Montana State running back Julius Davis will not be punished for his bizarre postgame altercation with head coach Brent Vigen. They both issued an apology for their respective roles in the incident.
It was not as serious as it looked on television.
The ESPN broadcast crew made a false assumption about the well-respected college football running back. The internet ran with a similar narrative that was not entirely true.
Montana State won the football game.
The intense verbal discussion took place after an eight-point win over Yale. The Bobcats nearly blew a two-touchdown lead during the fourth quarter but they ultimately held on to advance to the third round of the FCS Playoffs.
As soon as the game was over, Davis went over to talk to one of his friends and former teammates. Vigen pulled him away from the reunion. That did not go over well with the running back. They really got into it.
Davis at one point slapped his head coach away and stormed off in the other direction before cooler heads eventually prevailed. To say it was awkward would be an understatement.
Julius Davis issued an apology.
Optics aside, the broadcast team from ESPN created a narrative that was not true.
“ESPN misconstrued a moment in our previous game,” wrote Davis on Instagram. “I was not smack talking the Yale players I was actually dapping up a former teammate of mine from Wisconsin. I want to sincerely apologize to my teammate and my coach for my actions. In the heat of the moment, I let my emotions get the best of me and reacted in a way that was unacceptable.
“Arguing in the way I did was wrong, and I take full responsibility for it. Coach Vigen and I already talked, no one outside of this team understands our relationship and how much respect I have for him.
“I also understand that my reaction was seen by many, and I’m truly sorry for the example it set. I hold myself, my team, my coaches, and the game itself to a high standard, and I didn’t reflect that in my behavior. I’m committed to learning from this moment, handling my emotions better, and showing the respect and professionalism that my teammate, my coach, and everyone watching deserves. Thank you for holding me accountable, I will be better moving forward. #GoCats”
I, unlike ESPN, was pretty confident that Davis was not the instigator in this situation based on what I saw. However, I also thought that a lack of carries might’ve factored into his frustration toward Vigen. Maybe it did but that does not appear to be the case based on his statement. That settles that.
Head coach Brent Vigen is moving forward.
It did not take long for coach Vigen to address what happened with Julius Davis during his press conference on Monday. The incident somehow did not come up on Saturday.
There will not be any additional repercussions that stem from the heated altercation.
“I feel good about where we’re at,” Vigen said. “We had a good conversation shortly thereafter. I know he made a real sincere post and had a lot of heartfelt things to say and we’ll move forward.”
He was just trying to protect his player. It became something much bigger than it needed to be.
“And, you know in that moment I wanted to protect Julius Davis in particular. He was in a situation that I didn’t feel was great for him, and I wanted to get him out of that situation […] Now everybody’s got a platform and everybody can make a judgment. And that’s the way the world works. Putting all of the context together sometimes isn’t there for everybody to understand. And that’s okay. Again, that’s the world we live in.”
Brent Vigen has great respect for his star running back.
“I will tell you this, the relationship that Julius and I have is as strong as anybody on this team. And you know, how I understand him as a competitor, a very emotional competitor. And I think his respect for me in that regard is very clear. And while it might not have appeared that way, it is a relationship that is very strong. Ultimately, calmer heads were able to prevail.”
You can watch the full press conference here:
Montana State will host Stephen F. Austin in Bozeman on Friday. Julius Davis is in good standing!