When it was over, you could see that MSU head coach Brent Vigen was still in high spirits (I think Vigen would prefer this word) inside the midfield prayer circle. But he took a conciliatory tone after the game and again on Monday.
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“The excitement of a close game like that … can bring out the best in you,” he said Monday, a couple of days after his No. 2-seeded Bobcats defeated Yale 21-13 in a second-round playoff game.
It’s certainly not the first time emotions have taken over a player and a coach at the same time (last year’s sideline confrontation between Montana’s Bobby Hauck and quarterback Logan Fife comes to mind) and it won’t be the last. Saturday’s set was notable because, like “Happy Gilmore II,” it had a beginning, a build, and then you wondered when it was going to end.
After Davis apologized on social media later Saturday, everything is apparently fine.
“I want to sincerely apologize to my teammate and coach for my actions,” Davis wrote. “Coach Vigen and I already talked, no one outside of this team understands our relationship and how much respect I have for him.”
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When asked if the incident would affect Davis’ playing time Friday night, when the Bobcats host Stephen F. Austin in a quarterfinal game, Vigen implied it would not.
“No, I think we’ve already decided on that,” he said. “I feel good about where we are.”
Davis noted on social media, “I was actually dating a former Wisconsin teammate.” That would be Marshall Howe, a backup quarterback for Yale who wears No. 3. Also in the area: No. 4.
“(Davis) is a passionate individual,” Vigen said. “And the guy I was interacting with was fiery the entire game. And you can leave it at that.”
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That seems fine to me. There’s a quarterfinal to play, when the Bobcats will try to corral former Griz quarterback Sam Vidlak, the Southland Conference offensive player of the year, and the Lumberjacks (11-2).
Win or lose, Vigen hopes the postgame goes exactly like this: “We need to be able to shake hands, sing the school fight song and say a team prayer, then go to the locker room and celebrate,” he said.
Davis, 52 rushing yards shy of 1,000, has become an Internet meme. Maybe that’s punishment enough.
“This is not the first operation of this type we have had,” Vigen said. “Obviously it was there for everyone to see and that’s fine, I guess. I think he certainly respects me, and if anyone thinks otherwise, that’s their opinion. Everyone can make a judgement; that’s how the world works.”
Contact Fritz at (email protected) or 758-4463.