Kelly Gorham

Football
09/25/2024 4:50:00 PM

Bill Lamberty

Montana State visits Idaho State for the 85th time for a kickoff on Saturday at 4 p.m

BOZEMAN, Montana – One of the Big Sky Conference’s classic football rivalries reopens Saturday when league members Montana State and Idaho State meet at Pocatello’s Holt Arena.

A century and a year after the teams first met in Pocatello, the 2-2 Bengals hosted 4-0 MSU in the conference opener for both teams. The 85^e The meeting – making it Montana State’s longest out-of-state series – marks MSU’s first visit to Idaho State since 2018 and presents a classic contrast of styles. The Bobcats’ booming ground game and efficient defense are at odds with Idaho State’s high-flying aerial attack and pressure defense.

Montana State coach Brent Vigen appreciates the progress his fourth team has made during the non-conference portion of the schedule. “It’s a good situation we’re in, going through the nonconference season and getting four Division I wins,” he said. “We’re about a month out from that first game and I think we’ve made significant progress. We’ve had a lot of guys in games the last three times and that group has continued to improve, and our top group on both sides of the ball have been very well played.”

Second-year ISU coach Cody Hawkins has put together an exciting offensive attack that ranks ninth nationally in passing offense. Four players have thrown at least 10 passes for the Bengals, with starter Kobe Tracy throwing for 660 yards while completing 59.8% of his passes. He has a six-to-two touchdown-to-interception ratio. Ian Duarte (25 catches), Jeff Weimer (16 catches) and Christian Fredericksen (14 catches) have emerged as the team’s top weapons in the passing game.

“Offensively, they can be very explosive,” Vigen said. “They average just under 280 passing (yards per game), and I know their rushing numbers went up last week, they’re running up to 140 (yards per game). They can get you both ways, and they score well about 32 points per match.”

The contrast in attacking styles is easy to spot. While ISU’s leading rusher, Dason Brooks, has 184 yards on the ground this season, three Bobcats have eclipsed that mark and another is within 20 yards. Montana State is averaging 19 more rushes per game than ISU this season, but the Bengals’ 42 passes are much faster than MSU’s 24 throws per game.

Montana State’s defense has improved as the season has gone on. “Considering what our defense has done since halftime of that New Mexico game, not much has been given up,” he said. “We didn’t take the ball away, which hopefully will happen, but I think we played really well defensively.” According to Vigen, New Mexico averaged 6.8 yards per play in the first half in Albuquerque, but in the seven halves of football since Bobcat opponents averaged 4.9 yards per play.

While the Bobcats remain a team that relies heavily on the run, quarterback Tommy Mellott’s Passing efficiency has allowed the team to throw it effectively. The oldest signal caller is 10^e in the FCS in completion percentage (.706) and 11^e in passing efficiency. Still, the Bobcats are rushing for 330.8 yards per game, 2^i.e in the FCS while throwing for 191.3 yards per game. One of the big differences this season has been Mellott’s role in the run game. Last season he averaged almost 10 carries per game, but this year he is only five per game.

“Offensively we were a pretty balanced team when we wanted to be,” Vigen said, “but we were still able to run the football effectively. We didn’t have to put a lot of strain on Tommy (Mellott). I think he has less than 25 turnovers at the moment has, not that he won’t carry the ball, but that was intentional as we went through the non-conference season.”

Vigen said the Bengals defense presents challenges for the MSU offense. “Defensively they play a 3-3-5 scheme, which seems very principled to me,” he said. “I know the points per game is probably not where they want to be. That North Dakota game got away from them, and there were a lot of reasons for that, but especially against Horton and George, that’s where it starts for them. Then you look to their linebackers and safeties, they’re a very aggressive group. They can handle the football, they move very well.”

While a handful of current Bobcats hail from southwestern Idaho, no current Bobcat has played Idaho State at Holt Arena. “It will be a big challenge,” Vigen said. “Other than Coach Daly and Coach Owens playing there, it’s a new environment and a new team because we haven’t played a Cody Hawkins-led Idaho State team.”

Saturday’s match starts at 4pm and will be broadcast statewide on MTN stations. Coverage begins at 3:30 PM with the Scripps Sports Saturday Showdown Pregame Show. In addition to streaming on ESPN+, MTN is available on DIRECTV, DIRECTV Stream, FUBO and off-air with an antenna or TABLO. Learn more about the MTN channel and where to find it.

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