The man handing the ball to Chad Newell is not his best friend. Dakota Prukop has already flown West to Eugene to be an Oregon Duck. But the man standing next to Newell in the backfield of Courtney Messingham’s offense is plenty familiar.
Newell has seen his role for the Montana State Bobcats shift each year of his diverse career. The former walk-on started as a special teams demon before transforming into a Swiss Army knife, a violent blocker who could also convert short yardage situations. Last year, the Billings Senior native became MSU’s feature back, scoring 12 touchdowns and earning third-team All-Big Sky Conference honors during an otherwise disappointing campaign.
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Throughout his career, Newell has only taken handoffs from Prukop, whether it was on the scout team as redshirt freshmen during MSU’s 2012 Big Sky title season or the last two years as key cogs in one of the league’s most dangerous offenses.
“Football-wise, it’s definitely a shocker actually getting onto the field without Dakota,” Newell said during MSU’s third week of spring drills. “Having him with me there in the backfield was almost a comfort thing because it’s been me and him for as long as I can remember.
“Off the field, there’s definitely days where I miss my buddy. He is one of my best friends.”
As a sophomore Newell frequently blocked for Shawn Johnson and Gunnar Brekke. Now that former Montana State offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, the architect of an Oregon-esque spread triple option attack that led the conference in scoring last season, is gone, Montana State has returned to a more traditional look. The result has been the addition of plenty of two-back sets this spring, meaning Brekke and Newell are back in the backfield together.
“Everyone is trying to adapt to the mentality that wherever they put us, we have to execute what we are asked to do,” Newell said. “That’s the mentality I’ve had the entire time I’ve been here. Last year, it happened to be I needed to carry the ball a little more so I embraced that. Before, they needed me to play every single special teams play, so I embraced that.”
Last season, Montana State’s running backs rushed for 1,349 yards on 267 carries (5.1 yards per carry) and 16 touchdowns. Newell topped the group with 154 carries for 831 yards as MSU rushed for 216 yards per outing. But the production on the ground — MSU averaged nearly three rushing touchdowns per game last season — did not result in success in the win column, culminating in a 5-6 record. Rob Ash was fired two days after a season-ending loss to rival Montana.
New head coach Jeff Choate retained two of Ash’s assistants, including running backs coach Michael Pitre, the primary mentor for Newell, Brekke and the majority of the group over the last two-plus seasons.
Pitre was an All-Pac 10 fullback for UCLA in the early 2000s, blowing open holes for future NFL All-Pro Maurice Jones-Drew before having a cup of coffee in the league himself with the Oakland Raiders. As MSU enters its fourth week of a five-week spring session, Pitre has been struck by teaching something he knows best.“The thing that is amazing to me is how many guys in football nowadays who haven’t been in a three-point stance and don’t really know what a fullback is,” Pitre said with a laugh following Monday’s practice. “That’s truly amazing to me.
“I see the improvement. We are getting better with our pad level and the things I’m asking them to do. It really starts with Coach Choate and how much emphasis he’s putting on us as a team playing with better pad level across the board. That really brought me back to starting this thing from a fundamental foundation and understanding what it feels like to be in a really good blocking position.”
Other players that have seen time as the fullback type lead blocker include redshirt freshmen Keegan Bray and sophomore Dylan Stenseth. Bray is a walk-on from Spokane who played defensive end last season. Stenseth is a walk-on who played his freshman season at Montana and was an Class A All-State selection as a fullback at Fergus High in Lewistown.
Thus far, Messingham — MSU’s new offensive coordinator — said he has been very impressed with Brekke’s athletic ability and explosive potential. Choate said he has liked the encouraging leadership provided by his senior tailback duo as well as the preparation they’ve put in to learning Messingham’s offense. Junior quarterback transfer Tyler Bruggman, the front-runner to replace Prukop under center, calls the pair “two of the hardest workers on the team.”
“We’ve been begging for it the last couple of years, me and Gunnar especially. We’ve both played a lot of snaps but not a lot together,” Newell said. “It will be tough for defenses to game plan for when we are both in the game.”
In all likelihood, Brekke will see a large increase in carries from the 63 he received in nine games as a junior. The Helena Capital product battled a head injury during mid-season, limiting the former Montana Gatorade Player of the Year to just 85 touchs in 2015.
Junior Nick LaSane seems primed to see his carries rise as well after earning 27 totes and scoring two touchdowns last season. The 5-foot-11, 220-pound bulldozer from Dallas has possessed physical potential since first arriving at Montana State. Pitre said he has honed his football IQ and has matured all around as he enters his second to last season of eligibility ready to contribute.
“More than physically, it’s the mental part he’s improved on,” Pitre said. “I’m starting to see he’s asking the right questions. Coach Choate said one of the first keys to mastery is being able to correct yourself when you make a mistake. That’s letting me know he’s spending the time in the playbook and watching the film. I know he has high aspirations. He will do good things for us.”
Newell might not see his chances for increased production rise like MSU’s other two primary backs. Newell enters his senior season with 1,408 career rushing yards, 363 behind Prukop for 10th-most in MSU history. His 21 career touchdowns already tie former quarterback Dennis Erickson for eighth all-time for the Bobcats. Nine more touchdowns would make him just the second Bobcat ever to score 30 times on the ground.
It remains to be seen if Newell will see 150-plus carries like he did a season ago, but it’s nothing he’s worried about.
“To me, I don’t have a preference of what I play as long as I’m on the field and I can help our team win,” Newell said. “That’s really what matters to me: wins and losses. If you want to think about the legacy you are leaving at Montana State, no one remembers who played what but if a guy says he was on the 1984 team, that’s a huge deal. No one knows what position he played but he was on the team in 1984 (MSU’s last national championship squad). That’s how you are remembered.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
