BOZEMAN — Joel the Uber driver picked me up from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport late Friday night/Saturday morning.
After some small talk — Joel grew up in Minnesota (I did too) and lived in Coon Rapids (close to where I live now) until his family moved to Montana in the 70s — Joel cut to the chase…
“Are you here for the game?”
“Oh yeah,” I responded.
“Are you a Griz or a Cat?” Joel asked.
“Neither,” I said, relieved I didn’t have an A or B answer, knowing what was in store this weekend. “I’m covering the game as a media member, so I’m just a neutral observer with no stress in this game.”
“Yeah, tension has been high,” Joel responded with a chuckle.
Joel went on to say he was leaning toward wanting to see a Montana State win, mostly due to living in the area. His family is divided, though. He has two kids. One is a Cat. One is a Griz. Either way, part of the family will be ecstatic this weekend, and the other part will be devastated.
The conversation set the stage for what was considered arguably the biggest sports day in Montana history.
No. 2 Montana State hosted No. 3 Montana in the FCS semifinals on Saturday, which resulted in a 48-23 MSU win. It was the first-ever playoff meeting for the rivals. It aired nationally on ABC. And a national championship berth was on the line, with the winner knowing they would be favored to win in Nashville and hoist their first national championship in decades.
It was high stakes. And it added even more fuel to a fiery rivalry.
Montana is a state that loves its sports, from youth to high school to college. At the college level, two D1 FCS teams are treated and supported like they’re in the SEC or the NFL. They are the football show in the state. The colors run deep in families, passed down from generation to generation. You’re either a Cat or a Griz. But families are also divided. Someone marries a fan from the other side. Or a kid decides to go to the other school, whether it’s due to majors offered or just to zig when others have zagged.
Add in the fact that Montana natives play a major role for both the Grizzlies and the Bobcats on the field, and the passion behind this game is top-tier.
Fans and media will often say the winner of the Brawl of the Wild, played in the regular-season finale, sets the tone for the next 364 days. The tension/angst/passion/ferocity is palpable when I’ve covered the Brawl in Missoula and Bozeman. Saturday was on another level.
And the game delivered.
In front of a Bobcat Stadium record crowd of 25,437 (shattering the previous record of 22,227), MSU slammed the door shut on Montana, winning 48-23. The Cats jumped out to a 20-3 lead. But the Griz rallied with 20 straight points, taking a 23-20 lead midway through the third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Keali’i Ah Yat to Jake Olson, silencing a deafening crowd. At least momentarily. MSU then rattled off 28 straight points, reclaiming the momentum and avalanching the Griz as the party got going again in the stadium for a crowd that was on its feet all game.
As fans stormed the field, a “Nashville Bound” graphic was displayed on MSU’s large videoboard. The Cats advance to their third national championship game since 2021. They’ll aim for their first title since 1984.
To make the win sweeter for MSU, several Montana natives made impact plays.
Bozeman’s Rocky Lencioni scored on a 2-yard TD catch to give MSU a 27-23 lead late in the third quarter. Not long after, Billings’ Taco Dowler caught a third-and-long dart from Justin Lamson and then took care of the rest with an 87-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Lamson’s 7-yard TD scamper made it 41-23 midway through the fourth. And to put the finishing touches on the W, Melstone’s Bryce Grebe returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown, making it 48-23. Missoula’s Adam Jones also had a big day, rushing for 131 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries.
“This team continues to be a forward-thinking outfit and continues to believe,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said after the game. “The offense came out, drove it down, took the lead back. That piece is just a microcosm of what we’ve been about all season. And then ultimately, to be able to truly finish it off in the fashion that we did. I mean, clearly the play from Justin to Taco, I don’t know if that’s not the best play ever in the history of our program. I don’t know. It certainly was the biggest play today.”
It was a physical bout as multiple key players on both sides exited the game injured, with some returning and others remaining on the sideline. MSU now has two weeks to heal physically and mentally. There’s beating your heated rival level of celebration. And then there’s beating your heated rival in the semifinals level of celebration.
But one game remains.
MSU will face Illinois State on Jan. 5, a scrappy, talented, physical, and dangerous team that went on the road four straight weeks in the playoffs and won, including winning at No. 1 NDSU in the biggest upset in FCS playoff history.
It seemed last year was MSU’s best window to finally bring home a national championship. The Cats had a historic senior class with 22 seniors. They looked built to finally get to the FCS mountaintop. But a disastrous first half led to a gut-wrenching 35-32 loss to NDSU. The Cats finished 15-1 when they had looked like the best team in the country most of the season.
Expectations were high entering this year. But there were question marks. How would things go for Vigen in his first season without legendary QB Tommy Mellott on the roster? Lamson, a Stanford transfer, took the reins. The defense lost some key players. There were only nine seniors on this year’s roster. And after a 0-2 start (at Oregon, vs. South Dakota State), those questions heightened.
MSU answered those questions with 13 straight wins and a trip to the natty.
The Cats will be viewed as a big favorite in Nashville. Some others have said this week that the real national championship game was being played in Bozeman. Illinois State would love nothing more than to play spoiler again. MSU entered the 24-team bracket with the second-best odds to win the national championship, trailing NDSU. After Illinois State knocked out the Bison, MSU shot to the top of the odds.
Turns out, last year wasn’t the best window for the Cats to hoist an FCS trophy. This season is. We’ll see if they can finish the job this time.
