Sports Now - Playoff Preview w/ Fritz Neighbor: Montana State hosts William & Mary + The 2022 FCS Title Favorite

Fritz Neighbor joins the show to breakdown the FCS playoffs as the Montana State Bobcats host William & Mary in the FCS quarterfinals. We'll get to some quotes from Bobcats head coach Brent Vigen with his thoughts on the matchup and the opportunity to play this deep into the postseason. Plus, a look at some coaching moves around the Big Sky conference and who has the best chance to bring home the FCS championship title this postseason.

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Transcript

Joined by Fritz Neighbor of the Daily Inter Lake, in the actual studio this time. Got the got him in the laboratory here, good stuff. Talk a little about Bobcats' football, FCS playoffs, and all that good stuff. Fritz, if there's anything you want to kind of get started with, if not, I got a couple of questions for you. But wherever you kind of want to go with it, no fire away, man. All right, fire away. So, the Bobcats are coming off a playoff win against a very familiar opponent. They played him earlier this year and beat him in Weber State. Now they're matched up with an opponent that I know almost nothing about other than Cam Newton, former NFL star, his little brother's on the team and he's been going to the games. That's all I know. Cam Newton's butt.

That's games. Do you, can you tell the audience or tell me a little more about William and Mary? Anything you know, I guess. Yeah, um, you know they've, uh, I noticed just doing some notes, note-taking money to go, you know they've been to the semifinals twice, and both years they lost to the team that then beat the Griz for the national titles. Interesting. They lost to No. 4 to James Madison, they lost overnight, and Villanova. Um, in between the Griz lost in '08 to Richmond, and the head coach of Richmond at the time was Mike London. He catapulted from there to Virginia but didn't go as well, now he's the head coach back in the FCS for William and Mary. 

It's teams 11-1, um, pretty stingy defense, pretty solid running attack. They got some stocky kids. They have a nose guard named Zyquon Bassant. That's 5'10", 285. All right, yeah, the average school stout. Yeah, they have a receiver named Drayshawn Kendrick who's 5'8", 195. I've seen a dimension like that on a receiver even in the old days under Don Reed. They have some short ones, but they weren't that stocky. Yeah, I can't think of anybody else but an old Panthers receiver Steve Smith, but that's about it. Not a lot of guys built like that on the outside. Yeah, it's kind of an interesting build for sure. Yeah, and you know, William & Mary is out of the CAA. 

That's been for a long time. It was probably the power conference. I think that that status now belongs to the Missouri Valley. Um, I'm not sure how good they are. They lost to Elon, which rather famously picked up Matt McKay, the former Bobcat quarterback. Um, so that's the one loss. They've had some close wins, including one at Hampton, which is in the SWAC, which isn't generally a very strong conference. It's, it's hard to say, but they run the ball well. Their quarterback is a sophomore named Darius Wilson. Um, he's 3 for 3 or he didn't throw for 300, 3 for 260. But the team threw for 300 yards last week, so they have a couple of wrinkles. 

Kind of sounds familiar to me, a little bit like MSU. You know, they have great quarterback play, they have a great rushing attack. I think their defense statistically looks a little bit better, but again, it's a conference-versus-conference matchup. Cats have never played the tribe before. Should be fun, should be interesting. I wish it was on a little bit earlier, but yeah, it should be fun.

Yeah, no, it should be all, all that said. And then, plus, the weather, who knows, maybe if that turns out to be a factor. But no, it's always interesting. We get these matchups, totally unknown involved, especially in the playoffs. You did kind of mention how the Missouri Valley Conference has kind of taken over as one of the top conferences. I did want to ask you, the Big Sky was, you know, one of the better conferences in the FCS this year. This off-season alone, Weber State head coach Jay Hill was just named the BYU defensive coordinator. Cal Poly head coach Beau Baldwin's off to Arizona State along with Charlie Ragle of Idaho State. So you got two guys heading to the desert there. And then Troy Taylor's now getting looks for Stanford jobs. 

So the Big Sky was stacked this year as far as coaching goes. I just wanted to get your thoughts on the level of coaching and then kind of what it could look like next year with a bunch of different sets of coaches on the horizon. And my last question, kind of leading up to it, do you think Bobcats coach Brent Veegan could maybe be next, getting some phone calls or at least some looks because they've been rolling? I know he's, it seems like Veegan's been there forever. He's only been there two years.

