BOZEMAN, Montana – Brent Vigen hears the noise and recognizes the hype for visiting 7/8th-ranked Idaho Saturday night at Bobcat Stadium to face his third-ranked Montana State team in a nationally televised game on ESPN2. He understands the importance of the game.

But for him it comes down to a few key points. “Consistency in preparation,” he cites as the key to every game week, regardless of the opponent, then puts his finger on the heartbeat of the Bobcat program. “It all starts with the line of scrimmage play,” he says. “It all boils down to this.”

Things are going from strength to strength at Bobcat Stadium beginning Saturday’s 8:20 p.m. kickoff, when the Big Sky’s leading ground player from Montana State will face the FCS’s ninth-ranked rushing defense. The Cats have led the Big Sky in rushing during Vigen’s four seasons at MSU, including this year with 303.5 yards per game. That’s the second-highest total in the FCS entering this weekend, and the team is led by a tandem of young, second-year running backs Scottre Humphrey (111.3 yards per game) and freshman Adam Jones (73.0).

The Vandals counter with a steadfast run defense led by Jaxton Eck, son of head coach Jason Eck. The Vandals allow just 93.3 yards on the ground and just over six first downs per game. Jaxton Eck leads the team with 45 tackles and is the reigning Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week. “Defensively, you just look at their numbers,” Vigen said. “They gave up less than 20 points a game, rushed for less than 100 yards a game, I think they had 19 sacks. So they made it really difficult for opposing offenses to pass the ball first.”

However, by suppressing opposing ground games, the action is directed towards the team’s strength. “When they get into those passing situations, they really go after the quarterback,” Vigen said. “Keyshawn James-Newby in particular has eight sacks so far, and he has been an absolute threat, especially on third down. What you see on defense is that they fly to the football. They are very principled, they are generally able to be in the right place, and they play with great effort.

James-Newby’s 7.5 sacks and six quarterback hurries have terrorized opposing offenses this season, creating a greater urgency than usual to stay out of passing situations. “We have to be good on first downs,” Vigen said. “We got off to a bad start last year (in Idaho), taking the lead three times on our first three possessions. We have to be better in situations like this.”

While the ground game gets most of the attention when examining MSU’s offense, the Bobcats have benefited from an efficient passing attack. quarterback Tommy Mellott completed 68.4 percent of his passes, the 13th^Th-Best mark in the FCS, throwing for 1,058 yards in the first six games of the season. The Bobcats’ pursuit of offensive balance has led them to rely slightly less on the quarterback run game, with Mellott carrying about six times less per game than in the previous two seasons.

After an injury to starter Jack Layne in the first game, Idaho’s offense switched to Jack Wagner at quarterback. Wagner throws for 117.2 yards per game with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Vigen says whoever runs the offense from back center benefits from a talented offensive line and a good ground game.

“At this point, they’re playing three quarterbacks,” Vigen said. “I know Wagner and (Nick) Josifek are playing (now) and they’re both doing a good job. They were second and third (on the depth chart) at the start of the season, but they both stepped in and allowed it. “They have a couple of running backs that complement each other really well, and Jordan Dwyer has emerged as their top receiver. But when you look at them, their offensive line has continued to improve. They were really young if you look back a few years, and that group has continued to grow, gain experience, and become bigger and stronger.”

Dwyer leads the Vandals with 27 catches, 381 receiving yards and four touchdown catches. Running backs Elisha Cummings (408 yards) and Nate Thomas (326 yards) give Idaho a balanced game on the ground. Montana State’s defense enters Saturday’s game with a few starters. Vigen pointed to the nasal device Blake Smith was lost due to a knee injury, and that security Caden Dowler may also not be available. Dru Polidore is expected to return from a season-ending injury at safety.

When looking at the components of the user interface as a whole, Vigen sees a formidable opponent. “Idaho is off to a really good start, 4-2, and they have played a challenging schedule so far. They found a way to win, they found a way to persevere. They are a team overall. They have the right attitude, they play the game correctly, they are well trained, they don’t put themselves in bad positions, they play complementary football. A really good performance will be required of us on Saturday.

While Idaho is “a program that is certainly at the top of our league, a program that has been very consistent with its efforts week in and week out over the last couple of years” and has “our full respect,” Vigen said the team is not breaking new ground . Montana State hosts its seventh top-10 opponent in the last four seasons at Bobcat Stadium when the Vandals travel Saturday, but only its second of the regular season.

Montana State and the Vandals also have a shared history of playing in big games. The Cats faced ten nationally ranked teams from Idaho in the Division I era (since 1978), winning two of them. The Bobcats finished 24th in 1995^Th-ranked Idaho 16-13 in Bozeman, but beat No. 1 Idaho 40-35 two years earlier in what was perhaps Cliff Hysell’s biggest win as MSU’s head coach. The teams met last year in Moscow, with each team finishing in the top 10, and No. 9 Idaho defeated second-seeded MSU 24-21.

Vigen is looking forward to an electric atmosphere after dark at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday. “We’re looking forward to playing this game in the evening,” he said. “We had more than 22,000 last week, but this week we need more than 22,000 in the long run. We have played three home games this year where we were well ahead, but we need our fans to get involved and make a difference on Saturday. I urge you all to be there, students and fans alike.

#GoCatsGo