Bobcats Rally for Win over Western Illinois

Thursday, August 30

BOZEMAN

7 pm

Montana State University

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Western Illinois (GOLD RUSH)

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1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Western Illinois

Montana State

8/30/2018 11:48:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Tristan Bailey's four field goals lead the way

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Montana - There was the impressive play of Troy Andersen in his first Montana State start at quarterback, rushing for 145 yards and throwing for 81 more. There were Kevin Kassis' enormous returns of both punts and kickoffs that set up scoring chances. And there was dominant defense, particularly by defensive linemen Bryce Sterk and Tyrone Fa'anono.

And Bobcat coach Jeff Choate put his finger on one more factor in Montana State 26-23 win over Missouri Valley Football Conference rival Western Illinois in each team's season opener in Bozeman on Thursday night.

"It was nice to make some kicks," Choate said of kicker Tristan Bailey. The junior made all four of his field goals, including two in the final nine minutes, and tacked on a pair of extra points. "It was fun getting out there in front of the home crowd," said Bailey, playing in his first Division I game since his freshman year at Wyoming in 2015.

That the game came down to fourth quarter defensive stops and kicks seemed unlikely early. Western Illinois jumped out to a 13-3 lead after a second quarter touchdown run by Steve McShane. Sam Crosa's kick hit the upright and deflected wide right.

The Bobcats took advantage of a Brayden Konkol interception late in the second quarter, with Bailey drilling his second field goal as the first half expired to draw MSU with 13-6. To that point WIU had 10 first downs to MSU's two, outgaining the Cats 183 yard to 83.

"We made some adjustments, for sure," Andersen said of MSU's offensive halftime meetings, and Choate added that "a lot of it was the quarterback calming down a little." Andersen and the Cats took over at the MSU 19 and drove 81 yards, with the sophomore quarterback galloping 14 yards for the score. All of a sudden, the Bobcats found themselves tied.

Enter Kassis. After a Western Illinois touchdown, the junior receiver returned the kickoff 69 yards to put the Bobcats in scoring position. Andersen scored on a 24 yard run to again tie the game. Crosa made a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to push WIU into the lead, but Baily hit from 50 yards with 8:26 left to tie it and from 35 yards with 4:02 remaining to give MSU the decisive margin.

Then, the Bobcats turned the game over to a hungry defense. Maligned for failing to create turnovers and harass the quarterback in recent years, the Cats did both on Thursday. MSU intercepted a pair of passes (turning it over only once), and registered four sacks and a hurry. Two of those sacks closed the door on the Leathernecks. Sterk sacked McGuire on third-and-14 on the team's second-to-last offensive drive, then effectively ended the game with a sack on fourth-and four with one minute left.

"It was cool," Andersen said of his first opportunity to lead the team he grew up cheering for as its quarterback. "The Gold Rush atmosphere is electric. It was a lot of fun being out there trying to lead (the Cats)."

Choate put it more simply. "The kids really rose to the occasion."

Montana State starts out the season with a win against a Division I opponent for the first time since 2013, while Western Illinois loses its second straight game by three points or less to a Big Sky team. Weber State ended WIU's season in the FCS Playoffs last year.

Next week, Montana State travels to third-ranked South Dakota State for a Saturday contest.

#GoCatsGo