Thursday, September 1
Salt Lake City, UT
6:00 PM
Montana State University
at
at UTAH
Rob Ash begins his fifth season as MSU's head coach at Utah on Thursday night
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Bobcats Head to Salt Lake City for Matchup with Utah
8/30/2011 5:03:00 PM | Football
MSU faces Utah team making debut as Pac 12 football school
Montana State opens its 108th season of intercollegiate football competition on Thursday, visiting former Rocky Mountain Conference league-mate Utah. The game will be historic, as it marks the University of Utah's first football game as a Pac 12 institution. Since Urban Meyer became the Utes' head coach in 2003, (Kyle Whittingham took over two years later), Utah is 80-20 and owns wins in two BCS Bowl games. Utah returns seven starters on offense, including quarterback Jordan Wynn and three offensive linemen, while sophomore Brian Blechen moves from safety to linebacker to anchor the defense.
MSU Game Notes vs. Utah
Utah Game Notes vs. MSU
FOR OPENERS
* The Cats have not won an opener on the road since a 19-10 win at Colorado in 2006
* MSU has never beaten a current Pac 12 institution
STADIUM STUFF
* Although MSU has visited the site of the current Rice-Eccles Stadium five times, none of those trips came in the venue's current configuration (since 1998)
BIG SKY BULLET POINTS
* In MSU's 12 previous seasons immediately following Big Sky championship runs, the Bobcats own a cumulative 58-71 record
* Denarius McGhee's 263.6 passing yards per game led the Big Sky last season
THIS WEEK'S GAME
KICKOFF: 6 pm
SITE: Salt Lake City, UT
STADIUM: Rice-Eccles Stadium
RADIO: Bobcat Radio Network (Jeff Lasky, Dan Davies, Tyler Wiltgen)
TELEVISION: KJZZ-TV/Max Media Montana (Steve Brown, Mike Norseth)
HIGHLIGHTS
* Montana State and Utah competed in the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference together from 1917-38
* MSU has posted a winning record the last 11 seasons it has opened with a returning starter at QB
STREAKS
* WR Elvis Akpla has caught a pass in his last 22 straight games
* Utah has won nine straight (9-0 all-time) against the Bobcats, 20 straight (20-0) against schools from Montana, and 31 straight against the Big Sky (31-0)
MILESTONES
* Denarius McGhee's 20 TD passes is 2010 was fourth-most in Bobcat history,
* MSU's 396 points in 2010 was the highest total in school history
* MSU starts the top two players on the school's all-time freshman receiving chart (Tanner Bleskin, Everett Gilbert)
SHINING
* QB Denarius McGhee returns as Big Sky Offensive co-MVP
* K Jason Cunningham enters his senior season as MSU's all-time leading kicker in scoring and field goals made, and is among the Big Sky's top 10 in those categories during his Bobcat career
* DT Zach Minter shared the team lead in interceptions (two) last season
This week's game preview is brought to you by Montana Disaster and Emergency Services.
This week's game preview is brought to you by Montana Disaster and Emergency Services.
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