Cats excited for first playoff game since 2014

The last time fans of the Montana State Bobcats saw a playoff game inside Bobcat Stadium, Jeff Choate was coaching the defensive line at the University of Washington, while the Cats lost a wild game to South Dakota State in an all-out blizzard.

The year was 2014, and MSU was still a year away from Choate becoming the next head coach. Fast forward three years, and on Saturday, Choate will take the field for MSU's first playoff game since that wintery day in Bozeman when the No. 23 Bobcats (7-4) host Incarnate Word (6-4) in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

"This is a big step in the right direction for us as a program," Choate said earlier this week.

Indeed, Choate was hired in 2015 following the Cats losing to Montana at home yet again. Then came the rebuild and things weren't always easy. In Choate's first two years at MSU, the Cats went 4-7 in 2016 and 5-6 in 2017, and were seemingly nowhere near the playoffs, though they did beat their arch rival in both of those seasons.

Things started to look grim again this season when the Cats were blown out at South Dakota State, at home against Eastern Washington, and lost heartbreakers at Weber State and Idaho State. By the end of October, they were one more loss away from not making the playoffs yet again.

From there however, the Cats beat Cal Poly and blew out Northern Colorado at home, before finishing off a great November run with their dramatic 29-25 victory over the hated Grizzlies last Saturday in Missoula. That win punched the Cat's ticket to the playoffs as the Big Sky's fourth team.

The win over the Grizzlies, and the playoff berth are certainly a big step for the Bobcats, and a testament to what Choate has done in his three years at MSU.

And while MSU, led by star sophomore quarterback Troy Andersen, freshman sensation Isaiah Ifanse at running back, and a powerful defense, spearheaded by defensive end Bryce Sterk, reveled in their historic third straight win over the Griz, they had little time to keep reveling as Choate immediately turned his attention to Incarnate Word, an at-large team from the Southland Conference.

"The nature of this business is what have you done for me lately, and we've got another opponent this week," Choate said. "And no matter what happens you go into recruiting and you're moving on, and that's the way it is. What a win, what a great game, but that's in the rearview mirror right now. We've got to go to work."

And to work the Cats went, looking to win their first FCS playoff game since 2012. To do it, they'll have to beat the No. 24 Cardinals, who played 10 games this season instead of the standard 11 due to a schedule change that saw them cancel last week's contest versus North Alabama in lieu of a money game with Iowa State that was to take place Dec. 1. But the Iowa State matchup has been shelved because the Cardinals were ultimately added to the 24-team FCS postseason field as an at-large selection.

Incarnate Word, led by first-year coach Eric Morris, has won three of its past four games, scoring no fewer than 40 points in each of those victories. Morris and Choate have a history: The two spent the 2012 season together on Mike Leach's staff at Washington State. Morris played wide receiver for Leach at Texas Tech from 2005-08, and the Cardinals, as you might expect, run a similar version of Leach's "Air Raid" offense. They enter the playoffs with the nation's eighth-ranked offense at 493.3 total yards per game. The Incarnate Word program is still young, having played its first football season in 2009. The Cardinals jumped to Division I in 2013 and are in only their second year of postseason eligibility.

So, Saturday in Bozeman, there will be a feeling of anew, as Choate coaches his first FCS playoff game and Incarnate Word makes it first playoff appearance in program history.

And while the winner of the game will have to go to FCS dynasty North Dakota State in the second round next week, neither Choate and the Bobcats, nor the Cardinals, are looking at their FCS playoff game as a scenario where they're just happy to be there.

"This isn't a victory lap. This isn't, 'Hey, I got bowl eligible and I'm going to go to Shreveport, Louisiana, and get some bowl gifts.' That's not what (this) is," he said. "It's high-stakes poker and you've got to be ready to go and "you've got to have your edge.

Saturday's game between the Bobcats and Cardinals will kick off at 1 p.m. in Bozeman. The game can be viewed on ESPN+.