Oct. 15—On a sunny, 70-degree, late-September day in 2025 — an idyllic setting for a college football game — the Montana State Bobcats hosted the Eastern Washington Eagles in Bozeman and absolutely devoured their guests.
It was 24-0 by the end of the first quarter and 30-3 at halftime. It only got worse from there for the Eagles, who trailed 50-3 through three quarters and 57-3 when the final seconds of the game ticked away.
"That was maybe the lowlight of us being young in a lot of spots and maybe not having a solidified quarterback," EWU offensive coordinator Marc Anderson said on Wednesday.
The Eagles are no longer so young: Nine players who started that game are expected to start this Saturday when Eastern (2-5, 1-3 Big Sky) hosts Montana State (5-1, 2-1), ranked fifth in the FCS Stats Perform Top 25, at Roos Field in Cheney. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
They are also much more solidified at quarterback. Redshirt junior Nate Bell, who technically started last year's game in Bozeman as a receiver, has been one of the most prolific passers in the Big Sky Conference this season with 1,931 yards and a 64% completion rate.
Those developments — as well as Eastern's recent results at home against the Bobcats — set the stage for what should be a much more competitive game than last year's between these two programs.
"Offensively, how they go, I think, is how Nate Bell goes," MSU head coach Brent Vigen said during his Monday press conference. "At times this year, that's been a really explosive offense. And he is as dynamic a run, pass, extend plays guy as there might be in the league. And that speaks a lot. I think we've got some really good quarterbacks in this league."
Another one of those good quarterbacks is Justin Lamson, Montana State's fifth-year senior who is back atop the depth chart after missing the last two games with an injury. Aside from Patrick Duchien, Lamson's replacement the last two games, no one in the Big Sky has been more accurate throwing the ball this season (74.5%). Lamson also has a 7-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Last year against the Eagles, Lamson completed 13 of 20 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed nine times for 29 yards.
"Looking back at their film from last year, and especially when a team beat us like that, they're going to come back with the same gameplan," EWU redshirt junior safety Jaylon Jenkins said.
Lamson will be playing against an Eastern defense that ranks 10th in the Big Sky in yards allowed per game (471.9) and whose best statistical performances came in the first two games of the season (365 yards at Northern Arizona and 350 at home against Northern Iowa).
Vigen called Eastern "extremely capable" and "dangerous," something he knows firsthand.
Since Vigen became Montana State's head coach before the 2021 season, the Bobcats have been to Cheney three times. They have won each of those matchups but by scores of 23-20, 38-35 and 42-28.
"It seems like we always play them close here, especially recently," Anderson said. "Guys take a ton of pride playing on the Red."
In the first, which was a matchup of top-5 teams, Montana State sandwiched two clock-draining drives around an Eastern three-and-out late in the fourth quarter to hold off the Eagles.
In the second, Eastern held a four-point lead with under 4 minutes left when Micah Smith fumbled at the Eagles' 20-yard line. Two plays later, the Bobcats scored a touchdown, and Gunner Talkington threw an interception on the Eagles' next drive.
In the third, Eastern never led but remained within a touchdown throughout most of the second half before a Tommy Mellott touchdown pass stretched the Bobcats' lead to 14 points with 3 minutes left to play.
But the two matchups in Bozeman were anything but close victories of 57-14 and 57-3 for the hosts.
That adds up to five straight victories for the Bobcats in the series after Eastern won the previous seven.
For the Eagles, breaking the streak will require them to do the same things they need to do every week, Anderson said, even if the Bobcats are the highest-ranked opponent the Eagles have faced this far.
"When you play really good teams, the margin for error is razor thin," Anderson said. "I feel like we've played seven good defenses. That's just what we've seen. And we're in the toughest conference in the FCS. They're at the pinnacle of that. They're very good. (But) we emphasize that whoever is coming into town, we've got to prepare to be our best on Saturday."