2021 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 2021 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Brent Vigen, the Bobcats played home games on campus at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.

2021 Montana State Bobcats football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 2
FCS CoachesNo. 2
Record12–3 (7–1 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTaylor Housewright (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorFreddie Banks (1st season)
Home stadiumBobcat Stadium
Seasons
← 2019
2022 →
2021 Big Sky Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 10 Sacramento State $^ 80  93 
No. 2 Montana State ^ 71  113 
No. 7 Eastern Washington ^ 62  103 
No. 6 Montana ^ 62  103 
No. 17 UC Davis ^ 53  84 
Weber State 53  65 
Northern Arizona 44  56 
Portland State 44  56 
Idaho 35  47 
Northern Colorado 26  38 
Cal Poly 17  29 
Idaho State 17  110 
Southern Utah 08  110 
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

Montana State finished the regular season at 9–2 (7–1 in Big Sky, second), losing only to Wyoming (FBS, Mountain West) and rival Montana.[1] Seeded eighth in the FCS postseason, they received a first-round bye, then defeated UT Martin, #1 Sam Houston, and South Dakota State. MSU advanced to the championship game in Texas on January 8, 2022, but fell 38–10 to #3 North Dakota State.[2]

Preseason

On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Bobcats were predicted to finish fourth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[3]

Coaches poll
Predicted finishTeamVotes (1st place)
1Weber State(7)
2Montana(3)
3Eastern Washington(2)
4Montana State(1)
5Sacramento State(1)
6UC Davis
7Northern Arizona
8Idaho
9Idaho State
10Portland State
11Southern Utah
12Cal Poly
13Northern Colorado
Media poll
Predicted finishTeamVotes (1st place)
1Weber State(14)
2Montana(4)
3Eastern Washington(3)
4Montana State(3)
5Sacramento State
6UC Davis
7Northern Arizona
8Idaho
9Idaho State
10Portland State
11Southern Utah
12Northern Colroado
13Cal Poly

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Bobcats had two players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 42:00 p.m.at Wyoming*No. 12ESPN+L 16–1930,007
September 116:00 p.m.Drake*No. 11SWXW 45–719,797
September 181:00 p.m.San Diego*No. 13
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
SWXW 52–1019,107
September 253:05 p.m.at Portland StateNo. 13ESPN+W 30–17  4,095
October 21:05 p.m.Northern ColoradoNo. 11
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
SWXW 40–720,127
October 92:00 p.m.Cal Poly No. 10
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
RTNWW 45–719,847
October 158:00 p.m.at No. 19 Weber StateNo. 9ESPNUW 13–7  6,323
October 231:00 p.m.Idaho StateNo. 8
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
SWXW 27–919,297
November 62:00 p.m.at No. 5 Eastern WashingtonNo. 4SWXW 23–20  6,981
November 131:00 p.m.IdahoNo. 3
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT
SWXW 20–1319,447
November 2012:00 p.m.at No. 7 MontanaNo. 3RTNWL 10–2926,856
December 42:00 p.m.No. 16 UT Martin*No. 7
ESPN+W 26–715,237
December 116:30 p.m.at No. 1 Sam Houston*No. 7
ESPN+W 42–19  7,565
December 1812:00 p.m.No. 11 South Dakota State*No. 7
  • Bobcat Stadium
  • Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Semifinal)
ESPN2W 31–1720,457
January 8, 202210:00 a.m.vs. No. 3 North Dakota State*No. 7ESPN2L 10–3818,942

[4]

