BOZEMAN — No. 3 Montana State returns from the first of two bye weeks to round out its nonconference schedule against Mercyhurst on Saturday.
It was a game that came about last-minute, as Stephen F. Austin canceled the home-and-home contractwith Montana Stateat the end of May. That series had been set for five years, which left MSU to scramble.
The athletic administration, specifically athletic director Leon Costello, got to action to fill MSU's need for a sixth home game with Mercyhurst, a school in its first year at the Division I FCS level out of Erie, Pa.
"Ultimately what happened back in May should not happen," Montana State coach Brent Vigen said. "I think we all feel very strongly about that, but thankfully we were able to get a game. Credit Leon for being able to quickly find a game."
The Bobcats enter the Mercyhurst matchup coming off a bye — one much utilized, as the team has been one of the few in action since Week 0.
"I think the bye week was spent very well," Montana State wide receiver Lonyatta Alexander Jr. said. "Last week, we only had three practices. We lifted three days out of the week, and I honestly think it helped us a lot to bring guys back this week that were on IR or injured or banged up a little bit."
According to Sports Bet Montana, MSU is a 48.5-point favorite against Mercyhurst as of Friday morning. But the team motto since the offseason is to 'go 1-0 every day.' The Bobcats are bringing that mentality into their final nonconference game before looking ahead to Big Sky Conference play next week.
"I hope we have a team that’s mature enough to not care who they play, I guess, as far as that goes," Vigen said. "We’re not going to let our perception of anything dictate our performance. We’ve talked about that. Secondly, I think how we played in the second half against Maine, I hope that in itself indicated we are far from where we need to be."
"In my opinion it doesn’t really matter if we’re playing Mercyhurst or the Dallas Cowboys," Montana State defensive end Hunter Parsons said. "I mean, we’re just going to come out here and do our best. I mean, we always say it’s about us."
Kickoff is at 1 p.m. in Bobcat Stadium. The game will be broadcast by Scripps Sports on the MTN channel and ESPN+. To find details on how to watch, click here.
