BOZEMAN — Many of the Montana State football team’s rising seniors were ahead of schedule early in their careers.
Bozeman native Justus Perkins wasn’t slated to be MSU’s starting center going into 2021 fall camp, but Cole Sain got hurt, and Perkins has started ever since. Butte native Tommy Mellott received more special teams reps than snaps from Perkins during the first half of that season, but starting quarterback Matthew McKay struggled down the stretch, and Mellott has started ever since. Simeon Woodard was slated to be a backup cornerback that season, but multiple key DBs got hurt, and he’s started ever since.
Melstone native Brody Grebe played a major backup defensive end role in 2021. Missoula native Rylan Ortt filled in for Ty Okada at nickelback during the Bobcats’ run to the Football Championship Subdivision title game. Elijah Elliott provided valuable backup running back production. Billings native Marcus Wehr was a reserve defensive lineman that season but moved to the other side of the ball in 2022, and he’s started at right tackle ever since.
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Saturday marked the final Sonny Holland Classic spring game for about 20 Bobcats (barring extra eligibility opportunities that arise). As successful as those rising seniors have been, they’ve fallen short of their high expectations the last three seasons, most recently in a gutting playoff loss. They hope to save their best for last.
“The way last year ended, that’s hurting us still,” Grebe said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “We had (almost) everybody from this season last season, and we didn’t have the season that we wanted. We’re attacking every single day like we’ve got something to prove, which we do. So I think the sense of urgency’s really high.”
Rising seniors like Mellott and Perkins not only played key roles in their first two seasons, they enjoyed a somewhat unexpected amount of success.
The Cats quickly veered from a period of turmoil — McKay entered the transfer portal shortly after a blowout loss at Montana to end the 2021 regular season — to a legendary run to the national championship game, where they lost to North Dakota State. The following season, they went undefeated against FCS foes during the regular season and reached the FCS semifinals despite losing one of their best senior classes in program history.
MSU entered last season with a loaded roster and came up inches short of a win at top-ranked defending FCS champion South Dakota State in Week 2. A national title looked attainable, a natural next step for a team that didn’t know what it felt like to lose before the semifinals during Brent Vigen’s tenure as head coach.
The Cats painfully learned how that felt on Dec. 2, when NDSU ended their 26-game home winning streak in the second round of the playoffs with a blocked extra point in overtime shortly after Mellott exited with an injury. They only drew the dynastic Bison that early because they suffered three regular-season losses, including another blowout in Missoula.
That thudding finality remains acute in the minds of MSU’s rising seniors.
“We had very high expectations, and to some extent we weren’t able to handle that very well,” Mellott said March 30. “I’m very excited to have an opportunity to come back and learn from that and be a better team this year.”
Mellott and his classmates know what it’ll take to avenge last year’s finish, and patience is key. They’ve worked hard during winter workouts and spring camp, and they plan to maintain their focus throughout the summer and fall camp.
“Trying to take advantage of where we are, trying to maximize the opportunities we have right in front of us before looking down the hill,” Perkins said Saturday.
Grebe said it felt “a little weird” that he just competed in his final Sonny Holland Classic. His final fall camp will start in about three months. The FCS title game is less than eight months away.
To paraphrase the late, great Holland, “now is the time” for this group of rising seniors.
“There’s absolutely a sense of urgency, and the bigger that group is with that sense of urgency, the better,” Vigen said Saturday. “I know this group does not want to take a single thing for granted. They don’t want to waste a single day.”
Email Victor Flores at victor.flores@406mtsports.com and follow him on Twitter/X at @VictorFlores406