As Montana State emerges from an off-season filled with change and uncertainty, one steady factor remains: just like each of the last two seasons, Chad Newell and Gunnar Brekke will provide a steady presence in the Bobcat backfield.
“They don’t talk about it, they live it every day,” Montana State first-year head coach Jeff Choate said earlier this month during his team’s fall camp. “They are tremendous people, tremendous leaders and great football players. They have the respect of their teammates and that’s not because they are seniors. It’s because they produce and the way they carry themselves. They set the tone for our team.”
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That respect garnered from the rest of MSU’s roster was affirmed last week. Newell, a three-time All-Big Sky Conference selection from Billings, and Brekke, a Helena Capital native who is one of MSU’s most diverse players, are among the seven players voted by the Bobcats to serve as team captains in 2016. Newell will be a captain for the second straight season.
The senior running back duo has acclimated as well as any of Montana State’s players to the coaching change. Both came to play for Rob Ash. Newell was a redshirt in 2012, the last time Montana State claimed the Big Sky Conference title. Brekke came to Bozeman the following year. Since each started contributing — Newell was a first-team All-Big Sky selection as a redshirt freshman while Brekke played as a true freshman in 2013 — the Bobcats have been trying to reach the mountaintop once again. But MSU has a playoff appearance in 2014 and seasons filled with disappointment to bookend that postseason appearance.
With Choate and his almost completely new coaching staff in place — he retained running backs coach Michael Pitre and linebackers coach Kane Ioane — the culture within the locker room is different. The changes have made it easier for energetic, hardworking players like MSU’s senior duo to lead.
“We are a cohesive unit with a clear vision so it doesn’t take a lot to lead as opposed to last year or years before where leaders really had to pull a lot of weight,” Newell said on Montana State’s final day of fall camp. “Right now, everyone knows where we want to go and you are just running with the pack.
“When you come out here and you have a guy who is matching your energy step for step at practice, it helps a lot. We come out here high energy, like to run our mouths a little bit and we need coaches who can keep up with that, match that. We’ve been looking for that for a while now.”
Brekke has always practiced and played with a confidence that carries him. He echoes Newell in that MSU’s new coaching staff is just what the Bobcats needed as he enters his final season at Montana State.
“Those cancers that were on the team, they aren’t here anymore,” Brekke said. “Coach Choate did a good job of that. He took it upon himself. That’s hard to put on the players. Ultimately what it does is it tears the team apart. It’s up to the coaches to do that and I think they did a great job. Every dude on this roster right now is bought in or they wouldn’t be here. When they are bought in, they are very easy to herd up and get going in the same direction. It truly does make it easier being a captain.”
Montana State will certainly lean on its Treasure State tailbacks for leadership. But their production on the field will be equally important as the Bobcats rededicate itself to a power run game with first-year offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham at the controls for the Bobcat offense.
Last season, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Newell rushed for 831 yards and 12 touchdowns but was MSU’s second-leading ball carrier behind quarterback Dakota Prukop. The Bobcats ran a spread out version of the triple option but played chase for the majority of the season against the marquee teams in the Big Sky. Because the Bobcats were often behind and Brekke suffered a concussion that lingered throughout the season, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound speedster received just 63 carries but gained 293 yards. He was used more as a receiving threat out of the backfield, hauling in 22 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns.
This season, Montana State’s offense will look more conventional as the Bobcats run downhill behind an offensive line that averages 6-foot-5, 304 pounds across the board.
“We want to come out and establish the run,” Brekke said. “We have come out and be bought into that attitude of toughness. We’ve been a little more finesse the last couple of years. Everyone knows how (former OC Tim) Cramsey’s offense was. Now it’s no joke, we want to come out and make you stop us running the ball. If we can do that, that’s right where we want to be.”
Ty Gregorak spent 12 of the last 13 seasons coaching at the University of Montana. Gregorak had to prepare for Newell and Brekke each of the last three seasons as UM’s defensive coordinator. Now he’s MSU’s defensive play-caller. After 15 spring practices and three and a half weeks of fall camp, Gregorak still has a lofty opinion of MSU’s ball carriers.
“I’m looking at that stable of running backs and man oh man,” Gregorak said. “I can name a couple of guys off the top of my head from around the league but a stable like that? Man. No one has that. That freshman (Anthony Pegues), my goodness. He’s that tall but he’s this wide and he can play and go, now. I don’t know if they are going to play him or not, but that boy has some stuff. He’s got some juice. Gunnar Brekke, you can put anywhere because he cares. Chad Newell is going to come down and hit you. Nick LaSane, I don’t know if I’d want to try to tackle him. Noah James is a big, powerful kid. That might be the deepest place on our team. It’s a good looking group.”
LaSane has been a player filled with potential who now must contribute as he enters his junior season. The 5-foot-11, 220-pounder has speed and strength. His durability is the only thing holding him back. He enters Montana State’s opener at Idaho on Thursday as the No. 3 running back on the depth chart.
Behind LaSane, MSU also has James, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound sophomore who could walk a similar path to Newell. Once upon a time, Newell was a do-everything walk-on from Billings Senior who earned respect on special teams and in spot short-yardage situations. James, a walk-on from Kalispell Glacier, could follow a similar path this season.
Pegues is a 5-foot-7, 192-pound stick of dynamite. The explosive, shifty and deceivingly fast true freshman will make the trip to Idaho as well.
“We have three guys who have been there, know exactly what is going on and a few other really talented young guys,” Newell said. “Our goals as veterans is to really teach those guys and leave a legacy for those guys like Cody Kirk and Tray Robinson left behind for us and give them something they can carry, something to live up to.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
