For a moment, it looked like the same ghosts would haunt Montana State at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
A season ago, the Bobcats scored in bunches but struggled so badly defensively, seemingly every game turned into a shootout. After a regular season that saw them lose at home when scoring 51 and win by a field goal when scoring 59, Montana State’s playoff run never commenced. South Dakota State running back Zach Zenner looked like a Hall of Famer and MSU’s season died in first round at home despite scoring 40 points in the snow.
Dodd
On Saturday, in the first of two scrimmages during MSU’s abbreviated fall camp, sophomore running back Nick LaSane screamed up the field for a 63-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the morning. On the next drive, redshirt freshman tailback Tavon Dodd broke two tackles that would’ve brought him down in the backfield and instead burst through the line and into the open field for a 30-yard touchdown score.
The Montana State defense gave up yards in bunches a season ago. At the outset of the first live session of fall camp, it looked like the song remained the same. But the unit has a new look, a new scheme, a new defensive coordinator in Kane Ioane and will sport no less than nine new starters. On Saturday, they proved it could have a short collective memory and refocus.
Following Dodd’s long touchdown, the defense buckled down. The squad forced a punt on the very next first-team offensive possession and added a fourth-down stop near the goal line. Senior defensive tackle Conner Thomas, junior defensive end Zach Hutchins, junior middle linebacker Fletcher Collins and sophomore outside linebacker Mac Bignell had sacks against the starting offense. And senior cornerback Trace Timmer continued his standout camp with an interception.
Michael & Barth
“The coaches are always stress putting the last play behind us and to buckle down and focus,” said Collins after notching four tackles as he took the bulk of the first-team repetitions at middle linebacker in front of redshirt freshman upstart Grant Collins. “We’ve been really trying to do that since camp started. I think everybody knew we were on our heels for a little bit in the beginning. But we decided as a group to step up and start executing.”
“We just started executing,” added sophomore outside linebacker Blake Braun, who had three tackles and a touch sack as he continues to fend off sophomore Cincinnati transfer Marcus Tappan for the starting job at Will linebacker. “We just had to do what we had to do to stop them. There was a couple of missed tackles on Tavon and Nick’s. We just started tackling better. That’s what we needed to do. It was knocking the rust off honestly. We haven’t tackled since spring.”
With juniors Chad Newell and Gunnar Brekke and redshirt freshman Noah James all on the shelf with injuries, Dodd and LaSane got the bulk of MSU’s 48 carries. The Bobcat defense held the offense to 3.4 yards per carry (including sacks). Take away the 93 yards compiled on the two long touchdowns and the defense yielded 77 yards on 46 carries (1.6 yards per carry).
Roderick & Timmer
“We had to drive our feet,” Timmer said after making a pair of tackles to go with his interception. “A big thing we say is ‘Step on toes.’ We weren’t doing that at first. We were lunging. But we came together and said it was on us and we got it done against the run after those long runs.”
The rushing stats were slightly skewed considering third-string freshman quarterback Jordan Hoy was sacked four times behind a very inexperienced and overmatched offensive line.
A season ago, Dakota Prukop was one of the best running threats of any quarterback in the country. In 10 games, he rushed for 966 yards and 13 touchdowns. On Saturday, he wore a red non-contact jersey. Braun, Collins and Mac Bignell all were credited with touch sacks of Prukop. Bignell’s came after a poor snap from senior center Joel Horn on a 4th down and goal from the 2-yard line.
“One of the big weapons of the offense is Dakota’s running ability and it’s so tough to judge if he would’ve been tackled or not, sacked or not,” MSU ninth-year head coach Rob Ash said. “It’s a pretty huge disadvantage for the offense when he has the red jersey ironically since we are protecting him. There’s times he would’ve gotten away.”
Brown & McCabe
Newell and Brekke figure to be among MSU’s most productive players too. In their absence, LaSane and Dodd are embracing their increased workloads. On Saturday, LaSane rushed 13 times for 105 yards. Dodd carried the ball 12 times for 45 yards.
On LaSane’s touchdown, he used his improved patience to follow Flynn through the hole, bounce the power run to the outside and show off his open-field speed.
“We weren’t looking to take the backside, we were looking to take A gap and expand from there, but we saw the backside open and when you see it, you have to take it,” LaSane said. “I love playing in general but Power is one of my favorites. It’s a great read and it gets us the yardage we need.”
On Dodd’s stop-and-go touchdown, he shook off junior defensive end Shiloh LaBoy and ran through a tackle attempt by redshirt freshman outside linebacker Toti Moekiola before hitting the gas.
“I seen a lot of white jerseys cross my face and I know we are supposed to stick it inside, set it up to get everyone to flow one way and once they did, I burst into that touchdown alley,” Dodd said.
With just LaSane, Dodd and freshman Logan Jones at his disposal, Ash got a good look at the players expected to provide depth. As MSU enters its second and final week of camp, he’s seen enough of the young duo to know they can contribute.
Collins
“We have to be a little careful now with those two,” Ash said. “They’ve had a lot of carries, a lot of reps. We are starting to know now what they can do after their spring workload. Both of them are a little banged up after today. Next week, I hope we can get Noah James back for that scrimmage just to take the load off. I’m getting a good sense that Nick and Tavon are just about ready to play.”
