Eugene, Oregon – On Saturday, August 30, we hit the Oregon Trial for our first time starting with Montana State Bobcats at Oregon Ducks. The TV scheduling couldn’t have worked out better for us than this! Following this game kicking off at 1 pm Pacific Time, we venture 48 miles north from OU’s Autzen Stadium to Oregon State’s Reser Stadium in Corvalis. In our 7:30 pm nightcap, the OSU Beavers host their former PAC-12 rival, the California Golden Bears, now in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Universities lead now in confusing our sense of geographic reality through conference realignments.
A first for collegefootballfan.com in our 714th game
For Collegefootballfan.com, this marks our first adventure ever of any kind in “The Beaver State.” We add the state of Oregon as our 42nd to ever attend a game in. The two stadiums that day will become our 99th and 100th FBS stadiums among the 136 venues playing in this level today. Montana State (15-1 in 2024) will be visiting Eugene as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) runner-up from a year ago. Like last year, we will be seeing the Bobcats open their season on the road against an FBS program. Last season, MSU pulled a late, 35-31, upset over New Mexico. The No. 3 Ducks (13-1 a year ago), seek to again win The Big Ten and grab a spot in the College Football Playoff (CFP) for the national title.
Our Montana State and Oregon Histories
Both are short and sweet. The Bobcats won the only game as mentioned when we saw them last season at New Mexico. One personal note regarding an MSU connection. Former Bobcat HC Rob Ash coached the program there from 2007-2018 to a record of 70-38. He won three Big Sky championships in Bozeman and led them into four FCS playoffs. Twice, his team made it as far as the quarterfinals. Prior to this, from 1980-88, a year after I graduated from D3 Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, he coached them to 56-31-3 record before moving on to Drake. In 1980, I watched him coach my Juniata buddies in a game at CW Post in Greenvale, NY. CW Post prevailed, 28-10. Since then, CW Post upgraded to the FCS now known as the LIU Post Sharks of the Northeast Conference.
Compliments of Kermit the Frog. I saw the Oregon Ducks play Penn State in the 1995 Rose Bowl. You can read this story in my book, Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly. The Ducks stand 1-1 in the annals of Collegefootballfan.com history as we didn’t see them play again until last season. At Wisconsin, they held off the Badgers to a 16-13 win. They finished the regular season at 12-0 before defeating Penn State in the Big Ten Championship, 45-37. Like the other three CFP teams with byes in the first round, they fell in the next round. Eventual champion Ohio State dominated them, 41-21.
Bobcats’ huge hole to fill
Montana State returns some key talent after their great season a year ago. However, the biggest void to fill comes at quarterback. Last year’s starter, Tommy Mellott, moved on to the next level selected by the Las Vegas Raiders. Under HC Brent Vigen the last four years, MSU with Mellott at QB, went 33-8. He completed 63.7% of his passes. He threw for 6,016 yards and ran for 3,517. Fifty-five passes and 43 runs resulted in touchdowns. He threw only eight INTs. Pretty big shoes to fill for sure. As of this writing, JR Chance Wilson probably has an early start as his replacement. Among others, Grant Vigen, son of Brent, joins the roster as a freshman.
Despite the graduation of Mellot, the Bobcats loom as favorites once again to win the Big Sky championship in 2025. RB Adam Jones returns with 1,172 rushing yards and 14 TDS from a year ago. WR and punt returned Taco Dowler caught 38 passes for 597 yards and 11 TDS. OL Tilan Fleischman and DL Kenneth Eiden IV return as preseason All-Big Sky first team selections.
Oregon up for the FBS hunt once again
HC Dan Lanning’s team also lost well-travelled, Heisman candidate QB Dillon Gabriel (3,857 passing yards, 30 TDs and 6 INTs) from last season. To replace him, Dante Moore, a UCLA transfer who joined OU last season steps in. He’ll reap the benefit of having eight returning starters around him. Defensively, the Ducks return six starters. At RB, Noah Whittingham replaces Jordan James who went to the SF 49ers last year as the number four draft pick overall. Whittingham trudged for 540 yards and six TDs and looks to be the key cog for OU in the rushing department. WR Evan Stewart and TE Kenyon Sadiq return as leading receivers as key targets for Moore. Four starters from their OL moved on including two first round picks. Transfers from reputable programs step in, but they will be learning to work together for the first time.
Defensively, Oregon returns Key EDGE rushers in Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti. ILB Bryce Boettcher returns as leading tackler, and Ole Miss transfer Jadon Canady reinforces the BUs. However, they lost four starting DBS, although two transfers join in from other Big Ten schools. It’s hard to bet against all that Nike money financing all that talent in Eugene.
Banking on Oregon
Despite losses at key positions for the Ducks, this program just seems to have too much momentum in this new NIL / transfer portal age to step down too much. A great FCS program, but with a totally new QB filling in for a lot of Tommy Mellot’s production over the past four years, it seems like too big a learning curve for the Bobcats. Both teams will have the same issue.
However, under these circumstances, we’ll look for this game to get off to a slow start for both teams. A home game for OU itching to get back into the CFP should give them the advantage here. We look for them to gain momentum in the second half. Both teams will face lesser non-conference foes and stiffer competition against conference foes thereafter. Development during the early learning curves should right both of them to challenge for titles in their respective conferences after this one.
On the Oregon Trail
As we head out to Eugene and on to Corvalis for the night cap, we won’t have much time for any stops along the way. We’ll have to study some more about opportunities to find out what’s going on before and between these games. Looking for an adventurous day during our first visit to Oregon. This game should get off to a slow start but big finish for the Ducks over the Bobcats.
Click on the title of buy my book about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Read the reviews on the page and get your copy today! As you’ve read here, this fun, unique life-long Journey continues. Catch up on the last 45 years and please submit a review. We hope you will get a kick out of our great adventure to see every FBS team play over the years!
Edited by and photos taken by Steve Koreivo – Member of Football Writers Association of America and Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.
