Montana State's most recent Thanksgiving Day game, in 1938 against Northern Colorado
TURKEY DAY FOOTBALL: Montana State's Long, Long-Ago Tradition of Thanksgiving Day Football
11/27/2019 3:35:00 PM | Football
A look at the Bobcats playing on Thanksgiving Day, mostly before Montana State even became the Bobcats
From its earliest days, American football has shared a nearly unbreakable bond with the Thanksgiving holiday as we know it today.
Princeton and Yale played on Thanksgiving Day in 1876, just 13 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill declaring the last Thursday in November a federal holiday to offer thanks. As a day free from work and classes, Thanksgiving offered college and high school students the opportunity to play games free from class or work conflicts.
In its earliest decade, before dawning Blue and Gold and years before the team was known as the Bobcats, Montana State Agricultural College played its rival on Thanksgiving Day. The College's first game against the University came on November 25, 1897, in Missoula. It was Thanksgiving Day, and the Grizzlies won 18-6 in the second football game ever played by Montana State, the first against collegiate competition. One year later the University again won on Thanksgiving, this time in Missoula just two weeks after capturing a game on the College's home grounds.
Missoula had won three straight in the series, but the first streak between the teams was about to be ended, then doubled. Montana State beat their in-state rivals twice in 1899, including a 38-0 thrashing on Thanksgiving Day in Bozeman. That was the second of a six-game Bobcat win streak that remains tied for their longest in the series.
Montana and Montana State played a Thanksgiving Day game every year from the series' inception until 1904. The schools didn't play in 1905, and the two years after that Montana State discontinued its football program by faculty decree in order to implement rules and fiscal structure. Montana State and Montana would meet on Thanksgiving Day only one more time, a 10-0 UM win in 1910 in Missoula.
In the late 1920s, Montana State played three Thanksgiving Day games. In 1926 the Cats closed their season with a 7-0 loss at the College of Idaho at Caldwell. Two years later Montana State and Mt. Saint Charles (now Carroll) met in Sheridan, Wyoming, in a game that decided the state championship of Montana because the Cats and Grizzlies had played to a tie. Carroll won this one easily, 29-0.
In 1929, Montana State sent what may be its best pre-World War II team to Great Falls to again decide the collegiate championship of Montana. The game set up this way because of the 14-12 win over the Grizzlies in Butte, sparked by Max Worthington's heroics. On "a snow covered field which handicapped the speedy backs of both the Saints and Bobcats," according to the 1929 Montanan, Montana State gained a measure of revenge and snagged the state title. Two completed passes early in the second quarter set up a third, from Austin DeFrate to Gus Wylie, that delivered the only score of the game. Montana State used excellent defense and "line plunges" by O'Leary helped the Cats control the game, and the College intercepted passes on the final three Saints drives of the day (two by Wylie, one by Ivar Twilde) to secure the victory.
After those back-to-back games against Carroll, the Bobcats would play only two more games on Thanksgiving Day. In 1936 the Cats beat Montana Tech 26-7 in Butte. Two years later, the Bobcats and Northern Colorado battled to a 0-0 tie in the snow. The Bobcats stand 7-6-1 all-time on Thanksgiving Day, 5-4 against the Grizzlies, which started the whole thing to begin with.
MONTANA STATE FOOTBALL ON THANKSGIVING DAY
1897 – Montana 18, Montana State 6 (November 25 at Missoula)
1898 – Montana 16, Montana State 0 (November 24 at Missoula, second meeting of the season)
1899 – Montana State 38, Montana 0 (November 30 at Bozeman)
1900 – Montana State 12, Montana 11 (November 29 at Missoula)
1901 – Montana State 31, Montana 0 (November 28 at Bozeman)
1902 – Montana State 38, Montana 0 (November 27 at Missoula)
1903 – Montana State 13, Montana 6 (November 26 at Bozeman)
1904 – Montana 79, Montana State 0 (November 24 at Missoula)
1910 – Montana 10, Montana State 0 (November 24 at Missoula)
1926 – College of Idaho 7, Montana State 0 (November 25 at Caldwell)
1928 – Carroll 29, Montana State 0 (November 29 at Sheridan, Wyoming for state championship)
1929 – Montana State 7, Carroll 0 (November 28 at Great Falls for state championship)
1936 – Montana State 26, Montana Tech 7 (November 26 at Butte)
1938 – Montana State 0, Northern Colorado 0 (November 24 in Bozeman)
Princeton and Yale played on Thanksgiving Day in 1876, just 13 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill declaring the last Thursday in November a federal holiday to offer thanks. As a day free from work and classes, Thanksgiving offered college and high school students the opportunity to play games free from class or work conflicts.
