BROOKINGS, SD – One of Montana State’s best defensive performances of the Brent Vigen era may have gone by the boards in its 20-16 loss to defending national champion, but the fact that the usually stout group is back in form can’t be denied.
After being torched in a 39-18 semifinal loss in the same stadium in December of 2022, the Bobcats had South Dakota State on the ropes when it took a 16-13 lead by forcing two straight clutch three-and-outs that came on the heels of a first half shutout of one of the most potent offenses in the country.
“All the guys played their hearts out and we’ll see (SDSU) again,” Montana State junior linebacker Danny Uluilakepa said after notching a team-high seven tackles. “I thought the defense was really physical and got after it.”
MSU senior quarterback and captain Sean Chambers also liked what he saw.
“I thought on both sides of the ball those guys played their asses off,” Chambers said. “That’s what hurts. Watching the work they put in beating and each other up every day.”
MSU allowed 28 points and 319 yards in the first half alone the last time the ‘Cats played the Jackrabbits in Brookings. They trailed 28-9 at halftime that day and seemed beat in the first 30 minutes.
“Probably our mentally and we bought in and we wanted it,” is how Uluilakepa described what changed for MSU since that game.
The Bobcats also had to make changes defensively on the fly in this battle. Despite the great start, things turned around quickly to start the second half. SDSU scored on its first two possessions to forge ahead 13-10 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Out of nowhere the Bobcats started making stops even more striking that in the first half. Consecutive three-and-outs saw MSU yield no yards.
“We just really fit out gaps,” Uluilakepa said. “ We came out more assignment sound after we talked about it on the sideline.”
SDSU had all the momentum at that point and seemed on the verge of blowing the game open. After the first stop MSU running back Julius Davis, who’s also a special teams ace, blocked the SDSU punt and it was recovered on the 2-yard line by Tayvion Williams.
The thrill didn’t last long as MSU was unable to punch the ball into the end-zone.
Undaunted the defense delivered a second straight three-and-out and set the offense up on its own 37. From their MSU ran the ball to the one only to draw another false start on fourth down, forcing the visitors to settle for Brendan Hall’s third field goal of the game. All three of the 6-foot-9 kicker’s 3-pointers came from inside 27 yards.
While the Jackrabbits put together back-to-back touchdown drives to start the second half totaling 18 plays and 170 yards before their split-second 75-yard game-winning drive, the Bobcats were able to find their groove.
Aside from the three scoring drives SDSU had six other drives that accumulated just 20, -8, 27, 37, -1 and 1 yard for a total of just 76 yards on 31 plays. The 37-yard drive merely served to burn out the first half clock.
The 20 points is the lowest output for SDSU vs. an FCS team since 2021 when MSU held the Jackrabbits to 17 points. The only time SDSU has been held to 20 or less with Gronowski at quarterback was the 2020 COVID season when they were held to 17 by North Dakota in a loss and a 19-17 win over Youngstown State.
“In the offseason we were preparing,” Uluilakepa said. “Getting bigger, faster, stronger. Just the way (strength) coach Sean (Herrin) told us, it was a mentality thing, we wanted it.
“Just practicing against each other makes us better every day. Like Sean (Chambers) said, this is just the start. The physicality we bring to the game now. I love to see it.”
The Bobcats are slated to take on Stetson University this Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in their final non-conference game.
