Montana State Dominated by North Dakota State for FCS Title

It’s been 24 hours since the end of the 2021 FCS title game between the Montana State Bobcats and the North Dakota State Bison, with the Bison winning going away by a score of 38-10.

There was an eerie similarity to the Grizzly-James Madison and the Bobcat-Bison postseason games, as both teams lost their starting quarterbacks in the first period, with Tommy Mellott going out after the very first Bobcat offensive series.

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Both injuries deeply damaged the teams and forced them into an unfamiliar game plan, and both teams were defeated.

Cam Humphrey, the senior quarterback for the Grizzlies, had to watch from the sidelines as his final collegiate game slipped away, while Mellott, the talented freshman from Butte, still has three years of eligibility.

The Bison ended their season at 14-1 and are 9-0 when playing for the national championship in Frisco, Texas.

The Grizzlies have won the title twice in 1995 and again in 2001, while the Bobcats sole championship was in 1984.

One encouraging note for this reporter was the game against North Dakota State inside the smoky and hazy Washington Grizzly Stadium Missoula in August of 2015 when Joey Counts scored the winning touchdown with three seconds on the clock, a victory that will live in Grizzly memories for many years to come.

All the best to the Bobcats who had a great season and made it all the way to the FCS National Championship game.

One more note, neither Montana defensive player went home on Friday night with the Buck Buchanan Award. Both Troy Anderson of Montana State and Patrick O’Connell of Montana were finalists for the award, but it instead went to Florida A&M’s Isaiah Land.