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‘It’s a good day to be a Bobcat’: Cats crush the Griz and take home Big Sky Championship

Defensive end Kenneth Eiden IV celebrates winning the Brawl of the Wild as the team marches around Bobcat Stadium with the reclaimed Great Divide Trophy. / Gabe Barnard

“It’s a good day to be a Bobcat,” said Head Coach Brent Vigen in a post-game interview following Saturday’s Brawl of the Wild game. Those were the words echoed by Bobcats across the state and the country as the events of the 2022 Brawl of the Wild unfolded.

Heading into the game, analysts and fans knew they would be in for a stellar matchup. That fact that the energy and atmosphere in the stadium was unmatched made the showing only more impressive.

The packed Bobcat Stadium roared to life as the rodeo team, accompanied by the marching band, fireworks and an Air National Guard flyover, led the players onto the field. 22,037 fans had their eyes on the teams as they began the match which, a new stadium attendance record.

In the opening drive, the Bobcats wasted no time and secured a touchdown only two minutes into the game. UM responded in the following minutes and tied the score. It seemed like the fans were just catching their breath from the opening drive and the score was already tied.

Following UM’s tying score, the Bobcats took the lead again.Tommy Mellott carried the ball in for a touchdown. MSU was now up, and UM needed to respond to keep the game going. But in the snap on the following drive they sent the ball over the punter’s head. UM was unable to recover it and MSU trapped the ball inside the goal line, creating a three-touchdown lead for the Bobcats.

This mis-snap marked a turning point in the game. UM wasn’t able to score again until halfway through the fourth quarter when, by that time, the Bobcats were up 48-7. “You can’t snap it over the punter's head, and expect to be in a game like this,” UM Head Coach Bobby Hauck said.

Hauck also commented on MSU’s offensive line saying: “They handled the movement better than I thought they would.” This was in relation to MSU’s dominant rushing ability. The Bobcats only passed the ball four times through the entirety of the game, and came away with 439 total rushing yards.

Quarterbacks Tommy Mellott and Sean Chambers both had spectacular rushing games, each one creating plays and getting points on the board. Along with the quarterbacks, running back Elijah Elliott had an extremely successful game. His heads-up running ability and unstoppable power yielded impressive numbers of yards after contact, making him one of the key factors in the Cats’ victory.

“We made it about this game, we made it about winning today even with all the other factors that went on around the game,” Coach Vigen said.

Bobcat and Griz fans flooded into Bozeman throughout the week for the annual rivalry showdown, a Super-Bowl level event boosted astronomically with the announcement one week prior that ESPN’s College GameDay was coming to town. The GameDay bus was escorted into town Thursday by MSU’s rodeo team through streets lined with fans, and ESPN even covered the traditional Brawl of the Wild “Undie Run” through campus. Dyche Field was transformed Thursday into the set of the weekly show, which started broadcasting live at 7 a.m. Saturday morning with hordes of fans congregating in the background.

But the buzz in town was no distraction for the Bobcats. Vigen said the skill of MSU’s offensive and defensive teams answering and supporting each other is what really created the win.

“Last year we were so dependent on our defense, and now we’re in a better place with our special teams,” he said. “I appreciate our guys believing in the plan and going out there, improving and getting it done.” After the loss to the Grizzlies last year in Missoula, the effort put in to improve on all fronts for the Bobcats was apparent. Ultimately, it paid off.

College GameDay was a huge part of this matchup, and that is one of the factors that has really made it historic. Vigen said that while the team had to look at this game just like any other, the addition of this football phenomenon added so much to the game.

“We were pretty sure our fan base was going to respond the way they did,” Vigen said. “And it was amazing, amazing for our program, amazing for this rivalry, the state and big sky, but it was a huge day for everything Montana state and I’m super proud to have been a part of it.”

With a final score of 55-21 the Bobcats truly earned both the Great Divide and the Big Sky Conference Champion Trophies, and the 121st Brawl of the Wild went down as one of the most historic games in Bobcat history.