This week, a Big Sky matinee: MSU at Idaho

There’s another Top-10 FCS battle brewing in Moscow, Idaho, on Saturday and for once, fortune favors the print journalist.

Second-ranked Montana State is at No. 9 Idaho, and the kickoff is a very deadline-friendly 2 p.m. Mountain inside the Kibbie Dome.

Idaho sports information director Jerek Wolcott noted that this will be the first ever that both teams have been ranked. There was also an 18-year gap where the Vandals gave the Bowl Subdivision a try, but still. It’s a landmark game, and one Idaho wants to snare of a 23-21 loss to weeks ago.

“We feel we didn’t play the way we were capable in our last game,” Vandals’ second-year coach Jason Eck said. “And I think it’s going to take us really playing a full, four-quarter game of our best football to win this one.”

Montana State has piled up 300 rushing yards in six of its seven games. The outlier is the Bobcats’ 20-16 loss at South Dakota State, where Eck coached the O-line previous to taking over at Idaho.

He notes that MSU still managed 211 yards on the ground against the defending FCS champions.

“I think South Dakota State was just able to bleed a little slower than the other teams,” he said.

Running Attacks

While Idaho had a bye last week MSU was running past No. 6 Sacramento State 42-30 behind Butte’s “Touchdown Tommy” Mellott, who in his second game back after missing a month with a leg injury, ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

“I think he’s back,” MSU coach Brent Vigen said Monday, at his weekly press conference. “We felt like that out of the Cal Poly game.”

Eck was asked about the problems MSU’s offense creates.

“Well, they’ve got a great O-line,” he said. “The quarterbacks are a little different. Tommy is so fast, he can run away from you. And (Sean) Chambers us a load.”

Idaho had a second straight battle with Montana where it had trouble running the ball, and in 2023 it mattered. Quarterback Gevani McCoy had a pair of costly turnovers in the loss, including a fumble right at the end.

“We’d prefer to be much more balanced than that (against UM),” Eck said. “Certainly we need to find a way to run the ball this week. We have to be able to find a way to eat up the clock and keep their offense off the field, because they are so good on offense.”

Not So Special

Vigen saw his 6-foot-9 kicker, Brendan Hall, miss on two long (and possibly wind-affected) field goals at the end of the first half in Sacramento. His second chance, after a running into the kicker call, came from 45.

Vigen said Hall’s play in practice is much better than the 1-for-4 he’s been on attempts from 30-39 yards. “We’re going to need his production and he’s been very productive in the other two areas we use him,” Vigen said, then added that Hall struck the ball very well on his PATs the second half, of which he had plenty.

“So that was a positive spin on what happened just before halftime.”

Vigen also added the Bobcats will have punt returner extraordinaire Taco Dowler back from injury Saturday.

Eck revisited the onside kick against Montana that was called back for offsides, with the Vandals down 23-21. It was standout receiver Hayden Hatten, who caught TDs in the game, that was flagged.

“It was really bad coaching by me on the onside kick,” Eck said. “I wasn’t even exactly sure what the rule was. His upper body broke the plane.”

Then he added: “If not for him we would never have got it to a one-possession game like we did at the end.”

Dangerous Bears

The Montana Grizzlies appear to have the easy draw this weekend but hold on: Northern Colorado, under first-year coach Ed Lamb, has played a ton of close games.

Last week in a 24-17 loss at Cal Poly, the 0-7 Bears muffed a punt in the first quarter, leading 7-0. The punt traveled 61 yards, so Cal Poly took over at the UNC 24. The Mustangs quickly tied it up.

Trailing 24-17 in the fourth quarter the Bears had two 3-and-outs and after the Mustangs ran the final 8:12 off the clock.

“Without question, as disappointing an outcome as we’ve had,” said Lamb. “We’re going through hell as a team and a majority of the blame belongs right here with me.

I think we have a better team than our record and that falls on us coaches. We have a talented enough team, they have the work ethic and the buy-in and so it's incredibly painful to not have the type of success I feel they deserve.”

Now UNC did surrender 525 yards of offense to the Mustangs, but the 0-4 Big Sky record includes three one-possession games. Montana coach Bobby Hauck concurred with Lamb on Monday.

“Winning is hard. Everybody is trying,” he said. “They’re far better than their record. They do things right, they just have not quite gotten over the hump.

“We don’t look at scores, we look at film, and then you look at them on film this is a good football team.”

“What I’ve said to the players is in every one of our league games, one additional stop and one additional score from winning,” Lamb said. “That’s the common denominator. We could be looking at 4-0m if only. And those if-onlys are big if-onlys. We need to play better.”

Bengal High Points

Idaho State’s 3-1 start in Big Sky games (the loss? 28-21 at Montana) is its best since a 3-0 start under current Griz receivers coach Rob Phenicie in 2018. The “Big Human,” Mike Kramer, guided the Bengals to a 6-1 start in 2014, before the lost 44-39 to his former team, MSU.