Tommy Mellott
Photo by: Brian Morse
GAME #10: Cats Look to Extend Streak When Sacramento State Visits on Saturday
11/8/2024 1:28:00 PM | Football
Montana State faces Big Sky team that last handed it a home defeat
BOZEMAN, Montana – Sometimes, a phrase that comes off as trite actually carries deeply significant meaning. So, when Brent Vigen and his Montana State football team talk about a 1-0 mentality, about winning every day in order to win every game, it isn't just words from a coachspeak manual.
"Our guys have done everything they can to embody that," Vigen said of the mentality that has led to his team's 9-0 start. He added it's not a recent phenomenon. "I think coming out of last year we did get a little ahead of ourselves at times. Maybe we made some assumptions about what was out in front of us. Becoming more grounded, becoming more in the moment. We became more intentional about that going all the way back to January."
The Bobcats look to go 1-0 for the 10th straight week on Saturday, hosting Sacramento State at 1 pm in Bobcat Stadium. The opportunity to remain unbeaten in 2024 comes on the heels of a hard-fought 42-28 win at Eastern Washington that was tied with less than 17 minutes to play. Vigen lauded his team's mentality. "It showed a resolve, a belief in one another," he said. "I don't think anyone on our sideline panicked. There's a lot that can be gained from just that, from being put to the test."
The next test arrives in the form of a Sacramento State team that is the most recent Big Sky foe to win in Bobcat Stadium. This year's Hornets enter Saturday's game with a 3-6 record, 1-4 in Big Sky play, fighting through a wave of injuries. Carson Conklin, who began the season as Kaiden Bennett's backup, has emerged as a positive for the Hornets this season. He completes 62% of his passes for 2,041 yards and a touchdown-to-interception rate of 22-to-6.
Sacramento State's offensive acumen has not escaped Vigen, a team he calls "very dangerous. They've dealt with quite a bit injury-wise but offensively they continue to put up numbers. Conklin at quarterback is a guy that continues to grow as the season has gone along, he's over 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns at this point, and you can see his confidence continue to grow throughout the year."
Conklin's production aside, the Hornets ride a strong ground game. Elijah Tau-Tolliver, who rushed for 100 yards against the Bobcats a season ago, averaged 103.3 yards a game and 5.9 per carry this season. Curron Borders also averages 5.5 yards a carry, although he has 90 carries fewer than Tau-Tolliver.
"They have a couple of good running backs," Vigen said. "I know their leading rusher, Tau-Tolliver, didn't play last week, but they can certainly run it. You look at their receiving corps, their top three receivers are 40 catches, 38 catches, 36 catches, so their ability to spread the ball around is different from most teams." Vigen is referring to Jared Gipson (40 catches, 609 yards, seven touchdowns), Anderson Grover (38 catches, 554 yards, five scores), and Danny Scudero (36 catches, 439 yards, three touchdowns.
Utah Tech transfer Will Leota leads the defense with 71 tackles, 9.5 for a loss, and two interceptions. His status as a newcomer is common. "Defensively the one thing that jumps out at me right away is that they don't have a single starter listed this week that they had listed last year. That's significant. To not have a single guy starting that started in that game last year, that's a lot of turnover. Some of it is injury, some of that is graduation, but I think their hallmark as much as anything has been defense the last couple of years, and obviously they're not statistically doing the things that they have done. But I still think they're very principled, they have a defensive head coach, and I imagine they're working through improving the defensive side of the ball."
The Hornets defense meets a Montana State offense that has dominated games by running the football. Sophomore running back Scottre Humphrey has rushed for over 100 yards in three straight games, and the Cats have gained at least 300 yards on the ground in each of those.
Quarterback Tommy Mellott threw his first interception of the season a week ago, but was at his best when his team needed it the most. One play after Eastern Washington tied the score at 28-28 late in the third quarter, Mellott sprinted 76 yards through the Eagles defense for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, he feathered a ball to Ty McCullouch, who had leaked out behind the EWU secondary, for a 61-yard touchdown. "Tommy is playing at a very high level right now," Vigen said.
Montana State's defense "was just a bit off" in allowing the Eagles 393 yards and 28 points a week ago. That marked the most points scored by a Bobcat opponent since the season opener, and the most yards by an opponent all season. "They are issues that are very correctible," Vigen said.
Last week's win produced a couple of historic milestones. Mellott became the fourth player in school history to rush for more than 3,000 yards in his Bobcat career, and Scottre Humphrey passed 1,000 yards in a season. He became the 25th Bobcat to gain 1,000 yards in a season, but only the ninth to do it as a sophomore. Humphrey is fourth in the FCS in rushing yards per game (118.0), and third in yards per carry (7.27).
