BOZEMAN — Montana State has its final home football game of the season this Saturday against Northern Colorado, a contest that could prove to be a big win for the seniors, while also giving the Bobcats momentum heading into Cat-Griz next week.
The Cats could be a potential bubble team for the FCS playoffs with two more wins, but head coach Jeff Choate is focused on the upcoming competition against Northern Colorado.
“Northern Colorado is an interesting team,” Choate said. “The one thing that stands out to me is, they play hard on defense, they play really hard, they make you earn everything you get. It’s kind of who they are: They’re a stout, competitive front seven on defense.”
One phase that could bring the Bobcats down is the defense. Most of the season has been success on the front end, but the defense allowed 42 points against Cal Poly’s triple-option last week.
“I think we have the right mindset down in and down out to go play at a high level at that style,” Choate said. “You know what’s coming and you got to be good with it.”
“That doesn’t mean going backwards,” Choate stressed. “That means going forwards, and there were some times when we were making business decisions, and I’m hoping we can have our edge back on defense.”
One person who could change the narrative for the rest of the Bobcat season is wide receiver Travis Jonsen.
“I think he’s just bought into some of the things you have to do, like blocking. We’re not a team right now that throws the ball 60 times a game, so what do you do? Well, you have to be able to go out there and extend plays by blocking downfield,” Choate said about the junior. “He takes a lot of pride in that. He’s a physical guy, kind of one of the things you might not think, being a converted quarterback, he’s physical. He’s a big guy and he’s going to continue getting better and better and better.”
Kickoff against Northern Colorado is at 1 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium.
