2023 Montana State Bobcats football team

2023 Montana State Bobcats football
2023 Montana State Bobcats football
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 34–35OT vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 9
FCS Coaches	No. 8
Record	8–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Brent Vigen (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Taylor Housewright (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Willie Mack Garza (2nd season)
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium
	Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

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.

2023 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
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

Preseason 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]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	Utah Tech*	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 63–20	21,967
September 9	5:00 p.m.	at No. 1 South Dakota State*	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+	L 16–20	19,332
September 16	1:00 p.m.	Stetson*	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 57–20	21,487
September 23	6:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Weber State	No. 3	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	W 40–0	10,905
September 30	2:00 p.m.	Portland State	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 38–22	22,017
October 14	6:00 p.m.	Cal Poly	No. 2	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 59–19	21,997
October 21	8:30 p.m.	at No. 3 Sacramento State	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	ESPN2	W 42–30	16,122
October 28	2:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Idaho	No. 2	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	ESPN+	L 21–24	13,073
November 4	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	No. 6	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 45–21	21,297
November 11	1:00 p.m.	Eastern Washington	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	W 57–14	20,897
November 18	12:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Montana	No. 4	Washington-Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (rivalry)	ESPN+	L 7–37	27,178
December 2	1:00 p.m.	No. 8 North Dakota State*	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	L 34–35 ^OT	17,247
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^ "Montana State Tabbed Preseason Football Favorites". July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "2023 Montana State Football Schedule". msubobcats.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.

2023 Montana State Bobcats football

NCAA Division I Second Round, L 34–35^OT vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 9
FCS Coaches	No. 8
Record	8–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Brent Vigen (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Taylor Housewright (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Willie Mack Garza (2nd season)
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium
Seasons ← 2022 2024 →