The top two FCS playoff seeds will square off for a national championship bout.
No. 1 South Dakota State meets No. 2 Montana on Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET, and it will air on ABC.
SDSU punched its ticket Friday with an emphatic 59-0 win over UAlbany.
Montana won an instant classic Saturday, beating North Dakota State 31-29 in double overtime. A Montana crowd at absolute pandemonium levels watched one of the most intense and electrifying semifinal games in recent memory.
Junior Bergen continued to be an electric factory himself, housing another punt return for a touchdown to make it 16-9 Montana in the fourth quarter. But a missed PAT was crucial. The Bison tied it up with 51 seconds left on a clutch Cam Miller throw to Eli Green.
The game went to double overtime after a total of three plays in the first OT. Cole Payton scored a rushing TD instantly for the Bison. Then it took the Grizzlies two plays for that man Bergen to find the end zone on a 22-yard catch and run to send it to 2OT.
Montana scored in three plays in the second overtime on an Eli Gillman touchdown run. And on the 2-point conversion attempt, who else but Bergen on a trick play connecting with Keelan White to make it 31-23.
The Bison answered quickly in three plays to make it 31-29. But they tried their own trickeration on an unbalanced alignment into a jet-motion handoff and then into a wide receiver pass that was intercepted by Montana to seal it.
It’s the first championship appearance for Montana since 2009.
The Griz now look to slay the giant that is the defending champs SDSU.
For NDSU, it’s the first time since 2016 that the Bison won’t be playing in the championship game in a fall playoff bracket. NDSU did fall short of the title game in the 2021 spring season.
It’s the end of the Matt Entz era at NDSU. The head coach is leaving for a USC assistant coaching gig. An announcement either tomorrow or Monday is likely on who the next NDSU head coach will be.
