2019 Montana State Bobcats football team

2019 Montana State Bobcats football
FCS Playoffs Semifinals, L 14–42 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 4
FCS Coaches	No. 4
2019 record	11–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jeff Choate (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Miller (2nd as OC, 4th overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Kane Ioane (1st season)
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium (Capacity: 17,777)
Seasons ← 2018 2021 →

2019 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Weber State +^		7	–	1					11	–	4
No. 9 Sacramento State +^		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 4 Montana State ^		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 in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bobcats were led by fourth-year head coach Jeff Choate^[1] and played their home games at Bobcat Stadium. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 11–4, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three way tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where, after a first round bye, they defeated Albany in the second round and Austin Peay in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to North Dakota State.

Previous season[]

The Bobcats finished the 2018 season 8–5, 5–3 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Incarnate Word in the first round before losing in the second round to North Dakota State.

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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 (Brawl of the Wild)	RTNW	W 48–14	19,827
December 7	1:00 p.m.	No. 25 Albany*	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 47–21	12,947
December 13	6:00 p.m.	No. 18 Austin Peay*	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN3	W 24–10	14,017
December 21	12:00 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State*	No. 5	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Semifinals)	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

^[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

Southeast Missouri State[]

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

at Western Illinois[]

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

Norfolk State[]

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

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

Austin Peay–Quarterfinals[]

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

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

Ranking movements[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	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[]