Jeff Choate had a long bus ride home from Ogden, Utah to sit and think about the shortcomings of his Montana State Bobcats.
MSU played at Weber State for the first time since 2013 last Saturday. The Bobcats surrendered 21 points in the first 10 minutes due to two costly fumbles. By the time halftime rolled around, Weber State had scored on six consecutive possessions to mount a 42-14 lead. MSU held the Wildcats to a field goal after halftime but fell for the fourth straight time nonetheless, losing 45-27 to fall to 0-4 in Big Sky Conference play.
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“After digesting it on a long bus ride home, the hardest thing for me was I felt like this was the first time I questioned our effort as a team,” Choate said. “I was disappointed in that and really have to examine what I’m doing as a head coach in terms of the psychology of this thing.
“It’s obvious we have been in a lot of really close games and knocked on that door but at some point in time, you have to have that break through moment or there is going to be doubt in these guys’ minds. When you go down 21-0 in the first quarter, that doubt was certainly present.
“I would say this: the one thing I pointed out to the young men yesterday (Sunday) was we were down 20-0 in the third quarter a week ago (in a 20-14 loss to Northern Arizona) and that didn’t change the game. I think some of the credit goes to Weber State. They were executing at an extremely high level on offense and caught us in some defenses that weren’t opportune at times. We have to counteract that with great effort. I didn’t think that was something that was present with our team on Saturday and something we addressed on Sunday.”
Montana State’s four-game skid is its first since 2000 and the first 0-4 start in conference since that same season. In Mike Kramer’s first season 17 years ago, Montana State went winless (0-11). That season served as the foundation for success as Montana State claimed the first of six Big Sky championships this century in 2002.
Kramer inherited a program mired in mediocrity and absent from the FCS playoffs since 1984 before he first led the Bobcats back to the post season in 2002. MSU had lost 14 times to rival Montana, a streak that would reach 16 straight losses before Montana State beat Montana in Missoula in 2002 to snap “The Streak”.
Choate inherited a program coming off a 5-6 season, MSU’s first losing campaign in 14 years. Montana State won three straight Big Sky championships between 2010 and 2012 and qualified for the FCS playoffs four times in five seasons before last fall’s let down. Choate began his tenure at MSU saying the Bobcats just needed “a tune up” or an “oil change”. In recent weeks, the narrative has shifted to full rebuilding mode.
“I think these guys understand it,” Choate said. “There’s three things that happened when you start going through something like we are going through now. The first thing is you get embarrassed. That’s a human reaction to a situation like that. And then you get angry. And then you make a change. We are pushing through a part of this process right now. There are going to be times when gosh, it looks really good, it feels like we are gaining traction. And then there is going to be moments when you are going to take a step back. Unfortunately, I think Saturday was a step back.”
Following halftime, Montana State made “minor adjustments” to its defensive alignment to combat Weber State’s two-tight end sets, Choate said. In the first half, Weber’s pre snap motions, especially with tight ends Andrew Vollert and Tui Satuala flustered Montana State’s defensive alignment and allowed the Wildcats to march down the field six consecutive times. Weber notched 20 first downs before halftime.
Senior Chad Newell’s 30th career touchdown — pushing him past Don Hass for second in MSU history — cut the Weber lead to 42-21 where it stayed for most of the third quarter. MSU’s defensive adjustments stopped the bleeding and the hosts managed just a field goal the rest of the way.
With 28 seconds left to play, Choate called a timeout to set up a Jacob DeMaio punt. MSU freshman Kevin Kassis fielded the kick and returned 45 yards, a career-long, to the Weber State 26-yard-line. With eight seconds left to play, true freshman Chris Murray found redshirt freshman Cam Sutton for a touchdown as time expired to cap the scoring.
“It was nice to see Kevin Kassis go compete with the punt return,” Choate said. “That was the philosophy taking that timeout at the end there. We are not going to quit. Let’s go see if we can get one. It was an opportunity for us to practice a situation. So there were some positive things in the second half.”
Montana State’s first three conference losses and first four losses overall all came by a single possession. MSU lost its opener 20-17 at Idaho and lost its first three conference games by a total of 11 points. North Dakota safety Cole Reyes stuffed Newell on a two-point conversion attempt to preserve UND’s 17-15 victory in Bozeman. Montana State blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter as Sac State rallied for its only win, 41-38.
Montana State fell behind 20-0 against Northern Arizona but rallied to bring the game to one score in the final quarter. MSU redshirt freshman Josh Hill stuffed Joe Logan’s fourth down run, causing Montana State’s sideline to erupt as Bobcat Stadium went into a frenzy. Montana State had a similar fourth down stop against Weber State but Choate did not see nearly the enthusiasm.
“We had a fourth quarter stop against NAU,” Choate said. “Josh Hill’s helmet goes popping off. The shear joy, the emotion, the passion of that moment, compare that to the fourth down stop we had in the third quarter against Weber State…. That’s who we have to be. That’s how we have to play. We have to play out of our minds in terms of the focus, intensity and effort to have a chance to compete because we have some deficiencies and that’s the reality of it. That doesn’t mean we can’t win games. We have to find a way to put our kids in a better spot than we did this past Saturday.”
As has been customary all season, Choate gathered his team on campus on Sunday for a short practice and debriefing of the game. He said Sunday’s session was “lively” and he said he felt confident his team would bounce back. He said the football offices are still filled with players watching film and preparing for the Eastern Washington juggernaut that comes to Bobcats Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s a measuring stick for us for where we want to go,” Choate said. “They are a senior-laden, veteran outfit. They have taken a next step.
“We have to improve. We have to improve in our practice habits, our focus, the level of intensity we have to have for us to compete to give ourselves a chance.
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
