GAME #1: Bobcats Host Utah Tech for Gold Rush on Saturday

Saturday, September 2

BOZEMAN

6 pm

Montana State University

Utah Tech

Photo by: Garrett Becker

GAME #1: Bobcats Host Utah Tech for Gold Rush on Saturday

8/28/2023 4:23:00 PM | Football

Montana State Notes vs. UT 9-2-23 Utah Tech Notes vs. MSU 9 2 23

With a new school name and nickname, the same program visits that helped start this whole thing in 2007

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Montana – Montana State welcomes a historic 2023 football season Saturday in familiar fashion, hosting Utah Tech for the annual Gold Rush game at 6 pm in Bobcat Stadium.

Many factors align to Saturday's contest noteworthy. The Gold Rush tradition began in 2007 and the opponent that day, Dixie State, returns in rebranded fashion as this season's Gold Rush foe. No one present then could have known what was in store for that humble t-shirt promotion, which has evolved into one of the Gallatin Valley's great late summer traditions.

"Gold Rush is the greatest," senior linebacker Nolan Askelson, a 2023 team captain, said simply.

In addition to the opponent and game designation, MSU rides the longest FCS home winning streak in the nation into Bobcat Stadium this weekend. The Cats have won 20 consecutive home contests in this venerated venue which opened just shy of 50 years ago as Reno H. Sales Stadium. Since the stadium opened on September 8, 1973, Montana State is 196-99 at home, including 112-45 since the 1998 renovation.

"There's no better way to open a season than with Gold Rush," says third-year Bobcat coach Brent Vigen. "There's a buzz all week, and the energy in the stadium on Saturday at 6 pm will be incredible."

The Bobcats open 2023 with 15 return starters, including eight on offense and seven on defense. Those numbers include nearly the entire two-deep on both lines. The only new starter on either line, redshirt freshman Conner Moore at left tackle, beat three players with multiple starts there to earn that position. Six players with starting experience return on the offensive line. "On offense we certainly return a lot of guys," Vigen said. "I think our strength lies within our ability to run the football, but I do think we've improved our passing game. Our weapons are different, and the ones that do return are improved players to what they were last year."

MSU's top six rushers return from last season, when quarterbacks Tommy Mellott (1,068 yards on the ground) and Sean Chambers (862 yards) led the Big Sky's most potent rushing attack. Running backs Elijah Elliott (726 yards) and Lane Sumner (433 yards) return as well, with Wisconsin transfer Julius Davis joining the mix.

While the principles in the run game should look similar to last year, those on the receiving end of passes from Mellott and Chambers stand to change. Clevan Thomas Jr. caught 22 passes, fourth on the team from his receiver position last year, and he is the only player at one of those positions with more than 10 catches in his career. Transfers Lonyatta Alexander Jr. (Washington) and Ty McCullouch (Colorado State) flank him as starters, with freshmen Aidan Garrigan, Christian Anaya and Jacob Trimble rounding out the receiver positions while returner Taco Dowler rehabs a shoulder injury.

"It's no secret we want to throw the ball more effectively this year," Vigen said. "Our weapons are different, and I think Tommy and Sean have both improved since the end of last season."

Like the offensive front, six defensive linemen bring starting experience into 2023. "On the defensive side our strength has to start with our guys up front and their ability to control the line of scrimmage," Vigen said. "That crew has taken that charge to heart. In the secondary we lost some key players, some mainstays, but they have a lot of talent and has continued to compete and get better through fall camp."

Linebackers Danny Uluilakepa, a starter last season, and veteran Nolan Askelson return to give the Cats a strong core of experience at linebacker, but the same situation doesn't exist in the back end. Juniors Simeon Woodard at corner and Rylan Ortt at safety are cornerstones, but players ascending in their roles man the rest of the secondary. Level Price Jr., a fifth-year senior, and sophomore Caden Dowler man the Nickel position, while sophomores Dru Polidore and Blake Stillwell man the free safety spot next to Ortt and veteran Kendric Bailey. Junior Miles Jackson rises to a starting role at the corner opposite Woodard, while freshman Andrew Powdrell and junior college transfer Jon Johnson enter their first season as Bobcat corners.

Vigen said preseason camp animates his enthusiasm for the season at hand. "When you think you have some talent, good players on both sides of the ball, there should be some back and forth. One side of the ball should not be dominating completely, and I think that's what we've had through the course of fall camp."

Utah Tech presents a unique challenge for the Cats. Led by former Big Sky assistant coach Paul Peterson, the Trailblazers finished 4-7 in 2022, 3-2 in the WAC, but won three of their final four contests and played competitive football against BYU in a 52-26 season-ending loss.

"First games are always their own, based on the year," Vigen said. "This happens to be a situation where (Utah Tech has) the same head coach but a lot of change within the program both on the coaching staff and personnel turnover. They're a team that was emerging last year, playing Sam Houston tough late in the season and then beat Stephen F. Austin, who was ranked, and rattled off a couple more wins after that and finished their season against BYU. So they're beyond their transition to the FCS and I feel like they'll bring a talented team up here ready to show that they're continuing to make that move."

That provides the backdrop for Vigen and his third Bobcat team to open a season with high expectations. Montana State rolls into 2023 on the wave of four straight post-season appearances and three consecutive trips to the FCS Semifinals, both unprecedented feats in program history. The Cats are ranked third in bot the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches preseason polls.

But Vigen said his team remained focused on the moment at hand. "I appreciate that our guys have lived in that world (of getting better every day) and I think now they're eager to transition to an opponent. They've taken all these days really seriously and stacked them up, and here we are in a real, live game week."

Saturday's game airs on ABC stations around Montana and SWX in Billings.

#GoCatsGo