Troy Andersen
Photo by: Garrett Becker
BOBCAT FOOTBALL SUNDAY NOTEBOOK #11: Third Straight Cat-Griz Win Boosts Bobcats into Post-Season
11/18/2018 8:05:00 PM | Football
MSU advances to FCS Playoffs for first time since 2014, plus plenty of Cat-Griz leftovers
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS
OFFENSE: Travis Jonsen, WR (6-2, 205, Jr, Fullerton, California) – Travis Jonsen, who entered Saturday's Cat-Griz game with 14 catches and 134 receiving yards, caught 11 passes for 101 yards on Saturday to spur the Bobcats to the 29-25 win. Six of Jonsen's catches came in the second quarter, including three on the Bobcats' first scoring drive of the game just before halftime. He also caught three passes on the drive that drew MSU to within 25-22, including a 45-yard reception that was the game's longest scrimmage play. Of his career-high 101 receiving yards, 68 came in Montana State's decisive 22-point fourth quarter.
DEFENSE: Grant Collins, LB (6-4, 240, Sr, Bozeman, Montana) – Playing to extend his football career, Bobcat middle linebacker Grant Collins registered 12 tackles, forced two fumbles, and had his hands in some of the decisive plays in Montana State's stunning 29-25 win over Montana on Saturday in Missoula. The Bozeman High product finished with a team-high 12 tackles, including 1.0 for a loss and 0.5 sacks. He forced two fumbles, recovering one. With the Bobcats trailing 22-7 late in the third quarter and UM facing a third-and-two near midfield, Collins was in on a tackle-for-loss that forced a Grizzlies punt. That stop triggered Montana State's first scoring drive of the second half, as the Cats cut the UM lead to 22-15. After a Montana field goal and a Bobcat touchdown, Montana possessed with 6:01 to play in the game and a 10-point lead. On the drive's third play, Collins knocked the ball out of Grizzly quarterback Dalton Sneed's hands and recovered the fumble, to set up the scoring drive that gave the Bobcats their first lead of the game with just 2:07 to play. Then, with the Grizzlies facing a second-and-goal from the MSU four, Collins helped stop Adam Eastwood short of the goal line to set up a third-and-goal with 14 seconds to play. On that game-winning play, the Cats knocked the ball out and recovered the fumble, and Montana State wildly celebrated its third consecutive win over ancient and bitter arch-rival Montana.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Jered Padmos, P (6-1, 195, Jr, Boulder, Montana) – Facing the task of stopping Montana's explosive punt returner Jerry Louie-McGee, Bobcat junior punter Jered Padmos seven times for an average of 42.9 yards and pinning the Grizzlies inside the 20-yard line four times. In helping MSU flip field position in the middle portion of the game, Padmos pinned Montana inside the five-yard line once in the second quarter and twice in the third. The first five Grizzly drives of the game began with an average starting field position of the UM 38, with two of those beginning in Bobcat territory. On Montana's next six drives, four of which began with a punt, the Grizzlies average starting field position was their own 14. Montana scored three touchdowns on its first six drives, and just one field goal on its next six. UM's average starting field position for the game was its own 27. Louie-McGee stood 22nd in the nation in punt return average entering the game, but returned just one punt (seven yards) against Montana State on Saturday. The Cats now 9th in the FCS in net punting (39.17).
PLAYOFF NOTEBOOK
• Montana State qualifies for the post-season for the 14th time in 2018, the first time since 2014, hosting Incarnate Word in the First Round of the FCS Playoffs. Kickoff is 1 pm in Bobcat Stadium.
• The Cats have qualified for the FCS/I-AA Playoffs for the ninth time, and competed in the Division II Playoffs once.
• Fifth-year senior defensive end Tyrone Fa'anono is the only current Bobcat that played in MSU's last playoff game, a 47-40 home loss to South Dakota State, although current MSU Director of Football Operations Cole Moore was a senior linebacker, and running back Maleek Barkley's brother Shawn Johnson played on that snowy Saturday.