Roster

2021 Montana State Bobcats football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR0Cam GardnerSo
WR3Coy SteelJr
WR5Charles BrownFr
QB7Casey BaumanSo
TE8Derryk SnellSo
WR9Jamahd Monroe  Fr
WR10Nate StewartGS
WR11Willie PattersonJr
QB12Tucker RovigJr
RB13Elijah ElliottFr
TE14Peyton ThorntonFr
QB16Tommy MellottFr
WR16Tanner Trafton  Fr
WR17Jaden Smith  Fr
QB18Sean AustinFr
RB18DeMareus Hosey  Fr
RB19Jaharie MartinFr
RB22Isaiah IfanseJr
RB24Lane SumnerSo
WR25Andrew PattersonFr
RB29Jaalen ReningFr
RB38Garrett CoonFr
TE42R. J. FitzgeraldJr
TE48Ryan DavisSr
TE49Dyse ShepherdFr
OL51Taylor TuiasosopoSr
OL56Cole SainSo
OL58Aaron RichardsFr
OL59Zach ReddJr
OL60Dontae MyrickFr
OL61Cole SnyderFr
OL62Dylan PorterJr
OL63Rush ReimerFr
OL65Justus Perkins  Fr
OL67Joe McElroySo
OL70Holden Sampson  Fr
OL72T. J. Session  Fr
OL73Titan FleischmannFr
OL74Conor ReitlerFr
OL75Jacob KettelsFr
OL76Lewis KiddSr
OL79Jack Harlow  Fr
TE80Treyton PickeringSo
WR81Tayvian WilliamsSo
TE82Elijah ReynoldsFr
WR83Logan KleinhansSo
WR84Peyton HanserJr
WR85Aidan GarriganFr
WR86Lance McCutcheonSr
TE87Ryan Lonergan  Fr
TE88Jarrett KesslerJr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB0Tyrel ThomasSr
DB1Eric ZambranoSo
DB2Tre WebbGS
DE3Amandre WilliamsSr
CB4James CampbellJr
S5Jeffrey Manning JrJr
DB6Miles JacksonFr
DB7Ty OkadaJr
CB8Level Price Jr.So
CB9Simeon WoodardFr
DE10Brody GrebeFr
LB11Kenneth Eiden IVFr
DB12Devin DavisFr
DB13Jackson HarmonFr
LB15Troy AndersenSr
LB17Tadan GilmanJr
S18Kendric BaileySo
DB20Tyson PottengerFr
OLB23Aidan ParksFr
DB25Eli AbyFr
DB26Rylan Ortt  Fr
DB27Connor RyanFr
S28Jake D'AgostinoFr
LB30Danny UluilakepaFr
LB31Jace FitzgeraldFr
ILB32Jory ChoateSo
DT33Blake HehlSo
LB34Nolan AskelsonSo
ILB40Alex Johnson  Fr
DT41Chase BensonSr
LB43McCade O'ReillyFr
DE44Daniel HardySr
LB45Hunter ParsonsFr
DL50Zack BlackFr
LB53Luke FedykFr
LB54Cooper ThomasFr
DT55Tua Areta  Fr
DL57Tyson Regimbal  Jr
DL90Marcus Wehr  Fr
DE91David AlstonSo
DL92Blake Schmidt  Fr
DL93Kyle RyggJr
DL94Byron RollinsJr
DL95Sebastian ValdezFr
DL96Paul BrottFr
DL98Ben SeymourSo
DL99Trey YatesFr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K35Luke PawlakFr
P37Bryce LeightonFr
K39Blake GlessnerFr
LS71Tommy SullivanFr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Taylor Housewright (OC)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries

At Wyoming

1234Total
No. 12 Bobcats700916
Cowboys0301619

Drake

1234Total
Bulldogs07007
No. 11 Bobcats91571445

San Diego

1234Total
Toreros007310
No. 13 Bobcats211410752

At Portland State

1234Total
No. 13 Bobcats3614730
Vikings1007017

Northern Colorado

1234Total
Bears07007
No. 11 Bobcats171013040

Cal Poly

1234Total
Mustangs00707
No. 10 Bobcats7287345

At No. 19 Weber State

1234Total
No. 9 Bobcats706013
No. 19 Wildcats70007

Idaho State

1234Total
Bengals30339
No. 8 Bobcats01031427

At Eastern Washington

1234Total
No. 4 Bobcats790723
No. 5 Eagles1300720

Idaho

1234Total
Vandals0103013
No. 3 Bobcats760720

At No. 7 Montana

1234Total
No. 3 Bobcats300710
No. 7 Grizzlies10610329

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS FCS12111313111098643372
Coaches111313121211986433 (1)92

References