2022 Montana State Bobcats football team

2022 Montana State Bobcats football
2022 Montana State Bobcats football
Big Sky co-champion
NCAA Division I Semifinal, L 18–39 at South Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 4
FCS Coaches	No. 5
Record	12–2 (8–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Brent Vigen (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	Taylor Housewright (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Willie Mack Garza (1st season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium
	Seasons ← 2021 2023 →

2022 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Montana State +^	8	–	0	12	–	2
No. 5 Sacramento State +^	8	–	0	12	–	1
No. 9 Weber State ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 18 Idaho ^	6	–	2	7	–	5
No. 25 UC Davis	5	–	3	6	–	5
No. 14 Montana ^	4	–	4	8	–	5
Portland State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Eastern Washington	2	–	6	3	–	8
Northern Colorado	2	–	6	3	–	8
Northern Arizona	2	–	6	3	–	8
Idaho State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Cal Poly	1	–	7	2	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2022 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bobcats were led by second-year head coach Brent Vigen and played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.

Preseason

Polls

On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Bobcats were predicted to finish third in the Big Sky by the coaches and second by the media.^[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana	111 (3)
2	Sacramento State	110 (4)
3	Montana State	109 (5)
4	Weber State	84
5	UC Davis	82
6	Eastern Washington	76
7	Northern Arizona	62
8	Idaho	45
9	Portland State	42
10	Cal Poly	33
T-11	Idaho State	19
T-11	Northern Colorado	19

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana	356 (14)
2	Montana State	352 (13)
3	Sacramento State	335 (4)
4	Weber State	261
5	UC Davis	255 (1)
6	Eastern Washington	236
7	Northern Arizona	191
8	Portland State	146
9	Idaho	142
10	Cal Poly	85
11	Northern Colorado	71
12	Idaho State	66

