You’ll have to forgive Montana State fans; they’ve come to expect the Bobcats’ offensive line to just start out the season mowing defensive lines down at will. After all, that’s been the norm since even before head coach Brent Vigen took the helm in 2021. While this year’s unit has been doing just that for the past four games, it went through an atypical start to the 2026 season.
Montana State needed to replace Cedric Jefferson, a tackle who transferred to the University of Utah, and center JT Reed, who graduated. The Bobcats also moved guard Titan Fleischmann back to his more natural tackle position to fill the spot vacated by Jefferson. To replace Reed, the Bobcats have gone with Aiden Kaplan, while the guard spot handled by Fleischmann is manned by Everett Carr. Senior Burke Mastel and junior Braden Zimmer have held down the left side for most of the season for the second campaign in a row.
“Yeah, maybe a little slower than I would have thought it could maybe happen,” Vigen said when asked about the coalescing of the unit. “But then, there are variables where, seemingly, if you’re breaking in kind of some independent guys that maybe aren’t playing next to each other, it happens a little bit faster. And in this case, whether it’s Aiden and Everett, you throw Dylan (Rollins) in there, that’s happened more on the inside. And I think moving Titan back out to the outside, there’s even a little bit of a breaking-in for him going back out there after playing a full season at guard.”
Second-year offensive line coach Matt Smith echoed Vigen’s sentiments.
“I kind of think back to last year first, right?” Smith said. “New guys coming together, new coach, and it took us some games. And then I think we kind of found our stride and found the right five and kept going. And I feel like this year it’s a very similar process. It probably just took a little bit longer than I wanted to. But when you have a new center and new guards, and guys trying to fit together, and moving Titan back at tackle, to me it all came down to our practice habits and the way we finish blocks.”
The Bobcats ran for just 631 yards and a modest 4.2 yards per carry in the first four games. Since then, they’ve collected 1,027 yards and are averaging 6.8 yards per carry — the latter number is above their average over the previous five years under Vigen.
Smith is aware of MSU’s tradition of running the football. It’s a challenge he’s very willing to accept and attack.
“If you really watch the tape, in my opinion, the standard that we have here is different,” Smith said. “And I feel blessed to be a part of a culture and a program and a fan base that expect. We expect explosive touchdown runs. We expect explosive 10-plus runs. And we just weren’t doing that. We were blocking just enough for a three-, four-yard gain.”
In the past four games, MSU has had touchdown runs of 57, 27, 41, 33, 32, 32, 28 and 15 yards. In the previous four games, MSU had no touchdown runs of 15 or more yards aside from a 32-yarder by Adam Jones. That play came in the second half of the Central Connecticut State game, which was the well-defined turning point in MSU’s ground attack. MSU had just 70 yards rushing before Jones’ fumble on the first play of the second half, which was returned 40 yards for a CCSU touchdown. After that, they had 18 carries for 104 yards, including their first touchdown run over 15 yards.
“We’re doing a better job of being physical at the point of attack, but not ending there,” Vigen said. “Getting to the second level and being able to cover up, even for an instant, is really all our backs need sometimes. And then that creates a confidence level with the running backs, so they’re not guessing. They’re more sure on what they’re seeing and how they’re hitting the holes.”
Despite that sudden contrast, Vigen realizes it didn’t all happen because of one play or the stunning loss to Idaho.
“I don’t think all of a sudden we changed the way we’re doing things out of losing a game,” Vigen said. “But I do think our urgency, our attention to detail, our confidence, our experience is all growing through this last stretch of the season.”
“I think we’ve seen a bunch of improvement the last few weeks,” Vigen said. “I think point-of-attack stuff, in my opinion, has been better. Second level, getting to the second level, allowing those opportunities for the backs has been better. I think our pass protection has largely been improved. And it’s guys like Aiden and Everett, I think, coming into their own. And I know Burke missed a game, but then I thought he bounced back and played well. I think our tackles now have put together a bunch of solid performances in a row now too.”
