BOZEMAN — Montana State enters its second bye week of the season sitting at 8-0 overall and 4-0 in Big Sky Conference play, and is now ranked No. 2 in the latest Stats Perform FCS top 25 poll.
North Dakota State has moved to the No. 1 spot after beating South Dakota State — which has dropped to No. 3 — 13-9 on Saturday.
Despite the movement within the polls, the Bobcats are keeping the focus internal and on what they have control over.
"Now, we get into the bye week and have a real opportunity for us to catch our breath, get some guys back, and keep moving forward as a team," Montana State coach Brent Vigen said after MSU's 44-14 win over Portland State on Saturday. "So, pleased with the performance (Saturday) and, you know, I really thought our guys showed up ready to go."
"I would say every game we’ve taken one game at a time," Montana State defensive back Miles Jackson said. "Try to go 1-0 every game. Don’t look past any team. This team we knew had some explosive players, and we just had to make sure we limited them, and that’s we came and did."
One of the most explosive players in the league, Vikings quarterback Dante Chachere put up 200-plus yards both rushing and passing and six total touchdowns in a game the week prior (that garnered him FCS national offensive player of the week honors), was held to 68 total yards and no touchdowns against Montana State.
Vigen explained his pride in the team’s ability to take over a road atmosphere right away, while coming off the high of the top-10 win against Idaho the previous week.
"Well, extremely proud," he said. "You come off the high of last week, and that game you have everything emotionally to play for, whether it’s the crowd, the year before, their ranking, all that stuff, being on national (television). This game didn’t have any of that, but it again shows that doesn’t matter. It’s got to be about our ability to keep getting better and showing up and performing each week."
That mindset has permeated through the entire team. No matter the type of opponent or adversity the Bobcats have been thrown, they've consistently got the job done this season — and have done it in convincing fashion.
"We’re just a bunch of hardworking guys," Jackson explained. "We have a really good goal this year, and there’s nothing that’s going to stop us. We have a lot of good depth at all of our positions. We had some young guys be able to step in (Saturday) and show what they can do. And it honestly just shows how good we are and how determined we are to make it where we want to be."
