With Montana State beginning its first fall camp under Jeff Choate this week, Skyline Sports will break down MSU’s roster by highlighting prominent battles for playing time in each position group.
Today’s position: Kicker, punter & kickoff specialist
The players: Devon Tandberg (a 5-foot-10, 176-pound redshirt freshman), Jered Padmos (a 6-foot-2, 175-pound true freshman) and Gabe Peppenger (a 6-foot, 220-pound true freshman).
MSU kicker Devin Tandberg (83)
What’s at stake: During winter conditioning, junior All-Big Sky kicker Luke Daly suffered a torn ACL. He missed the duration of spring drills and was slated to miss fall camp. But his return was projected sometime during the 2016 season.
Less than a week before fall camp, Daly was charged with partner or family member assault in his native Billings. New Montana State Jeff Choate suspended him indefinitely, turning an uncertain spot into perhaps Montana State’s most dire position battle.
“We have a lot way to go there,” Choate said following Monday’s practice. “Really nobody in that group has experience. We are going to have to spend a lot of time putting those guys in pressure situations both in punting and placekicking. I think we have some good legs for kickoff. Devon had a solid spring. Both Padmos and Peppenger are good athletes and they have some talent. We just have to have those guys game ready when it comes to September 1.”
Montana State opens at Idaho on September 1.
Finding a viable option at both punter and placekicker will be of upmost importance for a team trying to rebound from its first losing record in 14 seasons.
How they fared in 2015: The crux for Montana State is that none of the three players vying for specialist duty played college football of any sort last season.
Tandberg redshirted after walking on out of Mountainview High in Auburn, Washington. He showed flashes of his skills, particularly kicking field goals, both during fall practices and during spring drills. But he has never kicked a field goal in a college game. As a high school senior, he hit 8-of-11 field goals with a long of 39 yards. He hit 42-of-43 PATs, notched 31 touchbacks on 66 kickoffs and averaged 29 yards on 32 punts.
MSU kicker Jered Padmos
Padmos earned a scholarship after a standout career at Class B Boulder. The three-sport athlete — Padmos lettered in golf and basketball as well — was a standout quarterback, defensive back, punter and kicker. He hit 8-of-11 field goals as a senior and 14-of-24 in three years kicking for the varsity with a long of 47 yards as a junior. Last fall, he hit 33-of-38 PATs and connected on 113-of-135 (80 percent) in his varsity career. He averaged 37.8 yards on 26 punts with a long of 66 and eight kicks inside the 20 as a senior. For his career, he averaged 38.9 yards per punt and pinned opponents inside the 20 yard line 14 times. As a kickoff specialist, he totaled 88 touchbacks, including 40 his senior year.
As a junior at Missoula Sentinel, Peppenger earned Class AA second-team all-state honors. As a senior, he earned first-team all-state honors after hitting four field goals of 35 yards or more, including a season-long of 42. He hit 34-of-35 PATs as well.
Padmos and Peppenger are listed as co-starters at punter. Tandberg is listed as the starting kickoff specialist. The kicker spot on the depth chart says: TBA.
The case for Tandberg: Tandberg is entering his second full year playing college football. He has trained like a college athlete, acclimated to the college environment and has a familiarity with his teammates. He has all the reps of a year worth of practice under his belt. None of that, however, will prepare him to kick a field goal in front of 20,000 fans.
The case for Padmos: The nerves that come from kicking in front of a crowd might be a more pronounced adjustment for Padmos. He is from a town of less than 1,200 people and a high school of less than 200 students, after all. During the first four days of fall camp, he has shown the smoothest kicking stroke of the three competing for the position and has matched Tandberg in his length strength.
MU kicker Gabe Peppenger (31)
The case for Peppenger: The Missoula product has the least fluid leg swing of any of the three kickers but he has range nonetheless. He has hit several field goals from more than 40 yards thus far in camp. He has also been trying his hand at some long snapping to his teammates in order to help them get more reps, particularly as punters.
What must be accomplished in fall camp: Choate acknowledged there is no way to simulate a pressure kick in front of a sold out stadium. The first four days of camp have been spent doing mostly fundamental and situational work. When the Bobcats put on full pads for the first time in Wednesday, the live situations for the specialists will begin. Choate said he wants to simulate as many pressure repetitions in both areas as he can leading up to MSU’s season opener. In what might be the most wide open competition of camp, whoever performs best under pressure will get the nod.
Others on the roster: None.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