• Jeff Choate is the eighth coach to lead the Cats into the post-season (joining Rob Ash, Mike Kramer, Dave Arnold, Sonny Holland, Jim Sweeney, Tony Storti and Clyde Carpenter).
• Montana State played in three different stand-alone bowl games – the 1946 Harbor Bowl in San Diego (a 13-13 tie with New Mexico), the 1956 Aluminum Bowl in Little Rock, Arkansas (also considered the NAIA Championship, a 0-0 tie with St. Joseph's, Indiana), and the 1964 (28-7 win over Sacramento State) and 1966 (28-7 loss to San Diego State) Camellia Bowls.
• Troy Andersen is the sixth quarterback to lead MSU into the post-season as a sophomore (Dennis Erickson-1966, Paul Dennehy-1976, Kelly Bradley-1984, Travis Lulay-2003, DeNarius McGhee-2011).
• Montana State remains the only school in college football to win National Championships at three levels of competition – NAIA (1956), NCAA Division II (1976), and NCAA Division I-AA (1984).
POST-GAME NEWS & NOTES
• Troy Andersen's six consecutive 100-yard rushing games (current) is the longest such streak in Bobcat Football history, and his eight this season ties Don Hass (1966) and Matt Engelking (1995) for the most in school history.
• Troy Andersen has 's 104 yards rushing vs. Northern Colorado – his second straight week with that many – boosts his season total to 1,092, with his 109.2 yards per game 14th in the FCS and his 7.90 per carry 3rd.
• In 22 career games, Andersen has rushed for 1,714 yards, one yard from 15th place on the MSU career rushing chart, while spending time on defense last season and limited in two 2018 games by a hand injury.
• Troy Andersen's 24 career rushing touchdowns is tied for 5th on MSU's career list, and his 19 this season is one from Don Hass' single-season Bobcat record of 20, set in 1966.
• Grant Collins logged 12 tackles Saturday, his fifth double-digit tackle game in the last six.
• Travis Jonsen's 101 receiving yards Saturday was a career high for the player who arrived at MSU last January as a quarterback. So, too, were his 11 receptions. He joined Kevin Kassis as the only Bobcats to post 100-yard receiving days this season.
• Of Montana State's 2,498 rushing yards through 11 games, Troy Andersen has gained 1,199 (47.9%) and Isaiah Ifanse 843 (33.7%).
• In three games since returning from injury, Logan Jones has rushed for 120 yards on 21 carries, a 5.7 yards-per-carry average, to boost the Bobcat ground game.
• The Cats have surrendered just nine sacks in 2018, and at 0.82 per game stands 9th in the FCS and first in the Big Sky.
• Junior end Bryce Sterk leads the Big Sky with 1.5 tackles-for-loss per game (14th in the FCS).
• The Bobcats have lost just six fumbles in the last 22 games, and the team's three fumbles lost this season is 6th in the FCS and leads the Big Sky.
• MSU has recovered two fumbles in each of the last four games, its first eight of the season, and now have a takeaway in eight straight games. The Cats have 13 takeaways in the last four games, moving the team's turnover margin from not worth mentioning near mid-season to 18th in the FCS and 3rd in the Big Sky entering the post-season.
• Montana State is third in the Big Sky in rushing offense at 227.1 yards per game, 18th in the FCS, and the team's 2,498 yards rushing this season is 10th in MSU history.
CAT-GRIZ NOTEBOOK
• Montana State's win against Montana was its third straight over the Grizzlies, the first time the Cats have accomplished that since 1983-85.
• Jeff Choate is the sixth Bobcat coach to lead the Blue and Gold to at least three wins against the Grizzlies – Bobcat legend Sonny Holland did it six times, Jim Sweeney five (without a loss), and Herb Agocs, Dave Arnold and Mike Kramer three each.