Preseason All–Big Sky team

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

Offense

Tommy Mellott – QB

Isaiah Ifanse – RB

R.J. Fitzgerald – WR

Defense

Brody Grebe – DE

Callahan O'Reilly – ILB

Special teams

Bryce Leighton – P

Tommy Sullivan – LS

Roster

2022 Montana State Bobcats football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`0`	Malik Mullins	So
WR	`1`	Ravi Alston	GS
WR	`2`	Clevan Thomas Jr.	GS
WR	`3`	Coy Steel	Sr
QB	`4`	Tommy Mellott	So
RB	`5`	Garrett Coon	So
RB	`7`	Kaegun Williams	GS
TE	`8`	Derryk Snell	Jr
QB	`9`	Luke Abshire	Fr
QB	`10`	Sean Chambers	Jr
WR	`11`	Willie Patterson	Sr
RB	`12`	Jared White	Fr
RB	`13`	Elijah Elliott	So
WR	`14`	Taco Dowler	Fr
WR	`16`	Marqui Johnson	So
WR	`17`	Christian Anaya	Fr
QB	`18`	Sean Austin	Fr
FB	`19`	Jaharie Martin	So
RB	`22`	Isaiah Ifanse	Sr
RB	`24`	Lane Sumner	Jr
TE	`41`	R. J. Fitzgerald	Sr
FB	`48`	Max Murphy	Fr
G	`51`	Trey Yates	Fr
OL	`55`	J. T. Reed	So
G	`56`	Cole Sain	Jr
G	`58`	Aaron Richards	So
OL	`60`	Tommy Nilson	Fr
OL	`62`	Bear Old	Fr
OT	`63`	Rush Reimer	So
OL	`64`	Burke Mastel	Fr
C	`65`	Justus Perkins	So
OT	`66`	Titan Fleischmann	Fr
G	`67`	Joe McElroy	Sr
OL	`68`	Omar Aigbedion	Fr
G	`70`	Holden Sampson	So
OT	`72`	Connor Moore	Fr
OL	`74`	Jaden Perkins	Fr
OL	`75`	Jacob Kettels	Fr
G	`76`	Marcus Wehr	So
TE	`80`	Treyton Pickering	Jr
WR	`81`	Tayvian Williams	So
TE	`82`	Elijah Reynolds	Fr
WR	`83`	Dylan Snyder	Fr
WR	`84`	Noah Smith	Fr
WR	`85`	Aidan Garrigan	Fr
WR	`86`	Zachary Dodson-Greene	Fr
TE	`87`	Ryan Lonergan	So
TE	`88`	Rylan Schlepp	Fr
QB		Jordan Reed	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`0`	Tyrel Thomas	Sr
CB	`2`	Dru Polidore	Fr
S	`3`	Rhedi Short	Sr
CB	`4`	James Campbell	Sr
S	`5`	Jeffrey Manning Jr.	Sr
DB	`6`	Miles Jackson	So
S, NB	`7`	Ty Okada	Sr
S, NB	`8`	Level Price Jr.	Jr
CB	`9`	Simeon Woodard	So
DE	`10`	Brody Grebe	So
DE	`11`	Kenneth Eiden IV	Fr
CB	`12`	Devin Davis	Fr
CB	`13`	Jackson Harmon	Fr
LB	`14`	Neil Daily	Fr
S	`16`	Michael Armstrong	Fr
DB	`17`	Caden Dowler	Fr
S	`18`	Kendric Bailey	So
S	`20`	Tyson Pottenger	Fr
DB	`22`	Takhari Carr	Fr
S	`23`	Aidan Parks	Fr
DB	`25`	Eli Aby	Fr
S, NB	`26`	Rylan Ortt	So
S	`28`	Jake D'Agostino	Fr
S	`29`	Max Kimball	Fr
LB	`30`	Danny Uluilakepa	So
LB	`31`	Jace Fitzgerald	Fr
LB	`32`	Jory Choate	Sr
DT	`33`	Blake Hehl	Jr
LB	`34`	Nolan Askelson	Jr
DB	`35`	Kade Cutler	Fr
ILB	`40`	Alex Johnson	Fr
LB	`42`	Ryan Krahe	Fr
LB	`43`	McCade O'Reilly	So
DE	`44`	Jake Vigen	Fr
DE	`45`	Hunter Parsons	Fr
DE	`46`	Logan Fredericksen	Fr
LB	`47`	Callahan O'Reilly	Sr
DL	`50`	Zack Black	Fr
DE	`53`	Luke Fedyk	Fr
DT	`57`	Tyson Regimbal	Sr
DT	`69`	Jaren Perkins	Fr
DT	`91`	Devin Slaughter	Jr
DT	`92`	Blake Schmidt	So
DT	`93`	Kyle Rygg	Sr
DE	`94`	David Alston	Jr
DT	`95`	Sebastian Valdez	So
DL	`96`	Paul Brott	Fr
DL	`97`	Ethan Abbott	Fr
DE	`98`	Ben Seymour	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`37`	Bryce Leighton	So
K, P	`38`	Casey Kautzman	Fr
K	`39`	Blake Glessner	So
LS	`71`	Tommy Sullivan	So

Head coach

Brent Vigen

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Taylor Housewright (Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks)
Willie Mack Garza (Defensive coordinator / Defensive backs)
Bobby Daly (linebackers)
Jimmy Beal (running backs)
Justin Udy (special teams coordinator / wide receivers / pass game coordinator)
Brian Armstrong (offensive line / run game coordinator)
Tyler Walker (tight ends)
Shawn Howe (defensive line / defensive run game coordinator)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: July 24, 2022

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 p.m.	McNeese State*	No. 4	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	KWYB/ESPN+	W 40–17	21,687
September 10	1:00 p.m.	Morehead State*	No. 4	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	KWYB/ESPN+	W 63–13	19,927
September 17	6:00 p.m.	vs. Oregon State*	No. 4	Providence Park Portland, OR	P12N	L 28–68	25,218
September 24	2:00 p.m.	at No. 15 Eastern Washington	No. 4T	Roos Field Cheney, WA	KBZK/ESPN+	W 38–35	7,200
October 1	8:15 p.m.	UC Davis	No. 4	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPNU	W 41–24	21,637
October 8	2:00 p.m.	Idaho State	No. 4	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	KBZK/ESPN+	W 37–6	21,647
October 15	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Colorado	No. 4	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	KBZK/ESPN+	W 37–14	4,796
October 22	1:00 p.m.	No. 5 Weber State	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	KBZK/ESPN+	W 43–38	20,707
November 5	2:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	No. 3	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KBZK/ESPN+	W 41–38	8,676
November 12	6:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 3	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	KBZK/ESPN+	W 72–28	5,369
November 19	12:00 p.m.	No. 13 Montana	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (rivalry, College GameDay)	KBZK/ESPN+	W 55–21	22,047
December 3	1:00 p.m.	No. 9 Weber State*	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 33–25	16,397
December 9	8:15 p.m.	No. 6 William & Mary*	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN2/ESPN+	W 55–7	14,367
December 17	2:00 p.m.	at No. 1 South Dakota State*	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Semifinal)	ESPN2/ESPN+	L 18–39	7,195
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[3]

