BOZEMAN — One of the most anticipated weeks of the year is finally here. On Saturday, No. 2 Montana State will host No. 9 Montana for their 123rd Brawl of the Wild meeting.
For the Bobcats, they’ve already secured at least a share of the Big Sky title and an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs using their 1-0 mentality to propel an 11-0 record thus far this season.
Montana State started the season with an electric 35-31 win at FBS New Mexico. Redshirt freshman running back Adam Jones started his breakout campaign with a 93-yard touchdown to spark the comeback victory, and fellow running back, sophomore Scottre Humphrey, punched the game-winning touchdown past the goal line to start the season in the win column.
Non-conference play would continue with three sizable victories: on the road at Utah Tech and then back at home against Maine and Mercyhurst.
Big Sky play started at Idaho State, as the Bengals hung around until quarterback Tommy Mellott connected with transfer tight end Rohan Jones, who broke away for a 70-yard touchdown. Humphrey scored three touchdowns in the 37-17 win.
After stamping a 55-17 homecoming win against Northern Colorado, the Bobcats got a rematch they’d been waiting nearly a year for against then-No. 7 Idaho. And it was all Montana State as they shined in the bright, primetime lights of ESPN2 in a 38-7 win.
Next up was a big 44-14 win at Portland State. After a bye week, Mellott and Ty McCullouch charged their team to break away in a 42-28 win at Eastern Washington.
The Bobcats took down Sacramento State 49-7 back at home, improving to 10-0 for the first time in program history. Then they headed to California to take on then-No. 4 UC Davis in a game where the winner walked away with a share of the title and an auto-bid to the playoffs.
After the Bobcats jumped out to a 30-8 lead, the Aggies stormed back in the fourth quarter cutting the lead to 30-28. On the final attempt to tie the game on a two-point conversion and send it to overtime, senior linebacker and Bozeman native McCade O’Reilly made an interception in the end zone.
Defensive back and Missoula native Rylan Ortt then sealed it and recovered the Davis onside kick attempt.
Celebrations were in order for the duration of Saturday night, but now MSU's attention turns to this week and the Griz.
On the line this Saturday for the Bobcats is the conference title outright and seemingly a top-two seed and home-field advantage through the FCS playoffs.
