The Montana Grizzlies have been forced to play several redshirt freshmen this season due to injuries and depth concerns.
Among that group are twins Bryson and Braydon Deming, from Billings.
Bryson, a tight end, and Braydon, a defensive end, have been two of the bright spots in the Grizzlies’ youth brigade so far in 2018.
With starting tight end Colin Bingham out, Bryson will start for the first time this weekend against Sac State in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.
Braydon has 1.5 tackles for loss through three games, second among Montana defensive linemen.
“Any time you’re playing a lot of freshmen, it’s kind of interesting,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said. “But those guys are doing a good job. They’re holding up, and I think for both of the Deming twins, their future is bright.”
The twins are the second and third Deming athletes currently at UM. Older brother Nate is a redshirt senior javelin thrower for Brian Schweyen on the UM men’s track and field team.
At Billings West High School, Bryson was the quarterback and Braydon was a tight end and linebacker. Each were among the top prospects in the state of Montana, earning full-ride scholarship offers from the Grizzlies and the Montana State Bobcats. On National Signing Day in 2017, MSU head coach Jeff Choate admitted that the twins were the only two in-state prospects the Bobcats offered that went to the Grizzlies.
With both listed at 6-foot-4 and around 250 pounds, the coaches at Montana had other plans for the Demings when they arrived on campus.
Bryson went to his brother’s old position of tight end, and Braydon moved up from linebacker to the defensive line. Both took a redshirt year to adapt to their new positions.
“I got a year to redshirt and learn the position, watch film and get a grasp of it. It’s been fine. I love it,” Braydon said. “Just getting to know the position, all the blocking schemes, the pass rushing. There’s so much that you need to learn and pick up on. It just takes time.”
With that experience, both have been valuable on a thin Montana roster this year. The identical twins also had to adapt to no longer playing with each other now that they’re on different sides of the ball.
“It’s kind of weird now because we’re not on the field at the same time, because one’s offense, one’s defense,” Bryson said. “I don’t really get the chance to watch him as much as I did in high school, but I still try to peek out and see how he’s doing and watch. … It’s fun in practice, we get to go against each other. That twin competition’s always there, and now we get to carry it to a collegiate football practice.”
While Hauck isn’t exactly happy about playing so many freshmen, the head coach hasn’t had much of a choice this year.
Sixteen true or redshirt freshmen are listed on this week’s two-deep depth chart for Saturday’s conference opener against Sacramento State, including starters Bryson Deming at tight end, Adam Eastwood at tailback, Colton Keintz at right tackle, R.J. Nelson at defensive end and Robby Hauck at safety.
“You play the best players you have, and generally speaking that would be your juniors and seniors, but we don’t have very many of those,” Hauck said.
While that might lead to some growing pains now, Hauck, who’s always been adamant about playing the best players regardless of class, could see benefits down the road.
So far, the freshmen have shown a willingness to play hard and learn from their mistakes.
“Our team’s the exception with a lot of freshmen playing, but normally you don’t get that kind of chance. So I’m happy to have that chance and taking advantage of it,” Braydon Deming said. “It’s cool. It’s getting reps, I won’t say at a young age, but we’re inexperienced. And so getting those much-needed reps, we’re growing as a team, and that just shows what we can do going forward and in the next couple years.”
With how much they’re playing now, the group should only get better over the next three years. Saturday’s opponent provides a good example. Sac State went with a youth movement on defense a few years ago and finished 11th in the Big Sky in total defense in 2016. The low point likely came in the Hornets’ last trip to Missoula, a 67-7 shellacking at the hands of the host Griz.
But with experience, the Hornets moved up to fifth in the conference in 2017 and are leading the Big Sky in scoring defense through the non-conference schedule this year.
Montana might do the same.
“That’s kind of up to them,” Hauck said. “You either get better or you don’t progress, and that has to do with work ethic and attention to detail and want-to and all of those things. Those guys have exhibited that, so if they continue on the path they’ve been on, they’ve got a bright future.”
It’s a long way off still, but the Demings might be part of the class that returns the Griz to dominance.
“It’s just awesome being able to contribute and be a part of the team now. Being able to be a difference, whether we win or lose, I love it,” Bryson Deming said. “I wanted to play, so I worked as hard as I could. I just kept learning. There’s a big learning curve going from high school, and was just trying to keep getting better and better, and I got the opportunity, and I’m trying to make the most of it.”
