As Montana State’s spirited effort rapidly transformed into a state of surrender, Ty Gregorak left his bird’s eye view and marched to the Bobcat sideline.
Montana State’s defensive coordinator made a home roaming the sidelines for a dozen years at Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the rival Montana Grizzlies. His on-field explosions were famous both for the passion they garnered from his Griz players and for the pure entertainment value of the performances. In his first season calling the Bobcat defense, Gregorak has moved from the sideline to the press box partly due to MSU’s young defensive coaching staff.
On Saturday in Cedar City, Utah, the Southern stole MSU’s first-half momentum with a touchdown in the final two minutes. The Thunderbirds carried the momentum through the third quarter, building a 24-14 lead. As Montana State punted to begin the final frame only to give up two more touchdowns touchdowns as a slugfest turned into a runaway, Montana State head coach Jeff Choate got on his head set. He summoned his exuberant, intense defensive coordinator to the sideline in hopes he could inspire the spiraling Bobcats.
[restrict paid=”true”]Gregorak could be seen walking with a bag holding his equipment in his hand behind the south end-zone at Eccles Coliseum after Montana State fell behind 38-14. Gregorak gathered the unenthused Bobcat defense around him and dressed them down for their lack of effort in what was once a close, winnable game for a team still in search of its first Big Sky Conference victory.
“I huddled up the defense and I told them I was disgusted with the way we were playing,” Gregorak said on Monday as he sat in the sunshine behind Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on a gorgeous Bozeman afternoon. “We started the game so strong. They had 132 yards at half and 40 off one throw. They had 11 yards rushing at half. It was just maddening to watch us give up. So I brought them together. It was too late at that point. There was no rah, rah. I told them what I thought, the facts, what was on my mind. But the game was over. Very disappointing.”
SUU clearly carried the momentum after stealing it with a 40-yard completion to 6-foot-7 tight end Steven Wroblewski down the Bobcat sideline to set up Cameron Chambers’ game-tying 18-yard touchdown catch. SUU stuffed the Bobcat offense throughout the third quarter and turned an interception and a failed MSU fourth down attempt into 10 straight points. Still. MSU trailed 24-14 entering the final frame. Choate expressed disappointment in the lack of fortitude shown by his team.
“For whatever reason, I’ve brought this up with our team, I think our guys thought it was different than it was,” Choate said. “It was a 10-point game going into the fourth quarter and for whatever reason, our lack of ability to get things going on offense created that feeling of doubt.”
Montana State is mired in one of the worst losing streaks in the modern history of the program. The once-proud Bobcats — MSU qualified for the FCS playoffs eight times between 2002 and 2014 — have lost six straight games to fall to 2-7. Montana State has just one Division I win — a 27-24 triumph over Bryant in its home opener back in September.
“It’s just been such a frustrating stretch,” Gregorak said. “We are in hell. We are trying to find our way out of hell right now and looking for that breakthrough that myself and coach have been talking about. We just haven’t found it yet.”
MSU entered conference play leading the country in turnover margin at plus-11. Since then, the coin has completely flipped as a plague of turnovers has decimated Montana State’s chances of winning for a month and a half. Saturday’s four turnovers pushes MSU’s total to 23 in six conference games. The Bobcats have turned the ball over at least four times in five of six outings and as many as five times on three different occasions.
True freshman quarterback Chris Murray threw an interception on his second throw on Saturday, but the Bobcats actually looked efficient for most of the rest of the first half. Murray hit Mitch Herbert on a fade route for a 39-yard touchdown to give MSU a 14-7 lead. That same pass, however, was picked off by Josh Thornton to set up SUU’s go-ahead field goal. The Thunderbirds never trailed again. Murray threw a third interception later on as SUU piled on to the reeling Bobcats.
“We really screwed it up in the second half,” Gregorak said. “We didn’t tackle well. We missed some opportunities. Instead of going and getting the ball and getting takeaways, we had some opportunities and squandered them. It was frustrating.”
Montana State responded with defensive stops after the first two interceptions — one by Murray, one by junior Tyler Bruggman on a fake field goal — as well as on a failed fourth down try in the third quarter. But Murray’s third interception and a sack incurred by Bruggman to force a Bobcat punt put the defense in tough positions again. The Bobcats could not continue responding.
“I don’t think we are tough enough or mature enough to keep rising to the occasion in those situations,” Gregorak said. “That starts with us as coaches, the newness of the staff. As a collective group, you can see our inexperience and immaturity at times. We just need to be a tougher, focused group for 60 minutes. Not stretches. That’s all we ever talk about — stretches. We are good for stretches and we are awful for stretches too. Consistency — you’d come to practice and see the strides we would make and then the next one, we would back it up with losing a clutch drill or a lousy practice. We have to keep building, keep working.”
Choate acknowledged that the primary factor in the SUU loss was the turnovers. But the detail-oriented head coach also pointed to specific missed opportunities that could’ve swung the momentum back in MSU’s favor. Choate pointed to Jered Padmos’ 29-yard punt that gave SUU a short field on its late first half TD drive. Choate pointed to the third down and six yards that SUU converted with a run play to set up Wroblewki’s long play.
Choate mentioned dropped interception opportunities by senior linebacker Fletcher Collins, junior safety Bryson McCabe and sophomore cornerback Naijiel Hale. He referenced a dropped corner route by junior Justin Paige, a catchable jump ball that redshirt freshman Keon Stephens failed to come down with.
“We have to compete and go win those — that is making plays,” Choate said. “To me, that’s the difference right now.
“When you are a fragile group who has been in the situations we’ve been in, you have to create your own hope. Nobody is going to give you anything in this world. You have to go out and take it. Sometimes, we are waiting for things to happen instead of being the guy who goes and makes something happen.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
