2023 Montana State Bobcats football team

2023 Montana State Bobcats football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 9
FCS CoachesNo. 8
Record8–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTaylor Housewright (3rd season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorWillie Mack Garza (2nd season)
Base defense4–2–5
Home stadiumBobcat Stadium
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
2023 Big Sky Conference football standings
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

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. The Montana State Bobcats football team drew an average home attendance of 21,610 in 2023.

Preseason

[edit]

Polls

[edit]

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

Roster

[edit]
2023 Montana State Bobcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 0 Javonte King Fr
WR 1 Marqui Johnson Jr
WR 2 Clevan Thomas Jr. GS
RB 3 Jared White  Fr
QB 4 Tommy Mellott Jr
RB 5 Garrett Coon So
WR 6 Ty McCullouch Jr
WR 7 Lonyatta Alexander Jr. So
TE, FB 8 Derryk Snell Sr
QB 9 Luke Abshire  Fr
QB 10 Sean Chambers Sr
RB 11 Elijah Elliott Jr
QB 12 Jordan Reed  Fr
QB 13 Chance Wilson Fr
WR 14 Taco Dowler So
QB 15 Patrick Duchien Fr
WR 16 Zachary Dodson-Greene  Fr
WR 17 Christian Anaya  Fr
WR 18 Garrett Walchli Jr
WR 19 Tom Carter Fr
RB 22 Scottre Humphrey Fr
RB 23 Adam Jones Fr
RB 24 Lane Sumner Sr
WR 25 Jacob Trimble Fr
RB 28 Colson Coon Fr
RB 32 Julius Davis Jr
TE 36 Luke Smith Fr
FB 48 Max Murphy  Fr
OL 54 Zac Nyland Fr
G 55 J. T. Reed Jr
G, C 56 Cole Sain Sr
OL 57 Everett Carr Fr
G 58 Aaron Richards So
OL 60 Tommy Nilson  Fr
OL 62 Bear Old  Fr
OT, G 63 Rush Reimer Jr
OL 64 Burke Mastel  Fr
C 65 Justus Perkins Jr
OT 66 Titan Fleischmann  Fr
G 68 Omar Aigbedion So
G 70 Holden Sampson Jr
OT 72 Connor Moore  Fr
OL 73 Cedric Jefferson Fr
OL 74 Jaden Perkins  Fr
OL 75 Jacob Kettels So
OT 76 Marcus Wehr Jr
OL 79 Jonathan Luhmann Fr
TE 80 Treyton Pickering Sr
WR 81 Tayvian Williams Sr
TE 82 Elijah Reynolds  So
WR 85 Aidan Garrigan So
TE 86 Hunter Provience Fr
TE 87 Ryan Lonergan Jr
TE 88 Rylan Schlepp  Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
S 0 Blake Stillwell So
DB 1 Andrew Powdrell Fr
S 2 Dru Polidore So
CB 4 Jon Johnson Jr
S, NB 5 Caden Dowler So
CB 6 Miles Jackson Jr
DB 7 Tayden Gray Fr
S, NB 8 Level Price Jr. Sr
CB 9 Simeon Woodard Jr
DE 10 Brody Grebe Jr
DE 11 Kenneth Eiden IV So
CB 12 Devin Davis So
CB 13 Jackson Harmon So
LB 15 Bryce Grebe Fr
S 16 Michael Armstrong  Fr
DB 17 Taki Uluilakepa Fr
S 18 Kendric Bailey Jr
LB 19 Neil Daily So
S 20 Tyson Pottenger So
DB 22 Takhari Carr  Fr
S 23 Aidan Parks So
DB 24 Colter Petre Fr
S, NB 26 Rylan Ortt Jr
DB 27 Brock Steel  Fr
DB 29 JJ Dolan Fr
LB 30 Danny Uluilakepa Jr
LB 31 Jace Fitzgerald So
DT 33 Blake Hehl Sr
LB 34 Cole Taylor Fr
DB 35 Kade Cutler  Fr
LB 40 Cole Bullock Jr
LB 41 Nolan Askelson Sr
LB 42 Ryan Krahe  Fr
LB 43 McCade O'Reilly Jr
DE 44 Jake Vigen  Fr
DE 45 Hunter Parsons So
DE 46 Logan Fredericksen  Fr
LB 47 Eli Aby So
LB 49 Zac Waible  Fr
DL 50 Zack Black So
DL 51 Nicholas Korom Jr
DE 59 Dominic Solano Fr
DT 69 Jaren Perkins  Fr
DL 89 Ryder Trujillo Fr
DT 90 Hunter Sharbono Fr
DE 91 Zac Crews Fr
DT 92 Blake Schmidt Jr
DE 94 David Alston Sr
DT 95 Sebastian Valdez Jr
DL 96 Paul Brott So
DE 98 Ben Seymour Sr
DL 99 Talon Marsh Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K, P 38 Casey Kautzman  Fr
LS 71 Tommy Sullivan Jr
P, K 93 Brendan Hall Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 7, 2024

