At this point in his first season, Jeff Choate will take points any way he can get them. But Chris Murray’s explosive athleticism at quarterback can be a double-edge sword.
Murray rushed for 187 yards — the second-most ever by a Montana State quarterback — a total aided by touchdown runs of 17, 59 and 58 yards. Murray’s ability to pull the ball on read option plays and literally sprint past everyone on the field is an example of his elite athleticism. But when the 6-foot-3, 185-pound true freshman from Lawndale, California puts his special skill set on full display, it can come with repercussions.
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“We had a couple of one and two and three-play drives and as crazy as it sounds — you don’t ever want to take scoring points off the board — but I just think with the style (Sacramento State) is playing on offense, it was a huge factor, the fatigue of our defense,” Choate, Montana State’s first-year head coach, said. “We needed to sustain some drives in the fourth quarter and we didn’t do it.”
On one hand, Murray’s 11.7 yards per carry on 16 rushes helped spark an MSU rushing attack that piled up 385 yards. On the other hand, his big plays afford Sacramento State the ability to dominate the clock and wear out the Bobcats. Sac held the ball for one second short of 34 minutes Saturday evening in Sacramento, including at least 8:13 of all four quarters, including 27:15 after halftime. Sac State converted 10-of-19 third downs, notched 34 first downs and totaled 510 yards of total offense on 94 plays.
“We have to get off the field and manage ourselves on offense to give ourselves a chance,” Choate said.
Murray earned his first extended action of the season after yet another slow start by junior starter Tyler Bruggman. A week after throwing three interceptions in a 17-15 loss to North Dakota, including two in the final 10 minutes of the game and one on the Bobcats’ final possession, the journeyman completed just one of his first eight attempts against Sac State before taking a seat.
With Murray at the helm, the Bobcats completed just four passes but senior tight end Austin Barth and sophomore tight end Curtis Amos had crucial drops in the end-zone to skew that stat.
Despite the one-sided nature of MSU’s offense against Sac and Bruggman’s continued struggles, Choate stopped short of naming a starter for Montana State’s matchup Saturday against Northern Arizona in Bozeman.
“Haven’t made a decision on that,” Choate said. “I think Chris is obviously going to be a big part of what we do moving forward. I spoke with both Chris and Tyler moving forward and both of them get it. I used the baseball pitcher analogy: somebody is going to be the starter, we are probably going to need middle relief and we will definitely need a closer too however that plays out is still a work in progress.”
Choate said the decision will be based on both practice play and which quarterback’s skill set bet fits the game plan drafted by MSU and the offensive coaches against the Lumberjacks’ high pressure defense.
“With Chris playing as well as he did against Sac, we have to continue getting him more and more and more involved,” MSU offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said before Tuesday’s practice. “We have to let it play out a little bit and see how this week’s practice goes but I would expect both of them to play against NAU and expect both to be productive.”
In five starts, Bruggman has completed 69-of-139 passes (49.4 percent). The junior from Scottsdale, Arizona has thrown six touchdowns, including three in MSU’s 55-0 win over Division II Western Oregon, compared to four interceptions. He is throwing for 166 yards per game in his first year at MSU after making stops at Washington State, Louisville and Scottsdale Community College.
“I thought he was awesome on the sideline,” Choate said of Bruggman when he got pulled. “He was encouraging Chris when he came off the field and he was ready to go no matter what the situation was. I think that’s who Tyler is. A first class young man. Anyone would be disappointed in that situation because you want to lead your team. We are going to need him and he needs to stay focused and locked in.”
Murray completed 4-of-12 passes on Saturday, bringing his season total to 8-of-20. He completed his only pass against Idaho and 3-of-6 against Western Oregon. He has thrown for 158 yards total and has not thrown a touchdown or an interception. He is tied with senior running back Gunnar Brekke as MSU’s second-leading rusher with 263 yards and his six touchdowns rank 12th in the FCS. Chad Newell leads MSU with 291 rushing yards for a Bobcat squad averaging 180.6 rushing yards per game.
“Part of this last week, Chris threw the ball extremely well, we just have to catch the ball,” Messingham said. “He ended up 4-for-12 and probably you could point to two for sure and possibly three that should’ve been caught and now you are 7-12 and feeling better about yourself. He has to get the ball out of his hand quicker on quick game. One of the things you notice in his ability to throw the ball quickly out of the gun isn’t as fast as Tyler can.”
Although Murray is unquestionably the superior athletes of MSU’s top two quarterback options, the coaching staff is still hesitant to go with him as the full-time starter. He does not turn 18 years old until later this month and his ability to grasp a game plan remains limited.
Choate said he knows Murray will develop rapidly as he continues to get repetitions, both in practice and in games. MSU’s head coach said Murray throws an adequate deep ball but “needs more pop coming out of his hand” in the quick game, adding he “floats the ball” on quick slants and screen passes.
Choate emphasized that Montana State is “very limited” offensively with what they can do with Murray at the helm. He referenced everything from having to take a knee to operating a two-minute offense in terms of the things that concern him about his raw, play making youngster.
“But you can’t coach his innate ability. I think you saw that on full display in Sacramento,” Choate said, adding he felt Murray “gives us the best chance to win”.
“He was easily the fastest guy on the field when he opened up and ran. That’s something you cannot coach.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
