Montana State’s game at Northern Colorado has been pushed back to 5 pm MT on Saturday after nationwide flight delays disrupted the team’s travel plans. The matchup in Greeley, Colorado was originally set for noon.
The shift gives Montana State a later start in a game that was already drawing attention because of the travel wrinkle alone. For readers searching now, the timing matters because the change affects a road trip that was supposed to begin around midday and now lands in the evening.
Northern Colorado enters at 3-7 overall and 2-5 in Big Sky Conference play, but the record does not tell the whole story. It has beaten Northeastern State, Utah Tech and Cal Poly, and it has also taken losses to Weber State, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Eastern Washington, UC Davis and Southern Utah.
The defense is where Northern Colorado has stayed relevant. It ranks No. 3 in total defense and scoring defense, allowing 26 points per game, while also sitting No. 3 against the run at 146 rush yards allowed per game. It is No. 6 against the pass and No. 7 in redzone defense. Hudson Voggesser has 63 total tackles, and Dominic Butts leads the team with 2.5 sacks.
That front is what Montana State coach Brent Vigen pointed to when discussing the matchup. He said Northern Colorado has a good front, that teams in that defensive tier usually start with the players up front, and that the group plays with an aggressive style built around movement and twists. He added that makes the run game harder and forces an offense to stay coordinated.
On the other side, Northern Colorado has been uneven on offense but still has enough structure to make a game interesting. It ranks No. 10 in total offense, No. 11 in scoring offense at 22 points per game, No. 5 in rushing offense at 176 rush yards per game and No. 12 in passing offense at 205 pass yards per game. Its redzone offense is also No. 12.
Brayten Silbor has been the main quarterback piece for Northern Colorado this season. He has thrown for 972 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions after starting at Lehigh, sitting out the entire 2024 season because of injury, spending 2025 at Southwestern Community College and landing at Northern Colorado this past summer. Vigen called Silbor the best option in their eyes, said he can function as a dual threat and noted that Northern Colorado mixed in Keegan Patterson in its most recent game after using four different quarterbacks against Eastern Washington.
That leaves Montana State preparing for both a late kickoff and a defense that does not look like its record. The schedule has changed, but the challenge has not: the winner will have to handle the travel delay, the front seven and the possibility that Northern Colorado keeps rotating answers at quarterback when the teams finally kick off Saturday in Greeley.
