As the 2025 FCS offseason marches on, HERO Sports will look at five questions for the 2024 quarterfinalists.
Next up is Montana State.
MSU finished 15-1 last year, losing 35-32 to NDSU in the FCS national championship game. Here are five questions for the Bobcats entering 2025.
Did MSU Miss Its National Championship Window?
NDSU spoiled MSU’s movie-like season. Everything was lining up for the Cats to win their first national championship since 1984, from the spread to the media and coach’s predictions to the matchup on paper. But a disastrous first half put MSU in a hole, and its second-half comeback fell short, losing 35-32.
The Bobcats now lose a great senior class, and six impact guys transferred to the FBS. MSU returns just four starters on offense and another four on defense. The good news is there is a ton of turnover on 2024 quarterfinal rosters, so MSU isn’t alone in its offseason question marks. The bad news is that NDSU returns a pretty experienced squad and didn’t lose one player to the transfer portal after its national championship win.
MSU has the infrastructure, resources, coaching staff, and a solid core of returning players to reload. The Cats will remain a part of the FCS title conversation because of those reasons, and also because the rest of the FCS has a ways to go to catch the top tier.
The schedule is tough to start — at Oregon and vs. South Dakota State. But the Cats should win their next eight, avoiding teams like Idaho and Sac State in the Big Sky slate. The final two games are hosting UC Davis and going to Montana.
10-2? 9-3?
MSU will be just fine record-wise. But the Bobcats don’t want to be just fine. They are pushing and pushing and pushing to finally get over the top and win a natty. Last season felt like their best chance to do so. And now, with what NDSU and South Dakota have returning in 2025, and uncertainties of what the college football landscape looks like in 2026 and beyond with realignment and new governance structures post-House settlement, the question is did MSU miss its window to win an FCS title?
It seems MSU will eventually get one if it stays in the watered-down FCS. The list of legit contenders is very small. Teams like MSU, NDSU, and SDSU, among a few others, are supporting football in a way that most of the FCS can’t match. Plus, as NDSU gets more aggressive behind the scenes in trying to get an FBS invite, maybe the Bison won’t be a part of the FCS title picture in a few years, clearing the way for different storylines and a more fun FCS championship chase. MSU will remain a part of that chase, even in 2025 with its question marks. But after an all-time great team fell short, the window is not as open.
Who Is The Quarterback?
For the first time in Brent Vigen’s MSU head coaching career, he won’t have Tommy Mellott on his roster. Vigen pulled a gutsy move ahead of the 2021 playoffs, benching his starter and putting in the freshman Mellott. Touchdown Tommy’s legendary career took off from there, leading the Bobcats to two national championship games, a semifinal appearance, and another playoff appearance. He won the 2024 Walter Payton Award for his dynamic senior season.
Chance Wilson was the top backup in 2024, a dual-threat QB at 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds. He’ll be a sophomore this upcoming season. Jordan Reed also battled for the backup spot. The 6-foot-6, 228-pounder will be a junior.
MSU signed two promising freshmen in this year’s class. Six-foot-3 River Warren is a three-star recruit and is ranked as HERO Sports’ No. 10 incoming FCS freshman quarterback. Six-foot-6 Grant Vigen, son of Brent, is also a three-star recruit.
How Dynamic Will The Offense Be?
MSU had an electric offense in 2024. While it does lose its top rusher and a couple of future pros on the o-line, the new starting quarterback should have a good supporting cast.
MSU returns three offensive linemen with strong starting experience: Titan Fleischmann, Burke Mastel, and JT Reed. There is also a chance Cole Sain returns.
1,000-yard rusher Adam Jones is back along with Julius Davis, who earned 2023 All-Big Sky honors but was slowed by injury last season. Top pass-catcher Taco Dowler also returns.
How Does The Secondary Rebuild?
Montana State loses its top six defensive backs in snaps played.
There will be a lot of rebuilding to do in the secondary while the front six should be solid. The Cats return 3/4 starting defensive linemen: DE Kenneth Eiden IV, DT Paul Brott, and DT Alec Eckert, plus rotational guys Zac Crews, Hunter Parsons, and Zack Black. Neil Daily and Bryce Grebe are back to lead the linebackers.
Cornerback Tayden Gray does return after playing more than 300 snaps. Safety Caden Dowler is also back, who was a starter in the first half of the regular season before a season-ending injury.
How Many Scholarship-Level Players Will MSU Have?
Montana State says it plans to opt into the House settlement this year. For football teams, that means you no longer face a scholarship limit (even in the FCS), but you face a roster limit (105 players).
The CAA has decided to opt in as a conference. Teams like NDSU, UND, and SDSU have said they likely won’t opt in the first year.
Opting in could give you a significant advantage on the football field, especially in the FCS. An individual conference can set a scholarship cap if it wants to. The CAA did not set a cap. Theoretically, that means one CAA team could be playing with the usual 63 scholarships, another could be playing with 70, another with 85, and another with 105 scholarships. Realistically, though, most FCS-level athletic departments don’t have extra money lying around to even offer 10 more football scholarships (and that would also mean 10 more women scholarships).
Even if the Big Sky, for example, capped football scholarships at 63, a school like Montana State that opts in could work around that. MSU, theoretically, could offer in-house NIL deals for “non-scholarship” players that would cover their tuition. And even if the Big Sky cap was 63 scholarships, a school that opts in could spread their 63 equivalency scholarships over 105 players (partial scholarships), which is more than the current structure of 63 FCS scholarships spread over 85 players.
Overall, opting in gives a school greater flexibility with its scholarships. And if you have the resources to do so, it could give you a competitive edge with the amount of scholarship-level players you have on your roster.
You can opt in and revenue share $0. You don’t have to revenue share, especially for FCS schools that don’t have any extra revenue to share. Revenue sharing is optional. But opting in can give you other advantages when it comes to scholarships and in-house NIL deals.
Let’s just say, hypothetically (for now), that Montana State receives a ginormous donation to help support scholarships. And MSU can now fund 80 equivalency football scholarships while most of the FCS is still at 63. That’s quite the advantage.