In its earliest decade, before dawning Blue and Gold and years before the team was known as the Bobcats, Montana State Agricultural College played its rival on Thanksgiving Day. The College's first game against the University came on November 25, 1897, in Missoula. It was Thanksgiving Day, and the Grizzlies won 18-6 in the second football game ever played by Montana State, the first against collegiate competition. One year later the University again won on Thanksgiving, this time in Missoula just two weeks after capturing a game on the College's home grounds.
Missoula had won three straight in the series, but the first streak between the teams was about to be ended, then doubled. Montana State beat their in-state rivals twice in 1899, including a 38-0 thrashing on Thanksgiving Day in Bozeman. That was the second of a six-game Bobcat win streak that remains tied for their longest in the series.
Montana and Montana State played a Thanksgiving Day game every year from the series' inception until 1904. The schools didn't play in 1905, and the two years after that Montana State discontinued its football program by faculty decree in order to implement rules and fiscal structure. Montana State and Montana would meet on Thanksgiving Day only one more time, a 10-0 UM win in 1910 in Missoula.
In the late 1920s, Montana State played three Thanksgiving Day games. In 1926 the Cats closed their season with a 7-0 loss at the College of Idaho at Caldwell. Two years later Montana State and Mt. Saint Charles (now Carroll) met in Sheridan, Wyoming, in a game that decided the state championship of Montana because the Cats and Grizzlies had played to a tie. Carroll won this one easily, 29-0.
In 1929, Montana State sent what may be its best pre-World War II team to Great Falls to again decide the collegiate championship of Montana. The game set up this way because of the 14-12 win over the Grizzlies in Butte, sparked by Max Worthington's heroics. On "a snow covered field which handicapped the speedy backs of both the Saints and Bobcats," according to the 1929 Montanan, Montana State gained a measure of revenge and snagged the state title. Two completed passes early in the second quarter set up a third, from Austin DeFrate to Gus Wylie, that delivered the only score of the game. Montana State used excellent defense and "line plunges" by O'Leary helped the Cats control the game, and the College intercepted passes on the final three Saints drives of the day (two by Wylie, one by Ivar Twilde) to secure the victory.
After those back-to-back games against Carroll, the Bobcats would play only two more games on Thanksgiving Day. In 1936 the Cats beat Montana Tech 26-7 in Butte. Two years later, the Bobcats and Northern Colorado battled to a 0-0 tie in the snow. The Bobcats stand 7-6-1 all-time on Thanksgiving Day, 5-4 against the Grizzlies, which started the whole thing to begin with.
MONTANA STATE FOOTBALL ON THANKSGIVING DAY
1897 – Montana 18, Montana State 6 (November 25 at Missoula)
1898 – Montana 16, Montana State 0 (November 24 at Missoula, second meeting of the season)
1899 – Montana State 38, Montana 0 (November 30 at Bozeman)
1900 – Montana State 12, Montana 11 (November 29 at Missoula)
1901 – Montana State 31, Montana 0 (November 28 at Bozeman)
1902 – Montana State 38, Montana 0 (November 27 at Missoula)
1903 – Montana State 13, Montana 6 (November 26 at Bozeman)
1904 – Montana 79, Montana State 0 (November 24 at Missoula)
1910 – Montana 10, Montana State 0 (November 24 at Missoula)
1926 – College of Idaho 7, Montana State 0 (November 25 at Caldwell)
1928 – Carroll 29, Montana State 0 (November 29 at Sheridan, Wyoming for state championship)
1929 – Montana State 7, Carroll 0 (November 28 at Great Falls for state championship)
1936 – Montana State 26, Montana Tech 7 (November 26 at Butte)
1938 – Montana State 0, Northern Colorado 0 (November 24 in Bozeman)
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