2023 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 2023 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bobcats were led by third-year head coach Brent Vigen and played home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.

2023 Montana State Bobcats football
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 34–35OT vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 9
FCS Coaches	No. 8
Record	8–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Brent Vigen (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Taylor Housewright (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Willie Mack Garza (2nd season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium
Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

2023 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Montana $^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 8 Idaho ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 9 Montana State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Northern Arizona		5	–	3					5	–	6
No. 24 UC Davis		5	–	3					7	–	4
No. 13 Sacramento State ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Weber State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Eastern Washington		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					3	–	8
Northern Colorado		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Bobcats were predicted to finish first in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.^[1]

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	120 (10)
2	UC Davis	96 (1)
3	Sacramento State	94 (1)
4	Weber State	91
5	Idaho	89
6	Montana	84
7	Eastern Washington	52
8	Portland State	45
9	Northern Arizona	44
10	Northern Colorado	37
11	Cal Poly	25
12	Idaho State	15

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	447 (26)
2	Idaho	410 (8)
3	Montana	359 (2)
4	Sacramento State	334 (3)
5	UC Davis	330
6	Weber State	320
7	Eastern Washington	216
8	Northern Arizona	178
9	Portland State	167
10	Northern Colorado	109
11	Cal Poly	103
12	Idaho State	69

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	Utah Tech*	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 63–20	21,967
September 9	5:00 p.m.	at No. 1 South Dakota State*	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+	L 16–20	19,332
September 16	1:00 p.m.	Stetson*	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 57–20	21,487
September 23	6:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Weber State	No. 3	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	W 40–0	10,905
September 30	2:00 p.m.	Portland State	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 38–22	22,017
October 14	6:00 p.m.	Cal Poly	No. 2	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 59–19	21,997
October 21	8:30 p.m.	at No. 3 Sacramento State	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	ESPN2	W 42–30	16,122
October 28	2:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Idaho	No. 2	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	ESPN+	L 21–24	13,073
November 4	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	No. 6	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 45–21	21,297
November 11	1:00 p.m.	Eastern Washington	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 57–14	20,897
November 18	12:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Montana	No. 4	Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (rivalry)	ESPN+	L 7–37	27,178
December 2	1:00 p.m.	No. 8 North Dakota State*	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	L 34–35 OT	17,247
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[2]

Game summaries

vs Utah Tech

See also: 2023 Utah Tech Trailblazers football team

at No. 1 South Dakota State

See also: 2023 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Bobcats	7	3	0	6	16
No. 1 Jackrabbits	0	0	7	13	20

No. 3 Montana State Bobcats (1–0) vs No. 1 South Dakota State (1–0) – Game summary

at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, SD

• Date: September 9, 2023
• Game time: 5:00 p.m. MDT
• Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C), Sunny, Wind NE 10 mph (16 km/h)
• Game attendance: 19,332
• Referee: Rick Warne
• TV: ESPN+

Statistics	MSU	SDSU
First downs	17	20
Total yards	298	341
Rushing yards	211	157
Passing yards	87	184
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	35:23	24:37

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Montana State	Passing	Sean Chambers	3/9, 53 yards, INT
	Rushing	Sean Chambers	20 carries, 90 yards, TD
	Receiving	Derryk Snell	3 receptions, 38 yards
South Dakota State	Passing	Mark Gronowski	13/22, 184 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Isaiah Davis	12 carries, 66 yards
	Receiving	Griffin Wilde	2 receptions, 49 yards, TD

vs Stetson

See also: 2023 Stetson Hatters football team

at No. 10 Weber State

See also: 2023 Weber State Wildcats football team

vs Portland State

See also: 2023 Portland State Vikings football team

vs Cal Poly

See also: 2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

at No. 3 Sacramento State

See also: 2023 Sacramento State Hornets football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Bobcats	0	14	7	21	42
No. 3 Hornets	7	0	10	13	30

Game information

First Quarter (0:58) SAC – Danny Scudero 16-yard run (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 4:20; Sacramento State 7–0) Second Quarter (12:47) MTST – Jon Johnson 16-yard interception return (Brendan Hall kick) (Drive: 2 plays, 1 yard, 0:32; Tied 7–7) (3:46) MTST – Ty McCullouch 21-yard pass from Sean Chambers (Brendan Hall kick) (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:44; Montana State 14–7) Third Quarter (10:10) MTST – Tommy Mellott 11-yard run (Brendan Hall kick) (Drive: 3 plays, 26 yards, 1:16; Montana State 21–7) (8:48) SAC – Elijah Tau-Tolliver 53-yard run (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:22; Montana State 21–14) (6:09) SAC – Zach Schreiner 26-yard field goal (Drive: 5 plays, 17 yards, 2:30; Montana State 21–17) Fourth Quarter (14:53) MTST – Tommy Mellott 9-yard run (Brendan Hall kick) (Drive: 11 plays, 90 yards, 6:11; Montana State 28–17) (10:02) SAC – Elijah Tau-Tolliver 10-yard run (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 4:51; Montana State 28–24) (8:26) MTST – Julius Davis 1-yard run (Brendan Hall kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 63 yards, 1:31; Montana State 35–24) (5:05) MTST – Jared White 12-yard run (Brendan Hall kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 28 yards, 2:31; Montana State 42–24) (1:27) SAC – Devin Gandy 7-yard pass from Kaiden Bennett (two-point pass conversion failed) (Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 3:38; Montana State 42–30) Line MTST –10.5 Over/Under 59.5

