# 2012 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 2012 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during 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 finished the season 11–2 overall and 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 |
| August 30 | 7:05 pm | Chadron State* | No. 4 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | Max Media/Big Sky TV | W 33–6 | 20,767 |
| September 8 | 5:05 pm | at Drake* | No. 4 | Drake StadiumDes Moines, IA | | W 34–24 | 3,558 |
| September 15 | 1:35 pm | No. 23 Stephen F. Austin* | No. 3 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | Max Media/Big Sky TV | W 43–35 | 17,147 |
| September 22 | 2:05 pm | Northern Colorado | No. 2 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | Max Media/Big Sky TV | W 41–16 | 18,637 |
| September 29 | 1:35 pm | at Southern Utah | No. 2 | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | RTNW | W 24–17 | 8,417 |
| October 6 | 5:05 pm | at UC Davis | No. 2 | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | RTNW | W 48–41 | 9,877 |
| October 13 | 1:35 pm | No. 6 Eastern Washington | No. 2 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | RTNW | L 24–27 | 20,477 |
| October 27 | 2:05 pm | North Dakota | No. 4 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | Max Media/Big Sky TV | W 55–10 | 17,137 |
| November 3 | 5:05 pm | at Sacramento State | No. 3 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | RTNW | W 20–17 | 7,143 |
| November 10 | 1:35 pm | Portland State | No. 2 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | RTNW | W 65–30 | 15,177 |
| November 17 | 1:35 pm | at Montana | No. 2 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (rivalry) | RTNW | W 16–7 | 26,210 |
| December 1 | 5:00 pm | No. 10 Stony Brook* | No. 2 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 16–10 | 15,257 |
| December 7 | 6:00 pm | No. 5 Sam Houston State* | No. 2 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN2 | L 16–34 | 16,417 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Chadron State

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

### @ Drake

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

### Stephen F. Austin

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

### Northern Colorado

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

### @ Southern Utah

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

### @ UC Davis

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

### Eastern Washington

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

### North Dakota

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

### @ Sacramento State

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

### Portland State

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

### @ Montana

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

## 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 |

### 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 |
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 :
| | Week | Week | 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 | 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 | | | | |