Montana State Notes

The Yale Bulldogs fell to the Montana State Bobcats in the second round of the FCS Playoffs in a 13-21 slugfest in Bozeman. Despite the loss, it was a season to remember with 7 straight victories to secure a share of the Ivy League Championship, the Ivy’s first ever playoff victory, and a thrilling ending at Montana State against the FCS’ second ranked squad. Congratulations to all of the players and coaches for their talent, hard work and dedication to the program’s success.  

Yale quickly answered concerns of whether the Bulldogs would be able to move the ball on the Bobcats’ stiff defense with Reno connecting with Brown on two fantastic plays in the opening drive. The drive would die after a Lewis false start and two blown-up plays, but did seem to provide a spark of confidence along the sidelines. Reno showed true toughness as he returned to play after two blows to the head sidelined him. In the passing game, Reno finished 20 of 35 for 198 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. One interception essentially functioned as a punt on an improbable 4th and long, while the other interception was a backbreaker inside the redzone when the Bulldogs were desperate for points. Howe’s brief appearance in relief proved to be disastrous after a deep pass over the middle was picked off by the Bobcats’ star safety. If a deep middle shot on the Big Sky’s Defensive Player of the Year was truly necessary with Reno out, it’s simply inexcusable for the coaching staff not to have McCaughey in position to attempt that. The Howe interception, Reno’s interception off a deflection in the redzone, and Reno’s miss to a wide-open Brown were three crushing blows to the offense on Saturday. Two of those errors could have potentially been mitigated with perfect coaching if McCaughey had stepped in as the backup or if the offense had simply run Pitsenberger in the wildcat formation for four straight plays when the Elis had first and goal. The offensive line struggled early on against MSU’s physical front but was able to generate rushing lanes as the game progressed. Pitsenberger rushed for 124 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and a touchdown in a phenomenal cap to his Yale career, while Daal also found success with 5.4 yards per carry on 8 attempts. With Santiago sidelined with an injury, Brown’s return to the passing game was critical and he torched the Bobcats for 107 receiving yards and a touchdown. Smith, Wagner, Anderson and Stevens all made key catches on the best secondary they had faced this season. Unfortunately, the offense needed to play nearly mistake free to win this contest and MSU prevailed in the key plays to define the outcome.

The Bulldogs’ defense has been a very underrated unit across the FCS and kept Yale’s chances alive with excellent play. The Bobcats were held to just 7 points in the first half and only 14 points in the second half. 14 of MSU’s points came off Yale’s interceptions as the mistakes from the Elis shifted momentum to the home squad. Larry led Yale in tackles with 7 and also had a fumble recovery and a batted down pass. Kamara displayed his immense talents causing two fumbles, one of which the Bobcats were very fortunate to recover in the endzone for a touchdown. Grant and Ayo-Durojaiye combined for 11 tackles, while Schmidt consistently delivered hard hits on game-saving tackles. The secondary kept the Bobcats’ passing game in check with just 92 passing yards on 10 receptions. Webster, Gonzales, Tarver, Kamara, Eastep and Schmidt battled throughout the game against a very quick receiving corps. Shaber and Yang were impressive along the defensive front with clutch stops to derail drives. Montana State was able to effectively run the ball with 249 rushing yards on the afternoon for 5.9 yards per attempt, yet allowing only 21 points against a juggernaut is simply remarkable.

Piper did not attempt a field goal but was perfect on his lone PAT. Keeney averaged 42.8 yards per punt on a day filled with strong wind gusts. Tarver had a beautiful 34-yard kickoff return, while Anderson was able to secure a punt despite a vicious hit. The failed two point conversion attempt was nothing short of a blunder with the opportunity to close the gap to 7 points.

The days of happily sailing off into the sunset following a season-ending Harvard win to secure the Ivy Championship are now over, but the silver lining in the loss is that Yale (or other top Ivy teams) can compete at the highest level for a national championship.

Go Bulldogs!