• Memorable goal-line stands in Cat-Griz history:
* 2018 – :14 left, 3rd-and-goal at MSU 1: Adam Eastwood carries, Tucker Yates forces fumble, Derek Marks recovers, Cats win
* 2016 – 4:30 in 3rd, 4th-and-goal at MSU 1: Brady Gustafson sneaks, Tucker Yates and Mac Bignell credited with tackle
* 2010 – :42 left in 3rd, wnd-and-goal at MSU 5: Chae Reynolds carries, Jody Owens forces fumble, Clay Bignell recovers
* 1968 – At the final gun, Terry Brown tackles UM's Ron Baines at the MSU 12 as he's headed for the end zone, Cats win
* 1929 – At the final gun, Tom Moore catches a pass and advances to the MSU 5 but is tackled and the game ends, Cats win
• Grant Collins joins Mark D'Agostino (father of current Bobcat and Collins' Bozeman High teammate Johnny D'Agostino) as the only players on record in MSU history to force two fumbles in a Cat-Griz game.
• In the last three Cat-Griz games, Montana State has rushed for 229 (this season), 322 (2017), and 368 (2016) yards, all in winning efforts.
• Since winning for the first time in Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 2002, Montana State is 5-3 in that legendary venue. That includes wins in the team's last two trips to Missoula, and four of the last five.
• Since the 2002 win in Missoula, the Bobcats are 7-9 against the Grizzlies, 7-8 by taking away the 2011 win UM was forced by the NCAA to vacate.
• Troy Andersen has scored five touchdowns against Montana, tied for the all-time program record with Will Flaherty.
STAT SNIPPETS
While Montana State runs the ball on 63.8% of its offensive plays, UIW throws 52.0% of the time… Cardinals quarterback Jon Copeland is 5th in the FCS with 298.4 passing yards per game, 14th with 22 touchdown passes (UIW has played 10 games), and 14th in passing yards per completion with 14.35)… three Cardinals – Phillip Baptiste (84.2), Kody Edwards (79.9) and Kam Williams (63.6) – have more receiving yards per game than Bobcats leader Kevin Kassis (45.9).
OFFENSE: Travis Jonsen, WR (6-2, 205, Jr, Fullerton, California) – Travis Jonsen, who entered Saturday's Cat-Griz game with 14 catches and 134 receiving yards, caught 11 passes for 101 yards on Saturday to spur the Bobcats to the 29-25 win. Six of Jonsen's catches came in the second quarter, including three on the Bobcats' first scoring drive of the game just before halftime. He also caught three passes on the drive that drew MSU to within 25-22, including a 45-yard reception that was the game's longest scrimmage play. Of his career-high 101 receiving yards, 68 came in Montana State's decisive 22-point fourth quarter.
