FCS Championship may have saved my football soul
In a word of NIL nonsense, the FCS championship delivered a pure moment at the right time.
Monday night’s FCS championship game in Nashville had a little bit of everything: passion, blood, sweat, tears, joy and heartbreak. Even the most casual fan could have found themselves on the edge of their seat as late-game theatrics unfolded in the Music City. The showdown between Montana State and Cinderella story Illinois State had more drama than a Real Housewives season finale.
Montana State prevailed in an overtime thriller, punctuated by a blocked field goal in the final minute of regulation and a blocked extra point in overtime after Illinois State scored to open the extra period.
The victory delivered Montana State its first national championship since 1984, sending thousands of Bobcat fans storming the field to celebrate their heroes. It was, undeniably, a great day for Montana State. But for those of us watching, it was bigger than that.
When I got in my car for the short drive to FirstBank Stadium, I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. Would this be a dud? A blowout? Or could Illinois State extend its improbable postseason run? The Redbirds had already defied the odds, winning every playoff game on the road as underdogs, including a second-round upset of top-seeded powerhouse North Dakota State.
Redbirds quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse and Montana State’s Justin Lamson reminded us what it looks like to truly chase a championship: toughness, resilience and the will to win. No one in that stadium was thinking about NIL deals, NFL Draft stock or transfer portal strategy. These kids just wanted to win a championship and bring glory back to dear old U.
Special teams would ultimately betray Rittenhouse in an epic quarterback duel, as Lamson walked off with the win and the game’s Most Outstanding Player award.
The game itself was electric, lead changes, clutch throws, defensive stands, and genuine drama. It was as entertaining as football gets. But that wasn’t what put the wide grin on my face during the walk back to my car.
It felt like my soul had been revived.
Major-money college football had broken my heart. The sport I once obsessed over more than anything had become nearly unrecognizable, warped by greed, realignment, and the arrogance of the sport’s most powerful figures. My love for it had legitimately come into question.
Monday night reminded me why I fell in love with the sport in the first place. It reminded me of going to Northwestern games with my grandfather in the mid-90s. It felt pure. It felt beautiful. College football, at its best, has always felt more like art than sport, more Broadway show than gladiator event.
The game is loaded with tradition and pageantry that doesn’t exist anywhere else in American sports. That’s what hooked me. Growing up in suburban Chicago, becoming a pro-sports diehard would’ve been the easy path. But Saturdays with my Catholic grandfather, who adored Notre Dame, pulled me toward the college game in a way nothing else ever had.
I felt the magic back then: the band, the Irish Guard, the roar of the student section. A college campus on a Saturday is one of the most intoxicating experiences in American life. It’s why alumni care so deeply, why they travel across the country for bowl games, and now why they donate thousands to NIL collectives. People aren’t writing those checks because it’s financially wise, they’re doing it because they’re chasing that magic.
Montana State and Illinois State captured that same magic Monday night. The bands were out in force. The cheerleaders were all-in. The 24,000-plus crowd felt less like a corporate bowl game and more like a massive high school state championship. Raw, prideful, and real.
The fans felt different. Energized. Present. Not beaten down the way Ole Miss fans were during their recent Sugar Bowl saga, watching Lane Kiffin leave for LSU after boosters helped build a roster he’d never coach when it mattered in the post-season. That’s the collateral damage of modern big-time football.
Illinois State and Montana State was the opposite. It was football at its purest. It moved me. It reminded me why I chose my profession and why I fell in love with the sport to begin with.
It was beautiful.
I felt the same watching that game. It’s one of my favorite memories for the season! God, I love college football!
“It felt like my soul had been revived.” Well said my friend! Indeed. Phenomenal game