In the first start of Tre’Von Strong’s college career, Case Cookus went right at the Montana State true freshman cornerback.
The Northern Arizona All-America quarterback, a freshman himself, beat Bryson Keeton down the sideline with deep passes to sophomore Emmanuel Butler on two different occasions during NAU’s first possession during the 2015 shootout between Big Sky Conference rivals. The first of Cookus’ four touchdown passes came when he beat Strong with a dart to Alex Holmes for a short touchdown.
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Two possessions later, Cookus attacked Strong down the sideline with a pair of run-pass options in which he chose to throw lofting balls to his towering receivers. The second just beat the outstretched hand of Strong and landed in Dejzon Walker’s bread basket for a 28-yard touchdown.
On NAU’s third touchdown drive, Strong surrendered a 43-yard gain to Kendyl Taylor. At that point, MSU adjusted to limit deep passes down the sideline and over the middle, in turn giving up the run portion of the RPO, allowing Casey Jahn to rip off 175 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns as Northern Arizona emerged with a 49-41 win in a wild affair in Flagstaff.
The way NAU dismantled the Bobcats with its run-pass option offense was a microcosm of the struggles Strong and the youthful MSU secondary endured last season. Eastern Washington quarterback Jordan West was nearly flawless, throwing twice as many touchdowns (6) as incompletions in a 55-50 EWU victory. When MSU was able to limit opponents’ passing games — Portland State’s Alex Kuresa completed just 10 passes against Montana State — the Bobcats were gashed on the ground. David Jones’ 285 rushing yards were among 465 yards on the ground in Portland State’s 59-42 victory over the then-No. 16 team in the FCS.
The struggles culminated in a 54-35 loss to rival Montana that saw Brady Gustafson throw for 353 yards and four touchdowns. The defeat served as the final nail in the coffin of MSU’s first losing season since 2001 and resulted in Rob Ash and most of his staff not being retained.
Now Montana State is rebuilding under Jeff Choate. The well-traveled FBS assistant made some drastic changes to MSU’s secondary, hiring Gerald Alexander to coach both safeties and cornerbacks. During Ash’s final three seasons, defensive coordinator Jamie Marshall worked with safeties and Michael Rider coached cornerbacks as the group struggled to communicate or find continuity.
Montana State completed its 15-practice spring football session on Monday. The secondary is still young —the group has no seniors — and the remaining players are adjusting well to the changes implemented by Choate and Alexander, particularly being back in the same meeting room.
“I think they are still getting the feel for the difference in that,” said Alexander, a former Boise State standout who played safety for five seasons in the NFL. “I think it’s been great for those guys to hear some of the coaching points for some of the other positions, whether it’s the safeties understanding what the corner’s job is and vice versa, knowing where their help is and knowing they can trust each other. They are hearing the same voice and they know their guys will be there to help them.”
During Montana State’s run to three straight Big Sky championships earlier this decade, the Bobcats employed the cornerback duo of Darius Jones and Deonte Flowers, one of the most talented pairs on the outside in the league. The last few years, MSU has struggled to match similar production as Bryson Keeton was never able to turn his significant athletic tools into dominant on-field performances.
This spring, Bryce Alley, a part-time starter as a sophomore and Braelen Evans, a highly touted but often injured player, have taken turns rotating at one cornerback spot. The other side seems to be Strong’s position to lose.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore out of Billings Skyview notched 24 tackles, including 20 solo stops and broke up six passes during his rookie season. But he has struggled with fitting into the fabric of the team, serving a suspension last season for a violation of team rules. This spring, he was not made available for interviews with the media and Choate consistently rode him before, during and after practice.
“I think the Strong kid has a chance to be a good player but he has to play at a consistently high level,” Choate said following Friday’s Sonny Holland scrimmage. “When he brings the energy and he has the right focus, he plays at a high level.”
“I think it’s a mindset. I always tell him he’s not a freshman anymore. What good players do is they perform consistently well regardless of the competitive circumstances, close to their ability level at all times. That’s part of learning and growing as a player, especially at that position. You give up a play, sometimes it’s easy to go be discouraged. You have to have a short memory out there and be a really, really competitive guy.”
For what Strong lacks in top-end speed he makes up for with excellent size and a quiet toughness that continues to emerge.
“You can tell he’s a guy who’s gotten some live action,” Alexander said. “He’s been throw into the fire and you can see a little bit of confidence brewing in the spring. Going through what he went through as a true freshman will help him. He’s got a bright future. He’s taken some strides this spring but he still has a long way to go.
“He has to be ready to be a guy right now. You can’t be a freshman anymore. He has to be a key contributor to this team.”
Alley is a tenacious, coachable player with two years worth of snaps under his belt but the 5-foot-10, 170-pounder out of Houston has a hard time matching up with big receivers like NAU’s Butler or EWU’s Cooper Kupp. Evans is a 6-foot, 190-pounder with more prototypical size but the Frisco, Texas native tore up his knee in high school and reinjured the same knee during his first winter conditioning leading up to last season.
MSU’s initial depth chart has Strong listed as the No. 1 player at Boundary corner with Evans as No. 2 at the spot. Chris Harris, a 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman with length and skill, is the No. 3 although he took second-team repetitions during both the Triangle Classic and Sonny Holland spring games.
“It’s open for everybody,” Alexander said. “Nothing is going to be settled after this spring. I told those guys that it will be a competitive battle to see who we are going to win with in the fall. The work has not stopped. After spring ball is over, they have to do a good job of separating themselves if they want to have a chance to contribute in the fall.”
Tavon Dodd, a strong, athletic 5-foot-8, 176-pound sophomore from Houston, converted to cornerback this spring after playing tailback his first two years at MSU. He is listed as Alley’s backup at the Field cornerback spot.
“Tavon is good, a competitor,” Alexander said. “He’s a great addition to the room as far as his competitive spirit and his personality. He has the dog you want as a player. It will be special to work with him and develop in the summer time and hopefully like all those guys, they take that summer time very seriously.
“Championships are won in the summer.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
