Jeff Choate signals the commitment of a recruit with a “#BOOM” on Twitter each time the Montana State head coach garners a promise from a prospect. With his latest tweet signaling the 15th verbal commit for the Class of 2017, Choate also released his team’s 2017 football schedule in the form of a graphic a little earlier than expected.
The graphic indicated 2017 slate with six home games once again. The schedule also includes an FBS game at Washington State to open the season on September 2, a home game against perennial FCS power South Dakota State the following week and a non-conference matchup late in the season the first Saturday of November against Kennesaw State.
A Montana State official confirmed the graphic is in fact the schedule for the 2017 season.
Montana State head coach Jeff Choate/ by Brooks Nuanez
Montana State’s 2017 schedule includes a bye the third week of the season, the weekend of September 16. The week off will come a week before MSU opens Big Sky Conference play against reigning co-Big Sky champion North Dakota. Choate’s first Big Sky game as MSU’s head coach in 2016 was a 17-15 loss to North Dakota in Bozeman. The Fighting Hawks went on to post a 8-0 league record and earn the No. 7 seed in the FCS playoffs. UND lost 27-24 to Richmond in the second round of the postseason in Grand Forks last week.
Montana State will play its first two conference home games back-to-back weeks with Weber State (September 30) and Portland State (October 7) coming to Bozeman. MSU lost 45-27 to Weber State, a 7-5 squad that qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2009 thanks to six Big Sky wins before bowing out after a 45-14 loss at Chattanooga in the first round. MSU did not play Portland State, a 3-8 team in 2016 after making the FCS playoffs in 2015.
Montana State’s road schedule doesn’t get any easier in October. The Bobcats play at Eastern Washington and at Northern Colorado October 14 and 21, respectively. EWU shared the Big Sky title with UND and is currently 11-1, in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs for the fifth time under ninth-year head coach Beau Baldwin. EWU beat Montana State 41-17 in Bozeman in 2016.
Northern Colorado put together a second straight winning season after a decade of futility since moving up from Division I. The Bears were in the 2016 playoff hunt into November for the first time and pushed North Dakota and Cal Poly down to the wire in losses that ultimate kept UNC at home during the post-season. Montana State has not played Northern Colorado since 2013, a 35-28 Bobcat win in Greeley.
MSU plays two straight home games to finish October and begin December. The Bobcats host Idaho State for the first time since 2014 after missing the Bengals on the schedule last season. The Bobcats play Kennesaw State to round out their non-conference schedule on November 4.
MSU takes the tough trip to Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Arizona for its only road game of November. The Bobcats and the Lumberjacks put on a show in a 49-41 shootout in 2015. NAU outlasted MSU 20-14 in Bozeman in 2016.
The Bobcats’ schedule concludes with a home date against rival Montana in Bozeman on November 18. Montana State posted a 24-17 win over the Griz in Missoula to cap a 4-7 campaign in Choate’s first season. MSU has not defeated UM at home since 2005.
The Big Sky Conference has 13 teams and plays an eight-game conference schedule. MSU will not play Southern Utah, UC Davis, Sacramento State and Cal Poly in 2017. The 2017 season will mark the first year since 1993 that MSU did not play a school from California.
MONTANA STATE 2017 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 2 AT Washington State
Sept. 9 South Dakota State
Sept. 16 BYE
Sept. 23 AT North Dakota
Sept. 30 Weber State
Oct. 7 Portland State
Oct. 14 AT Eastern Washington
Oct. 21 AT Northern Colorado
Oct. 28 Idaho State
Nov. 4 Kennesaw State
Nov. 11 AT Northern Arizona
Nov. 18 Montana
