Montana State conducted a scrimmage that lasted a little more than two hours on a windy afternoon at Bobcat Stadium on October 10. The Bobcats played pretty much every player on its roster who was available to appear in the action, including five different quarterbacks.
The White team won the game 14-7 on the shoulders of a short touchdown plunge by redshirt freshman Jaharie Martin with a little over two minutes left.
Martin, sophomore Lane Sumner (Blue team) and true freshman Elijah Elliott (White team) made up the scoring for the afternoon. The rest of the action was dominated by defensive plays and players.
All told, Bobcat defenders picked off four passes, including three by the White team. Tadan Gillman’s interception near the goal line on the final play of the game sealed the win. Blue team senior linebacker Michael Jobman, White team junior safety Jeffrey Manning Jr. and White team true freshman linebacker Danny Uluilakepa all turned in interceptions as well.
Montana State will enter a training phase in the weight room beginning early Monday morning. It remains to be seen when the Bobcats will engage in its next preseason camp, although the Big Sky Conference is expected to release its spring schedule sometime later this month. The NCAA Division I council approved an FCS playoff schedule that will start on April 24
5 TAKEAWAYS FROM “FALL BRAWL”
Montana State’s inside linebackers were the standouts of the “Fall Brawl”
The first big defensive play of Montana State’s first, last and only “competition” of the fall came when outspoken junior linebacker Callahan O’Reilly smacked a White team running back at the line of scrimmage for no gain.
That play started a stream of outstanding hits and plays on the ball by a group that returns more notable players than any other position on the Bobcat defense.
Montana State’s 2019 squad featured a pair of all-league players on each the defensive line and the defensive secondary that exhausted their eligibility last season. MSU must find replacements for Bryce Sterk and Derek Marks up front, Brayden Konkol and Jahque Alleyne on the back end.
Saturday, outstanding senior outside linebackers Troy Andersen and Daniel Hardy did not participate. Neither did All-Big Sky nose tackle Chase Benson, graduate transfer senior tackle John Clark or the freshmen standout defensive tackle duo of Tua Areta and Blake Schmidt.
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That meant MSU’s inside linebackers had plenty of pressure to perform. And during the “Fall Brawl”, the group of MSU’s most experienced defensive returners showed savvy.
Jobman snared an interception in the first quarter. Sophomore Nolan Askelson made several plays for the White defense during the second quarter to keep the scoring non-existent. Uluilakepa picked off sophomore Casey Bauman to set up what amounted to the game-winning touchdown for the White. And Gilman had an interception on the final pass of the game to seal the White’s 14-7 victory.
“The takeaways stood out,” Choate said. “I thought we played physical on the back end. I thought our receivers, when they made plays down the field, were on the ground pretty quickly. I thought our team tackled well.
“I thought the linebackers played well at the line of scrimmage. The area where we were depleted was across the front with Troy not going, (senior outside linebacker) Amandre (Williams) not going, Daniel Hardy not going. Interiorly not having John Clark, Chase Benson, Tua Areta, Blake Schmidt, that’s our two-deep at our interior positions but I was proud that the young guys stepped up and I liked how our inside linebackers played.”
When healthy, Andersen has provided a truly unique option on the edge of the Bobcat defense. The, 235-pound senior-to-be was the league’s Freshman of the Year while mostly playing running back, a first-team All-Big Sky offensive selection while playing quarterback as a sophomore and a first-team all-league pick last season as a junior in limited duty at outside linebacker. He rolled up 6.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss in 2019, sometimes rushing the passer, sometimes playing nickel back and sometimes preserving energy to play quarterback or running back on offense.
Hardy is a hyper-athletic 6-foot-3, 225-pounder who fits the prototype of a Sam linebacker in MSU’s scheme. And the Bobcats graduated Josh Hill, a first-team All-Big Sky selection that was among the team’s best playmakers when he was healthy throughout his career.
Still, the inside linebackers looked like the veterans they are, making plays all over the field on Saturday afternoon.
“Phenomenal,” MSU junior safety Ty Okada said. “On my side of the ball, I had Cal and Jobman. Jobman had an interception. Cal, you already know he’s going to be flying all over the field making tackles. I’m not surprised by their performance whatsoever. As a safety, communicating with Cal and Jobman, I appreciate their knowledge of the game and it makes it a lot easier for myself.”
Jaharie Martin, a burly specimen of a young man who came to MSU from Lakeland, Florida, began his career at inside linebacker. Now the 5-foot-10, 238-pounder is making his way at running back, including scoring the White’s game-winning touchdown with a little over two minutes to play. He also expressed admiration for the players in his old position group.
“Those guys are the real deal,” Martin said. “Jobman, he was the first guy to give me a ‘Welcome to college hit.” Those guys are real deal thumpers. Sideline-to-sideline, they just make plays. I salute to those guys. They play hard.”
