Turning on a Dime
11/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
football season to come in Game 11. Talk to anyone in the Bobcat program, though, and amoment in last weekend's stunning win over Portland State becomes more and morepronounced.
With the Vikings leading 17-0 early in the second quarter -- and, quite frankly, having theirway with the MSU defense -- Nate Cook stood at his own 22 yard line, awaiting a punt snapfrom Dusty Daws. As usual the snap was perfect. But PSU's Byron Woods charged throughthe middle of the line and smothered the punt. Cook had no chance.
And there it was, right there, the biggest point of Montana State's season. Because with
Portland State leading 17-0 and poised to pad the lead, the Bobcat stepped up. Ryan Fuqua
was stopped for a short game, Juston Wood threw incomplete, then -- on maybe the biggest
play of the year -- Bobcat senior David Smith felled Wood nine yards back. No field goal
attempt, no points.
That was such a big play, said Bobcat defensive end Jon Montoya.
The momentum in that game, said safety Kane Ioane, changed on that play.
So, too, did the momentum of the season. In fact, it's hard to think of any team that so changed
the complexion of its season in the second-to-last week. It was only a month prior to that
comeback against Portland State that the 'Cats were in the ditch. MSU had lost its
Homecoming game to Central Washington, and stood 2-3 entering conference play.
Most gave the season up for lost, but the players and coaches began talking about something
different. They talked of family, of love, of watching out for each other. The talk wasn't hollow,
and anyone who looked in players' eyes could see the deep-seated meaning.
Six straight weeks, that band of brothers took the field. Four times, the Bobcats won. The two
losses weren't decided until the final plays of the game.
Even after Montana State's improbable win Saturday against Portland State, it took an even
more improbable series of events to land MSU in the title game against the defending national
champion Grizzlies. An injury-riddled Montana team was stunned by Eastern Washington late
Saturday afternoon, and Sacramento State held off a Weber State rally that would have
rendered this year's 'Cat-Griz game irrelavent to the conference race.
So here we sit, a few dozen hours or minutes before the big game, still sorting out how it
happened, trying not to think about what might come. The sharp turn that the Bobcats' season
took is still in the rea view mirror.
What a ride it's been.
With the Vikings leading 17-0 early in the second quarter -- and, quite frankly, having theirway with the MSU defense -- Nate Cook stood at his own 22 yard line, awaiting a punt snapfrom Dusty Daws. As usual the snap was perfect. But PSU's Byron Woods charged throughthe middle of the line and smothered the punt. Cook had no chance.
And there it was, right there, the biggest point of Montana State's season. Because with
Portland State leading 17-0 and poised to pad the lead, the Bobcat stepped up. Ryan Fuqua
was stopped for a short game, Juston Wood threw incomplete, then -- on maybe the biggest
play of the year -- Bobcat senior David Smith felled Wood nine yards back. No field goal
attempt, no points.
That was such a big play, said Bobcat defensive end Jon Montoya.
The momentum in that game, said safety Kane Ioane, changed on that play.
So, too, did the momentum of the season. In fact, it's hard to think of any team that so changed
the complexion of its season in the second-to-last week. It was only a month prior to that
comeback against Portland State that the 'Cats were in the ditch. MSU had lost its
Homecoming game to Central Washington, and stood 2-3 entering conference play.
Most gave the season up for lost, but the players and coaches began talking about something
different. They talked of family, of love, of watching out for each other. The talk wasn't hollow,
and anyone who looked in players' eyes could see the deep-seated meaning.
Six straight weeks, that band of brothers took the field. Four times, the Bobcats won. The two
losses weren't decided until the final plays of the game.
Even after Montana State's improbable win Saturday against Portland State, it took an even
more improbable series of events to land MSU in the title game against the defending national
champion Grizzlies. An injury-riddled Montana team was stunned by Eastern Washington late
Saturday afternoon, and Sacramento State held off a Weber State rally that would have
rendered this year's 'Cat-Griz game irrelavent to the conference race.
So here we sit, a few dozen hours or minutes before the big game, still sorting out how it
happened, trying not to think about what might come. The sharp turn that the Bobcats' season
took is still in the rea view mirror.
What a ride it's been.
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, June 10
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
