It remains to be seen if a trio of transfers is an upgrade in production but it’s certainly an upgrade in size for the Montana State Bobcat wide receivers
If nothing else the difference between Montana State’s receiving corps in 2023 is going to be noticeable visually. The starters haven’t been named yet, but those vying for starting spots entering September 2’s Gold Rush game will have a distinct height advantage over their 2022 counterparts.
University of Washington and Arizona State transfer Lonyatta Alexander, Jr. and returning sophomore Aiden Garrigan stand 6-foot-3. Colorado State transfer Ty McCullouch and returning redshirt freshman Christian Anaya are both 6-1. The lone returning starter is 5-foot-11 Clevan Thomas, Jr., who was the second tallest starting receiver a season ago next to Ravi Alston, who was 6-3.
Willie Patterson, the team’s leading receiver was 5-foot-9. So in 2023 the Bobcats could easily start the season with a 6-3, 6-1, 5-11 crew versus the 6-3, 5-11, 5-9 trio of 2022. The main backup in 2022 was 5-foot-9 Taco Dowler and the odds are good the fourth receiver this season will be either 6-3 or 6-1 since Dowler is expected to miss a good portion of the season due to shoulder surgery.
Considering the number of 50-50 or jump balls – as they’re called when a quarterback throws the ball up one of the sidelines in hopes that his receiver can adjust to the ball and haul it in – the Bobcats tossed up the last twoseasons, at least mathematically, there’s a better chance that those passes are caught in 2023.
The changes aren’t unrecognized for some other reasons by head coach Brent Vigen.
“I think high expectations,” Vigen said when assessing the potential of this season’s receivers. “You start with returning Clevan. That was not something we had planned on necessarily, but then he’s able to get his seventh year of college football, which is crazy enough. We moved him to the outside at the tail end (of the season) a little bit more. And then we made that full scale in spring. So, expect him to have a big year.”
The Bobcats are definitely looking to enhance their passing game in 2023 to accent it’s off the charts running game.
“A lot of people look at us and are like, ‘all you do is run,’” Thomas said. “Just having that key component of passing will open things up.”
Thomas is the top returning receiver after transferring from Kentucky and was probably the second most productive pass-catcher on the team in 2022. He’s coming off a season where he caught 22 passes for 333 yards and three TDs despite missing four games during the middle of the season. This season he’s moving outside from his slot position from a year ago.
“I look at the slot now and I’m like, ‘I miss you sometimes’, but I just happy where I’m at,” he said.
The Bobcats have had some speed at wide receiver over the past few years with Travis Jonsen running a 4.5 40-yard dash, Kevin Kassis a 4.53 and Lance McCutcheon a 4.6 for NFL scouts, but it’s nothing like what Vigen has seen out of McCullouch.
“Ty McCullouch brings a little element of speed that I don’t think we’ve had,” Vigen said. “He can flat out run. There were glimpses of that in the spring, but he’s had a real good summer and we look for him to be able to stretch the field.”
Bobcat senior quarterback Sean Chambers, who played at Wyoming prior to MSU, said that the Cowboys’ DBs used to reference McCullouch as the fastest wide receiver in the Mountain West.
McCullouch saw considerable playing time at Colorado State catching 13 passes for 119 yards despite playing in just four games last season. In 2021, he had 24 receptions for 415 yards (both third most on the team) and a score. His senior year of high school in California saw him bring in 64 receptions for 1,235 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Alexander, Jr. caught just one pass in his two years at Washington and Arizona State but was ranked the No. 33 receiver in the nation and a 4-star recruit by 247 coming out of Kennedy High School in Burien, Washington outside of Seattle. He caught 138 passes for 2,425 yards and 34 touchdowns his junior and senior seasons.
“Junior Alexander is a bigger bodied guy that really has a good feel inside, so we’re excited about what he brings,” Vigen said.
Whether that trio can be more productive and add a layer to the MSU offense that the 2022 crew didn’t is yet to be seen. But they’ve shown promise in the head coach’s eyes.
“I think we got more playmaking ability this time than we maybe did last year,” Vigen said. “I feel really good about that group.”
Marqui Johnson, a quick, shifty 5-foot-8 junior, is a dynamic player that is listed as a receiver, but really made his mark in 2022 as a kickoff returner and running back. Still, there’s a chance he might pop up in the passing game when he’s not trying to fulfill the expectation as a preseason All-American as a kick returner.
“He’s gonna be classified as a receiver but he’s a jack of all trades,” Vigen said. “How much teams will kick to him, I don’t know. But that’ll provide opportunities to touch the ball. And then we got to find ways offensively whether it’s lining him up in the backfield, out of receiver, bring him in motion, just to get him the ball.
“He has a little bit more of a foundation at running back in the spring to add to the receiver and we are trying to make him as multifaceted as we can.”
Johnson had one of the greatest single-game rushing performances in MSU history when he ran for 242 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries against Cal Poly in a which the Bobcats set a school record for team rushing yards in a game with 554. He also returned kickoffs for 874 yards and a 31.2 average, which were both good for the No. 2 ranking in the Big Sky.
Other receivers are senior Tayvian Williams, junior transfer Garrett Walchli (Utah State), and red-shirt freshman Zachary Dodson-Green. The freshman group includes 6-foot-4 Javonte King, Tom Carter of Helena Capital, and Jacob Trimble.
“He has a high ceiling,” Thomas said of King. “The arm length and how tall he his. Natural strength and natural hands. He just wants the ball in the air. He’s tall and wants to go get it.”
Since 2016, the Bobcats have been in search of a consistent passing game. The upshot of that is what has become arguably the best running game in the FCS featuring their quarterbacks with Chris Murray and Troy Andersen setting records and creating the Bobcats’ identity. Presently, Tommy Mellott and Sean Chambers are combining to take the Plus-1 run game to another level for MSU.
The Bobcats finished last in passing yards per game in the Big Sky Conference from 2016-18 and second to last from 2019-22 (skipping the COVID year). With Murray behind center, they finished second to last in pass efficiency in 2016-17. Andersen took over in 2018 and MSU finished dead last. Tucker Rovig’s 2019 season was a click better as they finished 10th in a 13-team league and made it to the national semifinals. MSU jumped all the way up to No. 2 in Vigen’s first season as head coach with Matthew McKay taking snaps during the regular season, then Tommy Mellott doing so in the postseason as MSU advanced to the national title game. Last year was another solid year efficiency-wise as the Bobcats were third in the Big Sky and once again made it to the national semifinals.
So, while the Bobcats haven’t put up eye-popping numbers in the passing game, it has become efficient. Taking the next step may just boil down to injecting some receivers with more dynamic qualities to go along with their bigger wingspans.
Dowler, who is expected to return at some point during the regular season, had nine receptions for 143 yards and had a standout season a punt returner, bringing two punts back for touchdowns. Garrigan saw action in nine games, but caught just one pass for seven yards that was good for a touchdown in the blowout win over Cal Poly. Ayala recorded no stats, but is definitely in the mix at receiver going into fall camp.
The Bobcats still have three weeks of fall camp before kicking off their season with the Gold Rush game on September 2 against Utah Tech.