MSU put this resurgence on display on its last drive, when it all but iced Weber State by going 88 yards on 11 plays for a touchdown that burned up 6:50 of the game clock and left the Wildcats down 38-27 with just 1:54 to play. Five of the last six plays were rushes, with Adam Jones bolting the final 27 yards for a touchdown. The drive also had the added dimension of quarterback Justin Lamson connecting on four of five passes for 52 yards, including a 21-yard completion to Dane Steel on second-and-19.
“In this last game, being able to get that ball with just under nine minutes left and really figure that situation out, that was a big moment for that crew,” Vigen said. “And Justin made some plays in there too. I know Dane had a couple plays, so it wasn’t like we ran the ball every play. But ultimately, our physicality and getting those first downs, and ultimately the touchdown, a lot of credit does go to the offensive line.
“How it comes together and the timing and how quickly it can happen is dependent on a lot of things, and it took a little bit longer, but I think we’re getting there. I really do.”
In 2021, MSU averaged 5.2 yards per carry, followed by 6.5 in 2022, 7.3 in 2023, 6.5 in 2024 and 5.7 in 2025. Those numbers tend to correspond with MSU’s style of offense, as it used the pass a lot more for the better part of the 2021 and 2025 seasons than it did in 2022, 2023 and 2024, when quarterbacks Tommy Mellott and Sean Chambers just as likely to hurt opponents with their legs as they were with their arms.
Smith is intimately involved in all the ins and outs and ups and downs of the development.
“I think it came down to our preparation, finding the right guys, those guys really believing and trusting in it,” Smith said. “We do hard things during the week. We practice hard. We make it harder in practice, so that way in the game we can go play fast and go dominate.”
Smith sees Kaplan’s progress at center as one of the individual keys to MSU’s progress.
“I really think Aiden Kaplan has really owned our communication and those guys being tied in together,” Smith said. “Doing some self-scout in the bye week, when we were disconnected ID-wise, it showed. And those were a lot of our bad plays, our average plays. And then when we were on the same page, you see some of those explosive runs early in the year. That’s when we were all on the same page.”
Like most position coaches, Smith has his own philosophy, and he believes there’s a right way and a wrong way, but also an aggressive way to make things right.
“So, it all comes down to technique, aggression,” Smith said. “I’m a big believer in violence fixes everything. But I just really feel like these guys are really owning the day-to-day, the preparation, attacking practice more than anything, so that way on Saturday we can go play as one.”
Vigen appreciates and understands Smith’s approach of putting the responsibility to get better on the players, while also giving them time and room to grow.
“I think Coach Smith has done a good job of pressing them while having patience,” Vigen said. “We haven’t altered really what we’re trying to do with them to make it easier by any means. So, we’re continuing to lean on them.”
Vigen also noticed a marked difference after the Idaho game, which saw the Vandals stay within striking distance all game as MSU settled for field goals after getting into first-and-goal situations, along with missing on long field goal attempts.
“I think we’ve aimed to get more physical and more tied together with the offense all season,” Vigen said. “Coming off the game that preceded the bye week (Idaho), I think that was one where we felt like we left some of the physicality maybe out there a little bit. We probably weren’t as physical as we needed to be to take that game and finish it, in particular at Idaho. So, has that led to a greater determination? I hope so. But I hope as much as anything, we’re just continuing to chase a higher level.
“Guys like Aiden Kaplan and Everett Carr, you throw Dylan (Rollins) in there, those guys now have games under their belt. You’re a much more seasoned player than you were maybe even a month ago. So, I think their continued emergence is really important.”
The backups, like Rollins, have proven to be invaluable as well.
“And props to our sixth, seventh, eighth guys (Rollins, Nate Thornton and Tommy Nilson) too, that have gotten reps,” Smith said. “I think those guys have gotten better and have pushed our starters to make sure that they’re giving their best every week.”
After going four weeks without a home game, the Bobcats will play their second straight at home when Cal Poly comes to town Saturday at 1 p.m. The Mustangs have been dealing with injuries and lost former Bobcat Mikey D’Amato, a first-team All-Big Sky performer at linebacker last season. Cal Poly lost 43-26 to then-winless Utah Tech last week in San Luis Obispo. After a promising 4-3 start to the season, the Mustangs have lost their last two games since beating Idaho State on the road three weeks ago.
PHOTOS BY BROOKS NUANEZ, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
