FCS National Championship: Montana State vs. Illinois State Defensive Spotlight

No. 2 seed Montana State (13-2) will face Illinois State (12-4) in the 2026 FCS national championship game in Nashville, Tennessee. Kickoff is scheduled for Jan. 5th at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

As we prepare for the national championship game, we wanted to take a look at how the talent on the field will stack up on each side of the ball. We've done this exercise for the past two years, and it gives us an excellent chance to highlight some of the top players for each team.

We will combine the rosters of Montana State and Illinois State to build a potential starting lineup featuring players from both teams. We selected the best players at each position, but I valued those playing their best football right now.

We have to be flexible with this exercise since these teams run a different scheme. Montana State runs a fairly static 4-2-5, while Illinois State utilizes a base 3-4 defense with a different style of defensive ends and linebackers. However, the Redbirds frequently play with five defensive backs on the field. For this exercise, we will go with four defensive linemen, two linebackers, two safeties, one nickel, and two outside cornerbacks.

Let's break down our picks and why these players were selected.

DE - Kenneth Eiden IV (Montana State)

DT - Jake Anderson (Illinois State)

DT - Paul Brott (Montana State)

DE - Garret Steffen (Illinois State)

LB - Tye Niekamp (Illinois State)

LB - Mason Kaplan (Illinois State)

S - Caden Dowler (Montana State)

S - CJ Richard Jr. (Illinois State)

N - Tayden Gray (Montana State)

CB - Cam Wilson (Illinois State)

CB - Seth Johnson (Montana State)

In the offensive spotlight, I ended up with six Montana State players and five Illinois State players. It's flipped for this defensive spotlight, with six players for the Redbirds and five for the Bobcats.

Starting with the interior defensive line, we have arguably the two leaders on both defenses in Paul Brott and Jake Anderson. Both guys are incredibly experienced and play key roles at the heart of each defense. Anderson often plays in a true nose guard alignment, while Brott is often the 1-tech in Montana State's 4-2-5 defense.

Brott and Anderson have great size and make it difficult for opponents to establish the interior downhill rushing attack. Despite their success in the run game, their best attribute may be generating pressure up the middle and preventing quarterbacks from stepping up in the pocket.

At defensive end, the first pick had to be Montana State's Kenneth Eiden IV. He leads all players in this game with 8.5 sacks and has stepped up in the biggest moments for the Bobcats. Eiden had six sacks in the last five games, adding 9.5 tackles for loss in that span.

On the other side, I'm going with Illinois State defensive lineman Garret Steffen. He is more of a defensive end who plays inside over the tackle, but he has still been very effective as a pass rusher. He leads all players in this game with 48 pressures (Eiden has 47), while also posting seven sacks (3.5 in playoffs).

At linebacker, the easiest choice of the whole exercise was Illinois State's Tye Niekamp. Niekamp has 155 total tackles this year, along with 14.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. I expect Niekamp to have a big night on Monday. Watch for him to blitz in a big moment and effect a big play.

For the other linebacker spot, it came down to Montana State's Neil Daily and Illinois State's Mason Kaplan. Both guys have been exceptional in coverage this season, but I would lean toward Kaplan because of what he gives you as a pass rusher and run stopper.

The hardest part of this exercise was deciding who should start in the secondary. These teams have very different styles. Montana State plays a lot of two-deep zone and rotates multiple players throughout the game due to its depth. Illinois State basically plays five guys in its secondary, running a ton of man coverage while blitzing its linebackers.

At the first safety spot, I'm going with the best player for either team in Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year Caden Dowler. Even though Dowler is banged up, I expect him to play on Monday night. He's the best all-around safety, leading all players with six interceptions.

At the other safety spot, I may surprise some people by going with redshirt freshman CJ Richard Jr over All-MVFC selection La'Shavion Brown. In my opinion, Richard has been the better player during the playoff run, and he's the only player in either secondary who has not missed a tackle this season. Brown has missed 12 tackles, while giving up four touchdowns, compared to Richard, who has not allowed a touchdown in coverage.

At nickel, I'm going with Montana State's Tayden Gray. He provides a nice balance in the Bobcats' zone scheme, supporting the run game while being solid in coverage. I'm going with redshirt freshman Seth Johnson at the first outside cornerback spot. He leads all main contributors in this game, only allowing 6.1 yards per catch on 40 targets. Johnson's role has continued to grow, and in the playoffs, he's only allowed 54 yards on 15 targets.

The final spot came down to Illinois State cornerbacks Shadwel Nkuba II and Cam Wilson. Nkuba was an FCS All-American and leads the Redbirds with five interceptions, but I'm still going to go with Wilson here. He's been targeted 18 times in four playoff games, but has only allowed five catches. He was also the only defensive back who didn't struggle against UC Davis in the quarterfinals. He's playing his best football right now, giving him the slight edge over his teammate.

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