1984 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 1984 Montana State Bobcats football team represented the Montana State University (MSU) in the 1984 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The team was led by Dave Arnold in his second season as a head coach. The Bobcats played their home games at Reno H. Sales Stadium.

1984 Montana State Bobcats football
NCAA Division I-AA national champion Big Sky champion
NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game, W 19–6 vs. Louisiana Tech
Conference	Big Sky Conference
1984 record	12–2 (6–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Dave Arnold (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Diedrick (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Steve Carson (1st season)
Home stadium	Reno H. Sales Stadium

1984 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Montana State $^	6	–	1	–	0			12	–	2	–	0
Nevada	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Idaho	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Boise State	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Idaho State	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Weber State	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Northern Arizona	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Montana	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	Mesa State*		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 30–14
September 15	at Eastern Washington*		Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA		L 16–21
September 22	at Idaho		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID		W 34–28	11,600
September 29	No. 18 Idaho State		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		L 6–22	11,117
October 6	at Weber State		Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT		W 48–0	9,680
October 13	Nevada		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT[1]		W 44–41 ^4OT	6,317
October 20	Portland State*		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 45–22	10,797
October 27	No. 8 Boise State		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 22–18	8,387
November 3	at Montana	No. 15	Dornblaser Field Missoula, MT[2] (Brawl of the Wild)		W 34–24	12,500
November 10	Northern Arizona	No. 10	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT[3]		W 41–3	9,357
November 17	at Fresno State*	No. 6	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA[4]		W 35–31	24,088
December 1	No. 10 Arkansas State*	No. 2	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT (I-AA Quarterfinal Playoff Game)		W 31–14
December 8	No. 2 Rhode Island*	No. 2	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT (I-AA Semifinal Playoff Game)		W 32–20	12,697
December 15	vs. No. 9 Louisiana Tech*	No. 2	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC (I-AA Championship Game)	SPN	W 19–6	9,125
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game

[5][6][7]

Game summaries

Mesa State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mavericks	7	0	0	7	14
Bobcats	20	0	7	3	30

Roster

1984 Montana State Bobcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 86 Joe Bignell Sr QB 12 Kelly Bradley So FB 39 Jesse Jones Sr RB  4 Tom Clements Jr  C 55 Robb Fellows Sr OG 73 Bruce Randall Jr OG 60 Todd Vasey So OT 74 Don Leake So OT 66 Bill Schmidt Sr WR  2 Tom White Jr WR  89 Brent Bateman Sr TE  24 Tom Malhum Sr WR  18 Kelly Davis So WR  44 Derek Dietrich Jr RB  21 David Pandt So FB  25 Eric Miller So FB  30 Toby Petty Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class NG 59 Lonnie Burt Sr DT 71 Troy Timmer Sr DT 91 Pat "Tex" Sikora Jr DE 68 Mark Fellows Sr CAT 27 Clete Linebarger Jr LB 42 Kirk Timmer So LB 99 Greg Wilkes Sr FS 29 Doug Kimball Jr SS 47 Joe Roberts Sr CB 17 Derek Abell Sr CB 35 Rodney Holland Sr DT  58 Tom Jacobs Fr LB;ST  26 John Kitna Jr CB  43 William Johnson Sr FS  __ Tyler Winter Sr SS;ST  22 Steve King So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P  3 Dirk Nelson Sr K  1 Mark Carter Sr	Head coach Dave Arnold Coordinators/assistant coaches Steve Carson (DC) Bill Diedrick (OC) J. G. Aegerter (OLB) Mike Kramer (ILB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "Montana State goes 4 OT's to stop UNR". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 14, 1984. p. 3D.
2. "Montana State moves into first". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 4, 1984. p. 5C.
3. "Montana State wraps up Big Sky crown". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 11, 1984. p. 5C.
4. "Montana State rallies past Fresno State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 18, 1984. p. 5C.
5. "Montana State yearly results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
6. "Montana State Bobcats 1984 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
7. "Division I-AA Top 20". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. November 21, 1984. p. 22.