Bobcats Enter Monster-Man Month
12/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
The calendar calls it December. Mike Kramer calls it Monster-Man Month. In the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, it’s simply Championship Month. Long after most FCS teams have packed the pads for the winter and begun planning recruiting with an eye toward spring football, eight teams play today, the first Saturday in December, with championship hopes alive.
For the first time in 22 years, Montana State is one of those eight. And while today’s opponent, Appalachian State, has more recent December experience than the Bobcats, Montana State fans are not without some fond December memories. In fact, Bobcat fans have never known December heartbreak.
The Bobcats have played six games in December, which Kramer named Monster-Man Month while the head coach at Eastern Washington because games during the Yule season are of monstrous importance. MSU is 6-0 in those games, five of them NCAA playoff contests. MSU topped Sacramento State in December, 1964, 28-7 in the Camellia Bowl. MSU beat North Dakota State in Fargo and Akron in Wichita Falls, Texas, in December of 1976, and the Bobcats’ entire three-game run to the 1984 I-AA National Championship occurred in December.
That leads us to today, MSU’s first December contest in over two decades, against a team that has already played 10 December games this decade. This year’s Mountaineer seniors have played four December games, coming in last year’s National Championship season. Appalachian State is 9-7 in December, 4-3 at The Rock.
So, call December what you want, but if you’re a fan of college football, you enjoy playoffs that culminate in a championship, and you’re a fan of Mike Kramer’s Bobcats, it’s Monster-Man Month.
For the first time in 22 years, Montana State is one of those eight. And while today’s opponent, Appalachian State, has more recent December experience than the Bobcats, Montana State fans are not without some fond December memories. In fact, Bobcat fans have never known December heartbreak.
The Bobcats have played six games in December, which Kramer named Monster-Man Month while the head coach at Eastern Washington because games during the Yule season are of monstrous importance. MSU is 6-0 in those games, five of them NCAA playoff contests. MSU topped Sacramento State in December, 1964, 28-7 in the Camellia Bowl. MSU beat North Dakota State in Fargo and Akron in Wichita Falls, Texas, in December of 1976, and the Bobcats’ entire three-game run to the 1984 I-AA National Championship occurred in December.
That leads us to today, MSU’s first December contest in over two decades, against a team that has already played 10 December games this decade. This year’s Mountaineer seniors have played four December games, coming in last year’s National Championship season. Appalachian State is 9-7 in December, 4-3 at The Rock.
So, call December what you want, but if you’re a fan of college football, you enjoy playoffs that culminate in a championship, and you’re a fan of Mike Kramer’s Bobcats, it’s Monster-Man Month.
Wednesday, June 10
Friday, March 27
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
