Saturday, November 22
Missoula, Mont.
12 noon
Montana State University
at
Montana
Like his father, Kenneth Eiden IV leads the Bobcats into Cat-Griz as a team captain
Photo by: Colter Peterson
GAME #12: Bobcats, Grizzlies Get Together in Brawl of the Wild with Big Sky Title on the Line
11/21/2025 9:09:00 AM | Football
No. 3 Montana State faces second-ranked UM at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday
BOZEMAN, Mont. (Nov. 20, 2025) – Montana State's annual showdown with arch-rival Montana always features high stakes and elevate emotions, but Saturday's 124th clash stands out.
For the first time in history, each team holds down a spot in the top three of the national polls. And for the first time since the game moved to the season's final weekend, the Bobcats and Grizzlies meet with unblemished Big Sky Conference records, 7-0, and an outright league title on the line.
"Regardless of how we've felt we played, we've been able to win a bunch of games in a row," said fifth-year MSU head coach Brent Vigen, who has now played for at least a share of the Big Sky title on the season's last weekend in each of his five seasons with the Bobcats. "And that puts us in a position where this final regular season game means a whole lot. Not that it wouldn't anyway, but when you have all that's on the line, this is where you want to be positioned."
For the second straight season, one of Saturday's Cat-Griz combatants looks to finish an unbeaten regular season. The No. 2 Grizzlies own an 11-0 record one season after MSU romped to a 15-0 record before falling in the FCS Championship game. "Any time you go through 11 games and you're undefeated," Vigen said, "you've continued to find ways to win, and the credit goes to them."
Vigen said there's no secret to UM's success. "They're explosive on offense," he said, "and they create real problems on defense."
The Grizzlies offense captured the headlines throughout the season's first 11 games. The team's 42.0 points per game stands second in the FCS, while the 457.5 yards per game is sixth. Quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat triggers the explosive offense, averaging 276.7 total yards per game. That stands 12th in the FCS.
Montana's powerful ground game rides on sturdy star Eli Gillman, who averages 102.6 yards per game and 6.38 yards per carry, both marks among the nation's top 10. Michael Wortham's 155.36 all-purpose yards per game is third in the FCS. His offensive spark can come from anywhere on the formation's perimeter, including behind center, and he is also an elite return specialist.
Vigen has been impressed with Ah Yat. "He looks a lot different than he did last year when he was sharing the opportunity," he said. "He's certainly settled in and had a real good year. He's elusive, he makes good decisions, and he can push the ball down the field."
"This will be a great challenge," Vigen says of the test his defense faces on Saturday. That unit has passed every one so far, with no FCS team scoring more than 17 points in regulation, or in the third quarter, against the Bobcats. MSU stands among the nation's defensive leaders, as well – eighth in scoring defense (16.2), 14th in yards allowed (308.8) and 12th in rushing defense (110.8). The Cats lead the league in each of those categories.
The showdown between two of the FCS' elite units casts a shadow over Montana State's offense squaring off against the Grizzly defense, but the big-play penchant shown by UM's stop unit poses danger. The Grizzlies have 22 takeaways this season, second in the FCS.
The Cats counter with an offense that relies more on efficiency than the big play. Montana State's 443.4 yards per game is 16th in the FCS, but the 6.90 yards per play is ninth. Quarterback Justin Lamson, who played in raucous environments such as Virginia Tech during his time at Stanford and Syracuse, completes 71 percent of his passes, third-best in the FCS. He is 13th nationally with 15.8 point responsible for per game (touchdowns run or thrown for), and running backs Julius Davis and Adam Jones each rank among the Big Sky's top 10 in rushing yards per carry and per game.
"Defensively, they continue to pose challenges with their aggression, their alignments, their variability, all those things," he said. "For us, going into that environment, we're going to have to do everything we can to play as clean a game as possible."
Vigen preaches that each while patterns can provide insight before the kickoff, each game takes on its own characteristics once underway. Handling Washington-Grizzly Stadium's frenzied crowd and the game's high stakes is part of that equation, but he said once the game begins the factors need to be entirely on the field of play.
"This team has been good about taking each week and each game as its own opportunity," he said. "It all comes down to the 22 players on the field, and to each player doing his job to the best of his ability."