As the Bobcats look to extend the season-opening win streak to 10 games, the best in school history, on Military and Ag Appreciation Day, for Vigen Saturday's game is another opportunity to play football. "The train," he said, "continues to move. Now it's on to game 10."
#GoCatsGo
"Our guys have done everything they can to embody that," Vigen said of the mentality that has led to his team's 9-0 start. He added it's not a recent phenomenon. "I think coming out of last year we did get a little ahead of ourselves at times. Maybe we made some assumptions about what was out in front of us. Becoming more grounded, becoming more in the moment. We became more intentional about that going all the way back to January."
The Bobcats look to go 1-0 for the 10th straight week on Saturday, hosting Sacramento State at 1 pm in Bobcat Stadium. The opportunity to remain unbeaten in 2024 comes on the heels of a hard-fought 42-28 win at Eastern Washington that was tied with less than 17 minutes to play. Vigen lauded his team's mentality. "It showed a resolve, a belief in one another," he said. "I don't think anyone on our sideline panicked. There's a lot that can be gained from just that, from being put to the test."
The next test arrives in the form of a Sacramento State team that is the most recent Big Sky foe to win in Bobcat Stadium. This year's Hornets enter Saturday's game with a 3-6 record, 1-4 in Big Sky play, fighting through a wave of injuries. Carson Conklin, who began the season as Kaiden Bennett's backup, has emerged as a positive for the Hornets this season. He completes 62% of his passes for 2,041 yards and a touchdown-to-interception rate of 22-to-6.
Sacramento State's offensive acumen has not escaped Vigen, a team he calls "very dangerous. They've dealt with quite a bit injury-wise but offensively they continue to put up numbers. Conklin at quarterback is a guy that continues to grow as the season has gone along, he's over 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns at this point, and you can see his confidence continue to grow throughout the year."
Conklin's production aside, the Hornets ride a strong ground game. Elijah Tau-Tolliver, who rushed for 100 yards against the Bobcats a season ago, averaged 103.3 yards a game and 5.9 per carry this season. Curron Borders also averages 5.5 yards a carry, although he has 90 carries fewer than Tau-Tolliver.
"They have a couple of good running backs," Vigen said. "I know their leading rusher, Tau-Tolliver, didn't play last week, but they can certainly run it. You look at their receiving corps, their top three receivers are 40 catches, 38 catches, 36 catches, so their ability to spread the ball around is different from most teams." Vigen is referring to Jared Gipson (40 catches, 609 yards, seven touchdowns), Anderson Grover (38 catches, 554 yards, five scores), and Danny Scudero (36 catches, 439 yards, three touchdowns.
Utah Tech transfer Will Leota leads the defense with 71 tackles, 9.5 for a loss, and two interceptions. His status as a newcomer is common. "Defensively the one thing that jumps out at me right away is that they don't have a single starter listed this week that they had listed last year. That's significant. To not have a single guy starting that started in that game last year, that's a lot of turnover. Some of it is injury, some of that is graduation, but I think their hallmark as much as anything has been defense the last couple of years, and obviously they're not statistically doing the things that they have done. But I still think they're very principled, they have a defensive head coach, and I imagine they're working through improving the defensive side of the ball."
The Hornets defense meets a Montana State offense that has dominated games by running the football. Sophomore running back Scottre Humphrey has rushed for over 100 yards in three straight games, and the Cats have gained at least 300 yards on the ground in each of those.
Quarterback Tommy Mellott threw his first interception of the season a week ago, but was at his best when his team needed it the most. One play after Eastern Washington tied the score at 28-28 late in the third quarter, Mellott sprinted 76 yards through the Eagles defense for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, he feathered a ball to Ty McCullouch, who had leaked out behind the EWU secondary, for a 61-yard touchdown. "Tommy is playing at a very high level right now," Vigen said.
Montana State's defense "was just a bit off" in allowing the Eagles 393 yards and 28 points a week ago. That marked the most points scored by a Bobcat opponent since the season opener, and the most yards by an opponent all season. "They are issues that are very correctible," Vigen said.
Last week's win produced a couple of historic milestones. Mellott became the fourth player in school history to rush for more than 3,000 yards in his Bobcat career, and Scottre Humphrey passed 1,000 yards in a season. He became the 25th Bobcat to gain 1,000 yards in a season, but only the ninth to do it as a sophomore. Humphrey is fourth in the FCS in rushing yards per game (118.0), and third in yards per carry (7.27).
As the Bobcats look to extend the season-opening win streak to 10 games, the best in school history, on Military and Ag Appreciation Day, for Vigen Saturday's game is another opportunity to play football. "The train," he said, "continues to move. Now it's on to game 10."
#GoCatsGo
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