BOZEMAN, Montana — Isaiah Ifanse picked up where he left off after the most productive rookie rushing season in Montana State history.
In 2018, the Bellevue, Washington product became the first Bobcat freshman to surpass 1,000 yards rushing. Despite battling an ailing hamstring for most of Big Sky Conference play, the former Washington Gatorade Player of the Year still averaged 5.2 yards per carry and 78.8 yards per game.
He surpassed 100 yards in a single game five times, including rushing for 176 yards in MSU’s 35-14 win over No. 24 Incarnate Word in the first round of the FCS Playoffs. Ifanse scored three of his seven touchdowns during a 227-yard career day to spark MSU’s 49-42 win over Cal Poly.
In Montana State’s first two games this season, Ifanse has 191 yards rushing on 26 carries. He is averaging 7.3 yards per carry after his sixth career 100-yard game, a 114-yard effort on just 11 carries in MSU’s 38-17 win over No. 12 Southeast Missouri State.
[restrict paid=”true”]
Ifanse had two carries following a 62-yard rip early in the second quarter. His final carry came with nine minutes to play in the second quarter. In the second half, he stood on the MSU sideline in street clothes with an undisclosed injury.
One of the fiercest position battles during Montana State’s fall camp played out in the running backs group even if Ifanse and do-everything junior Troy Andersen were not about to be displaced as the top ball carriers.
On Saturday, Andersen was the only other Bobcat to record a rush in the first half other than Ifanse. As an unorthodox yet powerful and explosive backfield duo, Andersen and Ifanse accounted for nearly 75 percent of MSU’s yards from scrimmage a season ago.
After halftime against SEMO, several of those running backs jockeying for position behind Ifanse in the rotation earned elevated opportunities against SEMO.
True freshman DeMareus Hosey scored the first touchdown of his career on his second carry against SEMO. Senior Logan Jones rushed eight times for 28 yards and also took a fly sweep pitch from Travis Jonsen 55 yards for a touchdown. Senior Karl Tucker II earned four carries that gained 20 yards, including the first collegiate touchdown of his career.
“One of my favorite moments of the night was not (Hosey’s) first college touchdown; it was Karl Tucker’s first college touchdown,” Montana State head coach Jeff Choate said on Monday. “That kid is a great team guy. Started off as a wide receiver, took on a role as primarily a blocking back, protection guy for us, has worked on his craft. It was awesome to see him get an opportunity to get a touchdown.”
Hosey rushed for just three yards on two carries against Texas Tech. His first carry on the first play of the second half against SEMO netted 12 yards. Andersen kept the ball on a read option play and sprinted for 44 yards on MSU’s second play of the drive. On the next play, Hosey went off tackle and glided in for a nine-yard touchdown. He finished with six carries for 21 yards.
“I think his stock rose on Saturday,” Choate said. “I thought he ran hard, ran physical, ran downhill. We are going to need them all. That’s a collision position.
“Last year, to Isaiah’s credit, he managed a hamstring issue for most of the year. But every week, we went in not knowing what we were going to get out of him. We were really down to three guys at the end of the year. That’s a position where we need to get those guys going early.”
Last season at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, Hosey piled up 1,933 yards and 26 touchdowns. That came after a 1,460-yard, 15-touchdown junior year. He was a Texas AP second-team All-State selection.
He has already appeared in two games, this fall meaning Hosey is halfway to his limit if he wants to maintain his redshirt. Choate said that is likely not in the cards this season.
“DeMareus is going to play this year,” Choate said. “We need to get those guys going early so they have confidence and they are ready to go because they have the game experience. I was really pleased to see him get that game experience.”
During fall camp, Montana State offensive coordinator Matt Miller said, “I absolutely love that group right now”, when asked about the running backs. He praised Ifanse and Jones for “being dialed in.” He complimented Tucker on “a really good camp.” Miller described redshirt freshman Lane Sumner as “always running hard.” Miller called walk-on redshirt freshman Shane Perry “tough.”
The long, shifty Hosey showed speed, strength and an ability to practice at a veteran level during fall camp. That helped him edge out Sumner and Perry on the depth chart. But Choate has consistently preached “needing all of ‘em” because of the nature of attrition in college football.
“It’s a lot of competition there,” Ifanse said during fall camp. “It just brings the best out of the whole entire room. When you see one guy doing well, you are proud of them but then you want to do that too.”
Montana State is determined to line up Andersen at quarterback more than running back while he holds down Sam linebacker on defense as well. Andersen needed just six carries to surpass 100 yards against SEMO.
Jonsen will likely take 10 or more snaps per game as a Wildcat quarterback. And senior wide receiver Kevin Kassis will probably take about two dozen snaps behind center this season.
Ifanse is expected to return to action sooner than later. Jones is one of the most explosive players in the Big Sky. Tucker is in his final season of a career defined by selflessness. And Hosey’s upside is significant. The battle for carries and touches will continue Saturday in Macomb, Illinois when the Bobcats take on Western Illinois.
“One of the challenges on offense is how do we get all these guys involved, especially when you are changing quarterbacks,” Choate said.
“What we are doing isn’t easy. Most people just line up with one guy under center and they roll. We are trying to maximize our guys and get creative with what we do to make it easy for us and difficult for the opponent. And that’s still a work in progress.”
[/restrict]