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 26:00 p.m.Utah Tech*No. 3
ESPN+W 63–2021,967
September 95:00 p.m.at No. 1 South Dakota State*No. 3
ESPN+L 16–2019,332
September 161:00 p.m.Stetson*No. 3
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
ESPN+W 57–2021,487
September 236:00 p.m.at No. 10 Weber StateNo. 3
ESPN+W 40–010,905
September 302:00 p.m.Portland StatedaggerNo. 3
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
ESPN+W 38–2222,017
October 146:00 p.m.Cal PolyNo. 2
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
ESPN+W 59–1921,997
October 218:30 p.m.at No. 3 Sacramento StateNo. 2
ESPN2W 42–3016,122
October 282:00 p.m.at No. 9 IdahoNo. 2
ESPN+L 21–2413,073
November 41:00 p.m.Northern ArizonaNo. 6
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
ESPN+W 45–2121,297
November 111:00 p.m.Eastern WashingtonNo. 5
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
ESPN+W 57–1420,897
November 1812:00 p.m.at No. 3 MontanaNo. 4
ESPN+L 7–3727,178
December 21:00 p.m.No. 8 North Dakota State*No. 5
ESPN+L 34–35 OT17,247

[2]

Game summaries

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vs Utah Tech

[edit]
See also: 2023 Utah Tech Trailblazers football team

at No. 1 South Dakota State

[edit]
See also: 2023 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team
No. 3 Montana State Bobcats (1–0) vs No. 1 South Dakota State (1–0) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 3 Bobcats 7 3 0616
No. 1 Jackrabbits 0 0 71320

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

[edit]
See also: 2023 Stetson Hatters football team

at No. 10 Weber State

[edit]
See also: 2023 Weber State Wildcats football team

vs Portland State

[edit]
See also: 2023 Portland State Vikings football team

vs Cal Poly

[edit]
See also: 2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

at No. 3 Sacramento State

[edit]
See also: 2023 Sacramento State Hornets football team
No. 2 Montana State Bobcats (5–1) at No. 3 Sacramento State Hornets (5–1) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 2 Bobcats 0 14 72142
No. 3 Hornets 7 0 101330

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]
Game information
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

[edit]
See also: 2023 Idaho Vandals football team
No. 2 Montana State Bobcats (6–1) vs No. 9 Idaho Vandals (5–2) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 2 Bobcats 0 0 14721
No. 9 Vandals 3 7 01424

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

[edit]
See also: 2023 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

vs Eastern Washington

[edit]
See also: 2023 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

at Montana

[edit]
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

[edit]

No. 8 North Dakota State (second round)

[edit]
See also: 2023 North Dakota State Bison football team
No. 8 North Dakota State Bison (9–3) vs. No. 5 (6) Montana State Bobcats (8–3)
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
No. 8 Bison 0 14 77735
No. 5 (6) Bobcats 7 7 140634

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

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS FCS3333322226545
Coaches3333322228548

References

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  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.
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