The 1984 Montana State Bobcats football team represented the Montana State University (MSU) in the 1984 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The team was led by Dave Arnold in his second season as a head coach. The Bobcats played their home games at Reno H. Sales Stadium.

Contents

• Schedule
• Game summaries
• Mesa State
• Vs. No. 9 Louisiana Tech (Division I-AA Championship Game)
• Roster
• References

After going 1–10 the previous season and finishing last in the Big Sky, the Bobcats had one of the biggest turnarounds in all of college football in 1984, finishing the regular season with an overall record of 9–2, including a 35–31 win over Division I-A Fresno State, and won the Big Sky title. The Bobcats received a bid to the Division I-AA playoffs, defeating Arkansas State and Rhode Island en route to the I-AA Championship Game. In the championship game, Montana State defeated Louisiana Tech 19–6 for the program's first I-AA national title, and first national title since the 1976 team won the NCAA Division II national championship. ^[1] This would be the Bobcats' last national championship win until 2025. ^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	Mesa State *		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 30–14		[3]
September 15	at Eastern Washington *		Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA		L 16–21		[4]
September 22	at Idaho		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID		W 34–28	11,600	[5]
September 29	No. 18 Idaho State		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		L 6–22	11,117	[6]
October 6	at Weber State		Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT		W 48–0	9,680	[7]
October 13	Nevada		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 44–41 4OT	6,317	[8]
October 20	Portland State *		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 45–22	10,797	[9]
October 27	No. 8 Boise State		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 22–18	8,387	[10]
November 3	at Montana	No. 15	Dornblaser Field Missoula, MT (rivalry)		W 34–24	12,500	[11]
November 10	Northern Arizona	No. 10	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 41–3	9,357	[12]
November 17	at Fresno State *	No. 6	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA		W 35–31	24,088	[13]
December 1	No. 10 Arkansas State *	No. 2	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)		W 31–14	12,037	[14]
December 8	No. 2 Rhode Island *	No. 2	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)		W 32–20	12,697	[15]
December 15	vs. No. 9 Louisiana Tech *	No. 2	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC (NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game)	SPN	W 19–6	9,125	[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game

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Game summaries

Roster

References