# 2014 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 2014 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Rob Ash, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for second place in the Big Sky. Montana State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they lost in the first round to South Dakota State. The Bobcats played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 5:00 pm | at Arkansas State* | No. 18 | Centennial Bank StadiumJonesboro, AR | ESPN3 | L 10–37 | 26,143 |
| September 6 | 7:00 pm | Black Hills State* | No. 20 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | CMM/ALT2 | W 57–10 | 19,187 |
| September 13 | 1:30 pm | Central Arkansas* | No. 17 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | CMM/ALT2 | W 43–33 | 17,777 |
| September 20 | 1:00 pm | No. 2 Eastern Washington* | No. 14 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | RTNW | L 51–52 | 19,377 |
| September 27 | 2:00 pm | North Dakota | No. 13 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | CMM | W 29–18 | 19,477 |
| October 4 | 7:00 pm | at Sacramento State | No. 13 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | CMM | W 59–56 | 6,473 |
| October 11 | 5:00 pm | at UC Davis | No. 11 | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | RTNW | W 77–37 | 7,152 |
| October 18 | 3:30 pm | Weber State | No. 9 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | CMM | W 23–13 | 19,677 |
| November 1 | 7:05 pm | at Cal Poly | No. 8 | Alex G. Spanos StadiumSan Luis Obispo, CA | CMM | L 27–35 | 8,909 |
| November 8 | 1:30 pm | Portland State | No. 15 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | CMM | W 29–22 | 16,627 |
| November 15 | 1:30 pm | Idaho State | No. 12 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | RTNW | W 44–39 | 16,577 |
| November 22 | 3:00 pm | at No. 13 Montana | No. 12 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (rivalry) | RTNW | L 7–34 | 26,352 |
| November 29 | 2:00 pm | No. 14 South Dakota State* | No. 17 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN3 | L 40–47 | 7,747 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||
The game with Eastern Washington on September 20 was not counted as a conference game even though Eastern Washington was also a member of the Big Sky Conference.

## Game summaries
### @ Arkansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #18 Bobcats | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Red Wolves | 10 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 37 |

### Black Hills State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Yellow Jackets | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| #20 Bobcats | 18 | 24 | 8 | 7 | 57 |

### Central Arkansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 6 | 7 | 20 | 33 |
| #17 Bobcats | 10 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 43 |

### Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #2 Eagles | 14 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 52 |
| #14 Bobcats | 23 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 51 |

### North Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| North Dakota | 0 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 18 |
| #13 Bobcats | 3 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 29 |

### @ Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #13 Bobcats | 21 | 0 | 17 | 21 | 59 |
| Hornets | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 | 56 |

### @ UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #11 Bobcats | 14 | 21 | 28 | 14 | 77 |
| Aggies | 10 | 0 | 20 | 7 | 37 |

### Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
| #9 Bobcats | 0 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 23 |

### @ Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #8 Bobcats | 7 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 27 |
| Mustangs | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |

### Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vikings | 10 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 22 |
| #15 Bobcats | 15 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 29 |

### Idaho State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 14 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 39 |
| #12 Bobcats | 7 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 44 |

### @ Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #12 Bobcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| #13 Grizzlies | 17 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 34 |

## FCS Playoffs
### First Round–South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #14 Jackrabbits | 14 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 47 |
| #17 Bobcats | 6 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 40 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| Sports Network | 18 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 20 |
| Coaches | 19 | 23 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 20 |