Yeah, um, he only has one legal loss. That was to the Griz a year ago. He's done a great job. I think if they continue to power up, and it seems like they will, I mean, their O-lines are good and they're young. And Tommy Malott, who today was named a sophomore All-American by Hero Sports, is a sophomore. I mean, they're kind of loaded. They could have Isaiah Ifanse back next year. He's a senior this year, but he's only going to get four games at most. So they can redshirt him and keep him for another year. He'll have maybe a second master's degree by then. And, you know, Veegan's got to be a hot name. Maybe not yet, but he will be. 

I think it's only a matter of time. He's done a really good job. He was a great hire by the Cats. I mean, I think Jeff Choate kind of left him high and dry, you know, resigning when he did in the spring. And then a couple of weeks later, they get Veegan. It's... They couldn't have gone any better in that route. And, yeah, Troy Taylor leaving Sac State. You wonder how they would do. It's been... It's taken Sac State a long time to take advantage of a really good recruiting base to put together some good teams. I mean, you know, like in the '60s, they were good at the Division II level. But once they joined the Big Sky, they weren't very good. Not consistently good anyway. So, you know, that would be... Olsen, Bobby Hauck is, you know, a veteran coach. It kind of already is, but, you know, it's his fourth season back, I think, this year, in his second tenure. And, you know, it's hard for teams to stay consistent when they change coaches all the time. So we'll have to see how Sac State might recover. Troy Taylor hasn't left yet. Yeah, Weber State, Jay Hill did such a great job. I wonder if... I think there's a rumor that they might draw somebody over from BYU.

Interesting. Um, Idaho State, you know, I think Regal, if you'd been able to stick around through his health issues, he might have been able to get things going. They play pretty well at times, flashes for sure. Yeah, and then, you know, Baldwin. Well, Baldwin, I thought highly of him. I like his demeanor and his compartment, and the numbers they put up at Eastern Washington were great. The passing numbers they put up at Cal Poly this year were pretty good. Um, Paul Wolf is another guy that precedes Baldwin at Eastern, and so I think he'll keep trying to build that program up. Um, you know, pass the one win they had this year, I think that's the best-case scenario for them. So, I mean, we're talking about two teams that weren't very good, yeah, coaches, but yeah, they have no real nowhere to go but up, yeah, no, very true, very true. And just interesting stuff because I mean, that just shows it was a stacked conference this year. 

And I do think the Troy Taylor stuff's interesting. Of course, Stanford, you mentioned the recruiting in that area. It's like, hey, let's just move them up down the way a little bit, keep the recruiting going because he's already got the foundation. So that move makes a lot of sense. Speaking of current Bobcat coaches and current Big Sky coaches, I did want to ask you a little bit about the legendary Bobcat coach who's been life celebrated this week and all that, Sonny Holland. Just if you had any stories about him or just kind of what you could share with the audience about his impact on Montana State football and the Bobcats over the years.

Yeah, I kind of preceded my time. I was, think I was 13 years old, and I remember watching the Bobcats beat Akron for the 1976 Division II title. I just told everybody, I'm in my late 50s. Um, you know, obviously a legend. He was a starter and a team captain as a freshman. Um, they won kind of, uh, they shared a small college title in '56, and he was a key player for them for the Bobcat stand. He comes back 20 years later and leads them to a national title as a coach. He stuck around Bozeman, Butte native, and, um, you know, they call him the greatest Bobcat of all time for a reason. A little bit of foreshadowing, I found a guy that played for him, uh, out of Columbia Falls. Steve Crocker is his name, and he's going to be my column in tomorrow's paper. 

There we go, and he, um, yeah, he's told me about how, you know, when he was coming out of Columbia Falls, it was '71, and the Cats were coming off back-to-back appearances in the Camellia Bowl in '69, and '70. So they were kind of the big kids on the block, and he was, uh, in school one day, and he got called down to the principal's office, and there's Sonny Holland and Sonny Hall, and sat beyond the principal's desk, and they just chatted for a while, and within 20 or 30 minutes, Crocker decided he was going to be a Bobcat, and he was a really a very good running back for a couple of years for the Bobcats, and they won a ton of games during the six-season span that ended with the '76 national title. Crocker was done in '75, but things were building to that point.

