BOZEMAN — From mighty North Dakota State being shocked by unseeded Illinois State to heavily-favored Montana State having to grit out a win over Yale, the second round of the FCS playoffs showed that, in this postseason, nothing is guaranteed.
"At the end of the day Yale did enough things to make it very interesting," said MSU head coach Brent Vigen during Monday's media availability. "Glad that at the minimum we did enough to get on the other side of it. The one team ranked ahead of us (NDSU) didn't do that and that's a tough pill to swallow."
HEAR FROM THE BOBCATS:
On a day that saw the top-seeded reigning national champions stunned, the No. 2 Bobcats survived and advanced to setup a home Friday night quarterfinal against Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin, located in the east Texas town of Nacogdoches. Kickoff between the Bobcats and Lumberjacks is set for 7 p.m.
"Just play our brand of football," said junior defensive end Zac Crews. "We've gotten this far playing our style of ball. That's what we've got to bring on Friday night is the same exact thing. Not trying to switch it up for the situation we're in. We've got a game on Friday, it's us versus them. We've just got to do what we need to do to prepare for them."
Both teams will carry 11-2 records and 11-game win streaks and league titles into the contest with the Bobcats claiming consecutive Big Sky Conference championships and SFA earning its first Southland title since 2010.
This will be the third ever meeting between the two programs. Their previous two contests were in 2013 (SFA won 52-38) and in 2005 (MSU won 42-6). The Bobcats and Lumberjacks were scheduled to play a home-and-home series last year and this season before the Lumberjacks canceled.
MSU will be looking to contain former Montana quarterback Sam Vidlak who played for the Grizzlies during the 2023 season although he did not play in that season's Brawl of the Wild. He's thrown for 2447 yards and 21 touchdowns for the Lumberjacks so far this season.
"Like any week when it's a quarterback-driven opponent, we've got to be able to put pressure on (Vidlak), we've got to make him uncomfortable," said Vigen. "For us to do that we don't have to create miracles by any means. Our guys just have to play well and that's what it's going to take this time of year."
And of course an MSU victory Friday night paired with a Montana win over South Dakota on Saturday would set the stage for a highest-stakes-ever matchup between the Bobcats and Grizzlies in the semifinals.
But NDSU's stunning defeat to Illinois State has served as a cautionary tale to the final handful of teams remaining in the playoffs — don't look too far ahead.
"There's a reason (SFA) is one of eight teams left," said junior defensive back Caden Dowler. "Just take it one day at a time and whatever happens next week happens next week."
