The rebuilding process for the Montana State Bobcats is reaching rock bottom. First-year head coach Jeff Choate is confident the climb from the basement of the Big Sky Conference is coming.
Montana State has one of the most proud traditions in the Big Sky Conference. The Bobcats have claimed three national championships at three different levels of competition. MSU’s 15 Big Sky crowns are the second-most by a league squad since the conference was created in 1963, trailing only Montana’s 18 titles.
The Bobcats have been a modern-day power as well. MSU has claimed six Big Sky Conference titles since 2002, including three straight banners for the first time in school history to begin the second decade of the 21st century. Montana State qualified for the FCS playoffs as recently as 2014, capping a string of four postseason berths in five seasons.
[restrict paid=”true”]Last fall, MSU endured its first losing season on the gridiron since 2001. The 5-6 finish coupled with the inability to consistently beat fellow Big Sky powers Montana and Eastern Washington — former head coach Rob Ash won 70 games in nine seasons as Montana State but just two each in 18 total matchups against UM and EWU — resulted in Ash’s termination.
The firing pushed forward a domino effect that resonates today as Choate all of a sudden is at the helm for the only one of the 13 teams in the league without a conference victory five games into the Big Sky slate. A week after Choate was hired last December, most of Ash’s coaching staff, including prolific offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, was fired. Choate retained just running backs coach Michael Pitre and linebackers coach Kane Ioane, an MSU Hall of Famer as a player the first four years of the 2000s.
Cramsey’s departure trigged All-American quarterback Dakota Prukop to explore his options and ultimately transfer to the University of Oregon to play his final season in the Pac 12. Prukop’s transfer combined with the loss of four starters along the offensive line, including first-team All-American left tackle John Weidenaar, left Montana State’s offense depleted.
Choate hired a star-studded defensive coaching staff to work with Ioane, including luring longtime Montana defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak away from the Griz and ensuring secondary coach Gerald Alexander, a former NFL defensive back, did not return to coach at Boise State, his alma mater.
But injuries, attrition, a lack of offensive production and a lineup that has included eight different freshmen — primarily electric but raw quarterback Chris Murray — have ensured Montana State will take its lumps in Choate’s first fall navigating the Big Sky.
Montana State put forth its most lackluster effort on October 22 at Weber State, falling behind 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and 42-14 at halftime in a 45-27 loss. On October 29 in Bozeman, Montana State held a 17-14 lead with two minutes left to play in the first half only to see No. 3 Eastern Washington run away in a 41-17 Bobcat loss that included five turnovers en route to a fifth straight conference defeat. MSU enters its bye the last week of October 0-5 in league play, 2-6 overall.
“These guys are short a little bit on talent but we can close the gap with effort and energy,” Choate said. “I think the guys understand that. How do you have those guys at the peak of their performance to have them give maximum effort and focus every single Saturday? As painful as that Weber State situation might have been, I think it exposes some things. Guys understand that if we don’t bring this level of energy and effort and intensity to the field, this is what can happen.”
Turnovers have plagued Montana State for the duration of the conference season. The Bobcats turned the ball over five times, including two Tyler Bruggman interceptions in the last nine minutes of a 17-15 loss to North Dakota in Bozeman to kick off the Big Sky season for the Bobcats.
The interceptions sparked a frigid streak of play by Bruggman, a former four-star recruit turned journeyman junior who made three stops before finally earning a starting Division I job at MSU this fall. Bruggman’s three-interception day against UND led to completing one of his first eight passes against Sac State. Choate went with Murray for the first extended period and the freshman showed flashes of brilliance, ripping off touchdown runs of 17, 59 and 58 yards and rushing for 187 yards all told. But his botched handoff on a zone-read option play started a trend of its own as MSU surrendered a 38-21 lead in a 41-38 loss that lit the fuse for the team’s worst BSC losing streak since the turn of the century.
Murray turned the ball over three times in a 20-14 loss to Northern Arizona and four times each against Weber State and EWU. Montana State has now turned the ball over 20 times in Big Sky play alone, flipping a turnover margin that led the FCS before league play on its head.
“We have to find a way to not turn the football over,” Choate said. “Like I told (offensive coordinator) Courtney (Messingham), we have to stop talking about this because it becomes one of those deals where the more you talk about it, the more it happens. The kids are processing it that way. We need to emphasizing it in practice, not talk about not turning the ball over, talk about making good decisions. Change the verbiage maybe and that will change the outcome.”
Montana State lost its first three conference games by a combined 11 points with 10 turnovers partially to blame. Choate talked about his team being close to a break through that would result in a “tidal wave”. But Montana State turned the ball over twice in the first 10 minutes and fell behind 21-0 at Weber State. Following the game, Choate questioned his team’s effort for the first time and called the turnovers “a flood” after the “dam broke”.
Against Eastern Washington, Montana State held a three-point lead through most of the first half. But a costly Murray fumble on a handoff attempt to senior running back Gunnar Brekke led to an Eastern go-ahead touchdown and the Eagles never trailed again. Still, Choate pointed to the third quarter last week, not the first two, as perhaps the best quarter his team has played this fall.
“After watching the film, the best quarter of film we’ve played all season as a team in all three phases was the third quarter of that game,” Choate said. “We came out and got a three and out, which not many teams can do against Eastern Washington, especially in the second half. We drove down the field and we turned the ball over inside the 20-yard line (on another Murray fumble).
“They didn’t stop us a lick. It was like a hot knife through butter coming down the field and throwing the football. I thought Courtney did an awesome job. We were in our 30 personnel stuff (three running backs with Murray). We were checking at the line of scrimmage and looking where the numbers advantage was and took advantage of it. The ball went to Nick a couple of times and he took advantage of that.”
Montana State running back Nick LaSane rushed for 85 yards on five carries, including a 40-yard spurt and a nine-yard scamper before EWU defensive end Samson Ebukam stripped Murray in EWU territory. EWU drove the field but Montana State redshirt freshman Chris Harris blocked a field goal. MSU’s next possession resulted in a Bruggman interception. EWU drove the field and scored to go up 31-17.
“We turn it over, they take the ball down the field, we block a field goal,” Choate said. “We take the ball all the way back down, turn the ball over again, they get the ball back and score. Are we going to lay down? No, we get a 65-yard kickoff return. You can’t take away those five or six plays in a game but you look at what they were able to achieve against a team like Eastern, who really has been an outstanding second half team and I thought we actually played better defense in the second half than the first half.”
Montana State can search for bright spots across the board but the reality of situation is there are 13 teams in the Big Sky Conference and Montana State is the only one without a win. Montan State takes a much needed bye this week. Choate said the week off will include Tuesday and Wednesday practices with weight lifting on Tuesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday will be off days with the team reconvening to practice on Sunday to begin preparations for Southern Utah.
Choate said he expects senior captain running back Chad Newell to be out of his knee brace next week after suffering a deep bone bruise in his left knee against UND. Choate said sophomore Tucker Yates will also likely be back from a shoulder injury. Choate was not so optimistic about left tackle Dylan Mahoney, who has been battling turf toe.
Montana State has three chances left if it wants to avoid a winless Big Sky campaign. From injuries to attrition to turnovers to poor execution, bright spots have been hard to find in 2016. Still, Choate sees the sunrise on the horizon and it gives him optimism.
“When you are 2-6, there’s not a lot to be fired up about but I also know our day is coming,” Choate said on Monday. “I know our day is coming. That’s one of the reasons this has been so painful because we are close. But close ain’t good enough.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
