BILLINGS — Bobcat Stadium shook. Billy Idol's "Mony Mony" — with those harsh verbal punches directed squarely at the Griz — could be heard all the way to Three Forks.
It was a moment of unabashed football joy for Montana State.
The Bobcats were putting the finishing touches on a 48-23 romp over Montana in an unprecedented FCS playoff semifinal matchup between the rivals in Bozeman last Dec. 20. It was the Cats' second win over the Grizzlies in 28 days, and it set them up for a national championship win over Illinois State roughly two weeks later in Nashville, Tenn.
Bobby Hauck called it among the lowest moments of his 15 highly successful seasons coaching the Grizzlies. For MSU, these were the best of times.
Now it's up to new Montana coach Bobby Kennedy to turn the tide of a rivalry once completely dominated by the Griz but now firmly in the hands of the Bobcats.
During a stop in Billings two weeks ago as part of the Grizzly Scholarship Association's annual spring tour across the state, Kennedy, who took over head coaching duties at Montana after Hauck stepped down in early February, spoke to MTN Sports about several topics — not the least of which concerned his approach to the Grizzlies' storied rivalry with the Bobcats and the trend that has seen MSU win eight of the past 10 meetings.
"Obviously it's my job to beat them and fix what happened last year," Kennedy said. "If you look at the game at our place (a 31-28 MSU win on Nov. 22), a couple plays here and there and it might have been a different story."
Kennedy's what-if scenario isn't necessarily wrong.
An interception returned for a touchdown. A blocked field goal. A holding call that nullified a TD. Those were just three crucial plays that swung in Montana State's favor in a three-point game in Missoula last year.
Had they gone the other way, Montana might have hosted Montana State in the FCS semifinals. And then maybe it would have been Montana parading the national title trophy around FirstBank Stadium in Nashville.
Still ...
"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas," Kennedy said. "So every day we think about how do we get better, right? And if we focus on the process in terms of getting better, putting our best product on the field, I think those things will take care of themselves."
Part of that process for Kennedy has been to ramp up the Grizzlies' in-state recruiting efforts. It's obvious that the Bobcats have forged an advantage in identifying, pouncing on and then developing the state's top high school talent, and the results have proved it.
But at least during this current recruiting cycle, Kennedy and the Griz have made inroads. Montana has so far secured seven in-state verbal commitments for its 2027 class, including from highly touted prospects like receiver Drew Almquist from Helena Capital and defensive lineman Quincy King from Missoula Big Sky.
Kennedy spoke about his vision for in-state recruitment.
"I believe guys want to come to University of Montana that grow up in the state, and so what we're doing is we're going out and finding the best players we can. We've made it a priority," he said.
"I think as a head coach, being directly involved with guys ... kids want to hear from the head coach, and so making that a focus, making that a priority, having them have access to me, just like fans, just like donors and things like that, I think it goes a long way.
"The approach that I take is like Mack Brown and Bill McCartney and some other people that I've been around. Yeah, the state's important, and let's go after the best guys in the state. And when we have that foundation and that base of guys that say, yeah, I want to join the Griz, then we're going to be better off."
As for this year's Montana team, there's a lot to like. Quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat is one of the best in the country. Eli Gillman is on the verge of becoming the program's all-time leading rusher. Receiver Brooks Davis broke out as a freshman and has boundless talent.
Defensively, with new coordinator Eric Sanders in tow, Kennedy said the Grizzlies are initially planning to play more four-man fronts. To this point, Montana appears to have bolstered itself up front via the transfer portal, and a mix of veterans and youth look to mesh around what looks like will be a new scheme.
How does this all relate to the rivalry with MSU? First, the fact that the Grizzlies should be formidable again will bode well in the chase for the Big Sky crown, which could very well go through Bozeman this year, too.
And it's no small point to make that this year's Brawl of the Wild rivalry game heads back to Bobcat Stadium, where MSU coach Brent Vigen still hasn't lost a conference game in his tenure and where the Griz haven't won since 2015.
Similar to Montana, the Cats have plenty coming back too. And they'll still be riding a national championship wave this season.
Kennedy's initiation to the rivalry will be nothing less than a trial by fire. And many times, a coach's performance in this tug-of-war is how his legacy is defined. But Kennedy will cross that bridge when the time comes.
"I think this: You have to respect the past but you have to move forward," Kennedy said. "Every year it's a new team, and so you're trying to build that identity, you're trying to build that character, you're trying to build that toughness.
"Obviously a lot of people are going to focus on last year. But what we're focused on is moving forward and how good can we be, game by game by game, step by step this year. And if we're good enough and we measure up, we'll have a chance to be there at the end. And I think (the Bobcats are) going through the same thing."
