r/fcs • u/Technical334 UC Davis Aggies • California Golden Bears • Jan 06 '26
Analysis Takeaways from FCS Title Game
One of the craziest college football games I have watched and I have seen a lot of them. Here are my four takeaways on the game.
- Special Teams Matter. They matter a lot. We saw what happened with the field goal attempt (should have gone for it on 4th and 1) and the PAT. Never underestimate their importance.
- Montana State blew it. Until they didn’t. Illinois State fell apart in the end on special teams and that final play. Tommy Rittenhouse played the game of his life and I feel for him. Apart from special teams, the blitz on fourth down was deja vu to the Texas-ASU playoff game last year. That DB on the prior play who dropped the title clinching INT is going to have nightmares about this game.
- To be a good winner, you really have to win ugly sometimes. 9 false starts is unacceptable in the national title game. Nearly choking the game away in regulation is unacceptable. However, thanks to Lamson and Taco Dowler’s heroics, Montana State prevailed.
- Taco Dowler. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. I have watched him tear up my team and he’s something else. He should never have to buy another beer in Bozeman again.
That is all folks
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u/lazyjk Montana State Bobcats Jan 06 '26
I love our Oline but I think they'll be looking hard in the off-season at what SFA and this game were so bad false start wise. The nice thing is we were really good all season penalties wise so I don't think it's something that's not fixable
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u/Insane92 Verified Coach Jan 06 '26
Honestly you guys could return a bunch on offense. Jones, Lamson, almost all the WRs. Could be a dangerous offense next year.
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u/slothbron Montana State Bobcats • Big Sky Jan 06 '26
I was hearing on Twitter from not even MSU fans that some of the false starts were kinda soft calls. People were saying guys were getting off the ball really fast like in the NFL. I guess technically it could be a false start still but not the typical amount of movement you see that gets called. I was at the game and a couple were clear as day but several I had no clue.
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u/Lucky-Hunter-Dude Montana State Bobcats Jan 06 '26
There was 2 watching on TV that I said either the ref called the wrong number or he's making things up. But 7 false starts is still horrible.
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u/Low_Distance_7195 Montana State • Notre Dame Jan 06 '26
I would bet money that there could have been a few defensive delay of game calls that could have been made.
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u/PNW_H2O Montana State Bobcats Jan 06 '26
I’d also wager that. No doubt that ISU watched the SFA game and found a vulnerability there.
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u/knook Montana State Bobcats • Big Sky Jan 07 '26
Yup, Yale showed we were vulnerable to calling our audibles and every team since has tried it. I think the refs were missing something and I would love to hear what the players have to say about it.
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u/Technical334 UC Davis Aggies • California Golden Bears Jan 06 '26
Agreed. What happened today are mistakes that can be rectified fairly easily.
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u/slothbron Montana State Bobcats • Big Sky Jan 06 '26
I wish they would show replays in the stadium but I guess that is how they keep all us drunk fans calmer. But now I want to re-watch the game cause between that and the PA system being out for a lot of the first half it was hard to fully know what was going on.
The only reason I will watch it is knowing the outcome was good for us but I would be content on never seeing this game again if we lost.
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u/919Firefighter Montana State • NC State Jan 07 '26
I’ve rewatched the entire thing twice already since getting home. ESPNU replayed it last night
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u/slothbron Montana State Bobcats • Big Sky Jan 08 '26
Did it change your mind on anything? Still have not had the time to rewatch yet.
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u/919Firefighter Montana State • NC State Jan 08 '26
Well, some of those false starts were not false starts. But even a single one with the crowd as lopsided as it was is unacceptable
I noticed how much better ISU adjusted to the MSU defense. The whole first half Rittenhouse didn’t throw deep or down the middle much. In the second half, they figured out MSU’s defense on their first drive and absolutely chewed them up with the pass game.
Now that the game is over and we won, I wouldn’t have traded the ending for anything. I got to see one of the greatest college football games ever played in person
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Jan 06 '26
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u/Technical334 UC Davis Aggies • California Golden Bears Jan 06 '26
It was over 24,000
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u/SirSamuelVimes83 Montana State Bobcats Jan 06 '26
Damn, thought it would have been higher. Crowd noise was a factor for both teams. MSU and UM definitely have an experience advantage playing in front of a crowd over most FCS teams
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u/Technical334 UC Davis Aggies • California Golden Bears Jan 06 '26
It was 6,000 higher than Frisco. However, keep in mind FirstBank has a much larger capacity than Toyota Stadium
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u/SirSamuelVimes83 Montana State Bobcats Jan 06 '26
Washington-Griz is 25k+
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u/Technical334 UC Davis Aggies • California Golden Bears Jan 06 '26
I am not convinced it was 24,000. Seemed much higher. I usually take those ESPN attendance estimates with a grain of salt
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u/cmccaff92 Miami Hurricanes • Florida A&M Rattlers Jan 06 '26
Absolutely classic title game! Congrats to Montana State 🫡
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u/Duganz Montana Grizzlies Jan 06 '26
It’s not even 7am here in Montana and several MSU fans I know are already saying they’re waiting for Taco to enter the transfer portal. I hope not for their sake.
For my own…
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u/Technical334 UC Davis Aggies • California Golden Bears Jan 06 '26
Even though Montana kids are much more loyal when they stay in state, there will be NIL offers now that are nearly impossible to refuse. Hope he stays with the Cats though
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u/SirSamuelVimes83 Montana State Bobcats Jan 06 '26
It's a young team, I think there were only 9 seniors? Can't fault any for taking opportunities, but hoping most of the roster stays in Bozeman.
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u/SergeantThreat Montana State Bobcats Jan 06 '26
You’d think that sweet Taco Treat sponsorship would be enough to stay!
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u/RonaldReagansAgent Jan 07 '26
No shot there were only 25k there. Operations at the stadium were a disaster. Nashville is better than frisco as a city but the Vandy staff was salty they had to work a game and their disdain for FCS football was palpable.
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u/919Firefighter Montana State • NC State Jan 07 '26
The concourse walkways were absolutely unacceptable
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u/4065024 Jan 07 '26
2007 Fiesta Bowl was better.
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u/GeneralAcorn Montana State • Boise State Jan 07 '26
Both? Both are good.
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u/4065024 Jan 07 '26
The 4th quarter of the msu isu game was really good, the 2007 Fiesta Bowl was better.
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u/PNW_H2O Montana State Bobcats Jan 06 '26
Nashville > Frisco
And it’s not even close