No. 2 Montana State Bobcats (5–1) at No. 3 Sacramento State Hornets (5–1) – Game summary

at Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA

• Date: October 21, 2023
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. PST
• Game weather: SW 9 mph • Sunny
• Game attendance: 16,122
• Referee: Jim Crowley
• TV announcers (ESPN2): Play-by-Play: John Schriffen • Analysis: Rocky Boiman • Sideline: Dawn Davenport
• Sources:^[3][4][5]

Statistics	MTST	SAC
First downs	26	25
Total yards	448	434
Rushing yards	328	200
Passing yards	120	234
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	10–16–1	26–42–2
Time of possession	32:40	27:20

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Montana State	Passing	Tommy Mellott	9/14, 99 yards
	Rushing	Julius Davis	12 carries, 110 yards, TD
	Receiving	Ty McCullough	4 receptions, 53 yards, TD
Sacramento State	Passing	Kaiden Bennett	26/42, 234 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Elijah Tau-Tolliver	8 carries, 100 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Devin Gandy	5 receptions, 59 yards, TD

at No. 9 Idaho

See also: 2023 Idaho Vandals football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Bobcats	0	0	14	7	21
No. 9 Vandals	3	7	0	14	24

No. 2 Montana State Bobcats (6–1) vs No. 9 Idaho Vandals (5–2) – Game summary

at Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID

• Date: October 28, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 13,073
• TV: ESPN+

vs Northern Arizona

See also: 2023 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

vs Eastern Washington

See also: 2023 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

at Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Bobcats	0	0	7	0	7
No. 3 Grizzles	14	6	10	7	37

See also: 2023 Montana Grizzlies football team and Montana–Montana State football rivalry

NCAA Division I playoffs

No. 8 North Dakota State (second round)

See also: 2023 North Dakota State Bison football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 8 Bison	0	14	7	7	7	35
No. 5 (6) Bobcats	7	7	14	0	6	34

No. 8 North Dakota State Bison (9–3) vs. No. 5 (6) Montana State Bobcats (8–3)

at Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman, MT

• Date: December 2, 2023
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. (CT)
• Game weather: Sunny; 36 °F (2 °C); Wind: W 15 mph
• Game attendance: 17,247
• Referee: Bruce Austin
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Noah Reed, Charles Arbuckle

Statistics	North Dakota State	Montana State
First downs	18	21
Plays–yards	57–374	59–509
Rushes–yards	43–296	40–279
Passing yards	78	230
Passing: comp–att–int	6–14–0	14–19–1
Time of possession	29:43	30:17

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	5/13, 66 yds, TD
	Rushing	TaMerik Williams	11 car, 162 yds, 2 TD
	Receiving	Eli Green	4 rec, 63 yds
Montana State	Passing	Tommy Mellott	13/17, 204 yds, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Tommy Mellott	18 car, 151 yds, 2 TD
	Receiving	Ty McCullouch	4 rec, 92 yds TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NDSU MTST 1st 1:57 3 63 1:11 MTST Ty McCullouch (#6) 34-yard touchdown reception from Tommy Mellott (#4), Casey Kautzman (#38) kick good 0 7 2nd 8:52 5 39 2:56 NDSU Zach Mathis (#0) 3-yard touchdown reception from Cam Miller (#7), Griffin Crosa (#39) kick good 7 7 2nd 4:07 5 93 2:58 NDSU TaMerik Williams (#22) 44-yard touchdown run, Griffin Crosa (#39) kick good 14 7 2nd 1:05 6 71 3:02 MTST Tommy Mellott (#4) 6-yard touchdown run, Casey Kautzman (#38) kick good 14 14 3rd 14:50 1 75 0:10 NDSU TaMerik Williams (#22) 75-yard touchdown run, Griffin Crosa (#39) kick good 21 14 3rd 13:56 2 86 0:48 MTST Tommy Mellott (#4) 76-yard touchdown run, Casey Kautzman (#38) kick good 21 21 3rd 8:08 8 69 4:11 MTST Clevan Thomas Jr. (#2) 9-yard touchdown reception from Tommy Mellott (#4), Casey Kautzman (#38) kick good 21 21 4th 2:33 9 89 4:48 NDSU TK Marshall (#28) 29-yard touchdown run, Griffin Crosa (#39) kick good 28 28 OT 5 25 NDSU Cam Miller (#7) 3-yard touchdown run, Griffin Crosa (#39) kick good 35 28 OT 1 25 MTST Scottre Humphrey (#22) 25-yard touchdown run, Casey Kautzman (#38) kick blocked 35 34 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 35 34

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	6	5	4	5
Coaches	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	8	5	4	8

References

1. "Montana State Tabbed Preseason Football Favorites". July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
2. "2023 Montana State Football Schedule". msubobcats.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
3. "Football vs Montana State on 10/21/2023 - Box Score - Sacramento State". October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
4. "Football Falls To No. 2 Montana State, 42–30". October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
5. "Mellott runs for 2 TDs to help FCS No. 2 Montana St. beat No. 4 Sacramento St. 42–30". ESPN. October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.