Game summaries

McNeese State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	10	0	7	17
No. 4 Bobcats	0	17	16	7	40

Morehead State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	3	3	7	13
No. 4 Bobcats	28	7	14	14	63

At Oregon State

Previous meeting
First ever Meeting

No. 4 (FCS) Montana State Bobcats (2-0) vs Oregon State Beavers (2-0) – Game Summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Bobcats	7	7	7	7	28
Beavers	7	27	20	14	68

at Providence Park • Portland, Oregon

Date: September 17th
Game time: 5:00 p.m. PST
Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C) • Wind: NW at 7 miles per hour (11 km/h) • Weather: Cloudy
Game attendance: 25,218
Referee: Francisco Villar
TV announcers (P12N): Jordan Kent (play-by-play), Nigel Burton (analyst)

Game information

1st quarter

OSU - Deshaun Fenwick runs for a 25-yard TD 11:20, (Everett Hayes kick) - Beavers 7-0, Drive: 7 plays, 90 yards, TOP: 3:33
MST - Sean Chambers runs for a 7-yard TD 5:19, (Blake Glessner kick) - Tied 7-7, Drive: 10 plays, 66 yards, TOP: 5:54

2nd quarter

OSU - Tre'Shaun Harrison 6-yard pass from Chance Nolan 14:51, (Everett Hayes kick) - Beavers 14-7, Drive: 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP: 5:28'
OSU - Chance Nolan runs for a 1-yard TD 11:09, (Everett Hayes kick) - Beavers 21-7, Drive: 7 plays, 58 yards, TOP: 3:28
MST – Marqui Johnson returns a kickoff for a 98-yard TD (Blake Glessner kick) - Beavers 21-14
OSU - Silas Bolden 24-yard pass from Chance Nolan 6:19, (Everett Hayes kick) - Beavers 28-14, Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP: 4:34
OSU - Anthony Gould 9-yard pass from Chance Nolan 4:14, (Extra Point is no good) - Beavers 34-14, Drive: 2 plays, 12 yards, TOP: 0:47

3rd quarter

OSU – Anthony Gould returns a punt for an 80-yard TD (Everett Hayes kick) - Beavers 40-14
MST - Sean Chambers runs for a 8-yard TD 7:21, (Blake Glessner kick) - Beavers 40-21, Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP: 5:20
OSU - Damien Martinez runs for 7-yard TD 5:51, (Atticus Sappington kick) - Beavers 47-21, Drive: 3 plays, 20 yards, TOP: 1:18
OSU - Anthony Gould 17-yard pass from Chance Nolan 1:09, (Atticus Sappington kick) - Beavers 54-21, Drive: 5 plays, 33 yards, TOP: 1:58

4th quarter

OSU - Jam Griffin runs for a 23-yard TD 12:33, (Atticus Sappington kick) - Beavers 61-21, Drive: 6 plays, 54 yards, TOP: 2:48
MST - Sean Chambers runs for a 1-yard TD 7:55, (Blake Blessner kick) - Beavers 61-28, Drive: 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP: 4:38
OSU - Kanoa Shannon runs for a 3-yard TD 3:02, (Atticus Sappington kick) - Beavers 68-28, Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards, TOP: 4:51

Passing leaders

Bobcats - Tommy Mellott 9-18, 101 yards, 3 INTs
Beavers - Chance Nolan 19-25, 276 yards, 4 TDs

