BOZEMAN — No. 4 Montana State faces its second consecutive road opponent Saturday as the team heads to Greeley, Colo., for a matchup with the Northern Colorado Bears.
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The Bobcats are riding a six-game win streak into Week 10, and Montana State kicker Myles Sansted explained his perspective of how the team has meshed the past few months.
"It’s been awesome to see the team really come together, as well," Sansted said. "In the locker room, as well, I think it’s been a really cool thing, and I think when you have guys that really love each other and know each other’s whys and care about each other, it really shows up on the field on Saturday because we know the guys next to us are going to lay it all out there for each other."
The run game is shining. Adam Jones and Julius Davis have traded 170-plus-yard games in the Cats' past two games against Idaho State and Cal Poly, respectively.
It will be interesting Saturday as UNC has given up an average of 216 yards per game on the ground, which includes when Sacramento State ran for 323 yards in the 40-35 win for the Hornets on Oct. 18.
Montana State head coach Brent Vigen explained how giving up some more yardage in the opposing run game plays into the Bears' defensive philosophy, though.
"If a defense is giving you some things, but playing that kind of bend-but-don’t-break mentality, you’re going to be OK giving up some yards," he said. "The rushing yards they’ve given up don't necessarily match their points. In a couple of those games where they gave up some rushing yards, they took the ball away quite a bit, too."
The MSU defense will need to be stout once again for the Cats as they’re going against one of the top receivers in the Big Sky in Carver Cheeks and a solid quarterback in Eric Gibson Jr.
"In particular, when you look at Cheeks in the one-on-one game, (Gibson’s) going to go after those scenarios, and they’ve made quite a few of those," Vigen said. "But then you flip it around, if teams want to play zone, he’s going to get the ball out of his hands and get it completed. They do a good job, again, of using their tight ends and their backs, so the ball isn’t just going to, say, Cheeks and (Brayden) Munroe, the top two pass catchers."
The Cats are also focused on all three phases working with one another to build momentum, something that lacked in the Cal Poly game despite the big win.
"We weren't sharp. ... Sometimes that’s the way the game goes," Vigen said about his team. "You know, you think back to Idaho State, both sides of the ball were sharp right from the get-go. We open up a lead. This one, it was a little bit slower go, and that’s the way the game of football goes from time to time."
The game kicks off at noon at Nottingham Field and will be broadcast on Scripps Sports stations across Montana.
