2019 Montana State Bobcats football team

2019 Montana State Bobcats football
2019 Montana State Bobcats football
NCAA Division I Semifinal, L 14–42 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 4
FCS Coaches	No. 4
Record	11–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jeff Choate (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Matt Miller (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Kane Ioane (1st season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium

2019 Big Sky Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Weber State +^	7	–	1	11	–	4
No. 9 Sacramento State +^	7	–	1	9	–	4
No. 4 ^	6	–	2	11	–	4
No. 6 Montana ^	6	–	2	10	–	4
Eastern Washington	6	–	2	7	–	5
Idaho	3	–	5	5	–	7
Portland State	3	–	5	5	–	7
UC Davis	3	–	5	5	–	7
Northern Arizona	2	–	6	4	–	8
Cal Poly	2	–	6	3	–	8
Idaho State	2	–	6	3	–	9
Southern Utah	2	–	6	3	–	9
Northern Colorado	2	–	6	2	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – 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

The 2019 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Jeff Choate, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 11–4 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for third in the Big Sky. Montana State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where, after a first round bye, the Bobcats defeated Albany in the second round and Austin Peay in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to the eventual national champion, North Dakota State. The team played home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.

Preseason

Big Sky preseason poll

The Big Sky released their preseason media and coaches' polls on July 15, 2019. The Bobcats were picked to finish in fourth place by the media, and in fifth place by the coaches.^[1]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	536 (25)
2	UC Davis	510 (13)
3	Weber State	472 (4)
4	Montana State	417
5	Montana	396 (1)
6	Northern Arizona	302
7	Idaho State	285
8	Idaho	248
9	Cal Poly	196
10	Portland State	178
11	Southern Utah	160
12	Sacramento State	125
13	Northern Colorado	90

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	140 (10)
2	UC Davis	127 (2)
3	Weber State	124
4	Montana	104 (1)
5	Montana State	100
6	Northern Arizona	88
7	Idaho State	72
8	Idaho	65
9	Cal Poly	56
10	Portland State	42
11	Sacramento State	40
12	Southern Utah	38
13	Northern Colorado	19

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Bobcats had five players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.^[2]

Offense

Mitch Brott – OL

Troy Andersen – FB

Defense

Bryce Sterk – OLB

Greg Filer – CB

Brayden Konkol – S

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	2:00 p.m.	at Texas Tech*	No. 14	Jones AT&T Stadium Lubbock, TX	FSN	L 10–45	54,183
September 7	6:00 p.m.	No. 12 Southeast Missouri State*	No. 13	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	SWX	W 38–17	19,497
September 14	2:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois*	No. 10	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	W 23–14	4,728
September 21	1:00 p.m.	Norfolk State*	No. 8	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	SWX	W 56–21	17,647
September 28	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	No. 7	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	SWX	W 49–31	19,257
October 5	6:05 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 6	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	SWX	W 34–28 ^OT	8,236
October 12	2:00 p.m.	Sacramento State	No. 6	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	SWX	L 21–34	19,437
October 26	11:00 a.m.	at North Dakota	No. 9	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	SWX/Pluto TV	L 12–16	8,594
November 2	12:00 p.m.	Southern Utah	No. 14	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	RTNW	W 42–7	15,617
November 9	12:00 p.m.	at Northern Colorado	No. 12	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	SWX	W 45–14	4,442
November 16	5:00 p.m.	at UC Davis	No. 10	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	SWX	W 27–17	8,284
November 23	12:00 p.m.	No. 3 Montana	No. 8	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (rivalry)	RTNW	W 48–14	19,827
December 7	1:00 p.m.	No. 25 Albany*	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 47–21	12,947
December 13	6:00 p.m.	No. 18 Austin Peay*	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN3	W 24–10	14,017
December 21	12:00 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State*	No. 5	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Semifinal)	ESPN2	L 14–42	18,077
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[3]^[4]

Game summaries

At Texas Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Bobcats	0	7	0	3	10
Red Raiders	14	14	3	14	45

Statistics	MTST	TTU
First downs	8	35
Total yards	289	691
Rushing yards	127	255
Passing yards	162	436
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	29:19	30:41

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Montana State	Passing	Casey Bauman	7/19, 120 yards, TD
	Rushing	Isaiah Ifanse	15 rushes, 77 yards
	Receiving	Coy Steel	3 receptions, 56 yards, TD
Texas Tech	Passing	Alan Bowman	40/53, 436 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Armand Shyne	11 rushes, 125 yards, TD
	Receiving	Xavier White	5 receptions, 107 yards, TD

Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Redhawks	0	10	0	7	17
No. 13 Bobcats	10	0	28	0	38

Statistics	SEMO	MTST
First downs	12	21
Total yards	245	456
Rushing yards	131	265
Passing yards	114	191
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	28:40	31:20

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southeast Missouri State	Passing	Daniel Santacaterina	13/28, 114 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Geno Hess	13 rushes, 90 yards
	Receiving	Kristian Wilkerson	6 receptions, 77 yards, TD
Montana State	Passing	Casey Bauman	13/25, 136 yards
	Rushing	Isaiah Ifanse	11 rushes, 114 yards
	Receiving	Kevin Kassis	6 receptions, 85 yards

At Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Bobcats	7	0	10	6	23
Leathernecks	0	7	7	0	14

Statistics	MTST	WIU
First downs	18	15
Total yards	343	337
Rushing yards	194	56
Passing yards	149	281
Turnovers	1	3
Time of possession	29:06	30:54

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Montana State	Passing	Casey Bauman	16/30, 149 yards
	Rushing	Logan Jones	21 rushes, 167 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Travis Jonsen	6 receptions, 71 yards
Western Illinois	Passing	Connor Sampson	18/35, 281 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Deontez Thompson	14 rushes, 39 yards
	Receiving	Dennis Houston	5 receptions, 141 yards, TD

Norfolk State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	7	7	7	0	21
No. 8 Bobcats	14	14	14	14	56

Statistics	NORF	MTST
First downs	15	39
Total yards	351	670
Rushing yards	108	449
Passing yards	243	221
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	28:07	31:53

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Norfolk State	Passing	Juwan Carter	21/32, 243 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Kevin Johnson	8 rushes, 112 yards, TD
	Receiving	Dakendall James	5 receptions, 103 yards
Montana State	Passing	Tucker Rovig	21/27, 221 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Lane Sumner	11 rushes, 113 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Coy Steel	5 receptions, 80 yards, 2 TD

Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	14	14	3	0	31
No. 7 Bobcats	0	14	7	28	49

At Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 6 Bobcats	0	14	14	0	6	34
Mustangs	7	0	0	21	0	28

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	7	14	13	0	34
No. 6 Bobcats	7	7	0	7	21

At North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Bobcats	3	3	0	6	12
Fighting Hawks	7	0	3	6	16

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	0	0	7	7
No. 14 Bobcats	21	21	0	0	42

At Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Bobcats	7	17	14	7	45
Bears	7	0	0	7	14

At UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Bobcats	7	7	0	13	27
Aggies	0	10	7	0	17

Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Grizzlies	0	14	0	0	14
No. 8 Bobcats	17	14	3	14	48

FCS Playoffs

The Bobcats entered the postseason tournament as the number five seed, with a first-round bye.^[5]

Albany (Second Round)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Great Danes	7	0	0	14	21
No. 5 Bobcats	16	10	14	7	47

Statistics	ALB	MTST
First downs	19	28
Total yards	333	483
Rushing yards	60	203
Passing yards	273	280
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	26:09	33:51

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Albany	Passing	Jeff Undercuffler Jr.	18/37, 273 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Karl Mofor	12 rushes, 51 yards, TD
	Receiving	Juwan Green	3 receptions, 123 yards, TD
Montana State	Passing	Tucker Rovig	24/30, 279 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Travis Jonsen	8 rushes, 85 yards, TD
	Receiving	Kevin Kassis	11 receptions, 131 yards, TD

Austin Peay (Quarterfinals)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Governors	0	3	0	7	10
No. 5 Bobcats	10	0	14	0	24

Statistics	APSU	MTST
First downs	10	16
Total yards	197	386
Rushing yards	0	279
Passing yards	197	386
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	23:10	36:50

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Austin Peay	Passing	Javaughn Craig	18/37, 173 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Kentel Williams	7 rushes, 9 yards
	Receiving	DeAngelo Wilson	6 receptions, 118 yards, TD
Montana State	Passing	Tucker Rovig	13/20, 114 yards, TD
	Rushing	Isaiah Ifanse	26 rushes, 196 yards, TD
	Receiving	Coy Steel	2 receptions, 36 yards

At North Dakota State (Semifinals)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Bobcats	0	7	7	0	14
No. 1 Bison	7	22	7	6	42

Statistics	MTST	NDSU
First downs	13	21
Total yards	298	541
Rushing yards	148	318
Passing yards	150	223
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	30:34	29:26

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Montana State	Passing	Tucker Rovig	13/22, 150 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Isaiah Ifanse	11 rushes, 60 yards
	Receiving	Kevin Kassis	2 receptions, 45 yards, TD
North Dakota State	Passing	Trey Lance	15/21, 223 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Christian Watson	3 rushes, 86 yards, TD
	Receiving	Christian Watson	2 receptions, 88 yards, TD

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	14	13	10	8	7	6	6	12	9	14	12	10	8	5	4
Coaches	15	19	15	14	11	7	6	12	9	15	14	10	8	5	4

References

^ "Scoreboard: Big Sky Conference preseason football polls". 406 MT SPORTS. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
^ "Big Sky Conference announces preseason all-conference teams". MTSPX. July 15, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
^ "2019 Football Schedule". Montana State University Athletics. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
^ "2019 Montana State Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
^ "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.

[1] "Scoreboard: Big Sky Conference preseason football polls". 406 MT SPORTS. Retrieved August 7, 2019.

[2] "Big Sky Conference announces preseason all-conference teams". MTSPX. July 15, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.

[3] "2019 Football Schedule". Montana State University Athletics. Retrieved April 24, 2022.

[4] "2019 Montana State Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.

[5] "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Montana State Bobcats football
Venues	Gatton Field (1930–1971) Van Winkle Stadium (1972) Bobcat Stadium (1973–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Montana
Culture & lore	Spirit of the West Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold