Following are game notes for the Montana State football team’s home game against Eastern Washington on Saturday provided by the MSU Sports Information Department. Click below for a PDF of the media game notes.
THE STORYLINE
After surviving upset alerts in Cedar City, Utah, and Davis, Calif., the Bobcats prepare for a highly-anticipated matchup Saturday, pitting the two Big Sky schools with the most conference wins since the beginning of the 2010 season. MSU hosts sixth-ranked Eastern Washington at 1:35 pm in a Big Sky Game of the Week televised by Root Sports. EWU brings a spectacular array of offensive weapons into the contest, led by freshman sensation Vernon Adams at quarterback and featuring league-leading receiver Brandon Kauffman and versatile running back Jordan Talley. QB DeNarius McGhee has led the Bobcats to the winner’s circle in 25 of his 31 starts at MSU.
THIS WEEK’S GAME
KICKOFF: 1:35 pm
SITE: Bozeman
STADIUM: Bobcat Stadium
RADIO: Bobcat Radio Network (Tyler Wiltgen, Dan Davies)
TELEVISION: ROOT Sports (Tom Glasgow, Jason Stiles, Jen Mueller)
FOR OPENERS
• MSU is 4-5 against Eastern Washington when the Eagles are nationally-ranked and 2-1 when both teams are ranked, but the schools have never met with both in the top 10
• Rob Ash’s 45 wins at MSU moves him to within two of the school’s all-time wins record (47, Sonny Holland), which would put him on top of the wins list at three different schools
• EWU receivers coach Junior Adans was a star Bobcat receiver in 2001-02
STADIUM STUFF
• MSU averages 418.7 yards and 32.2 yards per game in four-plus seasons on its turf
BIG SKY BULLET POINTS
• Big Sky teams own wins over the Pac 12 (Sac State beat Colorado), Mountain West (NAU topped UNLV, Cal Poly beat Wyoming), and WAC (EWU beat Idaho) this season
• MSU leads the Big Sky in third down offense (56.2%) and defense (26.7%)
2012 MSU SCHEDULE
Aug. 30 — Chadron State, W, 33-6
Sept. 8 — at Drake, W, 34-24
Sept. 15 — Stephen F. Austin, W, 43-35
Sept. 22 — *Northern Colorado, W, 41-16
Sept. 29 — *at Southern Utah, W, 24-17
Oct. 6 — *at UC Davis, W, 48-41
Oct. 13 — *Eastern Wash., 1:35 p.m.
Oct. 27 — *North Dakota, 2:05 p.m.
Nov. 3 — *at Sacramento St., 5:05 p.m. MT
Nov. 10 — *Portland State, 1:35 p.m.
Nov. 17 — *at Montana, 1:35 p.m.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Montana State’s last three games have been Homecoming contests
• The Bobcat offense has produced six 2012 scoring drives of 84 yards or longer
STREAKS
• MSU’s 21 straight weeks in the top 10 is longer than any other string of consecutive weeks in the top 25 in school history
• Saturday’s win gives the Cats win streaks of at least six games in back-to-back years for the first time since 1978-79
• MSU’s current six-game win streak is the school’s 10th of at least that many in a single year
• DeNarius McGhee has started – and completed a touchdown pass in – each of his first 31 games as a Bobcat
• Caleb Schreibeis has at least one sack in each of his first five games of 2012
• First-year place kicker Rory Perez has hit all six of his field goal tries
MILESTONES
• DeNarius McGhee‘s 59 career TD passes is 2nd in MSU history
• Cody Kirk’s 22 career rushing TDs is fifth in MSU history
SHINING
• DT Zach Minter‘s third career interception Saturday set up MSU’s game-winning touchdown
• LB Alex Singleton, in his first extended playing time, logged nine tackles, two for a loss, with a sack and a PB
• QB DeNarius McGhee threw for at least 300 yards for the seventh time in his Bobcat career at UC Davis Saturday
