One last Division I college football game, and it kicks off today.

FCS National Championship

#8 Montana State Bobcats vs. #2 North Dakota State Strip Mall Fashion Emporium and Road Construction Sign-Making Institute Bizon

11am | ESPN2 | NDSU -7 | O/U 42

Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX)

MNW: Montana State’s starting QB transferred right before the playoffs began, but backup Tommy Mellott has been fantastic in his stead—the Bobcats’ signal-caller has run for 6 TDs in the playoffs behind one of the best offensive lines in FCS. If RB Isaiah Ifanse is healthy, maybe the Bobcats have enough in the backfield to stand up to the Bizon.

Of course, North Dakota State does everything Montana State does, and better. When James Madison shut down star RB Tamerik Williams in the semifinals, enter the dual QB system of passer Cam Miller and runner Quincy Patterson. Oh, and star WR Christian Watson might be back.

If the Bobcats can come out throwing haymakers like they did against #1 seed Sam Houston State? Maybe they can do it. Our friend our at the Missouri Valley Beat isn’t feeling as optimistic:

Get well soon!

A History of Beating FCS Teams

Montana State

• 2006: def. Colorado Buffaloes, 19-10
• 1984: def. Fresno State Bulldogs, 35-31
• 1981: def Fresno State, 30-26
• 1978: def. Fresno State, 35-14

NDSSMFERCSMI

• 2016: def. #13 Iowa Hawkeyes, 23-21 (and received votes afterward!)
• 2014: def. Iowa State Cyclones, 34-14
• 2013: def. Kansas State Wildcats, 24-21 with one of the more punishing game-winning drives I’ve seen:

• 2012: def. Colorado State Rams, 22-7
• 2011: def. Minnesota Gophers, 37-24
• 2010: def. Kansas Jayhawks, 6-3!!!!!!!!!!!

• 2007: def. Central Michigan Chippewas, 44-14
• 2007: def. Minnesota, 27-21
• 2006: def. Balls Tate Cardinals, 29-24

How They Got Here:

Montana State

• def. UT Martin, 26-7
• def. Sam Houston State, 42-19
• def. South Dakota State, 31-17

NDSSMFERCSMI

• def. Southern Illinois, 38-7
• def. East Tennessee State, 27-3
• def. James Madison, 20-14

Kind of...: Oh great. The Alabama of FCS is back in the title game again. I do have questions about the strip mall fashion emporium. But I’ve only been in the state of North Dakota once, so I have no idea what specific emporia they specialize in.

MNW: It’s all Carhartt and misprinted Jessica Simpson clothing line items on clearance.

Kind of...: Thoughts about Montana State:

• Hey, nice run this playoffs. They won the title way back in 1984 and have been pretty good most of the time since, though often in the shadow of Montana. Still, Sacramento State won the regular season Big Sky title. What’s going on here?
• That said, first year head coach Brent Vigen came to Bozeman from Craig Bohl’s staff at Wyoming, and, prior to that, had been a lifer at NDSU, both as a player and coach. In fact, he almost got the head job at NDSU after Klieman left for Kansas State, so Spiderman pointing at Spiderman gif and all that.
• The most decorated NFL career of any Montana State alum is Jan Stenerud, the first player to make the NFL HOF purely as a kicker. As a sign of the evolution of the game, Stenerud, one of the first soccer-style kickers, had a career success rate of 66.8% and a career long of 54 yards. From 40-49, he was 51.33% and from 50+, he made 26.56%. But, yeah, he WAS one of the best kickers of the 70s.
• 10 years ago, Montana State was coached by Rob Ash. Not only is he the winningest coach in Drake University history, as I’m sure superfan MNW knows, he gave the world a son:

MNW: It’s so beautiful.