Photo by: Kelly Gorham
GAME #16: Bobcats Meet North Dakota State with National Title at Stake
1/3/2025 1:06:00 PM | Football
Montana State faces familiar foe in Frisco
BOZEMAN, Montana – Montana State reaches the zenith of its football season on Monday, Jan. 6, when the Bobcats meet North Dakota State for the FCS Championship in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff is 5 pm MT/6 pm CT, and the game airs nationally on ESPN.
The finality of a historic season – the Cats enter the title tilt as the tournament's No. 1 seed with a 15-0 record, the best mark in school history and the only unbeaten team remaining in Division I football – is settling in with MSU quarterback Tommy Mellott. "We finally have a finite number of days," the All-America signal caller from Butte said. "Every other week in this playoffs it's been nothing's guaranteed beyond so you had a finite number of five or six (days), however you want to look at it. But now we have a date. We know when the last 60 minutes of football are in our college career."
Those final 60 minutes close the circle for the senior class with the most wins in Bobcat history. Mellott and his mates own 47 victories since the beginning of 2021, a season that opened with Brent Vigen leading the program for the first time as Bobcats head coach and ended with a loss to NDSU in the national title game in Frisco. That was Montana State's first team to play for a national championship since the 1984 Bobcats won it all, and Monday's game marks first time any player in the Blue and Gold competes in a second national championship game.
Vigen isn't worried about history, though. He's enjoying the here and now. "This team has continued to live in the moment," he said. "It's great to be in this current moment with this group."
Vigen's fourth Bobcat team faces a North Dakota State (13-2, seeded second in the playoffs) program that he played for, and later helped form into its current dynastic state as a long-time assistant coach. The Bison won FCS championships in Vigen's final three seasons there before he left for Wyoming with head coach Craig Bohl, and NDSU went on to win six more in the intervening years. First-year North Dakota State coach Tim Polasek and Vigen worked together years ago in Fargo.
"I know the opponent in front of us, we know for sure having played them last year and back in '21 down in Frisco, we have a lot of respect for that program," Vigen said. "It's beyond the obvious with my situation, having spent so much time there and having faced them, I'm really impressed with their team. Tim's come in there and done a really good job. They're a team that's better now than it was in August, that's apparent. They've had guys that have had the kind of year that you need, like Cam Miller, to take a team to these heights."
Miller is the fourth-year starting quarterback who led the Bison to the 2021 national title against MSU in Frisco, and has thrown for 3,052 yards this season. He and Mellott are two of the three Walter Payton Award finalists invited to attend the Stats Perform FCS Awards Banquet on Saturday, where the organization presents its national player of the year awards. Mellott collected the FCS ADA Offensive Player of the Year Award and the Walter Camp FCS Player of the Year Award this week, and Vigen will be presented the 2024 Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year Award at that event, as well.
Vigen is impressed with Miller's progress. "He's done phenomenal things throughout his career, and he's certainly had his best year this year in his last year. When the moments have been the biggest he's really shined. He's going to be a big challenge for us to contain."
Miller "does a good job spreading it around" to a strong group of offensive weapons, Vigen said. This year's Jerry Rice Award winner as the top FCS freshman, CharMar Brown, rushes for 73.6 yards per game, while receiver Bryce Lance has 964 receiving yards and an FCS-best 16 touchdown catches.
"When you look at the years that Brown has had, the Jerry Rice Award winner, the year that Bryce Lance has had, they have many skill guys, that's just to name two," Vigen said. "Cam has done a good job spreading it around. But I know it starts for them up front, and I'm really impressed with that group and their improvement."
The Bison defense remains stout. NDSU is 10th in the FCS in scoring defense (17.7 points a game allowed) and 18th in total defense (316.3 yards a game allowed).
"On the defensive side they continue to do things that NDSU has traditionally done, led by their front," Vigen said. "(Eli) Mostaert and (Kody) Huisman from an interior perspective is a heck of a tandem, very disruptive, and I think that front in general, a number of guys have played, have continually come around. I think they were the difference in that (FCS semifinal) game against South Dakota State."
The Bobcats attack North Dakota State's strengths – a strong defensive front and an offense spurred by a rugged ground game and efficient passing – with their own strong suits. Montana State's offensive line helped produce the nation's second-leading ground game while surrendering the fifth-fewest sacks in the FCS. Mellott triggers the operation, leading the nation in passing efficiency while averaging 8.4 yards per rush with 14 touchdowns on the ground. Running backs Scottre Humphrey (7.2 yards per rush) and Adam Jones (6.6) add balance.
