If 2020 went as planned, Montana State would be opening up Big Sky Conference play this weekend at Bobcat Stadium against Portland State.
Instead, the Bobcats and the rest of the Big Sky stand pat, practicing lightly and waiting to hear what a spring season might look like. According to sources and multiple reports, the league is expected to release an eight-game, nine-week schedule in early October.
This week would normally serve as a time when fifth-year head coach Jeff Choate was locking in his two-deep to prepare for a run at the program’s first conference championship since 2012. MSU was supposed to have 20 seniors on its roster this season. With the blanket waiver passed by the NCAA that states that any games played this fall or next spring would not count toward eligibility, MSU is slated to have 44 seniors in the fall of 2021.
Montana State’s roster remains in transition, a reality in today’s college football world. When comparing the 2019 and 2020 roster, the following players are no longer on the roster:
Running back Karl Tucker II (transferred to Montana Western), defensive backs Ty’Rese and Ty’Rhae Gibson, nickelback Jalen Cole, safeties Keaton Anderson, Elijah King and Brian Campbell (graduated), defensive tackle Seer Deines, offensive linemen Ethan Ormes, Hudson Klundt and Ryan Barkley and fullback Jack Galt.
Here’s an update on the rest of Montana State’s current roster and the differences from last season. Numbers with no changes are not included but stay tuned for a three-part “Bobcats by the Numbers” podcast with analysis of every Bobcat.
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No. 51 — Taylor Tuiasosopo should be one of the most respected and feared interior offensive linemen in the Big Sky Conference whenever the next season occurs. The 2019 third-team All-Big Sky selection is down 16 pounds to tip the scale at exactly 300 on his 6-foot-4 frame.
No. 53 — Kyle Finch, a Dillon native, is up to 250 pounds, which is 12 pounds more than he played during his junior year last season. He’ll likely need the extra mass as the 6-foot-4 fluid athlete will be asked to play strong end this season, his final campaign as a Bobcat. He will be a key factor in an MSU defensive line that loses dominant players like Bryce Sterk and Derek Marks.
No. 55 — Big Tua Areta reported to Montana State last season with a listed weight of 385 pounds but MSU head coach Jeff Choate said during fall camp that he was well over 400 pounds. Now he’s checking in at 6-foot-3, 380 pounds and is expected to challenge for significant snaps at nose tackle during his redshirt freshman season.
No. 57 — Defensive linemen John Clark and Tyson Regimball now share the number. Last season, Regimball wore No. 49 after transferring from College of Siskiyous. The 6-foot-3, 247-pound end maintained his redshirt despite playing in four games early on. Clark is a 6-foot-4, 285-pound graduate transfer from Washington. The latest in a seemingly endless string of former Huskies turned Bobcats missed last season due to injury after playing nine games in 2018, which helped him earn a scholarship with UW.
No. 59 — For the fourth straight year, Zach Redd is wearing the jersey. The guard/center continues bulking up, tipping the scale at 295 pounds entering his fourth year as a junior.
No. 60 — Rylan Wilcox, a 6-foot-4 defensive end who walked on to MSU out of Missoula Big Sky, is up to 225 pounds entering his sophomore season.
No. 65 — Former walk-on center and Bozeman product Justus Perkins is up to 265 pounds entering his redshirt freshman season.
No. 67 — Joe McElroy, a Missoula Loyola product who suffered a season-ending injury last year, is back healthy and up to 285 pounds entering his sophomore year.
No. 68 — Cole Sain transferred to Riverside Community College. The 6-foot-4, 285-pound offensive guard started his career with the Montana Grizzlies.
No. 70 — Offensive lineman Holden Sampson has put on 22 pounds since joining MSU from Helena Capital and enters his redshirt freshman season at 287 pounds.
No. 72 — During his first fall in Bozeman, T.J. Sessions showed flashes of his significant talent before suffering a knee injury that forced him to redshirt. He lost six pounds to come into his redshirt freshman year at 282 pounds.
