Montana State University
South Dakota State
GAME #14: Bobcats Ready for Semifinal Showdown with South Dakota State
12/17/2021 5:41:00 PM | Football
MSU hosts MVFC powerhouse
THE STORYLINE
Freshman quarterback Tommy Mellott scored three touchdowns and threw for two others and Montana State's defense forced three turnovers while holding No. 1 Sam Houston to 24 points below its season scoring average in a 42-19 FCS Quarterfinals road win on Saturday. After Mellott marched the Bobcats to a game-opening touchdown drive - catching a four-yard scoring strike from receiver Willie Patterson - Tre Webb intercepted a pass and Mellott traded places with Patterson, tossing the fleet-footed senior a 31-yarder. By the end of the first quarter, Mellott had scored with his hands, arm, and feet.
GAME DATA
KICKOFF: 12 noon MT
SITE: Bozeman, Montana
STADIUM: Bobcat Stadium
RECORDS: Montana State is 11-2 and finished 7-1 in the Big Sky (2nd). South Dakota State is 11-3 after Saturday's 35-21 FCS quarterfinal win at Villanova. The Jackrabbits finished 5-3 (3rd) in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
SDSU-MSU SERIES
* The Jackrabbits beat MSU 47-40 in the 2014 FCS Playoffs in Bozeman.
* MSU leads the series with South Dakota State 10-5 (4-2 in Bozeman), but SDSU has won three straight. The Jackrabbits become MSU's fourth repeat playoff foe.
TEAM NOTES
* Seven of MSU's 16 eight-win seasons in history, and four of the eight nine-win seasons, came in this century. This is the program's fifth season of at 11+ wins.
* Brent Vigen's 11 wins is third-most in Big Sky history by a school's first-year coach (after UM's Mick Dennehy and Joe Glenn), the most by a first-year Bobcat coach.
ON THE OFFENSE
* Montana State's rushing offense is 6th in the FCS with 229.3 yards per game, while South Dakota State's 11th-ranked rushing defense allows 105.1 yards a game.
* MSU's 5.28 yards per rush is 9th in the FCS, while SDSU's 5.89 is 3rd.
* Isaiah Ifanse's 118.4 rushing yards per game this season is 3rd in the FCS, and he set MSU's single-season rushing record last week (currently 1,539).
ON THE DEFENSE
* MSU allows 106.7 yards a game on the ground, 13th in the FCS, while SDSU rushes for 218.6 yards a game, 8th the nation.
STADIUM STUFF
* MSU's playoff record is 9-4 in Bobcat/Reno H. Sales Stadium.
PLAYOFF BULLET POINTS
* After qualifying for the NCAA Playoffs twice previously (with a 6-0 record), the Bobcats have earned 10 bids and eight wins, since 2002.
* The five playoff wins by the 2021 senior class is the most in Bobcat history, and the 35 wins is second-most (after the 2010-13 group).
* MSU is the first team seeded as low as 8th to host an FCS Semifinal game.
* The Bobcats become the sixth team in Big Sky history to advance to the NCAA Semifinals in back-to-back seasons.
