The offense didn’t look nearly as speedy and slick and the Bobcat defense looked hungry as Montana State donned pads for the first time on Tuesday morning.
The third practice of the 2015 fall camp brought out the frustrations in Montana State’s two quarterbacks. Starter Dakota Prukop looked perturbed at times, the junior addressing head coach Rob Ash and offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey after each play that did not end with a perfect result. Senior backup Jake Bleskin was so frustrated, the Great Falls CMR product spiked his helmet in anger on the sidelines following the final team drill of the two-hour, 36-minute session.
Much of the fervor seemed to stem from an invigorated Bobcat defense rather than a struggling offense. On a day of installation that saw Kane Ioane’s multiple scheme diversify itself even further, the MSU defensive line got consistent pressure. The linebackers fit the run efficiently. And the defensive backs, namely senior UAB transfer Desman Carter, senior cornerback Trace Timmer and freshman cornerback Tre’Von Strong continued to provide optimism.
“I missed this a lot and it seemed like everyone on the defense has missed this because we were ready to go today,” said Marcus Tappan, a sophomore transfer linebacker. “Even though we still weren’t full contact, we wanted to make sure to play within the coaches wanted and keep our teammates up. But we were really aggressive. It was nice to be back in pads.”
Tappan finds himself in one of the more crucial position battles on the Bobcats after coming to MSU from Cincinnati. He’s battling sophomore Blake Braun for MSU’s starting Will linebacker spot. The other fierce battles on the defense include the battle for positions in MSU’s secondary. The trio of safeties that includes sophomores Khari Garcia and Bryson McCabe and redshirt freshman DeMonte King have been battling for time next to Carter. Ioane and Ash have said senior Bryson Keeton is an entrenched starter at one corner spot.
On the outside, Timmer is having himself a very strong camp. The Great Falls High product had a handful more pass breakups Tuesday morning. He looks fast and healthy after a career plagued by injuries. Timmer is getting pushed by sophomore Bryce Alley and Strong, a true freshman out of Billings Skyview. Strong had one of the plays of the day with a pass breakup on an over-the-shoulder end-zone throw from Bleskin to 6-foot-6 junior tight end Austin Barth.
While the defense showed spurts of great energy, the offense looked sluggish and was plagued by drops for a second consecutive day. Sophomore Mitch Herbert continued to shine with two more highlight reel catches, including one that caused senior tight end Beau Sandland to exclaim, ‘How in the hell is this kid this good?’ The first-team offensive line continued to gel despite the non-participation of senior starters Kyle Godecke and Alex Eekhoff. But with star running backs Chad Newell (bruised hip) and Gunnar Brekke (leg tightness) on the shelf and camp fatigue setting in, the offense did not look like the same unit that ripped and roared through the camp’s opening practice on Sunday.
“It’s typical of camp: you go through two days of helmets and everyone is light on their feet and you get to the third day and reality sets in,” Ash said. “This hurts a little bit. Guys are sluggish to start with. But I thought we did a great thing with our first period of the day where we ran the speed plays, five plays with the ones, five plays with the twos. Several players came up to me and said that they really felt better after that. That jogged them into practice mentality. That was a good thing to do.”
With Newell and Brekke out for precautionary reasons, redshirt freshman Tavon Dodd, sophomore Nick LaSane and redshirt freshman Noah James have been getting the bulk of the carries. With pads on, MSU got its first true evaluation of the fall on Tuesday.
“With the shoulder pads on, there was finally a little focus on the run game,” Ash said. “Some inside runs and the first day you do those, it’s kind of a cluster. But I thought as the day went along, we began to sort of feel it out better. It’s typical sloppiness you expect out of the first day.”
With Godecke and Eekhoff limited for contact situations for the first part of camp, sophomores Caleb Gillis and Dylan Mahoney are getting first-team repetitions. Some combination of two out of four of the aforementioned are expected to start alongside the core of senior center Joel Horn, junior guard J.P. Flynn and senior left tackle John Weidenaar.
With two of MSU’s top seven linemen out, the second-team offensive line has become a unit that includes converted defensive tackle Monte Folsom and a rotation of several true freshmen. Because of that, the defensive line, particularly the second-team that include senior defensive tackle Nate Bignell and junior college studs tackle Joe Naotala and end Shiloh LaBoy have had their way early.
“The 1s especially have very solid,” Ash said. “We are trying to block moving parts and the defense had some pressures and blitzes in. I thought the starters were right on it. I like the fact too that Coach Eck is moving some people around so we aren’t just going to get stuck in one spot and then if we have a change later, it’s a big change. Mahoney and Gillis are becoming moving pieces. We haven’t really missed much by doing that.
“We have so many more defensive linemen with experience so the No. 2 offensive line has been at a disadvantage. That part is hard to evaluate.”
Montana State returns to Dyche Field Wednesday morning at 9:15 a.m.
