During the opening inside run drill to begin Wednesday’s practice at Bobcat Stadium, the short-handed Montana State defense competed favorably nonetheless, smothering the Bobcat offense on the first three plays of the session.
As the starting offense took the field again, MSU senior defensive end Jessie Clark cried out, ‘Let’s eat, defense! We hungry!’ to the delight of his defensive teammates. On the next snap, sophomore center Alex Neale’s snap sailed over Tyler Bruggman’s head, causing first-year head coach Jeff Choate to whistle the drill dead. He forced the offense to do up-downs before restarting the period.
So went the first of two practices on Wednesday as MSU creeps toward the midpoint of its 29-practice fall camp.
MSU cornerback Chris Harris (8) hits wide receiver Keon Stephens (86)
“I thought the defense had the upper hand today without question but it wasn’t like it was play after play after play,” Choate said. “With this group, even in the spring the offense pretty much had the upper hand. Early in fall camp, that might’ve been the case as well.
“I thought the defense had the energy we need. Offense, I didn’t like that. I thought they were workmanlike, pushed through, made plays but I didn’t think we had the type of energy level we need to be successful on that side today.”
During the 9-on-7 inside run period to begin practice, sophomore defensive tackle Zach Wright played next to nose guard Brandon Hayashi, a junior college transfer who seems to be rounding into form after spending the first week of fall camp behind the curve in terms of conditioning. Hayashi, senior Matt Brownlow and junior college transfer Fou Polataivao each took turns at nose guard with Tucker Yates in and out of the action as he deals with what Choate called a nagging but not serious injury following Saturday’s scrimmage. Senior defensive tackle Robert Wilcox also did not practice Wednesday, extending his time on the shelf to nearly a week during his final fall camp.
Junior Shiloh Laboy and sophomore Grant Collins manned the end spots with juniors Tyrone Fa’anono and Devin Jeffries each on the shelf with injuries. The linebackers included senior Fletcher Collins and All-Big Sky junior Mac Bignell along with Lukas McCarthy, a junior college transfer getting first-team reps with junior incumbent Blake Braun sidelined and wearing a walking cast on his left leg. In the secondary, juniors Bryson McCabe and Khari Garcia remained the No. 1 safeties, which has been the case for the duration of camp.
During the 15-minute inside period, the defensive front controlled the line of scrimmage despite being shorthanded, not providing any daylight for the variety of ball carriers employed by the Bobcat offense. The drill was an example of the trust the players are gaining in the new fundamentals and techniques installed by the new coaching staff, Choate said.
MSU cornerback Naijiel Hale defends a pass thrown to wide receiver Keon Stephens (86)
“I really think that the discipline of sticking to the same things with the guys up front, you can start to see the carry over of the base techniques, the hand placement, where their eyes need to be, what their footwork needs to be and now they are seeing the results,” Choate said. “They are buying in even more. It’s like pouring gas on the fire.”
Even when the second-team defense — a unit that includes Clark and redshirt freshman Marcus Ferriter at end, Polataivao and Brownlow at tackle, senior Joey Michael along with redshirt freshmen Walker Cozzie and Josh Hill at linebacker and redshirt freshman Chris Harris and true freshman Jacob Hadley at safety — the defense seemed to carry the drill. The physicality and aggression, particularly in the second and third levels of the defense, is noticeable 13 practices in for a Bobcat defense looking to reclaim its identity.
“I think the other thing that we have focused on a lot is having our linebackers play more into the line of scrimmage, try to take some of the double teams off combination blocks off the down line guys,” Choate said. “That piece coupled with the fact that I think we are making some really good strides, I think the light is really starting to come on with these guys for what we are asking them to do with base techniques and fundamentals. That’s a drill where is shows up. It’s a phone booth drill, you are just trying to create knock off and separation so I thought our guys had the right mindset in the white (defensive) jerseys today. We have to be able to match that on the other side of the ball as practice goes on.”