2. QB Matt McKay showed flashes but the quarterback position is wide open
The final two minutes and 12 seconds of the “Fall Brawl” seemed to have set the stage for a magical moment to end a year filled with disappointments.
The Blue team got he ball back trailing 14-7 but with 65 yards of Bobcat Stadium turf in front of them after the final kickoff of the afternoon sailed out of bounds. Matt McKay, a transfer quarterback from North Carolina State who is Montana State’s latest potential solution under center, took control of the Blue offense.
He promptly hit senior wide receiver Lance McCutcheon for a 20-yard gain. McKay then connected with junior slot Coy Steel for 25 more to get the Blue offense into the red-zone.
Inside the 20, McKay helped the Blue convert a pair of fourth downs with less than a minute on the game clock as the 6-foot-4, 208-pounder found junior Willie Patterson and Steel again to set up the final moments of action.
On third down with four yards to the goal line, McKay extended a play before throwing an incompletion. On fourth down and the final play of the afternoon, McKay again moved around in the pocket for several seconds before firing a laser that was tipped into the air and ultimately intercepted by junior linebacker Tadan Gilman.
“I thought Matt did a nice job of operating and extending plays and then it came down to one play,” Choate said. “And even in that situation, I thought that Matt did a nice job of sliding in the pocket trying to keep the play alive. He gave us a chance and that’s what you have to do in that situation.”
MSU played five quarterbacks on Saturday. A total of five players — Tyler Bruggman, Chris Murray, Andersen, Bauman, Tucker Rovig — have started at quarterback during Choate’s previous four seasons at MSU. Rovig and freshman Tommy Mellott shared reps for the White team while Bauman, McKay and redshirt freshman Blake Thelen took snaps for the Blue team.
“I knew it was going to be a little bit weird with Casey and Matt with the one team and the third quarterback, Blake Thelen, might end up having the best day passing,” Choate said of the Blue team. “Wind actually became a pretty big factor in our passing game and I think there was some situations, especially with Tucker going deep to Jaden, where the wind altered the ball enough where we weren’t able to make plays.
“The turnovers (four interceptions) are things we have to coach out of the game. The two turnovers for the Blue team were very impactful, specifically the one in the red-zone that was an interception. Never going to be happy with that.”
Last season, Bauman beat out Rovig for the starting quarterback job before giving it back to Rovig before Big Sky Conference play began. Rovig helped MSU on a five-game winning streak but a two-game losing streak to end October put the Bobcats at 5-3, on the playoff edge.
Rovig’s sudden consistency in November was a key factor in MSU’s six-game winning streak to surge all the way to the FCS Final Four.
At NC State, McKay won five games between his freshman and sophomore years. Injuries, coaching changes and personnel decisions all led to McKay falling behind on the Wolfpack depth chart, ultimately prompting his transfer to MSU. The 6-foot-4, 208-pounder has shown his dual threat abilty, confidence and savvy so far.
He almost led a triumphant drive for a win but Gilman robbed that narrative. Bauman and Rovig each orchestrated touchdown drives and each threw interceptions. Mellott looked solid and Thelen was perhaps the offensive surprise of the scrimmage. In other words, the most commonplace theme for position hierarchy at Montana State remains in the quarterback room.
“We have three quarterbacks who have won a lot of Division I football games and that’s a pretty good luxury to have,” Choate said. “This day and age, it’s hard to keep all those guys happy but the good news is we don’t have to make a decisions about who is starting tomorrow because we don’t have a game next week.
“When we get to having to play for real, there’s going to be some decisions, some really tough conversations about what’s going to be best for our team overall. I’m going to be honest with you…Tucker Rovig, all he does is win. I think he’s only lost one game at home in his career. Honestly, if you told me, ‘You can’t play two quarterbacks today, you only get this one’, I’d say, ‘That’s fine. We can win.’ I think that’s a pretty good luxury to have.”
3. Despite difficult eval, MSU has talented linemen
The most durable lineman in MSU history is no longer with the Bobcats. After 50 consecutive starts and three times earning All-Big Sky honors, tackle Mitch Brott graduated following last season.
The Bobcat offensive front continues to be one of if not THE strength of the team. All-league guards Taylor Tuiasosopo and Lewis Kidd have All-American dreams for their senior years. Fourth-year juniors Connor Wood and Zach Redd have both played prolific snaps since they were freshmen.
The Bobcat defensive line has the chance to stack depth in the interior, but seniors Chase Benson and John Clark along with emerging redshirt freshmen Ben Schmidt and Tua Areta did not play on Saturday.
“The defense is ahead of the offense a little bit, especially when you don’t have the starting five offensive linemen in the game and you don’t have consistency at the skill positions,” Choate said. “I thought that showed up a little bit.”
The lack of recognizable players on the defensive front and the lack of a true starting offensive line unit on either side made the line play the hardest element to evaluate following Saturday’s session.