Kickoff is 12 noon. The game airs around Montana on CBS stations via Scripps Sports, and streams on ESPN+. The Bobcat Radio Network carries the game, with Keaton Gillogly and former Bobcats Leo Davis and Dan Davies on the call, and audio streams on Learfield's Varsity app.
#GoCatsGo
For the first time in history, each team holds down a spot in the top three of the national polls. And for the first time since the game moved to the season's final weekend, the Bobcats and Grizzlies meet with unblemished Big Sky Conference records, 7-0, and an outright league title on the line.
"Regardless of how we've felt we played, we've been able to win a bunch of games in a row," said fifth-year MSU head coach Brent Vigen, who has now played for at least a share of the Big Sky title on the season's last weekend in each of his five seasons with the Bobcats. "And that puts us in a position where this final regular season game means a whole lot. Not that it wouldn't anyway, but when you have all that's on the line, this is where you want to be positioned."
For the second straight season, one of Saturday's Cat-Griz combatants looks to finish an unbeaten regular season. The No. 2 Grizzlies own an 11-0 record one season after MSU romped to a 15-0 record before falling in the FCS Championship game. "Any time you go through 11 games and you're undefeated," Vigen said, "you've continued to find ways to win, and the credit goes to them."
Vigen said there's no secret to UM's success. "They're explosive on offense," he said, "and they create real problems on defense."
The Grizzlies offense captured the headlines throughout the season's first 11 games. The team's 42.0 points per game stands second in the FCS, while the 457.5 yards per game is sixth. Quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat triggers the explosive offense, averaging 276.7 total yards per game. That stands 12th in the FCS.
Montana's powerful ground game rides on sturdy star Eli Gillman, who averages 102.6 yards per game and 6.38 yards per carry, both marks among the nation's top 10. Michael Wortham's 155.36 all-purpose yards per game is third in the FCS. His offensive spark can come from anywhere on the formation's perimeter, including behind center, and he is also an elite return specialist.
Vigen has been impressed with Ah Yat. "He looks a lot different than he did last year when he was sharing the opportunity," he said. "He's certainly settled in and had a real good year. He's elusive, he makes good decisions, and he can push the ball down the field."
"This will be a great challenge," Vigen says of the test his defense faces on Saturday. That unit has passed every one so far, with no FCS team scoring more than 17 points in regulation, or in the third quarter, against the Bobcats. MSU stands among the nation's defensive leaders, as well – eighth in scoring defense (16.2), 14th in yards allowed (308.8) and 12th in rushing defense (110.8). The Cats lead the league in each of those categories.
The showdown between two of the FCS' elite units casts a shadow over Montana State's offense squaring off against the Grizzly defense, but the big-play penchant shown by UM's stop unit poses danger. The Grizzlies have 22 takeaways this season, second in the FCS.
The Cats counter with an offense that relies more on efficiency than the big play. Montana State's 443.4 yards per game is 16th in the FCS, but the 6.90 yards per play is ninth. Quarterback Justin Lamson, who played in raucous environments such as Virginia Tech during his time at Stanford and Syracuse, completes 71 percent of his passes, third-best in the FCS. He is 13th nationally with 15.8 point responsible for per game (touchdowns run or thrown for), and running backs Julius Davis and Adam Jones each rank among the Big Sky's top 10 in rushing yards per carry and per game.
"Defensively, they continue to pose challenges with their aggression, their alignments, their variability, all those things," he said. "For us, going into that environment, we're going to have to do everything we can to play as clean a game as possible."
Vigen preaches that each while patterns can provide insight before the kickoff, each game takes on its own characteristics once underway. Handling Washington-Grizzly Stadium's frenzied crowd and the game's high stakes is part of that equation, but he said once the game begins the factors need to be entirely on the field of play.
"This team has been good about taking each week and each game as its own opportunity," he said. "It all comes down to the 22 players on the field, and to each player doing his job to the best of his ability."
Kickoff is 12 noon. The game airs around Montana on CBS stations via Scripps Sports, and streams on ESPN+. The Bobcat Radio Network carries the game, with Keaton Gillogly and former Bobcats Leo Davis and Dan Davies on the call, and audio streams on Learfield's Varsity app.
#GoCatsGo
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