During the third series of the second quarter during Montana State’s home opener against Bryant last Saturday, the Bobcats’ future was on full display in the present.
As true freshman quarterback Chris Murray engineered an 11-play, 55-yard drive that included a career-long 33-yard scamper by the dual-threat gunslinger from Inglewood, California, Murray was surrounded by his peers. True freshman running back Anthony Pegues stood in the shotgun next to him. True freshman Kevin Kassis flanked him on the outside. Redshirt freshmen tight end Woody Brandom and right tackle Mitch Brott lined up next to each in front of the rookie signal caller.
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Just two games into the Jeff Choate era, young players are certainly part of the plan as Montana State tries to rectify its first losing season since 2001 suffered last fall. Brott, a 6-foot-6, 285-pounder out of Billings West, held off UNLV graduate transfer Patrick Carroll all summer to earn the starting power tackle position. Defensive end Marcus Ferriter, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound walk-on from Butte Central, has made two straight starts as a redshirt freshman because of injuries to juniors Tyrone Fa’anono, Devin Jeffries and Shiloh Laboy. Josh Hill, a 6-foot, 210-pounder out of Kalispell Glacier, has risen to the starting Will linebacker position as a redshirt freshman partly due to an injury to junior Blake Braun and partially because of the former Class AA Defensive MVP’s strong off-season.
During the off-season, Choate and his staff added 36 new players to their roster, including 26 freshmen. In a 20-17 loss at FBS Idaho and a 27-24 win over Bryant, Murray, Pegues and Kassis are among nine true freshmen that will certainly not redshirt their first season in Bozeman.
“We were at home, these guys are going to roll and it’s going to be a long season,” Choate said following his first career victory. “I want to get them game experience right now. We know we will need everyone on this roster by the time we get to November. That’s something we always did, something (Former Boise State, current Washington head coach) Chris (Petersen) always pushed us to do as position coaches is don’t be afraid to play your young guys early because when you need them late, they’ve had some game experience and you have confidence in them.”
Murray has played 20 offensive snaps so far this fall. Although the 17-year-old — Murray’s birthday is in October — has thrown just one pass, he has rushed nine times for 45 yards while mostly running zone-read option plays. Pegues did not play against Idaho but earned his first two carries of his career, gaining five yards against Bryant. Kassis does not have a catch yet, but he has risen to share punt and kick return duties with senior Gunnar Brekke and junior Jayshawn Gates. Against Bryant, Kassis had a punt return for six yards and one kick return for 31 yards.
Punter Jered Padmos and kicker Gabe Peppenger have had the two most featured rolls among the rookies. Padmos, a former three-sport athlete out of Class B Jefferson County High in Boulder, is averaging exactly 40 yards per punt on 10 kicks. Against Bryant, he pinned the Bulldogs inside the 20 on three occasions and averaged 41.8 yards per boot on five punts.
“I think that kid has done a really, really good job,” Choate said. “He averaged over 40 yards per punt for the second straight week and they didn’t have any returns for a second straight week. Regardless of the situation, he’s stepped up and been clutch.”
Peppenger and redshirt freshman Devon Tandberg have traded off kicking field goals and extra points while Peppenger has handled all the kickoff duties through two games. Against Idaho, Tandberg, a walk-on from Auburn, Washington, missed the first field goal attempt of his career from 41 yards but nailed a 33-yarder less than three minutes later.
On Saturday, Peppenger got his shot at kicking field goals. After Murray’s 11-play drive down to the Bryant 30, the Bobcats lined up for a 41-yard field goal attempt. The officials whistled for a timeout, then ruled the stoppage as inadvertent. The replay shows Peppenger missed the first kick. On the second attempt from 41, Peppenger missed the kick again. Peppenger hit his first three point-after touchdown attempts before Tandberg kicked and missed the PAT in the third quarter after Nick LaSane’s touchdown. Early in the game, Padmos rushed for a first down on a fake punt. In the third quarter, MSU ran a fake field goal with a pitch to Peppenger, but the walk-on from Missoula Sentinel was smeared for no gain.
“That’s going to be an on-going competition and you will see those guys bouncing back based on who has the best week of practice, whoever is the most confident at that moment,” Choate said of his place kickers.
Wide receiver Karl Tucker II starts on Montana State’s kickoff, punt return and kick return units. The Great Falls C.M. Russell product played 16 snaps against Idaho and notched his first special teams tackle and receiving target against Bryant.
Defensively, cornerback Damien Washington broke into the lineup for the first time, nothing his first career tackle and his first career pass breakup against Bryant. Jacob Hadley, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound anomaly at safety, saw his redshirt burn with four special teams plays at Idaho. He played a handful of special teams and defensive snaps on Saturday.
“Spring ball was a huge help as far as getting on the same page and then when all the freshmen came in, we have had a lot of young guys rise up who are playing on special teams,” MSU special teams coordinator and tight ends coach B.J. Robertson said. “It’s been exciting to take advantage of their abilities and start plugging them in.”
Because of season-ending ACL tears for Jeffries and senior Robert Willcox, the defensive line has seen several young players rise the ranks out of necessity alone. In February, Choate signed Minneapolis mammoth Lewis Kidd, Helena High product Chase Benson, Huntley Project standout Michael Jobman, Dillon star Kyle Finch and Belgrade stud Derek Marks to bolster the defensive front. It’s been the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Marks who has ascended into the rotation with Ferriter, despite being the shortest of the bunch by a full two inches.
“Derek is a kid who works really hard and is a smart kid with a high football IQ,” Choate said. “He was a guy who was bugging us all summer long, ‘Hey Coach, can I get in and get in and watch some tape?’ That’s who he is. But he’s playing by necessity. I would redshirt all those freshmen if I could. We’ve had a well-documented series of injuries on our defensive line and that’s forcing some of these guys to play. I liked how he and Marcus shared reps today and both those guys made plays at opportune times.”
Sophomore tight end Connor Sullivan starts on a team-high four special teams units: field goal, punt, punt return and kick return. Senior linebacker Joey Michael, largely considered MSU’s special teams ace, starts on kickoff, punt return and kick return while rotating in on punt coverage.
Other players playing on multiple special teams units for the Bobcats include: junior long snapper Rocky Hogue, Gates (kickoff, punt return, kick return as the returner), sophomore Buck end Grant Collins (punt, field goal), junior outside linebacker Mac Bignell (kick return, punt, punt return), junior linebacker Lukas McCarthy (kickoff, punt return), junior Buck end Jakob McCarthy (kickoff, punt return), junior running back Nick LaSane (kickoff, kick return), junior safety Bryson McCabe (kickoff, punt), junior cornerback Bryce Alley (kickoff, punt), sophomore running back Logan Jones (kick, kick return) and redshirt freshman safety Brayden Konkol (punt, punt return).
Last week, sophomore cornerback Tavon Dodd, a converted running back, earned Montana State’s nomination for Big Sky special teams Player of the Week after notching four tackles covering punts and kicks.
“Overall, we are making strides,” Robertson said. “The first week we had on the road, now we had the first home game. We are running out of excuses as far as firsts and now we can say, ‘hey, we’ve done this, we’ve done that, now let’s just settle in and go.’ I’ve been really proud of the way guys have responded to those times. We’ve had some adversity in the first two games and guys haven’t flinched.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