MSU ranks sixth in the FCS in scoring defense (17.1 points allowed per game), 12th in total defense (306.0 yards allowed per game) and 17th in rushing defense (115.6). Led by defensive end Kenneth Eiden IV, who has a share of a sack in six straight games, MSU's pass rush has surged. Eiden and Brody Grebe have combined for 16.5 sacks on the season, and the team's 2.40 sacks per game leads the Big Sky.
As many compelling matchups as exist in Monday's contest, Vigen's attention drifts toward the quarterbacks. "Both guys were named finalists, in the top three, for (the Walter Payton Award) coming out of the regular season, so it is poetic that they've both led their team to this game," he said.
Mellott left the 2021 championship game early with an injury, but in last season's playoff contest he was marvelous. He rushed for 150 yards and threw for 209 in that game. Vigen is impressed with the progress both Miller and Mellott have made.
"Both guys have had a ton of success, have won a ton of football games, but I think for both of them they've continued to grow as quarterbacks," he said. "I think of what Cam Miller meant to that team in '21 and what he means now is two different things. He was a good quarterback, now he's become a great quarterback. And I think the same can be said for Tommy. How Tommy did things and what he was able to do for us back in '21 and even in '22, way different than the version of Tommy Mellott this year. To be in games like this, for a team to ultimately achieve at its highest level you generally need good quarterback play, if not great quarterback play. I think both teams have that, and I'm excited for the matchup. I know they don't go head-to-head but ultimately the team that wins, a lot will probably comes back to who played better between those two."
The Bobcats have advanced to the championship game for the second time in four seasons by staying in the moment, what has become known as a "1-0 mentality," according to senior safety Rylan Ortt. "The main thing we focus on is we can't get too far ahead of ourselves," he said. "We can't be in January and worrying about next January. We've got to look at the day ahead of us, attack that day, and go 1-0 each day. We went 1-0 during winter conditioning, then we attacked spring ball, then we attacked summer workouts, then we went into fall camp, and we'd just go week by week. I just think that we did a good job not getting ahead of ourselves, every week resetting and going back to work."
And Ortt knows one thing that has held true since the team convened nearly a year ago. "You've got to be about the process, and the main thing was the seniors and this whole team fell in love with that process."
For Mellott, Monday's game means one more opportunity to play football for the school and with the teammates he loves. "It's definitely a blessing to be able to extend it as far as we have and have the max number of games, and on top of that to have a week zero game and extend the season even longer. It's special."
#GoCatsGo
The finality of a historic season – the Cats enter the title tilt as the tournament's No. 1 seed with a 15-0 record, the best mark in school history and the only unbeaten team remaining in Division I football – is settling in with MSU quarterback Tommy Mellott. "We finally have a finite number of days," the All-America signal caller from Butte said. "Every other week in this playoffs it's been nothing's guaranteed beyond so you had a finite number of five or six (days), however you want to look at it. But now we have a date. We know when the last 60 minutes of football are in our college career."
Those final 60 minutes close the circle for the senior class with the most wins in Bobcat history. Mellott and his mates own 47 victories since the beginning of 2021, a season that opened with Brent Vigen leading the program for the first time as Bobcats head coach and ended with a loss to NDSU in the national title game in Frisco. That was Montana State's first team to play for a national championship since the 1984 Bobcats won it all, and Monday's game marks first time any player in the Blue and Gold competes in a second national championship game.
Vigen isn't worried about history, though. He's enjoying the here and now. "This team has continued to live in the moment," he said. "It's great to be in this current moment with this group."
Vigen's fourth Bobcat team faces a North Dakota State (13-2, seeded second in the playoffs) program that he played for, and later helped form into its current dynastic state as a long-time assistant coach. The Bison won FCS championships in Vigen's final three seasons there before he left for Wyoming with head coach Craig Bohl, and NDSU went on to win six more in the intervening years. First-year North Dakota State coach Tim Polasek and Vigen worked together years ago in Fargo.
"I know the opponent in front of us, we know for sure having played them last year and back in '21 down in Frisco, we have a lot of respect for that program," Vigen said. "It's beyond the obvious with my situation, having spent so much time there and having faced them, I'm really impressed with their team. Tim's come in there and done a really good job. They're a team that's better now than it was in August, that's apparent. They've had guys that have had the kind of year that you need, like Cam Miller, to take a team to these heights."
