Most people would celebrate their team’s 13-2 season, as they should, but man did the Bobcats knock some shine off that record.

As Christmas comes and goes, Montana State fans are celebrating their football program’s 48-23 FCS semifinal win over the Montana Grizzlies Saturday, in which the Griz made their case for “Super Brawl” supremacy for all of 18 minutes and 32 seconds. 

When the Grizzlies rallied from that 20-3 deficit to lead 23-20, the Bobcat Stadium crowd of 22,277 (down from the 25,437 released during the game) was quieted some.  

Given that Montana had twice rallied from 13-point deficits to wins games against North Dakota and Idaho State this season, partisans could be forgiven for thinking, “Why not 17?”  

The Bobcats, that’s why. Short of another 50-burger, something Montana had in its two playoff wins, no trip to Nashville was coming. 

And anyway, who could go: On their first scoring drive the Griz lost receiver Brooks Davis to an ankle and tight end Evan Schafer to another leg injury.  

Later safety Micah Harper was ejected for targeting, an easy call (upon review) because of the helmet-to-ear hole contact — and it should be noted MSU punted after that call, after which UM scored on its fourth straight possession. 

Montana State then brushed that aside.  

Keali’i Ah Yat, the Big Sky’s first-team quarterback, followed his 1-yard TD pass to Jake Olson by completing two of his next nine attempts. The eighth pass hit the Cats’ Bryce Grebe between the 1 and the 0, and Grebe’s 40-yard pick-6 made it 48-23. 

Lamson outplayed Ah Yat for the second time — and it is hard to put the Bobcats in Nashville if their Stanford transfer QB doesn’t perform as well, in different ways, than the legendary Tommy Mellott.  

“Whatever his physical abilities are, his intangibles are what shine,” MSU coach Brent Vigen said. “To have a different version of this quarterback that’s led us back to the final game, we’re very fortunate to have him here.” 

That leaves the Grizzlies and coach Bobby Hauck with a 13-win season that feels less so; Hauck is 2-6 against the Cats in his second tenure at UM and 7-8 overall against the in-state rival. Not ideal, nor are the 18 in-state kids on MSU’s two-deep compared to UM’s eight. 

Gaining the upper hand on Montana recruits continues to be a sound formula for this series, as does running the ball and stopping the run. The Griz haven’t outrushed MSU once during Bobby 2.0, though they won a couple times (thanks, Junior Bergen). 

Next stop for the Bobcats is Nashville. For the Grizzlies, it’s the store where you find dominant offensive and defensive lines.  

There’s a saying about the definition of insanity, and it’s probably unfair given UM had to replace all 11 starters on defense.  

Down I-90 the Cats are doing the same thing over and over, too. 

Reach Fritz at 758-4463 or at [email protected].