BOZEMAN — Level Price Jr. came off the edge, lining up what would’ve been a clean shot to Tucker Rovig’s blindside had the situation been live.
As Montana State’s starting offense jogged off the field early in the Sonny Holland spring game earlier this month, Rovig could clearly be seen lighting into his fellow offensive charges.
With the encouragement of junior Chris Murray and redshirt freshman Casey Bauman — Rovig’s presumed competitors in MSU’s ongoing quarterback competition — Rovig cooled off eventually.
Then the 6-foot-5, 205-pounder settled in, showing improved footwork and throwing velocity along with renewed decisiveness for the rest of the finale of spring football at Montana State.
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“I did think Tucker had the most command of the offense today,” MSU fourth-year head coach Jeff Choate said after Rovig completed 8-of-14 passes for 134 yards. “He moved the ball well when he was in with the 1s. It was a tough day for Casey and (redshirt freshman) Ruben (Beltran), especially when the two O-line goes to the 3 O-line. It’s difficult for those guys to hang in there and make plays.”
The impassioned moment is an example of the newfound confidence and assertiveness Rovig is showing a season after a campaign plagued by missed opportunities. This spring, Rovig’s teammates are taking notice.
“When we are in the huddle, you know Tucker is there, you hear his voice all the time, you know the situation,” MSU senior wide receiver Travis Jonsen said following a scrimmage that saw him haul in a 53-yard bomb from Rovig on the second play of the action.
Last year, Montana State’s coaching staff gave Rovig every chance to beat out Murray, the electric but enigmatic starter who surprisingly won the starting job midway through is true freshman season and didn’t give it up for 16 games.
Toward the end of spring football last year, MSU knew Murray would not be available for the 2018 season because of academic issues. Still, Rovig was not able to rise to the top of the quarterback depth chart. He admitted he struggled with his confidence, the remaking of his mechanics by his second quarterbacks’ coach in as many years and the overall command of the huddle Choate demands of his quarterbacks.
By August, Rovig lost the quarterback competition to Troy Andersen, the 2017 Big Sky Freshman of the Year while playing running back and linebacker. By the second week fo the season, Rovig was the starter after Andersen suffered a hand injury that required surgery in the opener.
But the Meridian, Idaho native struggled as MSU fell behind 31-0 in a 45-14 loss at No. 3 South Dakota State. In his first home start, Rovig completed 23-of-34 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns, looking like the best version of a traditional quarterback during the Choate era, a span largely defined by the unorthodox dual-threat abilities of Murray and Andersen.
The following week, Andersen returned and rushed for 211 yards, the second-most ever by a quarterback in the history of the Big Sky, in a win over Portland State.
Andersen also started in a 34-17 loss to No. 5 Eastern Washington that left the Bobcats with 3-2 record. With a bye to begin October, Choate said the team planned to give Rovig a legitimate chance to take over as the starter. Instead, a fluke injury caused by a teammate stepping on him in practice resulted in a sever injury in Rovig’s left foot that required season-ending surgery.
Despite a reshuffling of the coaching staff — Choate dismissed passing game coordinator and quarterbacks’ coach Bob Cole, demoted Brian Armstrong from offensive coordinator and promoted wide receivers coach Matt Miller to OC — Andersen put the Bobcats on his back. He rushed for a Big Sky single-season record 1,412 yards and set a Bobcat single-season record with 21 rushing touchdowns on the way to earning unanimous first-team all-league honors.
With Andersen sitting out this spring, Rovig has battling with Bauman, Murray (who practices on the weekends while still sorting out his academics) and Beltran. And while Rovig earned Choate’s praise after the spring game, the quarterback competition remains undecided entering the summer.
“The main thing I want those guys to be is tough,” said Miller, who has five games under his belt as the offensive coordinator entering a season where he also takes over quarterback coaching duties for the first time. “I want guys who can process information, be accurate with the ball in their hands, be great decision makers.
“I love them because they get along with each other and they want to push each other to be the best possible players they can be. They all care about Montana State and they want to make this place the best it can be.
“It’s going to be an exciting quarterback battle going on throughout the spring and into the summer and fall as well, too. Those guys have their work cut out for them but they are all up for the challenge.”
