BOZEMAN, Montana — They came to Montana State as a trio, a running back transfer from Boise State who provided the initial connection and a pair of offensive linemen with potential provided they could develop and acclimate.
MSU head coach Jeff Choate played his college football at Montana Western in Dillon. There, he first crossed paths with Art Roper, who is now the offensive line coach at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian, Idaho outside of Boise.
In 2015, Art’s son Jake Roper rushed for 1,470 yards and 20 touchdowns, leading the Grizzlies to the Idaho 5A state title and earning first-team All-State honors for the second straight season. Jake Roper was ranked by MaxPreps as the No. 1 player in the state of Idaho his senior year.
That earned him a preferred walk-on spot at Boise State. He spent the 2016 season, Choate’s first campaign at the helm at Montana State, practicing with the Broncos.
The following season, the Griz advanced to the semifinals of the Idaho 5A playoffs thanks to another strong showing from Art Roper’s offensive line, a unit anchored by center Zach Redd and tackle Connor Wood.
The talented duo were two of the first players Montana State offered entering Choate’s first recruiting cycle. When Jake Roper landed at MSU for spring practices in 2017, that sweetened the pot.
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Redd, a 2-star center ranked among the top 35 players at the position in the country, and Wood, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound behemoth who suffered a serious ankle injury his senior season, joined Roper and the Bobcats in the fall of 2017.
Many expected Roper to compete for a starting position in a running backs group featuring unknowns like Nick LaSane, a senior facing a season-opening suspension. That position also included junior college transfer Edward Vander, maligned former walk-on Logan Jones, redshirt freshman Anthony Pegues and a converted high school quarterback recruited as a linebacker slated to play tailback named Troy Andersen.
Instead, injuries quickly ended Roper’s career. In the meantime, Wood fought his way onto MSU’s travel squad while still maintaining his redshirt in 2017. He broke into the starting lineup as a redshirt freshman last season.
Redd studied behind Alex Neale, a three-year starter and former transfer from UNLV. Then last season, he and Neale rotated at both center and guard as Redd served as Montana State’s sixth offensive linemen.
The skill player was the one who got the attention initially. But the two former Grizzlies turned Bobcats who are expected to be key cogs in a suddenly veteran MSU offensive front are the ones playing key roles on a Montana State squad with rising expectations entering 2019.
“When we were in high school, we always competed, in lifting, in football, everything and now we are competing with each other here, which is so awesome,” Wood in an interview during spring football.
“I’ve known Connor since eighth grade and I transferred to our high school when I was a sophomore to play with him,” Redd said last spring. “Playing with him still is a dream come true.
Now each enters their second seasons with a chance to be significant contributors once again. After being named a Freshman All-American by Hero Sports, Wood is entrenched as the starter at right tackle. After playing significant snaps at both left guard and center, Redd has an inside track at starting at one of the two this fall.
What Redd lacks in size, he makes up for in savvy. That football IQ is something Wood relies on his longtime friend to share.
“If I even have a question in mind about a player, a front, anything I could do, what I can do better, he’s (Redd) always there telling me what I can do,” Wood said. “After practice, we are talking about what we did well and not.”
Wood has shown toughness and a desire to be an all-conference player early in his career. And Redd is willing to help him with the mental aspect of the game.
“Picking up plays is a little tougher for Connor and that’s what I’m really good at: knowing football really well so I can help him in that piece,” Redd said. “He’s really good at being a physical guy so I look at him on film so I can help myself on the physical part.”
Both Treasure Valley natives grew up rooting hard for Boise State. Aside from Art Roper’s connection to Choate, MSU offensive line coach Brian Armstrong also played at Western and played alongside Roper on the offensive line. Wood and Redd grew up rooting for players like former Broncos Matt Miller (MSU’s offensive coordinator), Byron Hout (MSU’s defensive line coach) and former secondary coach Gerald Alexander, now at Cal.
Even a former Boise State offensive linemen is on Choate’s staff. Nate Potter, a former NFL draft pick after finishing his career as a Bronco, is entering his first season as MSU’s tight ends coach.
Those familiar connections helped lead the duo to Montana State. Each has had to endure serious health scares on the way to becoming Bobcats.
Midway through the 2016 season, Wood suffered a horrific broken leg. The complete fibula fracture also included tearing “literally every ligament and tendon in my ankle,” Wood said. The injury took a full year to heal.
“I still have 15 screws and a plate I don’t know how big,” Wood said. “I can feel it when it gets cold but overall, I don’t feel it much anymore.”
The 6-foot, 275-pound Redd caught meningitis when he was two years old. The virus caused the nerve in his ears “to go completely dead.”
Redd suffers from significant and close to total hearing loss. Like former Bobcat linebacker Mac Bignell, he has no trouble communicating.
“The only time I really have a problem is when I hear words that sound like Zach or Redd,” Redd said. “There was an inside joke last year that (junior guard) Lewis Kidd started where everyone started calling me bread to mess with me. It started in fall camp and I didn’t figure it out until weeks later (laughs).”
The hearing deficiency did not affect Bignell, a cat-quick outside linebacker who lived in opponents backfields during his three years as a starter. The MSU coaching staff and players trust in Redd’s talent and toughness — senior defensive end Bryce Sterk, one of the Bobcats’ most gifted natural athletes, calls Redd “the worst offensive linemen in this entire league to go against” — but each of the last two springs, the ‘Cat offense has struggled with timing issues.
“I just have to focus in on it more last season,” Redd said. “In high school, I played guard my sophomore year so getting moved to center, it helped me learn how to focus a little more. It’s nice having the coaches here understand that it’s a little tougher for me so they implement the claps and make sure the quarterbacks know they have to be louder.”
Redd has prove to be capable at guard, filling in for Taylor Tuiasosopo at times last season. This fall camp, Tuiasosopo, a junior who has started when healthy for each of the last two seasons, is working in at center from time to time while he continues recovering from an injury. Junior Jake Sessions is also in the mix at left guard and has taken most of the No. 1 reps during camp.
“I think Zach is very capable at center but he’s our smallest offensive lineman,” Choate said earlier this month. “That doesn’t mean much – (2012 team captain) Shaun Sampson had a helluva career here doing it. But the things we’ve gotta do is make sure we can hold up on the interior. And what’s our best match? Maybe Zach is really killing it at guard. Maybe that’s our best fit for him and that slides Tui in at center.
“Our objective is to get our best five guys on the field.”
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
