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)
Defensive coordinator	Kane Ioane (1st season)
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium
	Seasons ← 2018 2021 →

2019 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
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 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

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
	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.

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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
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National championship seasons in bold