DEFENSE: Grant Collins, LB (6-4, 240, Sr, Bozeman, Montana) – Playing to extend his football career, Bobcat middle linebacker Grant Collins registered 12 tackles, forced two fumbles, and had his hands in some of the decisive plays in Montana State's stunning 29-25 win over Montana on Saturday in Missoula. The Bozeman High product finished with a team-high 12 tackles, including 1.0 for a loss and 0.5 sacks. He forced two fumbles, recovering one. With the Bobcats trailing 22-7 late in the third quarter and UM facing a third-and-two near midfield, Collins was in on a tackle-for-loss that forced a Grizzlies punt. That stop triggered Montana State's first scoring drive of the second half, as the Cats cut the UM lead to 22-15. After a Montana field goal and a Bobcat touchdown, Montana possessed with 6:01 to play in the game and a 10-point lead. On the drive's third play, Collins knocked the ball out of Grizzly quarterback Dalton Sneed's hands and recovered the fumble, to set up the scoring drive that gave the Bobcats their first lead of the game with just 2:07 to play. Then, with the Grizzlies facing a second-and-goal from the MSU four, Collins helped stop Adam Eastwood short of the goal line to set up a third-and-goal with 14 seconds to play. On that game-winning play, the Cats knocked the ball out and recovered the fumble, and Montana State wildly celebrated its third consecutive win over ancient and bitter arch-rival Montana.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Jered Padmos, P (6-1, 195, Jr, Boulder, Montana) – Facing the task of stopping Montana's explosive punt returner Jerry Louie-McGee, Bobcat junior punter Jered Padmos seven times for an average of 42.9 yards and pinning the Grizzlies inside the 20-yard line four times. In helping MSU flip field position in the middle portion of the game, Padmos pinned Montana inside the five-yard line once in the second quarter and twice in the third. The first five Grizzly drives of the game began with an average starting field position of the UM 38, with two of those beginning in Bobcat territory. On Montana's next six drives, four of which began with a punt, the Grizzlies average starting field position was their own 14. Montana scored three touchdowns on its first six drives, and just one field goal on its next six. UM's average starting field position for the game was its own 27. Louie-McGee stood 22nd in the nation in punt return average entering the game, but returned just one punt (seven yards) against Montana State on Saturday. The Cats now 9th in the FCS in net punting (39.17).
PLAYOFF NOTEBOOK
• Montana State qualifies for the post-season for the 14th time in 2018, the first time since 2014, hosting Incarnate Word in the First Round of the FCS Playoffs. Kickoff is 1 pm in Bobcat Stadium.
• The Cats have qualified for the FCS/I-AA Playoffs for the ninth time, and competed in the Division II Playoffs once.
• Fifth-year senior defensive end Tyrone Fa'anono is the only current Bobcat that played in MSU's last playoff game, a 47-40 home loss to South Dakota State, although current MSU Director of Football Operations Cole Moore was a senior linebacker, and running back Maleek Barkley's brother Shawn Johnson played on that snowy Saturday.
• Jeff Choate is the eighth coach to lead the Cats into the post-season (joining Rob Ash, Mike Kramer, Dave Arnold, Sonny Holland, Jim Sweeney, Tony Storti and Clyde Carpenter).
• Montana State played in three different stand-alone bowl games – the 1946 Harbor Bowl in San Diego (a 13-13 tie with New Mexico), the 1956 Aluminum Bowl in Little Rock, Arkansas (also considered the NAIA Championship, a 0-0 tie with St. Joseph's, Indiana), and the 1964 (28-7 win over Sacramento State) and 1966 (28-7 loss to San Diego State) Camellia Bowls.
• Troy Andersen is the sixth quarterback to lead MSU into the post-season as a sophomore (Dennis Erickson-1966, Paul Dennehy-1976, Kelly Bradley-1984, Travis Lulay-2003, DeNarius McGhee-2011).
• Montana State remains the only school in college football to win National Championships at three levels of competition – NAIA (1956), NCAA Division II (1976), and NCAA Division I-AA (1984).
POST-GAME NEWS & NOTES
• Troy Andersen's six consecutive 100-yard rushing games (current) is the longest such streak in Bobcat Football history, and his eight this season ties Don Hass (1966) and Matt Engelking (1995) for the most in school history.
• Troy Andersen has 's 104 yards rushing vs. Northern Colorado – his second straight week with that many – boosts his season total to 1,092, with his 109.2 yards per game 14th in the FCS and his 7.90 per carry 3rd.
• In 22 career games, Andersen has rushed for 1,714 yards, one yard from 15th place on the MSU career rushing chart, while spending time on defense last season and limited in two 2018 games by a hand injury.
• Troy Andersen's 24 career rushing touchdowns is tied for 5th on MSU's career list, and his 19 this season is one from Don Hass' single-season Bobcat record of 20, set in 1966.
• Grant Collins logged 12 tackles Saturday, his fifth double-digit tackle game in the last six.
