Brian Morse

football
Jan 6, 2025 4:18 p.m

Bill Lamberty

MSU will face North Dakota State for the national title

FRISCO, Texas – Bringing the life-size statue of Montana State legend Sonny Holland that stands outside Bobcat Stadium wasn’t an option for tonight’s FCS championship game in Frisco, Texas, so MSU head coach Brent Vigen did the next best thing.

“We brought Sonny Holland’s cowboy boots,” Vigen told the nearly 200 former Bobcat players and coaches who gathered for the team’s practice Sunday afternoon. “We can’t touch the statue (Monday), so we’ll touch these boots on the way there.”

Brad Daws, a member of some of the first Dutch teams as head coach, presented Vigen with the football boots for the trip. He received it as a gift from the Holland family after the man known as “The Chief” and “The Greatest Bobcat of All” passed away. “The chief is here in spirit,” Daws said Sunday. “And he’s smiling.”

Holland participated in the school’s first national championship as a player in 1956 and its second as a head coach in 1976. He was a university administrator in 1984 when the team won its third and final title.

Vigen is the first Montana State coach to lead two teams to a national championship game. He received the Eddie Robinson FCS National Coach of the Year award at Saturday’s Stats Perform Awards banquet.

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MSU’s only notable personnel change before Monday’s game was this Julius Davis will compete and could play running back. Freshman defensive back Carson Williamswho has worn jersey number 8 in recent games will wear number 18 tonight.

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Today’s game between MSU and North Dakota State is the first meeting between Vigen and Bison coach Tim Polasek as head coaches, but they are well acquainted with each other. The two coached on Craig Bohl’s NDSU staff from 2006 to 2012, and Polasek purchased Vigen’s home in 2021, when Polasek joined Bohl’s Wyoming staff when Vigen transferred to MSU.

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Tommy Mellott has the opportunity to reach another statistical milestone tonight. He has 915 rushing yards in 2024, 85 shy of the 1,000-yard mark.

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Influencing opposing quarterbacks is always a priority for Montana State’s defense, but it may be especially important tonight. The Bobcats’ pass rush surges toward the end of the season, with 10 sacks in the three playoff games and 18 in the last five contests.

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How rare is a game on grass in today’s college football? Tonight’s contest is MSU’s second in Brent Vigen’s four seasons. The first was the 2021 title fight, also at Toyota Stadium.

#GoCatsGo