2018 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 2018 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Jeff Choate, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, tying for fourth place in the Big Sky. Montana State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Incarnate Word in the first round before losing to the eventual national champion, North Dakota State, in the second round. The Bobcats played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.

2018 Montana State Bobcats football
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 10–52 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 17
FCS Coaches	No. 17
Record	8–5 (5–3 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jeff Choate (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Armstrong (1st season, games 1–7) Matt Miller (1st season, games 8–13)
Defensive coordinator	Ty Gregorak (3rd season)
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Weber State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^		7	–	1					12	–	3
No. 7 UC Davis +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 17 Montana State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
Idaho State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Montana		4	–	4					6	–	5
Cal Poly		4	–	4					5	–	6
Northern Arizona		3	–	4					4	–	6
Portland State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	9
Southern Utah		1	–	7					1	–	10
Sacramento State		0	–	7					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Bobcats were predicted to finish in eighth place in both the coaches and media poll.

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	134 (6)
2	Weber State	124 (3)
3	Northern Arizona	121 (3)
4	Idaho	101 (1)
5	Sacramento State	94
6	Southern Utah	91
7	Montana	82
8	Montana State	76
9	UC Davis	64
10	Cal Poly	40
11	Northern Colorado	30
12	Idaho State	29
13	Portland State	21

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	651 (27)
2	Weber State	636 (19)
3	Northern Arizona	535 (1)
4	Montana	496 (2)
5	Idaho	483 (3)
6	Southern Utah	449 (1)
7	Sacramento State	415
8	Montana State	391 (1)
9	UC Davis	331 (1)
10	Idaho State	170
11	Cal Poly	169
12	Northern Colorado	166
13	Portland State	103

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Bobcats had one player selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.

Tucker Yates – Sr. DT

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	Western Illinois*		Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	SWX	W 26–23	18,507
September 8	5:00 p.m.	at No. 3 South Dakota State*		Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	SWX	L 14–45	14,614
September 15	1:00 p.m.	Wagner*		Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	SWX	W 47–24	18,037
September 22	3:00 p.m.	at Portland State		Hillsboro Stadium Hillsboro, OR	SWX	W 43–23	4,135
September 29	1:00 p.m.	No. 5 Eastern Washington		Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	RTNW	L 17–34	18,667
October 13	2:00 p.m.	Idaho		Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	RTNW	W 24–23	19,177
October 20	4:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Weber State		Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	RTNW	L 24–34	8,062
October 27	3:30 p.m.	at Idaho State		Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	ELVN	L 17–24	8,851
November 3	2:00 p.m.	Cal Poly		Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	SWX	W 49–42	16,747
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Northern Colorado		Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	RTNW	W 35–7	14,147
November 17	12:00 p.m.	at Montana	No. 25	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (rivalry)	RTNW	W 29–25	26,508
November 24	1:00 p.m.	No. 24 Incarnate Word*	No. 23	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 35–14	10,017
December 1	2:00 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State*	No. 23	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 10–52	17,007
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Game summaries

Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	7	6	7	3	23
Bobcats	3	3	14	6	26

See also: 2018 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

At South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	0	0	8	6	14
No. 3 Jackrabbits	7	17	14	7	45

See also: 2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Wagner

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seahawks	7	14	3	0	24
Bobcats	14	16	10	7	47

See also: 2018 Wagner Seahawks football team

At Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	6	20	17	0	43
Vikings	3	13	7	0	23

See also: 2018 Portland State Vikings football team

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Eagles	14	10	3	7	34
Bobcats	10	0	0	7	17

See also: 2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vandals	7	7	3	6	23
Bobcats	7	0	14	3	24

See also: 2018 Idaho Vandals football team

At Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	7	10	7	0	24
No. 7 Wildcats	0	14	10	10	34

See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team

At Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	7	0	0	10	17
Bengals	0	17	7	0	24

See also: 2018 Idaho State Bengals football team

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	7	7	21	42
Bobcats	14	14	14	7	49

See also: 2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	0	0	0	7
Bobcats	7	14	0	14	35

See also: 2018 Northern Colorado Bears football team

At Montana

See also: Brawl of the Wild

#25 Montana State Bobcats (6–4) at Montana Grizzlies (6–4)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Montana St	0	7	0	22	29
Montana	7	15	0	3	25

at Washington–Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, Montana

• Date: November 17, 2018
• Game time: 12:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Sunny, 30 °F (−1 °C)
• Game attendance: 26,508
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter UM – Gabe Sulser 1-yard pass from Dalton Sneed (Tim Semenza kick), 12:31. Montana 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 73 yards, 2:29. Second quarter UM – Adam Eastwood 1-yard run (Tim Semenza kick), 13:30. Montana 14–0. Drive: 10 plays, 58 yards, 3:41. UM – Samuel Akem 37-yard pass from Dalton Sneed (run good), 8:15. Montana 22–0. Drive: 2 plays, 39 yards, 0:40. MSU – Troy Andersen 3-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 0:23. Montana 22–7. Drive: 10 plays, 72 yards, 2:43. Third quarter No scoring Fourth quarter MSU – Troy Andersen 1-yard run (run good), 14:24. Montana 22–15. Drive: 9 plays, 87 yards, 3:15. UM – Tim Semenza 34-yard field goal, 7:46. Montana 25–15. Drive: 14 plays, 58 yards, 6:32. MSU – Troy Andersen 1-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 6:01. Montana 25–22. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 1:45. MSU – Logan Jones 13-yard run (Tristan Bailey kick), 2:19. Montana St 29–25. Drive: 7 plays, 35 yards, 2:57. Top passers MSU – Troy Andersen – 15/24, 158 yards UM – Dalton Sneed – 22/34, 354 yards, 2 TD Top rushers MSU – Troy Andersen – 23 rushes, 107 yards, 3 TD UM – Jerry Louie-McGee – 4 rushes, 43 yards Top receivers MSU – Travis Jonsen – 11 receptions, 101 yards UM – Samuel Akem – 6 receptions, 147 yards, TD

FCS Playoffs

Incarnate Word–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Cardinals	7	0	7	0	14
No. 23 Bobcats	7	11	3	14	35

See also: 2018 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team

At North Dakota State–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Bobcats	3	0	7	0	10
No. 1 Bison	21	17	7	7	52

See also: 2018 North Dakota State Bison football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	23	17
Coaches	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	23	17

External links

• Miracle in Missoula Documentary on YouTube