Montana State Wins National Championship Game In O/T

According to Google Maps, Nashville is one thousand seven hundred and fifteen miles from Bozeman, yet FirstBank Stadium felt a whole lot like Bobcat Stadium on Monday night. Thousands of Bobcat fans themselves in Music City to cheer on their beloved MSU Bobcats.

A city known for Country Music was overtaken by people dressed in blue and gold and hungry for a victory.

The Bobcats were back in the National Championship game, taking on the Red Birds of Illinois State in a real showdown. Both teams had to overcome significant hurdles to represent their schools and states in the final game of the season. At the end of this game, one team would emerge as the winner, but it would also become the National Champion.

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One team has never won a National Championship, while the other hasn't won one in over 40 years. One team beat its biggest rival not once, but twice on the road and at home. The other made history by winning four road playoff games to get to Nashville.

The game had all the drama you could ever want. The Bobcats looked unstoppable in the beginning, and then the Red Birds decided to show up for the game. Their formula of success in the playoffs has been time of possession, and that was the game plan in the National Championship game.

While there were lots of Bobcats fans cheering on the Cats, there were also lots of Red Bird fans, which resulted in a lot of false starts against MSU. Even though the Cats led most of the game, with just over five minutes left in the 4th Quarter, the Red Birds tied the game at 28.

With a change to go up by 3, MSU blocked the kick, scooped up the ball, and ran to the 45. The first play, a pass for a few yards, the second play, a quarterback sack, the third play, a bad snap, which led to Montana State punting the ball, and the game went into overtime.

The Red Birds got the ball first, scoring a touchdown, but the Cats blocked the extra point. With the ball, MSU scored the touchdown and the extra point to become National Champions

During his post-game interview, Coach Brent Vigen said it best when he said, "all Bobcats are Champions". So congratulations Bobcat Nation, we are the Champions.