And, um, no, it's an interesting guy, you know? I wish I'd met him. I kind of missed out. It appears I met a lot of people from MSU, but I didn't get to run into Sunny. Yeah, but, uh, you know, he's a legend for a reason. Yep, the greatest Bobcat of all. Says it in itself. I had to ask a little bit, figured you had a little story there, and of course, yeah, you did. That's it. I mean, I think the recruiting story is interesting because it just shows he was the type of guy that gets a player in the room. 

It's like you want to play for him, it seems like. So that sums it up, kind of. So last question I had for you, and then of course, as always, anything else you want to throw out there? I kind of was looking at the bracket and kind of the history of some of the FCS playoff stuff. Historically, it's like you look and you have James Madison, Sam Houston State. The Bison have always been kind of going into it. You're like, "The Bison, this year, you know, they're almost unbeatable." It feels to me a little, at least like this, there's a little bit more wide open, some different names on the horizon. We mentioned the Hornets finally kind of knocking on the door with playoff success. Do you think this is the most wide-open you've seen the FCS level in a while? And do you have a favorite to win it all at this point?

Well, I think if I had to pick a favorite, it would be South Dakota State. Okay, you seem to have at least caught the Bison. They've been good for a long time. Stiglemeyer has been there for a long time. He's a veteran coach. He reminds me a little bit of the guy that finally got one with Villanova in '09, you know? So yeah, the Jackrabbits are tough. They've been the best team all year in the best conference. I think they're the pick. I don't think Holy Cross has much of a chance against them. Yeah, and uh, North Dakota State, you know, they looked fallible a couple of times against the Griz. Those four big rounds they had, you know, they got out on them after a while. A couple of key plays went against the Griz, like the face mask that wasn't, that became a fumble that shouldn't have been. Yeah, that was a tough one. 

Or one touchdown the Griz had, a fumble erased by a defensive holding call. It was Hank News that forced it, and fellow Glacier grad Patrick O'Connell recovered it, and then it didn't count. And NDSU went on to score on that drive as well. Um, so the final score maybe not be indicative of how close the programs are, at least that's what Bobby Hauck would like you to believe. Yeah, and I don't blame him. Yeah, and, uh, yeah, you know, it's pretty balanced, but SDSU has got to be the pick until somebody gets them. I don't know if anybody's going to get them.

Yeah, I was leaning that way a little bit, and then I believe they do have a win over the Bison this year, so you kind of have that rolling into the playoffs. Um, I should note, yeah, MSU on its way to the national title game last year, beat SDSU.

Oh, so yeah, there's always that, yeah, on the shoulder, a little something on them. Yeah, I think I think the way I look at it, maybe it's a little bit of bias to the region we are, but I keep thinking Sac State, MSU, and South Dakota State. Those three teams, and then, of course, the Bison, you know they're going to be there. So it's like those four teams have been leaping out at me. I'm sure some other teams are going to impress this weekend that I wasn't aware of, but yeah, South Dakota State and their quarterback, everything's kind of rolling their way, and they're going to be the team to be. So yeah, great stuff, Fritz. If you have anything else, Phil, free throw it out there. If not, always appreciated. I think I go back and crank out some copies. There we go.

Alright, thank you, Fritz. Appreciate you. Congratulations. Alright, thanks again to Fritz for taking the time to talk a little about Bobcats, the little FCS playoffs, Little Big Sky Conference. Exciting time to be a Montana State Bobcats fan and a fan of the Big Sky Conference in general. It was a jam-packed year, and I'm interested to see what it's going to look like next year with a few new familiar faces on the sidelines. And depending on what happens with Troy Taylor in Sacramento State, might be a big change if Sacramento State's looking for a new head coach, and potentially, you know, could there be a drop-off or do they find somebody who can keep that train rolling? Because they have developed into an FCS powerhouse in a Big Sky perennial threat to win the conference. So that could have a big impact on both the Bobcats and the Griz moving forward. Real quick, we'll get to a stat of the day for the Bobcats. We're going to get to some audio from Coach Brett Vigan, and then we'll wrap this thing up. 

