Not much has changed for Montana State University since it last faced the University of Tennessee-Martin in 2021. The Bobcats have the same quarterback, a strong defense that features three players stalwarts that have been contributing for four years and solid special teams. The Skyhawks, however, are coming to town with almost no players from their last visit.
“I counted it up earlier in the week and there’s only seven guys left in the program that were here on that 2021 team,” UTM coach Jason Simpson said. “I think there was one that played in that game, that played a significant role in (defensive back) Oshae Baker. Totally new team, just the same uniforms.”
A positive for UTM is that it isn’t as banged up as it was in 2021. The Skyhawks had to use their backup quarterback and was without its top wide receiver.
“We were a shell of ourself because we had lost our starting quarterback a couple weeks before and our drafted (into the NFL) wide receiver Colton Dowell. So we had like four or five starters out on offense, Simpson said.
Dowell, now with the Tennessee Titans, led the Skyhawks in receiving yards in four of the first five games in 2021. Starting quarterback Keon Howard had thrown for nearly 2,000 yards and run for almost 500 over the first 10 games.
Dresser Winn came in for Howard and had a huge game in UTM’s first round 32-31 road win over Bobby Petrino’s Missouri State Bears. He threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the final minutes to go along with 272 yards passing another TD pass earlier in the game.
The Skyhawks enter their second matchup with MSU with a 9-4 overall record compared to a 10-2 mark in 2021. They had won nine straight before Howard was injured and would lose the next game to SE Missouri in the regular season finale. A loss that likely cost UTM a seed in the FCS playoffs that year and may have knocked MSU into a second round game, which in turn would’ve given the Bobcats less time to prepare freshman Tommy Mellott, who would get his first career start.
The big difference this time around for UTM is quarterback Kinkead Dent, who has won 18 games as a starting quarterback for the Skyhawks. Dent has completed 173 of 292 passes for 2,338 yards and 19 touchdowns. He has 79 carries for 328 yards and seven touchdowns.
“He’s kind of the sample size of our team,” Simpson said. “What I mean by that is there’s time he plays a high, high level, just like out team at times this year. Then we might have a lull, we might have some inconsistencies here and there. When he plays and makes some plays with his feet that kind of jump starts our whole football team.”
Perhaps the biggest change for MSU is its overall physicality.
The Bobcats were roughed up in the 2021 title game by North Dakota State, then a year later admitted to being manhandled by 2022 national champion South Dakota State in a semifinal game. MSU hasn’t been outplayed physically since then as they went toe-to-toe with the Jackrabbits early last season, then outplayed NDSU by a wide margin in terms of total yards despite losing to the Bison in the second round last season. This year MSU has only trailed in one game – a 35-31 season-opening win over FBS New Mexico.
The Skyhawks’ productivity is very similar. They average 29 points per game in 2024, which is a drop off from 2021 when it averaged 34 ppg. They allowed 23 ppg this year as compared to 26 in 2021.
The MSU is probably more formidable in the run game than it was in 2021. The Bobcats averaged nearly seven yards per carry this season compared to just over five yards in 2021.
“You know what run’s coming,” Simpson said. “They dress it up in different ways. They do a good job of keeping it ‘same as’ for their offense linemen, so they’re able to block the same look in practice and on Saturdays over and over and over, and they’re physically good players.”
The MSU defense may not get as much recognition in 2024 as it did in 2021 but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been as successful. Big names like Troy Andersen, Daniel Hardy and Ty Okada from 2021 are now in the NFL but the 2024 defense has done some eye-popping things as a unit.
For instance, they’ve only allowed 10 points in the first half of their six home games. MSU has only allowed 49 first half points on the season. The 2021 defense allowed just 15 points per game, which is two less than the 2024 team, but the 2024 starters have given way to the second and third units at some point in the third quarter in all three games this season. Take away the 20 points that the offense has allowed on turnovers and MSU’s is down to 15.3 points per game this year.
The Bobcats and Skyhawks are set to kickoff Saturday at 1:00 in Bobcat Stadium.
