BOZEMAN — Jeff Choate and his staff most often don’t have a crystal ball but they had some ability to predict an inevitable future last spring.The Montana State football coaches had an idea that Chris Murray’s academics likely would not be in order for the 2018 season. The Bobcats gave Tucker Rovig the second half of the spring practices to assert himself as the front-runner to be Montana State’s starting quarterback this fall.
That did not happen, the next in a long line of dominoes for MSU’s tumultuous situation under center. From a fall camp quarterback competition won by converted running back and linebacker Troy Andersen to an injury suffered by Andersen in MSU’s season-opening win to Rovig’s out of nowhere breakout performance last week against Wagner, Montana State has itself a quarterback dilemma entering Big Sky Conference play.
Perhaps Choate and his offensive staff should consult Bruce Barnum as Portland State’s head coach prepares his team to host MSU on Saturday. The Vikings have been facing a similar predicament ever since Alex Kuresa graduated in 2016.
Barnum waffled between athletic and unpredictable true freshman Jalani Eason and savvy, steady senior wide receiver Josh Kraght early in the season. Late, Barnum went with strong-armed gunslinging true freshman Davis Alexander. None of the three were able to lead Portland State to a win during last fall’s 0-11 nightmare.
It’s still unknown who will start between Alexander and Eason in Saturday’s conference opener at Hillsboro Stadium against MSU, although PSU’s film would indicate Alexander will get the majority of snaps even if Eason plays consistently.
“It’s hard having two and I’m dealing with the same thing,” Barnum said. “I’m always talking to quarterbacks because I didn’t play the position. The majority of guys who play that position, they don’t like splitting snaps.
“You talk to the guys who played the position, they want to get in a rhythm. They want to see the coverage, see how it changes, see how they go from three to one safeties, what are they doing. That’s what you miss if you are rotating quarterbacks all the time.”
Alexander threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked four times and threw a pick in PSU’s 72-19 loss at Nevada. Eason hardly played. Eason started in Portland State’s 62-14 loss at Oregon, throwing for 111 yards and two touchdowns, both to All-American tight end Charlie Taumoepeau. Eason also rushed a team-high 13 times for 19 yards with a long of 17 and was sacked four times. Alexander threw one pass against the Ducks.
Alexander went 6-of-11 for 173 yads and three touchdowns to go with 77 yards rushing on four carries and a 16-yard touchdown in a 63-14 win over Frontier Conference member College of Idaho. Eason was 5-of-6 for 134 yards and a score while rushing for 83 yards on eight carries.
“I’m thinking No. 6 (Alexander) is going to be their dude,” MSU junior safety Brayden Konkol said. “They are both more athletic. They scramble. They are similar in their athleticism so we will prepare the same.”
Andersen willed Montana State to a 26-23 victory over Western Illinois but injured his left (non-throwing) hand, a ding that required surgery. He played spot duty in a 45-14 loss at South Dakota State, registering a sack as an outside linebacker. He played sparingly at running back against Wagner, but did score a 57-yard touchdown on his first carry.
Meanwhile, Rovig transformed from the redshirt freshman with confidence issues who could not give himself a leg up in the spring into a confidence signal caller who showed talent and flare while throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns in MSU’s 47-24 win over Wagner.
Portland State’s quarterback situation is hazy. Montana State’s is a complete mystery.
“Our big challenge right now is making the right decision on how we are going to utilize he and Troy,” Choate said. “I feel strongly that Troy is one of our key leaders on the offensive side of the ball, a young man through the body of work in fall camp had the confidence of his teammates and his coaches. He has a different skill set than Tucker but he can do a lot of really good things. And that’s taking nothing away from what Tucker did.”
Leading up to Rovig’s first career start at South Dakota State, Choate said the offense put in “probably too many” packages for QB turned wide receiver Travis Jonsen. Choate took responsibility for not giving Rovig the best chance to get himself ready for his first career start.
Rovig and the offense did not find any rhythm in the first half of the loss to SDSU. Rovig found some footing in the second half, completing three passes of 33 yards of more as MSU scored on their first two offensive possessions of the second half.
Rovig took all the No. 1 practice reps leading up to the Wagner game and it showed. He settled in, completing 23-of-34 passes for 310 yards. He found junior Kevin Kassis nine times for 129 yards and two touchdowns. The captain caught 36 passes his first two seasons combined before the breakout performance, a perfect example of how much more sharp and explosive MSU’s passing offense looked than at any time under Choate’s direction save maybe Murray’s 311-yard, four-touchdown performance in a loss to South Dakota State in September of 2017.
“Tucker is the type of guy who knows when to take a calculated risk,” Kassis said. “Maybe a read might not be in the progression but if it’s going to work, he’s going to do it. That’s something that separates Tucker. He’s not afraid to take a good risk.”
Andersen practiced all week at quarterback after having his protective apparatus removed at the beginning of the week. He looked like a fish out of water the first 30 minutes against Western Illinois only to emerge from the locker room a man possessed, completing five straight passes on a lightning-fast drive to open the second half before tying the game with a 16-yard touchdown run.
He completed 12-of-17 passes after halftime and rushed for most of his 145 yards in helping boost the Bobcats to victory. But is playing a high-strung, contact-seeking pure athlete at quarterback a long-term solution for the Bobcats?
“These last two weeks have been a little interesting having to wear the club and dealing with an injury but our team has played really well,” said Andersen, who confirmed he suffered the hand injury late against WIU.
“It was fun to be able to get in on defense and actually be able to make a play. You are there and not being able to play, you are sitting on the sideline anxious and hoping the team does well. But you have to be prepared when you are called on.
“This week, I don’t know…I think whoever we play at quarterback will be able to take the reigns and be successful.”
MSU defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak said he has seen two different offensive looks depending on who is playing quarterback when studying the Vikings. Choate said the Bobcat defense will have to be prepared for the quarterback run game, the zone read option and the Eason’s ability to stretch the pocket when he’s in the game. Gregorak said PSU runs a lot of empty-set backfields with Alexander in the game but, like with Kraght the last two years, are not scared to run five-wide sets and still run the quarterback on draw plays between the tackles.
“I think playing two guys causes people to prepare,” Barnum said. “It might slow down how much Gregorak puts in this week because he’s preparing for two different guys at the quarterback position so let’s not put in all these blitzes. I like it because it makes the defense prepare for things. It keeps them busy. Gregorak is going to have a Friday walk-through just because I showed him so much bullshit.”
Keeping an opponent guessing is a strategic advantage. But it can also cause an offense to get stuck in the mud. The Big Sky Conference season is upon both the Bobcats and the Vikings. It remains to be seen if either one gets locked in at quarterback in the near future.
“it’s a double-edged sword because the flow of the offense is so much better when you just have one guy who is running the show,” Choate said. “I think that’s something you have to be paying attention to. That doesn’t mean you can’t be successful utilizing multiple quarterbacks in different situations.
“What we need to have is we need to have that one guy who consistently over the course of the game, we know what we are going to get from him, we can make our adjustments and our calls based on what he does well and they can best attack the defenses.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