So according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the Bobcats have punted just one time in the past three games. During that stretch, MSU has scored 19 touchdowns and made nine field goals. That pretty much sums up how things have gone for the Bobcats down the stretch. When you've punted one time throughout a few games, that pretty much says it all. And I will admit, watching the Bobcats, I kind of kept thinking, I'm like, does this team ever not convert on third and fourth down? They always seem to put themselves in one of those positions where it's third and short, fourth and short. And if it is a third or fourth and long, whatever, and they go for it, they pull a rabbit out of the hat and hit a home run. So they've been converting at a crazy rate. That team puts themselves in a position to succeed. Let's get to some audio from the head coach of the Bobcats, Brett Vigan, on a little scouting report on this William and Mary team they have on the horizon this weekend.

Um, like I said before, we're excited to continue to be playing. This is, uh, you can get to this point in the season. You're doing a lot of good things. And then on the flip side, you're going to be playing against good teams. And that's what we have in William and Mary coming in here, a team that won their league, has found a way to win close games, has the same record as us, 11-1, and had a real dominating win this past weekend.

And you know, their team, that, uh, you know, certainly has our full attention. They, uh, you know, offensively, are very explosive, can run the ball well. In Saturday's game, they put up 300 yards passing at the same time. And defensively, um, has a unit to contend with. So, you know, we're in a, uh, we're in a week where we play Friday. Um, we've adjusted, uh, we, we sped up a little bit the week, I guess, as far as that goes today with our practice and, and look for the opportunity to play on Friday night and in front of, uh, not only our crowd but a national TV audience. So, with that, I'll open it up.

Sounds like Coach Vegan and the Bobcats are not taking this William and Mary matchup lightly. They're giving it their full attention. They're treating it as they should, a playoff game. Doesn't matter how much you've been rolling, because everybody this time of year is one of the best in the country. So, well said by Coach Vegan. Let's move along to some thoughts from Coach on the dynamic offense of William and Mary and their quarterback.

Yeah, offensively, they get to potentially be, uh, dynamic and deceptive. Um, and he's certainly the catalyst. Uh, runs well. Um, you know, has good rushing stats, and then he can throw it too. And, and, you know, they use, they use him in some different ways. They put some other guys in that quarterback position, not necessarily quarterbacks, but, they snap it to a bunch of different guys. Um, they have good running backs, good receivers, and they utilize them in a lot of different ways. They move them around in a lot of different ways. A good old line, with good tight ends. Um, you know, they can run the football. I think they're over 270 a game. That puts them in the top five rushing in the FCS. And then, as I said, they threw it for 300 against Gardner-Webb. 

So, explosive offense, and he is certainly the key, and he is a talented quarterback. Fritz and I spoke a little bit earlier, and Fritz did mention there are, you know, this William and Mary offense almost sounds a little bit like the Bobcats, and when you hear Vegan describe it like that, it sounds a lot like the Bobcats offense, utilizing multiple position players at quarterback to get a different look, moving guys pre-snap. So, it feels like it's going to be a little bit of a strength-versus-strength matchup for Montana State on the horizon versus William and Mary. It's going to be a battle of whose defense can get more stops and whose rushing attack can get out to that early lead. Speaking of that kind of defensive complementary football, let's get some thoughts on Coach Vegan and William and Mary's style of play with that complementary style.

Um, so they've been, uh, you know, they've, they've, offense, defense, you know, much like we want to, they've complemented each other through the course of the season. You know, in big games, um, close games, they've held on to the leads. They've taken the ball away defensively, and they found ways to score on offense. So, um, really impressed with what they put on film. That's one of the things that's made the Bobcats so impressive down the stretch.

They do play that complimentary style of football, and now they have an opponent coming into their house, William & Mary, who's going to bring that same style. It's gonna be an evenly-matched battle. It sounds like Brett Vegan and that Bobcat's coaching staff are preparing for a formidable opponent who's on their level. This is gonna be a big one. It's gonna be a big one. Let's get to one last quote from Coach Vegan on the essence of the cross-country non-conference matchup where there's not a lot of experience involved. I think that's the beautiful thing about this time of year. You do get these cross-conference, cross-country matchups, and I think you've got to do your best of watching the video and assessing what you think it looks like.

