“Spirit of Sonny Holland Inspires Bobcats on National Championship Game Day: Notebook #16”

Brian Morse

Football
1/6/2025 4:18:00 PM

Bill Lamberty

MSU competes against North Dakota State for national championship

FRISCO, Texas – Bringing the life-size statue of Montana State icon Sonny Holland that is positioned outside of Bobcat Stadium was not feasible for tonight’s FCS championship match in Frisco, Texas, so MSU head coach Brent Vigen opted for the next best solution.
 
“We brought Sonny Holland’s cowboy boots,” Vigen stated to the nearly 200 former Bobcat athletes and coaches assembled for the team’s Sunday afternoon practice. “We can’t touch the statue (Monday) so we’re going to touch those boots on the way in.”
 
Brad Daws, a participant of some of Holland’s earliest teams as head coach, provided the boots to Vigen for the journey. He received them as a present from the Holland family after the man known as “The Chief” and “The Greatest Bobcat of them All” passed on. “The Chief is here in spirit,” Daws remarked Sunday. “And he’s smiling.”
 
Holland was involved in the school’s inaugural national championship as a player in 1956, and its second in 1976 as head coach. He was a university official in 1984 when the team clinched its third and latest title.
 
Vigen is Montana State’s first coach to guide two teams into a national championship game. He was honored with the Eddie Robinson FCS National Coach of the Year Award at Saturday’s Stats Perform Awards Banquet.
 
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MSU’s only notable personnel alteration prior to Monday’s contest was that Julius Davis will be in uniform and may participate at running back. Freshman defensive back Carson Williams, who has donned jersey number 8 in previous matches, is wearing 18 tonight.
 
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Tonight’s matchup between MSU and North Dakota State marks the first encounter between Vigen and Bison coach Tim Polasek as head coaches, although they are quite acquainted with one another. The two were on Craig Bohl’s NDSU staff from 2006 to 2012, and Polasek acquired Vigen’s residence in 2021 when Polasek joined Bohl’s Wyoming staff as Vigen departed for MSU.
 
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Tommy Mellott has the chance to achieve another statistical milestone this evening. He has 915 rushing yards in 2024, needing just 85 to reach the 1,000-yard threshold.
 
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Disrupting opposing quarterbacks is consistently a priority for the Montana State defense, but is particularly critical tonight. The Bobcats’ pass rush is flourishing late in the season, with 10 sacks across the three playoff contests and 18 in the last five games.
 
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How uncommon is a game on grass in modern college football? Tonight’s contest is MSU’s second under Brent Vigen in four seasons. The first occurred during the 2021 title match, also held in Toyota Stadium.
 
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