Rushing leaders

Bobcats - Tommy Mellott 18 carries, 135 yards
Beavers - Deshaun Fenwick 9 carries, 63 yards

Receiving leaders

Bobcats - Derryk Snell 1 reception, 27 yards
Beavers - Tre'Shaun Harrison 8 receptions, 133 yards, 1 TD
Anthony Gould 5 receptions, 77 yards, 2 TDs

At No. 15 Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4T Bobcats	10	14	7	7	38
No. 15 Eagles	14	7	0	14	35

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	10	3	11	0	24
No. 4 Bobcats	7	17	14	3	41

Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	6	0	0	0	6
No. 4 Bobcats	14	20	0	3	37

At Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Bobcats	3	14	13	7	37
Bears	7	7	0	0	14

No. 5 Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Wildcats	17	7	8	6	38
No. 3 Bobcats	9	18	16	0	43

At Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Bobcats	17	0	7	17	41
Lumberjacks	7	14	7	10	38

At Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Bobcats	24	27	14	7	72
Mustangs	0	14	14	0	28

No. 13 Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Grizzlies	7	0	0	14	21
No. 3 Bobcats	21	10	10	14	55

FCS Playoffs

No. 9 Weber State – Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Wildcats	3	7	0	15	25
No. 3 Bobcats	7	9	10	7	33

No. 6 William & Mary – Quarterfinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Tribe	0	0	0	7	7
No. 3 Bobcats	10	17	28	0	55

At No. 1 South Dakota State – Semifinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Bobcats	6	3	3	6	18
No. 1 Jackrabbits	14	14	8	3	39

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	4	4	4	4т	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	4
Coaches	4	4	4	4т	4	5	4	2	2	3	3	3	3	5

References

^ "Montana Tabbed Big Sky Preseason Favorites by Coaches & Media". July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
^ "Bobcat Backfield Joins Two Defensive Stars and Two Specialists on Preseason All-Big Sky Squad". Montana State University. July 25, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
^ "2022 Football Schedule". Montana State University Athletics. Retrieved May 2, 2022.

[1] "Montana Tabbed Big Sky Preseason Favorites by Coaches & Media". July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.

[2] "Bobcat Backfield Joins Two Defensive Stars and Two Specialists on Preseason All-Big Sky Squad". Montana State University. July 25, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.

[3] "2022 Football Schedule". Montana State University Athletics. Retrieved May 2, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e 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 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Big Sky Conference football champions
College Division / Division II	Idaho State (1963) Montana State (1964) Weber State & Idaho (1965) Montana State (1966) Montana State (1967) Idaho, Montana State, & Weber State (1968) Montana (1969) Montana (1970) Idaho (1971) Montana State (1972) Boise State (1973) Boise State (1974) Boise State (1975) Montana State (1976) Boise State (1977)
I-AA/FCS	Northern Arizona (1978) Montana State (1979) Boise State (1980) Idaho State (1981) Montana, Idaho, & Montana State (1982) Nevada (1983) Montana State (1984) Idaho (1985) Nevada (1986) Idaho (1987) Idaho (1988) Idaho (1989) Nevada (1990) Nevada (1991) Idaho & Eastern Washington (1992) Montana (1993) Boise State (1994) Montana (1995) Montana (1996) Eastern Washington (1997) Montana (1998) Montana (1999) Montana (2000) Montana (2001) Montana, Montana State, & Idaho State (2002) Montana State, Montana, & Northern Arizona (2003) Montana & Eastern Washington (2004) Eastern Washington, Montana State, & Montana (2005) Montana (2006) Montana (2007) Weber State & Montana (2008) Montana (2009) Montana State & Eastern Washington (2010) Montana State & Montana (2011) Eastern Washington, Montana State, & Cal Poly (2012) Eastern Washington (2013) Eastern Washington (2014) Southern Utah (2015) Eastern Washington & North Dakota (2016) Southern Utah & Weber State (2017) Eastern Washington, UC Davis, & Weber State (2018) Sacramento State & Weber State (2019) Weber State (2020) Sacramento State (2021) Montana State & Sacramento State (2022) Montana (2023) Montana State (2024)
National championships in bold