BOZEMAN, Montana — Montana State’s quarterback battle grabbed all the headlines this off-season. But the most contested starting position during MSU’s recently completed fall camp came in the middle of the Bobcat defense.
Josh Hill is a two-year starter entering his fifth year in the program. But he missed almost all of last season with a back injury. Chad Kanow was a rising star coming out of a true freshman year that saw him light it up on special teams. But he only played in half of Montana State’s games last fall while struggling with knee and shoulder injuries.
Michael Jobman started every game at inside linebacker next to toughness tone setter Grant Collins and showed flashes of his fortitude. But the rise of redshirt freshman Nolan Askelson, the significant improvements of converted quarterback sophomore Callahan O’Reilly, the steady presence of fifth-year senior Walker Cozzie and the addition of junior college transfer Blake Flovin made the inside linebacker competition on the MSU campus in August a fierce one.
Throughout the course of the season, it could be “a six-man rotation,” Montana State defensive coordinator Kane Ioane said on August 9. “If that’s how it is, that’s how it is. That’s just going to provide depth and as we know, injuries happen. But we feel really good about that group as far as overall talent and ability.
“The challenge, which is a good challenge, is figuring out who is going to be the playmakers when it’s all said and done.”
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