And, you know, certainly holding your opponent that becomes one of eight now in very high regard. And there's certainly some allowing it to play out in the early stages of the game. I know that's part of it, but, you know, I think you can assess what you see schematically. You can make your best judgment on what they are like as individuals physically. And then you've got to go out and still be more worried about what you do and how you play. And, you know, but there is certainly that element of kind of figuring some of that out as you go. But they're good, you know, William & Mary's a really good team, and that's apparent. And, you know, you've got to get caught up in trying to sort out any comparing of scores and any of that. That's not worth anything at this point. A lot of good gems from Coach Vegan in there. 

Just to mention his last little bit there about comparing scores and all that. Couldn't agree more. It's one of those things. I started looking up William & Mary, who they played, and the stats. It's so hard without looking at the film, going at the scores. You know, if you watch MMA and all, they call it MMA math. Just because somebody beats somebody else doesn't mean they're going to be the next opponent. So it doesn't always work out like that. It's not a perfect match. So the next thing I like about Coach Vegan, he mentioned in there at the end of the day, you've got to focus on yourself.

You are playing a new opponent, you are playing somebody you're not experienced against, but you can control some things just by focusing on yourself. Those internal factors: don't make mistakes, don't turn the ball over, take care of the football. Those little coaching things that, you know, coaches are doing from day one of football, those are going to be the things that you can't control. William & Mary has to go across the country. They're on the road, playing in a different environment, in the cold. That gives the Bobcats the edge. If they can take care of those factors they can control them. And the last part that stood out, I like what he said about that feeling-out process early on, kind of getting a feel for each other. This could be one of those games where you have two powerhouse rushing attacks that both teams have nothing to hide. They know we are coming into this game looking to run the football. William & Mary runs the football well. The Bobcats, we've talked all year about how great they run the football. So it's gonna be a styles-make-fights, two strengths going at it. Who can kind of get that advantage early?

Because, in my opinion, if one team jumps out to an early lead in a battle of the rushing games, that could be a big thing. So, it's going to be interesting. It's going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait for Friday night. Gotta be a nationally televised game, Coach Vegan mentioned. So, it's going to be a lot of fun. Hopefully, this time next week, like I've been saying, we're talking about a Bobcats victory. A lot to digest in the Big Sky. We are going to be getting into a little Grizzlies, excuse me, post-season. God, I can't believe it's already the post-season. It's almost preseason. But a little post-season roundup soon enough, a little season recap. But for the Bobcats, they're alive. They're one of the final eight, and they're a couple of wins away from another trip to the FCS title game. We'll see how it goes for the Bobcats of Bozeman, and see if they can extend that FCS home winning streak to 20 games. A lot on the line. I like that demeanor from Coach Vegan. 

That team is rolling. Tommy Milon, and Sean Chambers, had great performances versus Weber State last week against a team who has seen them before with some experience on film and in person. So, I give the edge to the Bobcats in this one. I do lean towards them taking care of business. But after listening to those quotes from Coach Vegan, there's no denying they are not taking this matchup lightly. William & Mary is going to be a great opponent, and knowing that they can run the heck out of the football has to put the pressure on Montana State a little bit. Because you don't want to get down, because Montana State knows as well as anybody when you start seeing multiple looks from a team who runs the heck out of the football. And as Coach Vegan mentioned in the press conference, they utilize multiple guys at the quarterback position. They utilize a lot of pre-snap motion, that kind of stuff. 

You don't want to get in that guessing game down 14-0 early, where you're hoping to stop the run and all of a sudden William & Mary's pulling some tricks out of the hat. You want to be the one pulling the tricks out of the hat. So, it's going to be a matter of who sets the tempo early, who sets the tone. It might be a slow pace first half for the Bobcats, but for them to let loose in the second half. Alright, everybody, thanks as always for tuning in. Thanks again to Fritz. That was awesome. And hey, we'll see how the Bobcats do. I'm excited. It's going to be fun. A few wins away from another trip to the big one. Thanks again to Nomad GCS for all the support. Thanks again, everybody, for checking it out. Have fun one!