No. 79 — Jack Harlow, an offensive lineman who came to MSU from J Serra High in Southern California, enters his redshirt freshman year up to 295 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame.
No. 80 — Treyton Pickering, a former small-school long shot out of Class C Sunburst, is up to 6-foot-4, 237 pounds and looks to be recovered from a knee injury that required surgery last year.
No. 81 — Tayvian Williams, the younger brother of MSU senior all-conference defensive end Amandre Williams, comes to the Bobcats from Laney College, the school most recently featured on the Netflix docu-series “Last Chance U”.
No. 83 — Logan Kleinhans, a wide receiver out of Bozeman High, is up to 208 pounds entering his redshirt sophomore year.
No. 84 — Peyton Hanser, a 6-foot-4 wide receiver from Billings, is up to 210 pounds entering his redshirt junior year.
No. 86 — Lance McCutcheon, another Bozeman product expected to be a team leader as a senior wide receiver, enters his final season up 12 pounds to 202.
No. 87 — Ryan Lonergan, a tight end who was one of the more highly recruited players of his class coming out of Bozeman High two years ago, is up to 230 pounds entering his redshirt freshman season.
No. 88 — Jarrett Kessler, a 6-foot-4 tight end who prepped at Kalispell Glacier who transferred from Diablo Valley JC before last season, dropped six pounds to come in to his junior year at 232 pounds.
No. 89 — Now belongs to Ethan Bullock, a 6-foot-5, 238-pound tight end out of Big Timber, who wore No. 98 last season.
No. 90 — Marcus Wehr, a defensive lineman out of Billings Central, enters this season as the biggest gainer of this half of the roster. The redshirt freshman is 6-foot-2, 255 pounds, meaning he’s up 35 pounds since joining the Bobcats.
No. 91 — Senior Michael Jobman has moved around the front seven of the Bobcat defense during his career. The 6-foot-5 Huntley Project native is settled at inside linebacker for his final season and will play at 250 pounds, up from 241 as a junior.
No. 92 — Highly recruited defensive tackle Blake Schmidt is up eight pounds to 278 pounds entering his redshirt freshman year.
No. 93 — Kyle Rygg, a 6-foot-5 defensive lineman expected to have an elevated role this season, is up to 275 pounds entering his junior year.
No. 94 — Now belongs to Byron Rollins, a 6-foot-3 junior out of Missoula Sentinel who signed with MSU in 2015 before going on a church mission. He wore 74 his first three years at Montana State and now weights 266 pounds.
No. 96 — Amandre Williams, an all-league selection in his first year at Montana State after transferring from Washington before last season, lost three pounds to come into his senior year at 232 pounds.
No. 98 — Ben Seymour, one of the most intriguing additions to the MSU defensive line, is a 6-foot-2, 233-pound interior defensive lineman who transferred to the Bobcats from College of the Canyons.
Incoming freshmen numbers
5 – Charles Brown, wide receiver
13 – Elijah Elliott, running back
14 – Peyton Thornton, tight end
15 – Brody Grebe, outside linebacker
20 – Minaya Olivo, running back
23 – Aidan Parks, outside linebacker
27 – Connor Ryan, defensive back
28 – Jake Agostino, safety
30 – Danny Uluilakepa, linebacker
31 – Miles Jackson, defensive back
35 – Luke Pawlak, kicker
37 – Bryce Leighton, punter
38 – Garrett Coon, running back
39 – Blake Glessner, kicker
43 – McCade O’Reilly, linebacker
63 – Rush Reimer, offensive tackle
64 — Shayden King, offensive line
71 — Tommy Sullivan, long snapper
73 — JT Reed, offensive line
74 — Connor Reitler, offensive line
75 — Jacob Kettles, offensive line
85 — Aidan Garrigan, wide receiver
97 — Boe Eaton, defensive tackle
99 — Trey Yates, defensive tackle
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