Following the inside drill, MSU did situational run blocking drills. A few minutes in, All-Big Sky senior offensive guard J.P. Flynn went down awkwardly before laying on the turf for about five minutes. He had to be carried off the field by trainers. Flynn suffered a torn patella tendon in his right knee in the final game of the 2015 season. He had surgery and missed all of spring drills. Later, the trainers wrapped Flynn’s left ankle heavily and iced the injury. Flynn verbally confirmed it was an ankle injury and did not involve his previously injured knee.
MSU quarterback Chris Murray (8) roles out of the pocket
During the first team portion of the 90-minute session, true freshman Chris Murray continued to show progress as a raw but talented signal caller. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Lawndale, California operated the offense nicely, threading the needle on two long throws, including one to Montana transfer receiver Dalton Daum for first down yardage. After the play was blown dead, Jakob McCarthy, Lukas’ twin brother, ripped the ball loose from Daum, one of a handful of turnovers forced by the defense during team competitions. During 7-on-7, Lukas McCarthy snared an interception, one of at least three impact plays the 6-foot-1, 220-pounder made on Wednesday.
“He’s a guy we have to continue to find ways to get him opportunities,” Choate said. “As he gets more comfortable with the defense, you start to see his play-making ability emerge. I’ve been pleased with that.”
Later on, Fletcher Collins forced a fumble that Laboy recovered. Junior cornerback Bryce Alley snared an interception on a play that likely would’ve been a sack if the coaches didn’t blow it dead before an errant throw that Alley corralled.
During the final team period, sophomore wide receiver John D’Agostino ripped off a long gain on a nice throw from Bruggman. Bruggman also scurried for first-down yardage but absorbed a touch sack from Wright and Laboy before evading. Freshman quarterback Brady McChesney had an accurate first down throw to senior receiver Brandon Brown.
The Bobcats took Tuesday off and floated the Madison River as a team. The day off was the first after nine straight days of practice that included a total of 12 sessions. Thus far this camp, Choate has practiced in helmets only in the mornings on days MSU practices twice. After a day away from the practice field, he switched up the schedule in order to maximize Wednesday’s session.
MSU cornerback Tre’Von Strong (1) picks off a pass
“Coming off a day off so to speak, I didn’t want to have that sluggish mentality,” Choate said. “I wanted them to have the right mindset. And quite honestly, I knew it was going to be really hot. I figured this would be the hottest day we had this afternoon. I wanted us to be able to maximize what we could get, not let them get that false sense of security coming off a day off and easing into a helmets practice. Hey, let’s go get it and I think they will appreciate it this afternoon about 4:30. Everyone will be happy we are on the grass in helmets instead of in the stadium in full pads.”
Montana State resumes will practice Thursday morning before holding a scrimmage at 6 p.m. on Friday night at Bobcat Stadium. The scrimmage is free and open to the public.
MONTANA STATE PRACTICE NOTES: Sophomore linebacker Koni Dole, junior running back Nick LaSane and true freshman quarterback Kamden Brown did not practice on Wednesday morning… Because of the injuries, Montana State added three players to its 94-man fall camp roster on Wednesday. Garrett Gregg, who played offensive line last season, joined the defensive line. Blake Sylvester, a reserve linebacker the last two seasons after walking on out of Corvallis, joined Kane Ioane’s group. Jarrod Asche, a 6-foot-8, 215-pound walk-on from Glendive, joined the offensive line…The roster expands to 104 when school begins. Sophomores fullback Dylan Stenseth, wide receiver Hunter Mahlum and running back Logan Jones along with freshmen running back Nick Van Horssen, offensive linemen Luke Channer and Conner Floden and linebacker Austin Barrette are expected to join the Bobcats then…Bo Hughes, a former Bobcat safety and Western (MT) wide receiver, who won two Class B state titles as a star quarterback at Missoula Loyola, is on staff as an offensive intern for fall camp.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