Still, the mix and match format for the rosters for the “Fall Brawl” helped set up some intriguing individual matchups and helped certain linemen get reps at spots other than their primary positions.
On the Blue team, redshirt freshman Justus Perkins continued to show why he’s one of the breakout players of this fall session. The preferred walk-on out of Bozeman High is a second-generation Bobcat. His father, Josh Perkins, played for Cliff Hysell in the 1990s and stayed in Bozeman following his graduation.
Perkins showed his savvy and physical ability on Saturday. On two different occasions, the 5-foot-11, 265-pound center contributed to forcing the White team defensive front to jump off-sides. After each encroachment, Perkins celebrated and exuberantly spotted the ball for the officials. He also showed great striking ability along the line of scrimmage.
For much of the afternoon, Perkins played in between guards Redd (a recruited center who has started at the position) and redshirt freshman Holden Samson, a Helena High product who prepped as a center as well.
Choate also singled out Jacob Kettles, an offensive lineman who joined the Bobcats in January. The 6-foot-4, 287-pounder suffered a serious knee injury early in his senior season at Lynden High in Northwest Washington. He gray shirted when he first came to MSU, meaning he was in Bozeman last fall but did not join the football team until January, therefore enters the upcoming season as a freshman.
Choate also mentioned true freshman defensive lineman Sebastian Valdez as a standout young player. And Choate praised Ben Seymour, a 6-foot-2, 233-pound spark plug defensive tackle who had among the best defensive performances for the White team on Saturday.
4. Sumner will be hard to keep off the field
Isaiah Ifanse returns for his junior year as one of the most talented running backs on the West Coast. By the fall of 2021 — the timeline when Choate wants his team to peak — all-world senior Troy Andersen will presumably be back healthy and ready to take some sort of carry out of the backfield.
Freshman DeMareus Hosey was a major part of several game plans yet still retained his redshirt last season. He will play a more prominent role this season.
Choate singled out true freshman Elijah Elliot as a player to watch before Saturday’s action. Elliot delivered, showing great vision and burst all afternoon and scoring the first of two rushing touchdowns for the White squad.
Since he moved over from linebacker a few weeks after reporting to MSU, Martin has turned heads as a powerful short-yardage back for the Bobcats. He showed flashes of being able to convert during his four games of action last fall. He converted three crucial short-yardage situations on Saturday as well.
Even with all that emerging talent, sophomore Lane Sumner appears to be a guy who will be hard to keep off the field. During the live stream of Saturday’s action, Dan Davies (MSU associate athletic director and color commentator on the broadcast) said that the coaching staff told him Sumner was the best Bobcat back at operating the inside zone elements of the Bobcat running game.
“It’s Bobcat football to get the ball in a bunch of guys’ hands,” Choate said. “It probably doesn’t look much different than it has in the past and that’s going to be our DNA.”
Sumner showed in Saturday, converting two crucial short-yardage situations into first downs and scoring the lone touchdown by the Blue team, which also served as the first score of the scrimmage.
“Lane was awesome in pass pro and that’s something that will go underrated,” Choate said. “That last series, we didn’t really let 22 (Ifanse) play a whole lot. That would’ve tilted things a little more for the Blue team. That was by design. We know what Isaiah could do and we wanted to see the young backs get an opportunity. Lane was the most veteran back for that blue team in that last series and he made a couple of blitz pickups that were really impressive.”
5. Punter Bryce Leighton is as advertised
None of the five quarterbacks that took snaps on Saturday earned their second series operating an offensive unit until more than halfway through the second quarter. The first quarter ended scoreless and the first score did not come until deep into the second quarter.
One of the biggest question marks coming into upcoming season is who will be the replacements for MSU’s special teams specialists. The punter spot has belonged to Jered Padmos for every game of the last four years. The diverse, athletic punter was one of MSU’s secret weapons the last four years, pinning teams deep in their own territory with a roll punting style that made opponent returns nearly impossible.
To replace Padmos, Choate and special teams coordinator B.J. Robertson shot for the stars. Bryce Leighton, a standout from Camas High in Washington, earned the No. 2 ranking of any punter in the country after a standout performance at the Kohl’s Kicking Camp a few years back. Following his senior year, he earned an invitation to the Under Armor All-America game.
He remained committed to Montana State. On Saturday, he showed his powerful and accurate leg, although every punt Leighton booted came against air and no rush. Choate joked that Leighton must’ve had a bias for the White team because he seemed to pin the Blue deeper more often.
Choate was also quick to praise a freshman that appears to be right in line to give the Bobcats a rookie starter at punter.
“You can clearly see why the guy was the No. 2 punter in the country coming out,” Choate said. “And I’m not talking about the No. 2 punter that signed at an FCS school. I’m talking about Kohl’s Kicking who does the top rankings on ESPN. He was No. 2 in that ranking. He’s clearly a weapon for us and we are excited about his future here.”
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