Miller is the fourth-year starting quarterback who led the Bison to the 2021 national title against MSU in Frisco, and has thrown for 3,052 yards this season. He and Mellott are two of the three Walter Payton Award finalists invited to attend the Stats Perform FCS Awards Banquet on Saturday, where the organization presents its national player of the year awards. Mellott collected the FCS ADA Offensive Player of the Year Award and the Walter Camp FCS Player of the Year Award this week, and Vigen will be presented the 2024 Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year Award at that event, as well.
Vigen is impressed with Miller's progress. "He's done phenomenal things throughout his career, and he's certainly had his best year this year in his last year. When the moments have been the biggest he's really shined. He's going to be a big challenge for us to contain."
Miller "does a good job spreading it around" to a strong group of offensive weapons, Vigen said. This year's Jerry Rice Award winner as the top FCS freshman, CharMar Brown, rushes for 73.6 yards per game, while receiver Bryce Lance has 964 receiving yards and an FCS-best 16 touchdown catches.
"When you look at the years that Brown has had, the Jerry Rice Award winner, the year that Bryce Lance has had, they have many skill guys, that's just to name two," Vigen said. "Cam has done a good job spreading it around. But I know it starts for them up front, and I'm really impressed with that group and their improvement."
The Bison defense remains stout. NDSU is 10th in the FCS in scoring defense (17.7 points a game allowed) and 18th in total defense (316.3 yards a game allowed).
"On the defensive side they continue to do things that NDSU has traditionally done, led by their front," Vigen said. "(Eli) Mostaert and (Kody) Huisman from an interior perspective is a heck of a tandem, very disruptive, and I think that front in general, a number of guys have played, have continually come around. I think they were the difference in that (FCS semifinal) game against South Dakota State."
The Bobcats attack North Dakota State's strengths – a strong defensive front and an offense spurred by a rugged ground game and efficient passing – with their own strong suits. Montana State's offensive line helped produce the nation's second-leading ground game while surrendering the fifth-fewest sacks in the FCS. Mellott triggers the operation, leading the nation in passing efficiency while averaging 8.4 yards per rush with 14 touchdowns on the ground. Running backs Scottre Humphrey (7.2 yards per rush) and Adam Jones (6.6) add balance.
MSU ranks sixth in the FCS in scoring defense (17.1 points allowed per game), 12th in total defense (306.0 yards allowed per game) and 17th in rushing defense (115.6). Led by defensive end Kenneth Eiden IV, who has a share of a sack in six straight games, MSU's pass rush has surged. Eiden and Brody Grebe have combined for 16.5 sacks on the season, and the team's 2.40 sacks per game leads the Big Sky.
As many compelling matchups as exist in Monday's contest, Vigen's attention drifts toward the quarterbacks. "Both guys were named finalists, in the top three, for (the Walter Payton Award) coming out of the regular season, so it is poetic that they've both led their team to this game," he said.
Mellott left the 2021 championship game early with an injury, but in last season's playoff contest he was marvelous. He rushed for 150 yards and threw for 209 in that game. Vigen is impressed with the progress both Miller and Mellott have made.
"Both guys have had a ton of success, have won a ton of football games, but I think for both of them they've continued to grow as quarterbacks," he said. "I think of what Cam Miller meant to that team in '21 and what he means now is two different things. He was a good quarterback, now he's become a great quarterback. And I think the same can be said for Tommy. How Tommy did things and what he was able to do for us back in '21 and even in '22, way different than the version of Tommy Mellott this year. To be in games like this, for a team to ultimately achieve at its highest level you generally need good quarterback play, if not great quarterback play. I think both teams have that, and I'm excited for the matchup. I know they don't go head-to-head but ultimately the team that wins, a lot will probably comes back to who played better between those two."
The Bobcats have advanced to the championship game for the second time in four seasons by staying in the moment, what has become known as a "1-0 mentality," according to senior safety Rylan Ortt. "The main thing we focus on is we can't get too far ahead of ourselves," he said. "We can't be in January and worrying about next January. We've got to look at the day ahead of us, attack that day, and go 1-0 each day. We went 1-0 during winter conditioning, then we attacked spring ball, then we attacked summer workouts, then we went into fall camp, and we'd just go week by week. I just think that we did a good job not getting ahead of ourselves, every week resetting and going back to work."
And Ortt knows one thing that has held true since the team convened nearly a year ago. "You've got to be about the process, and the main thing was the seniors and this whole team fell in love with that process."
For Mellott, Monday's game means one more opportunity to play football for the school and with the teammates he loves. "It's definitely a blessing to be able to extend it as far as we have and have the max number of games, and on top of that to have a week zero game and extend the season even longer. It's special."
#GoCatsGo
Players Mentioned
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