’s third contest was a 68-28 whipping at the hands of Oregon State that saw quarterback Tommy Mellott throw three of his four career interceptions.
“I think we’re a better team now whether we play at home or away, than we were end of September, beginning of October,” Vigen said. “I think we’re a lot better team. That’s what we really aim to be.”
A week later, the ‘Cats used an almost smoke-and-mirrors approach in coming from behind twice to beat what turned out to be a very weak Eastern Washington outfit that finished the year 3-8. In that same game, however, MSU may have started on its road to becoming one of the top teams in the nation in 2022.
Montana State hadn’t forced a turnover in nearly nine quarters and when EWU took the ball away from the Bobcats with just 3:43 to play and holding a 35-31 lead, MSU appeared to be a far cry from the team that played for the national championship to cap the 2021 season.
In the final few minutes at EWU, the Bobcats would force two turnovers, including a forced fumble by Callahan O’Reilly that Ty Okada recovered to set up the winning points. An interception by Danny Uluilakepa to turned the ball over to MSU’s advanced run game to burn out the clock.
“The team we played at Eastern and where Eastern ended up are probably two different things,” Vigen said. “We had opportunities in that game to open it up.”
During those first four weeks of the season, the Bobcats had given up a plethora of huge plays. Opponents notched plays of 80, 80, 80, 75, 66, 56 and 38 yards against MSU. The ‘Cats were operating without their top running backs (Isaiah Ifanse, Keagan Williams and Lane Sumner); their quarterback (Mellott) was knocked out of the lineup for over two games with a head injury; and MSU seemed to be on the verge of a losing streak with solid competition like UC Davis and Weber State around the corner.
A 200-rushing/200-passing game, a four-safety game, and a game-winning Tommy-to-Taco (Dowler) pass play later, and the Bobcats suddenly began to remold themselves. MSU hasn’t given up a play over 35 yards in its past four games, while the rushing attack has gone from averaging 5.6 yards per carry to nearly 7.0 yards per carry and the Cats have gone from eking out wins to blowing teams out.
“We withstood some things for that stretch,” Vigen said. “We found ways to win games. You’re going to look back and we won 12 games and not all of those 12 wins were masterpieces by any means. You find a way to win, and you don’t worry about what games were close and what margins weren’t. I think in the here-and-now we’re playing well. That’s our biggest concern. Going on the road you need to have a team that is mature about itself. It’s going to be cold and all that, but it’s not our first time doing that.”
After Blake Glessner followed the Tommy-to-Taco play with a game-winning field goal as time expired against Northern Arizona, MSU has outscored its last four opponents by a score of 215-81 – that’s 54-20 per game – with 35 of the points allowed coming against the second team defense.
The Bobcats have set the school’s single-game rushing record and run for 1,699 yards and 16 touchdowns averaging 7.9 yards per carry during those four games, which came against three teams ranked No. 6 (William & Mary), No. 9 (Weber State) and No. 19 (Montana) in the most recent STATS FCS Top 25 poll.
MSU’s average per carry has steadily increased over the course of the season. It now stands at an incredible 6.8 per carry, which is a whopping 1.1 more than the previous record. To put that in perspective dropping down another 1.1 yards takes you out of the top ten all-time at MSU. From No. 2 to No. 10 is less than 0.6 yards.
The defense hasn’t allowed over 317 yards in any of its last three games – perhaps the three most important games of the season to date. The Bobcats were allowing 388 yards per game over the first ten games, which included six teams with a combined 15-51 record, but just 276 per game over the last three.
South Dakota State head coach John Stiegelmeier knows a little bit about improving, too. The 26-year coach of the Jackrabbits has had his team on the precipice of winning a national title for the past three seasons. They lost the 2020 title to Sam Houston and were within a game of the title in 2021.
“God made us to work hard every day. I mean daily,” Stiegelmeier said. “You have to say to yourself, ‘this is where I focused, this is where I improved.”
Stiegelmeier said his team made a few changes since their last meeting with the Bobcats.
“We hired a new strength coach,” he said. “We had an unbelievable summer. Came in more excited and stronger. That was huge. Mark Gronowski is really in sync, game is moving slow for him, and he’s playing at a high level as a quarterback.”
Montana State plays at South Dakota State in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs on Saturday.
