2011 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 2011 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Rob Ash, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference place play, sharing the Big Sky title with Montana. Montana vacated its share of the title on July 26, 2013, after the NCAA determined that Montana had played its final six games with ineligible players. Montana State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated New Hampshire in the second round before falling to Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals. The Bobcats played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana/

2011 Montana State Bobcats football
Big Sky champion
NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 13–49 vs. Sam Houston State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 7
FCS Coaches	No. 7
Record	10–3 (7–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Rob Ash (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Wright (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jamie Marshall (5th season)
Home stadium	Bobcat Stadium
Seasons ← 2010 2012 →

2011 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 7 Montana State $^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 5 Montana† ^		5	–	1					6	–	2
Portland State		5	–	3					7	–	4
Eastern Washington		5	–	3					6	–	5
Weber State		5	–	3					5	–	6
Northern Arizona		3	–	5					4	–	7
Sacramento State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho State*		1	–	7					2	–	9
Northern Colorado		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant † Montana vacated two conference wins, five total wins, their conference co-championship, and playoff participation (three games, including two of the five total wins) in 2011 * Idaho State ineligible for FCS playoffs due to APR violations Rankings from The Sports Network poll, using Montana's later-diminished W–L record

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 pm	at Utah*	No. 6	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	KJZZ/ Max Media	L 10–27	45,311
September 10	1:00 pm	UC Davis*	No. 6	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	Max Media	W 38–14	18,487
September 17	1:30 pm	Minot State*	No. 5	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	Max Media	W 43–7	16,507
September 24	4:00 pm	at No. 21 Eastern Washington	No. 4	Roos Field Cheney, WA	Max Media/SWX	W 36–21	10,422
October 1	1:30 pm	No. 25 Sacramento State	No. 4	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	Max Media	W 31–21	18,847
October 8	1:00 pm	at Portland State	No. 3	Jeld-Wen Field Portland, OR	Max Media	W 38–36	9,054
October 15	1:00 pm	Northern Arizona	No. 3	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	Max Media	W 41–24	17,527
October 22	1:30 pm	at Northern Colorado	No. 3	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ALT/CSNNW/CSNCA	W 31–21	5,301
October 29	12:00 pm	Idaho State	No. 4	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	Max Media	W 54–13	16,517
November 5	1:30 pm	at Weber State	No. 2	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ALT/CSNNW/CSNCA	W 44–24	6,505
November 19	12:00 pm	No. 7 Montana	No. 1	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (rivalry)	KPAX	L 10–36	20,247
December 3	1:00 pm	No. 11 New Hampshire*	No. 7	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 26–25	11,367
December 10	10:00 am	at No. 1 Sam Houston State*	No. 7	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN	L 13–49	9,077
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time