Toward the end of the 87-play scrimmage, tempers boiled over briefly. On a Dodd run, Grant Collins filled the hole and his helmet popped off. All of a sudden, 6-foot-5, 317-pound All-America guard J.P. Flynn was on top of him. Flynn threw a punch and was promptly ejected. Ash met Flynn before he even got to the sideline and dressed him down.
“That’s between me and J.P.,” Ash said when asked about the conversation.
Collins had to be restrained by several teammates after he got up off the turf. The sidelines were abuzz over the explosion. At the end of the scrimmage, Flynn stood and apologized to his offensive teammates and broke down the squad.
“It never surprises me and it’s always someone you don’t expect,” Ash said. “Those things are great that they happen now. I told the officials before the scrimmage, I said ‘I don’t expect it to happen but if something does happen and a scuffle breaks out, administer it like you would in a game. If there’s an ejection, I want to hear it. If there’s a penalty, I want to mark it off. It happened. I’m glad it happened now in a scrimmage instead of a game to give us a teachable moment.”
Sutton
Although the MSU defense readjusted after the early explosion, the Bobcat offense still made some highlight plays. Senior captain Mitch Griebel set up a touchdown with a 44-yard reception on a third down. The next play, senior quarterback Jake Bleskin hit redshirt freshman Conner Sullivan with a beautifully thrown ball to the back shoulder for a six-yard touchdown catch. The play after Flynn was ejected for throwing a punch, Prukop hit a streaking Justin Paige for a 46-yard touchdown. And the scrimmage concluded as Hoy hit fellow freshman Cam Sutton for an eight-yard touchdown.
“I thought the third downs and the big plays the offense made today were pretty special,” Ash said. “We had some good connections. Paige had a great catch, really nice throw. Touchdown to Sullivan, touchdown to Cam Sutton. Those are big plays in the passing game. There was a good third down to Mitch Herbert and a good catch by Will Krolick on a low ball. There were several conversion plays that were really good.
“And Sullivan has really made a statement about himself in this camp. Mitch Herbert is a really good player but Conner is showing us we can put him on the field.”
Herbert
Herbert’s lone catch was yet another addition to his acrobatic fall camp highlight reel. Herbert beat sophomore Bryce Alley up the West sideline. The ball was underthrown but the 6-foot-4 sophomore stopped on a dime, jumped and caught the ball with his right hand as Alley tackled him for a 17-yard gain.
Griebel finished with four catches for 83 yards, each grab converting a third down. He was pleased with the offensive execution as well as the defense’s ability to rally through adversity.
“We executed very well,” Griebel said. “We got a little sloppy at the end with the ejection and the holding penalty from me. But overall, I think we did well there. We played fast and made some big plays.
“The defense was flying around a lot more than they were. I see them trying to force turnovers, trying to strip the ball. They are making plays in the secondary. Trace Timmer got a pick today, which was great to see. We are going to need those guys come the season.”
STATISTICS
Rushing (48-170) — Nick LaSane 13-105 TD; Tavon Dodd 12-45 45 TD; Prukop 7-10; Jordan Hoy 6-(-25); Jake Bleskin 1- (-5); Jayshawn Gates 1-5, Logan Jones 8-35.
Passing (20-31-3-1 266): Prukop 7-11-1-0 115; Bleskin 10-14 130-1-1; Hoy 3-6-1-0 21.
Receiving: Mitch Griebel 4-83, Beau Sandland 2-20, Logan Jones 2-19, Conner Sullivan 2-11 TD, Curtis Amos 2-9, Austin Barth 1-11, Justin Paige 1-46 TD, Will Krolick 1-15, Cam Sutton 1-8 TD, Mitch Herbert 1-17, Brandon Brown 1-7, Ben Folsom 1-1, Tavon Dodd 1-8.
Tackles: Toti Moeakiola 6, Fletcher Collins 4, Koni Dole 4, Chris Robinson 4, Brayden Konkol 3, Grant Collins 3, Khari Garcia 3, Marcus Tappan 3
Bryce Alley 2, Bryson McCabe 2, Khari Garcia 2, Conner Thomas 2, Naotala 2, Blake Braun2, Joey Michael 2, Tre’Von Strong 2, Marcus Ferriter 2,
Chris Harris, Bryson Keeton, Tucker Yates, Tyrone Fa’anono, Wilson, Robert Walsh, Mac Bignell, Zach Hutchins, Matt Brownlow, Byron Rollins,
Tackles for loss
Chris Robinson 2, Keegan Bray, Joe Naotala, Conner Thomas, Grant Collins, Fletcher Collins, Mac Bignell, Zach Hutchins, Toti Moeakiola, , Nate Bignell 0.5, Tyrone Fa’anono 0.5.
Sack
Chris Robinson 2, Conner Thomas, Fletcher Collins, Blake Braun, Mac Bignell, Zach Hutchins, Riley Griffiths, Toti Moeakiola
Interception
Trace Timmer
Pass breakups
Chris Harris, Zach Hutchins
