Perhaps Montana State’s youth and its potential are each most accurately displayed simultaneously when you watch the Bobcat special teams units each Saturday.
MSU has a young football in general — the ‘Cats graduated 23 seniors from last year’s Big Sky championship team and currently have a roster that includes 29 true freshmen, 22 redshirt freshmen, and 26 more sophomores — and not all of the nine listed seniors are slated as starters.
The special teams units have been magnifying both the potential and that youth the first month of the 2025 season, as the Bobcats have had some “woes” but also some “oohs and ahhs.”
Just a few minutes into their first game, MSU allowed an Oregon rusher to get to true freshman Colby Frojker’ punt attempt and moments later the Ducks turned that mistake into a field goal. The next time Frojker was in punt formation, the Ducks did it again and one of their many touchdowns on the day ensued.
One week later, Frojker was victimized again, except this time it was in a game that carried a lot more weight as No. 2 South Dakota State was on hand and came out with a 30-24 double overtime win.
The block came at a most inopportune time as the Jackrabbits were expected to get the ball back some 70 yards from the goal line with just over two minutes left in the half. A daunting task considering the visitors had struggled to move the ball after their first possession.
Timing was everything for SDSU as the blocked ball settled down on the MSU 22-yard line. Moments later, quarterback Chase Mason went into the end zone untouched to give the Jackrabbits a 10-7 lead. MSU would answer with a field goal at the close of the half but the damage was done.
Early in the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 10 when Frojker launched a punt down to the SDSU 10 only to see his kick nullified due to a penalty. He shanked his next kick out of bound only about 20 yards downfield that resulted in a 40-yard swing in field position and the Jackrabbits took advantage again as they turned the miscue into a 17-10 lead.
But just like that, special teams play took a 180 degree turn for the Bobcats as Frojker would stick another punt near the SDSU 10. This time, the MSU defense forced a three-and-out and turned the tables on the Jackrabbits as a pair of freshmen linebackers Mason Dethman and Xavier Ahrens chased Jackrabbit’ punter Max Pelham to his right and he didn’t connect with the ball on his punt attempt, which bounced right into the opportune arms of freshman Seth Brock, who sashayed into the end zone for an easy touchdown to tie game.
Those first two contests, the good simply hasn’t outweighed the bad, especially in the eyes of MSU head coach Brent Vigen.
“It hasn’t been the level of consistency that we need,” Vigen said at his press conference entering Week 3. “It comes down to those guys not allowing the moment to be too big for sure and it’s certainly about them understanding that ‘I’m on the field because the coaches believe in me now. I need to execute like I’ve been doing this for a while.’
While Frojker, Dethman, Brock and Ahrens haven’t been perfect, they’ve shown some promising flashes despite the bright lights of Autzen Stadium in Oregon and their own Bobcat Stadium during the Gold Rush game. And the units have improved in MSU’s last two victories as the Bobcats enter Saturday’s Big Sky Conference opener against Eastern Washington having won two straight.
“Going out there and the bullets are flying and there’s 22,000 (fans), it’s different than a Tuesday morning in an empty stadium being able to make quick decisions”, Vigen said. “It’s challenging but it’s a challenge we need to accept and execute. Our talent and our speed on those teams should allow us to be able to walk away each week and have an edge in the special teams’ game and we clearly didn’t have that the first two weeks.”
The Bobcats saw 23 seniors move on from the 2024 season and this year there are just nine on the team, including eight on the two-deep, four of which are defensive linemen. The obvious question for the coaching staff was: do they bring in older players via the transfer portal or do they feel good about the young talent already on the roster?
“Our special teams’ units have been older the last couple years,” Vigen, who went with the latter option, said. “Maybe not any more talented but they’ve been older.”
One of the reasons he opted to go that direction is because of athletic small-school players Mason Dethman from Brockton. Dethman a 6-4, 220-pound linebacker who played 8-man football for Froid-Medicine Lake in northeastern Montana, began catching the coaches’ eyes since spring ball. His speed makes him an obvious choice for special teams coverage units.
“He possesses some physical attributes,” Vigen said. “His size, his length and he can run. It’s really important to him, too. While making that transition (to special teams) is one thing as a linebacker on defense, it’s taking an assignment on special teams and really valuing that opportunity is something that isn’t as complicated for Mason.”
Dethman had six interception returns for touchdowns during his senior season as he played both ways. As a quarterback, he was equally effective as a runner and passer getting 980 yards and 15 touchdowns rushing and 1,020 yards and 17 touchdowns passing. He also clocked and 11.4-second 100 meters on the track.
Brock, a redshirt freshman defensive lineman, and Ahrens, a true freshman, have also jumped out early for MSU.
“Mason and Seth Brock, those two in particular and Xavier Ahrens a true freshman; those are three big bodies that can really run,” Vigen said. “Those three are prominent guys on multiple teams that have the talent and want to make a difference.
“We just gotta be able to harness that. For all those guys it really matters to them. For Seth and that group, they realize how (the whiffed punt return touchdown) flipped the game. Mason got on the ball is what really did it. We need those guys to continue to show up. For anybody that’s watching the game they’re wondering who’s that 33 (Dethman) who’s that 91 (Brock), who’s that 43 (Ahrens)? It’s really our opponents who see that.”
While patience would be nice, Vigen believes his team recognizes the urgency yet isn’t panicking.
“Our roster is young,” he said. “We knew we were losing a big number of seniors, and we knew we didn’t have a lot of seniors this year. We looked at our returning talent to say: are they ready to be in a prominent role? Are they ready to be a factor on special teams?”
The Bobcats have just two freshmen listed as starters on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, but Frojker, long snapper Brody Johnson and kickoff returner Jabez Woods are all freshmen with Frojker and Johnson being true freshmen. The MSU depth is littered with freshmen, however, as the depth chart shows nine players rotating in at various positions and another 14 sophomores are getting significant playing time.
A year ago, MSU didn’t have any freshmen starting at the beginning of the season and just five were on the depth chart.
The Bobcats host the University of San Diego this Saturday at 1:00 in their third straight non-conference game to start the season. The game is the second of four straight at home as they host Mercyhurst and the begin Big Sky play against Eastern Washington the following week.
