Bobcats Host Powerful Portland State on Saturday

The Big Sky has never featured as many championship possibilities this late in the season, as six of the league's 13 teams enter the final three weeks with one league loss. Montana State's (6-3 overall, 4-1 Big Sky) loss at Cal Poly dropped the Cats into that morass, and sets up a three-week gauntlet for each of the teams involved. MSU's stretch run begins with a Portland State (3-6, 2-3) squad exactly in the middle of the league standings. The Vikings' second-ranked Big Sky rush defense faces the loop's second-best rushing offense. PSU linebacker Jeremy Lutali's 1.06 tackles-for-loss is among the league leaders, and veteran Kieran McDonagh triggers the Vikings offense. MSU quarterback Dakota Prukop leads a Bobcat offense that gains 506.1 yards a game, including 248.4 on the ground.rushing per game.

THIS WEEK'S GAME
KICKOFF: 2:07 pm
SITE: Bozeman, MT
STADIUM: Bobcat Stadium
RADIO: Bobcat Radio Network (Jay Sanderson, Dan Davies, Riley Corcoran)
TELEVISION: SWX Montana (Chris Byers, Mike Callaghan, Rob Jesselson)

2014 MSU SCHEDULE
Aug 30   at Arkansas State, L, 10-37
Sept 6   Black Hills State, W, 57-10
Sept 13   Central Arkansas, W, 43-33
Sept 20   Eastern Wash., L, 51-52
Sept 27   *North Dakota (HC, W, 29-18
Oct 4   *at Sacramento St, W, 59-56
Oct 11   *at UC Davis, W, 77-37
Oct 18   *Weber State, W, 23-13
Oct 25   Open
Nov 1   *at Cal Poly, L, 27-35
Nov 8   *Portland State, 2:05 pm
Nov 15   *Idaho State, 1:40 pm
Nov 22   *at Montana, 3:10 pm

ON THE RECORD
• Dakota Prukop rushed for 129 yards Saturday, becoming the 19th player in MSU history - and the first quarterback - to pass the 100-yard mark four times in one season
• Dakota Prukop has two of MSU's top four total offense games ever in his nine starts

STADIUM STUFF
• The Cats average 428.3 yards and 33.6 points a game on their seven-year old turf field
• Montana State is 10-1 against PSU at Reno H. Sales and Bobcat Stadium

BIG SKY BULLET POINTS
• MSU rushes for 248.4 yards a game (2nd in BSC), while PSU allows 130.2 yards (2nd)
• Portland State's Jonathan Gonzales averages a Big Sky-best 1.44 field goals per game this season, while MSU's Luke Daly converts 1.33 a game, tied for second in the league

HIGHLIGHTS
• MSU finished 2-1 in California this season, averaging 54.3 points and 607.3 yards a game
• MSU's 41.8 points a game in 2014 is the second in the Big Sky and fifth in the FCS

STREAKS
• MSU has won all 20 games under Rob Ash when the defense scores
• Montana State has rushed for at least 270 yards in four straight games, averaging 298.5 in that span

MILESTONES
• Dakota Prukop's 2,983 yards of total offense this season is the sixth-best campaign in school history, and that figure is already within 1,000 yards of the school's career top 10
• Shawn Johnson's career all-purpose yardage total of 4,477 is the most in Bobcat history

SHINING
• Alex Singleton has four consecutive games with at least 10 tackles, averaging 12.0 in that span of games
• Tia Salanoa, MSU's senior tight end, has at least one catch in each 2014 game
• Dakota Prukop remains atop the Big Sky (and second in the FCS) in passing efficiency, and is second in the league (sixth FCS) in completion percentage

Schedule

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Players Mentioned

Luke Daly

Shawn Johnson

Dakota Prukop

Alex Singleton

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