Montana State

Bobcats continue to test depth as injuries mount, particularly on O-line

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Last Saturday Montana State had lost two starting offensive linemen with two minutes remaining in the first half and trailing 14-10 of its 37-14 win over Northern Colorado. The Bobcats would still run 24 times for 131 yards – a 5.5 yards per carry average – for the remainder of the game on the way to scoring 34 unanswered points in a 37-14 win at UNC.  Prior to that they had run 20 times for 106 yards a 5.3 average.

You read that right. Despite losing two starting offensive linemen, the Bobcats didn’t miss a beat and actually improved slightly.

That’s been the theme so far in the 2022 season for the Big Sky Conference-leading Bobcats. Someone goes down with an injury, someone is right there to pick them up. In this case, it was sophomore right tackle Marcus Wehr and junior guard Cole Sain, who went down. They were seamlessly replaced by redshirt freshmen Jacob Kettles at tackle and guard Omar Aigbedion, respectively.

“We will have a couple of new guys who haven’t played as much as the other guys but that’s football: next man up and you wish it wasn’t that way but that’s teh way it is for us, especially this week,” MSU offensive line coach and run game coordinator Brian Armstrong said on Thursday.

“I have confidence in the next guys stepping up to do their jobs so the guys next to them can do his.”

Earlier in the season, All-America running back Isaiah Ifanse, was ruled out before the first game and he hasn’t returned.  His backup Kaegun Williams, a grad transfer from San Diego State, was ruled out for the season before playing a game. Williams’ backup Lane Sumner played in just the season opener before returning two weeks ago after missing four games. Impressive true freshman Jared White went out for the season on MSU’s first possession of the second game.

Quarterback Tommy Mellott was knocked out of the fourth game – just one week after running for 135 yards on 18 carries (7.5) against the PAC-12’s Oregon State – in the first quarter and just returned this past Saturday.

That left, for a nearly a two-game period, running back Elijah Elliott, who had just recovered from an undisclosed injury, backup quarterback Sean Chambers and freshman Garrett Coon, who was also awaiting clearance from doctors to play.

The first full game after all that carnage in which they were the last men standing came when UC Davis came to Bozeman for a highly touted ESPNU late night game. MSU saw Chambers run for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-21 win, Elliott added 74 yards on 18 carries and Coon mopped up with 47 yards on eight totes. That’s 321 yards from quite a way down the depth chart.

MSU hasn’t missed a beat, rushing for lofty totals against all its opponents and remaining undefeated against FCS teams, including 4-0 in Big Sky play.

Now the Bobcats prepare to take on Weber State, the fifth-ranked team in the FCS and a team with an undefeated record (3-0 in Big Sky play, 6-0 overall). MSU will have to adjust again.

“We ended up settling with Marcus at tackle in part because he was just one of our best five,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said on Monday. “Jacob Kettles and Titan (Fleischman) were pushing for time. Titan went down in the midst of the season and now Marcus is down and that presses Jacob into that role, and ultimately it pushes true freshman Connor Moore into a role where he’s a play away.

“We’ve felt good about Jacob. He’s played in games and what is he, like a fourth-year freshman? He’s been around for awhile and he’s relishing this opportunity to run with it. If Connor has to get in a game, he has played and he’s very talented.

“On the inside we’ll put (senior) Joe McElroy in the next-up mode and Joe’s been in that mode before, he’s played in games and that’s where that double-repping ,the experience our guys gain through spring and fall camp this is where that’s got to show up.”

Montana State senior Rhedi Short will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury/ by Brooks Nuanez

This phenomenon hasn’t just been limited to the offensive side of the ball.

The Bobcats have been without starting safety Rylan Ortt all year and it’s unclear when he’ll be back. Two weeks ago, his replacement Rhedi Short was lost for the season with an injury during the Idaho State game. The lone returning safety, Jeffrey Manning, sat out the Idaho State game. Brody Grebe was forced out against UNC for the remainder of the game after a targeting call on the third play of the second quarter. 

After Grebe went out, and without Short and Ortt, the Bobcats allowed just seven points the rest of the way and even those were a little shady as replays revealed the touchdown catch was actually an incompletion as it hit the ground when the receiver tumbled out of the back of the end zone and should’ve ruled incomplete. In nearly three quarters after Grebe went out the Bears managed just 214 yards after gaining 161 in just over a quarter.  

The adversity has certainly bred confidence in the system MSU uses to build depth and in turn the confidence the reserve players have if they’re pressed into duty.

All the third-ranked Bobcats will have that confidence and them some put to the test when fifth-ranked Weber State invades Bozeman this Saturday afternoon at 1:00.

“I think so much of it is how we practice, double rep almost everything,” Armstrong said. “A lot of guys are getting a lot of reps and guys you think are a long way away, you would be surprised how far guys can come. You can accelerate the growth pretty quick.

“And we have tough kids and kids who have a lot of pride in what they do, and that’s as important as anything.”

About Thomas Stuber

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