Murray’s status remains uncertain as the Bobcats enter the summer. During MSU’s first scrimmage this spring, Murray ran wild, making a group of defenders unfamiliar with his special talents look stuck in the Bobcat Stadium turf.
But the elusive, lightning fast 6-foot-2, 190-pounder did not take a snap in the Sonny Holland scrimmage.
“Everybody is going to point to Chris Murray,” Choate said last month. “Chris has to get to that point where he’s got the academic side solid and ready to go and we will turn him loose.
“He’s been great so far. He’s been doing the things we’ve asked him to do. He’s focused and understands what we need him to do to be able to take that next step.”
Operating an offense that Choate called vanilla — “We only ran our basic inside zone and counter run schemes,” he said after the Sonny Holland game — Rovig took most of the snaps behind the first-string offensive line anchored by senior left tackle Mitch Brott, a team captain and All-American candidate.
The second-team offensive line featured one starter (junior Taylor Tuiasosopo) working back from a minor injury. The unit also featured walk-ons junior Denver Krone (center) and redshirt freshman Ethan Ormes (right guard) along with redshirt freshman Ryan Barkley (left tackle) and redshirt freshman Joey McElroy (right tackle).
That group had a hard time holding its own against a Bobcat front seven often featuring talented and experienced players like junior Buck end Kyle Finch, senior linebacker Walker Cozzie and senior defensive end Marcus Ferriter. Other intriguing young players like sophomore linebacker Callahan O’Reilly and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Seer Deines gave the inexperienced backups fits most of the day.
Bauman, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound specimen who hails from the Nooksack Valley in Washington, and Beltran, a 6-foot, 180-pounder who won a state championship at Centennial High in Peoria, Arizona two years ago, operated behind the overmatched second-team offensive front.
“Our No. 2 offensive line struggled with some basic calls and that definitely impacted our ability to get a good evaluation on a couple of our quarterbacks,” Choate said.
The rocket Bauman has for a right arm is apparent if you watch Montana State’s quarterbacks for a single minute. He can make throws none of the other Bobcats can make. But Bauman has a tough time processing the action in front of him efficiently, looking more indecisive as practices progress from warm-ups to individual drills to 7-on-7 and skeleton to 11-on-11.
Beltran is not a runner in the mold of Murray or Andersen. But he can use his feet to get to the perimeter. He is an accurate passer who makes up for his lack of size with quick decision making.
Rovig, Bauman, Beltran, Murray and Andersen each gives the Bobcats a completely different skill set. The player who emerges as the top option will be the player who has the biggest influence on Miller’s evolving offensive scheme.
“I want to find out what those guys do really well and we are going to tailor the system around the quarterback position and I think a lot of guys would say that around the country,” Miller said. “You want to tailor your system around the guy you’ve got gun slinging and making the decisions for you.
“I think we have a lot of playmakers that we have to get the football. With Troy’s quarterback run stuff, it was really good for us. I don’t think we are going to get away from that completely. I think those guys in the quarterback room can do the same stuff. We just aren’t going to do it as frequently as we would’ve last year.”
Rovig might’ve given himself a leg up entering the summer but the future of the Bobcats under center remains murky, a consistency so far during the Choate era. From the failed Tyler Bruggman experiment in 2016 to Murray’s sporadic sophomore season to the Bobcats racing to the FCS playoffs with a 6-foot-3, 225-pounder recruited to play linebacker manning the offense, Montana State has been unorthodox yet largely one-dimensional offensively.
The offense returns four of five starters on a talented, physical offensive line that has a chance to be the best in the league. Jonsen and senior Kevin Kassis give the Bobcats a pair of players that can hurt defenses on the edge, out of the slot and even under center. And the Bobcat backfield led by Isaiah Ifanse, the first rookie to rush 1,000 yards at Montana State, could get a serious boost from Andersen even if he gets limited carries.
All that is to say that Montana State has a chance to make a big jump on offense if they can settle on a steady option under center.
“Whoever is going to get the starting job is going to be able to command and throw the ball,” Jonsen said. “I’m not too worried about that. I’m going to rally behind all the quarterbacks and whoever is going to be the starter, I’m going to ride with them.”
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