• Travis Jonsen's 101 receiving yards Saturday was a career high for the player who arrived at MSU last January as a quarterback. So, too, were his 11 receptions. He joined Kevin Kassis as the only Bobcats to post 100-yard receiving days this season.
• Of Montana State's 2,498 rushing yards through 11 games, Troy Andersen has gained 1,199 (47.9%) and Isaiah Ifanse 843 (33.7%).
• In three games since returning from injury, Logan Jones has rushed for 120 yards on 21 carries, a 5.7 yards-per-carry average, to boost the Bobcat ground game.
• The Cats have surrendered just nine sacks in 2018, and at 0.82 per game stands 9th in the FCS and first in the Big Sky.
• Junior end Bryce Sterk leads the Big Sky with 1.5 tackles-for-loss per game (14th in the FCS).
• The Bobcats have lost just six fumbles in the last 22 games, and the team's three fumbles lost this season is 6th in the FCS and leads the Big Sky.
• MSU has recovered two fumbles in each of the last four games, its first eight of the season, and now have a takeaway in eight straight games. The Cats have 13 takeaways in the last four games, moving the team's turnover margin from not worth mentioning near mid-season to 18th in the FCS and 3rd in the Big Sky entering the post-season.
• Montana State is third in the Big Sky in rushing offense at 227.1 yards per game, 18th in the FCS, and the team's 2,498 yards rushing this season is 10th in MSU history.
CAT-GRIZ NOTEBOOK
• Montana State's win against Montana was its third straight over the Grizzlies, the first time the Cats have accomplished that since 1983-85.
• Jeff Choate is the sixth Bobcat coach to lead the Blue and Gold to at least three wins against the Grizzlies – Bobcat legend Sonny Holland did it six times, Jim Sweeney five (without a loss), and Herb Agocs, Dave Arnold and Mike Kramer three each.
• Memorable goal-line stands in Cat-Griz history:
* 2018 – :14 left, 3rd-and-goal at MSU 1: Adam Eastwood carries, Tucker Yates forces fumble, Derek Marks recovers, Cats win
* 2016 – 4:30 in 3rd, 4th-and-goal at MSU 1: Brady Gustafson sneaks, Tucker Yates and Mac Bignell credited with tackle
* 2010 – :42 left in 3rd, wnd-and-goal at MSU 5: Chae Reynolds carries, Jody Owens forces fumble, Clay Bignell recovers
* 1968 – At the final gun, Terry Brown tackles UM's Ron Baines at the MSU 12 as he's headed for the end zone, Cats win
* 1929 – At the final gun, Tom Moore catches a pass and advances to the MSU 5 but is tackled and the game ends, Cats win
• Grant Collins joins Mark D'Agostino (father of current Bobcat and Collins' Bozeman High teammate Johnny D'Agostino) as the only players on record in MSU history to force two fumbles in a Cat-Griz game.
• In the last three Cat-Griz games, Montana State has rushed for 229 (this season), 322 (2017), and 368 (2016) yards, all in winning efforts.
• Since winning for the first time in Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 2002, Montana State is 5-3 in that legendary venue. That includes wins in the team's last two trips to Missoula, and four of the last five.
• Since the 2002 win in Missoula, the Bobcats are 7-9 against the Grizzlies, 7-8 by taking away the 2011 win UM was forced by the NCAA to vacate.
• Troy Andersen has scored five touchdowns against Montana, tied for the all-time program record with Will Flaherty.
STAT SNIPPETS
While Montana State runs the ball on 63.8% of its offensive plays, UIW throws 52.0% of the time… Cardinals quarterback Jon Copeland is 5th in the FCS with 298.4 passing yards per game, 14th with 22 touchdown passes (UIW has played 10 games), and 14th in passing yards per completion with 14.35)… three Cardinals – Phillip Baptiste (84.2), Kody Edwards (79.9) and Kam Williams (63.6) – have more receiving yards per game than Bobcats leader Kevin Kassis (45.9).
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