Bison Video Blog: The Frisco Finale with Montana State

It seems fitting that North Dakota State will face Montana State to close out the 2024 football season.

It was the Bobcats who were the opponents that started this entire Bison FCS dynasty.

A 42-17 NDSU rout of Montana State in Bozeman in 2010 opened eyes not just in Fargo, but across the FCS that the Bison could play in this division.

14 years and nine national championships later, there’s no debate on who’s the top program in FCS.

Montana State may know as well as anyone. The Bobcats have had their seasons ended by the Bison four separate times since 2018, including last year’s heartstopping 35-34 overtime win in Bozeman.

NDSU stomped the Bobcats in the second round in 2018 and the semifinals in 2019. Brent Vigen took MSU to the national championship game in 2021, but after freshman quarterback Tommy Mellott got injured in the first quarter, NDSU ran over the Cats, winning 38-10.

Montana State of 2024 is a different animal. The Bobcats have won every game, scoring 30 points in each game, something no team has done in Division I this year.

Mellott has had a tremendous year, in a battle with Bison quarterback Cam Miller for the Walter Payton Award.

The Forum’s Jeff Kolpack and WDAY’s Dom Izzo begin Championship Week with a look at what the matchup will be like between the Bison and Bobcats.

Dom Izzo is the Sports Director at WDAY-TV. He began working for WDAY in 2006 as the weekend sports anchor and was promoted to Sports Director in 2010.