The Montana State Bobcats endured an atypical fall camp and the No. 11 team in the FCS enters an atypical first game week with a feeling of accomplishment. 3`
“As a whole, we achieved what we wanted to achieve,” Montana State quarterback Dakota Prukop said on Wednesday, a day before MSU’s annual ‘mock game’ signaled the end of fall camp. “The offense is firing on all pistons right now. The defense is doing some great things. The team is real unified. Camp went well.”
Montana State’s fall camp stretched from August 9 until August 27, an abbreviation from the typical three-week camp because of two factors: Montana State began classes on August 24 and the Bobcats open next Thursday, September 3 against Division II Fort Lewis.
The Bobcats will commence their first game week of 2015 on Friday in preparation for next Thursday’s “Gold Rush” home opener. But the atypical nature of the schedule continues even after the first game. Montana State does not play again until September 19 when the Bobcats head to Eastern Washington for a non-conference showdown with the No. 6 Eagles. MSU’s bye is slated for the second week of the season.
Dakota Prukop throws to Jayshawn Gates
“It’s weird, honestly,” MSU junior running back Gunnar Brekke said last week. “You’d like to have that bye week in the middle of the year like last year. But we are going to take that bye week second week and we are rolling from there.”
As expected, Montana State’s offense built off the momentum of last season’s record-setting season throughout fall camp. Despite Prukop and his quarterback cohorts wearing red non-contact jerseys for the duration, an offensive unit that returns almost fully intact looked explosive, diverse and deep. A season ago, Prukop piled up more than 3,500 yards of total offense as the Bobcats set a school record by scoring 496 points.
“We got what we needed to get done,” MSU third-year offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey said following Saturday’s scrimmage. “We installed. We got a lot of work in. That’s really something I have done in my offensive coordinating career but the first time I thought it was successful was we ran a bunch of plays over and over and over and over again because that’s what you do during the season. Sometimes, you get caught up in fall camp trying to beat our defense and this play works against our defense so let’s run it 10,000 times. That doesn’t make us any better. So let’s run the plays I know we are going to run in Week 1 and Week 2 and let’s get good at those for a month.”
Mitch Griebel guarded by Demonte King
Prukop will line up behind an offensive line featuring seniors and returning starters left tackle John Weidenaar, center Joel Horn, right guard Kyle Godecke and right tackle Alex Eekhoff along with junior All-America left guard J.P. Flynn. In the backfield, Brekke and junior captain Chad Newell will be the leaders. On the outside, captain Mitch Griebel should again provide a catch-and-run threat out of the slot and leadership for a group that figures to rely heavily on three sophomores and two redshirt freshmen. At tight end, Montana State has been banged up — Austin Barth is out until at least the EWU game after having his appendix removed while redshirt freshmen backups Wilson Brott and Curtis Amos have also been slowed by injury — but the addition of Beau Sandland, a 6-foot-6, 265-pound transfer from Miami figures to add to the already prolific arsenal.
“I like the way the offense has continued to get better throughout camp,” MSU head coach Rob Ash said following Wednesday’s practice. “This is a good offense, a veteran offense that could’ve just leveled off but they don’t do that. Cramsey and the offensive staff really kept the foot on the gas pedal all camp. They really kept improving throughout.”
On the other side of the ball, the Bobcat defense continues to try to master new defensive coordinator Kane Ioane’s scheme. The multiple strategy provides an array of looks and odd-man fronts and puts an emphasis on playing fast, aggressive football with the promise of prevalent rotation among personnel.
“We’ve been efficient with the time that we have,” Ioane said. “We’ve gotten a lot of things in. Defensively, we got everything for the most part installed. Now it’s a matter of really sharpening our assignments and making sure everyone is on the same page on every given play.”
Blake Braun collides with Woody Brandom
As expected, the offense has been ahead of the defense throughout camp, a fact highlighted by the 41 points the Bobcats scored in the final scrimmage. During Tuesday and Wednesday’s sessions, the defense initially looked sluggish. Less than pleasant scrutiny from the coaching staff along with a few scuffles seemed to light a fire late as the unit closed each practice strong. Growing pains are to be expected for a group that is looking for at least nine new starters and is trying to blend seven transfers into the mix.
“Since our defense got changed around a lot, we are finally figuring out where we all need to be and we are all starting to be able to play as hard as we possibly can,” senior defensive tackle Connor Thomas said. “We are finally getting our assignments down and we are starting to fly around and we are starting to play really enthusiastic and we are finally starting to stop a really good offense.
“We are a lot of young guys so we have to put our nose to the grindstone and go all out and play with as much enthusiasm as we can and celebrate after big plays and be a fired up defense that kicks ass.”
MSU is expected to release its first depth chart of the regular season on Friday. The offense is all but solidified — the final spots in the receiver rotation aside — but the defense still has several position battles to decide. Earlier this week, junior Fletcher Collins moved to Will linebacker and took most of the first-team repetitions ahead of sophomore Blake Braun and sophomore Cincinnati transfer Marcus Tappan. Collins spent most of spring drills and fall camp trying to fend off redshirt freshman Grant Collins for the Mike linebacker job.
In the secondary, senior Trace Timmer and sophomore Bryce Alley have eached played well enough to secure spots rotating opposite senior Bryson Keeton. Senior UAB transfer Des Carter looks like a good bet to start at strong safety ahead of sophomore Iowa Western transfer Bryson McCabe. At the free safety spot, the battle between sophomore Khari Garcia and redshirt freshman DeMonte King rages on.
Connor Thomas & Tucker Yates pass rush
The defensive line has essentially eliminated the concept of “starters”. Senior captain Taylor Sheridan will get plenty of playing time at defensive tackle next to Thomas with senior Nate Bignell, junior Joe Naotala and redshirt freshman Tucker Yates each earning snaps as well. At defensive end, a combination of junior Zach Hutchins, sophomore Devin Jeffries, sophomore Tyrona Fa’anono and junior Shiloh LaBoy should see the majority of the reps.
Ash said the next week will be a “huge difference” from the last three weeks. Up until Friday, Montana State has been running everything in its diverse offense and installing every aspect of its multiple defenses. It causes for some “crazy matchups”, Ash said and some situations that would likely never arise in the game.
”Starting on Friday, we will be exactly working on the game plan for Fort Lewis,” Ash said. “It will be our first day we have scouts. We will take the redshirts and they will actually simulate their defense for our offense, their offense for our defense. We won’t cross over hardly at all from that point on.”
Ash confirmed that true freshmen running back Logan Jones and cornerback Tre’Von Strong will not redshirt this season. Freshman offensive tackle Mitch Brott will likely travel as the ninth offensive lineman but will redshirt unless needed. Freshman quarterback Jordan Hoy will do the same as MSU’s No. 3 signal caller.
MSU is a week away from beginning a season filled with high expectations. The Bobcats were the preseason pick by the league’s coaches to win the Big Sky Conference. With so much offensive firepower returning, a playoff run seems a realistic goal. But Prukop and the ‘Cats continue to take the process day by day.
“I don’t quite feel it yet,” Prukop said. “I’m taking it day by day. I’m a veteran. We have a lot of veterans on this team. The game is going to come. We are ready for it. But as of right now, we still have areas to improve on. Come September 3 is when we are going to peak.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
