2012 Montana State Bobcats football team

2012 Montana State Bobcats football
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Big Sky Conference Co–Champions
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals vs. Sam Houston State, L 16–34
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	#2
FCS Coaches	#2
2012 record	11–2 (7–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Rob Ash (6th year)
Defensive coordinator	Jamie Marshall
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium (Capacity: 17,777)

2012 Big Sky football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#4 Eastern Washington +^		7	–	1					11	–	3
#2 Montana State +^		7	–	1					11	–	2
#12 Cal Poly +^		7	–	1					9	–	3
#20 Northern Arizona		6	–	2					8	–	3
Sacramento State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Northern Colorado		4	–	4					5	–	6
Southern Utah		4	–	4					5	–	6
North Dakota		3	–	5					5	–	6
Montana		3	–	5					5	–	6
UC Davis		3	–	5					4	–	7
Portland State		2	–	6					3	–	8
Weber State		2	–	6					2	–	9
Idaho State		0	–	8					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 15, 2012 ; Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll

The 2012 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bobcats were led by sixth year head coach Rob Ash and played their home games at Bobcat Stadium. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 7–1 in Big Sky play to share the conference championship with Cal Poly and Eastern Washington. The received an at–large bid into the FCS playoffs where they defeated Stony Brook in the second round before falling to Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals. It was the second straight year the Bobcats were knocked out of the playoffs by Sam Houston State.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
Non-Conference Schedule
August 30	7:05 PM	Chadron State*	#4	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT	Max Media/Big Sky TV	W 33–6	20,767
September 8	5:05 PM	at Drake*	#4	Drake Stadium • Des Moines, IA		W 34–24	3,558
September 15	1:35 PM	#23 Stephen F. Austin*	#3	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT	Max Media/Big Sky TV	W 43–35	17,147
Conference Schedule
September 22	2:05 PM	Northern Colorado	#2	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT	Max Media/Big Sky TV	W 41–16	18,637
September 29	1:35 PM	at Southern Utah	#2	Eccles Coliseum • Cedar City, UT	RTNW	W 24–17	8,417
October 6	5:05 PM	at UC Davis	#2	Aggie Stadium • Davis, CA	RTNW	W 48–41	9,877
October 13	1:35 PM	#6 Eastern Washington	#2	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT	RTNW	L 24–27	20,477
October 27	2:05 PM	North Dakota	#4	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT	Max Media/Big Sky TV	W 55–10	17,137
November 3	5:05 PM	at Sacramento State	#3	Hornet Stadium • Sacramento, CA	RTNW	W 20–17	7,143
November 10	1:35 PM	Portland State	#2	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT	RTNW	W 65–30	15,177
November 17	1:35 PM	at Montana	#2	Washington–Grizzly Stadium • Missoula, MT (Brawl of the Wild)	RTNW	W 16–7	26,210
2012 FCS Playoffs
December 1	5:00 PM	#10 Stony Brook*	#2	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 16–10	15,257
December 7	6:00 PM	#5 Sam Houston State*	#2	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals/Pecan Bowl)	ESPN2	L 16–34	16,417
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll released prior to game. All times are in Mountain Time.

Game notes

Chadron State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	0	3	0	6
#4 Bobcats	6	13	7	7	33

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2006	CHAD, 35–24

@ Drake

	1	2	3	4	Total
#4 Bobcats	7	7	7	13	34
Bulldogs	0	17	7	0	24

See also: 2012 Drake Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–1	2010	MSU, 48–21

Stephen F. Austin

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 Lumberjacks	10	10	3	12	35
#3 Bobcats	14	7	7	15	43

See also: 2012 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–1	2005	MSU, 42–6

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	13	3	0	16
#2 Bobcats	21	10	7	3	41

See also: 2012 Northern Colorado Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–11–1	2011	MSU, 31–21

@ Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Bobcats	7	7	3	7	24
Thunderbirds	0	7	0	10	17

See also: 2012 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2007	MSU, 7–3

@ UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Bobcats	7	24	0	17	48
Aggies	14	0	24	3	41

See also: 2012 UC Davis Aggies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–1	2011	MSU, 38–14

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Eagles	0	3	10	14	27
#2 Bobcats	0	10	7	7	24

See also: 2012 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–25	2011	MSU, 36–21

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota	7	0	3	0	10
#4 Bobcats	14	14	7	20	55

See also: 2012 University of North Dakota football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–13–1	1983	UND, 21–3

@ Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#3 Bobcats	7	3	3	7	20
Hornets	3	7	7	0	17

See also: 2012 Sacramento State Hornets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–6	2011	MSU, 31–21

Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	7	3	10	10	30
#2 Bobcats	24	35	6	0	65

See also: 2012 Portland State Vikings football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
17–9	2011	MSU, 38–36

@ Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Bobcats	3	7	3	3	16
Grizzlies	7	0	0	0	7

See also: 2012 Montana Grizzlies football team and Brawl of the Wild

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
36–70–5	2011	MONT, 36–10

FCS Playoffs

Stony Brook–FCS Playoffs Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Seawolves	0	3	0	7	10
#2 Bobcats	7	3	3	3	16

See also: 2012 Stony Brook Seawolves football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Sam Houston State–FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Bearkats	3	17	7	7	34
#2 Bobcats	3	0	6	7	16

See also: 2012 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2011	SHS, 49–13

This is the second straight year the Bobcats and Bearkats have met in the FCS quarterfinals. Last years game was in Huntsville, Texas.

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
Sports Network	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	5	4	3	2	2	2
Coaches	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	5	4	3	2	2	2