J.P. Flynn sat down at the post-game press conference with a smile on his face for the first time following a home football game in months. Montana State head coach Jeff Choate wasted no time giving his senior captain some good-hearted ribbing following an inspired, yet penalty-filled senior day for the emotional offensive guard.
Flynn wasted no time admitting his mistakes. He knew it was coming. Earlier in the week, he talked about all the memories he’s made at Bobcat Stadium. During his final home game, Flynn was the catalyst for a rushing attack that piled up 258 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry even if he did get called for two false starts and a late hold. None of that mattered after Flynn and the Bobcats earned their first Big Sky Conference win this season.
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“It always feels good when the coaches call your number but not when the refs do,” Flynn said with a laugh. “Three penalties today? Good lord, I think I’ve had three penalties in my entire career. I jumped offside and that holding call at the end of the game. Goodnight, J.P. I had a lot of emotions running through today and Bobcat Stadium is a special place for me so I had to make sure I left everything on the field today. My emotions got the best of me at times but yes, it felt good to plow forward and take care of business at the end of the game.”
Montana State committed a few untimely penalties, including once on a converted fourth down that instead resulted in an illegal procedure and caused MSU to punt while it played chase to visiting UC Davis. But most of the day, the Bobcats overcame mistakes and avoided committing any turnovers for the first time since mid-September in sending their 14 seniors out with a 27-13 win over UC Davis in their home finale.
MSU avoided turnovers by running the ball with authority throughout the game. Senior Chad Newell posted his third 100-yard game this season and seventh of his career by bruising his way to 132 yards and his 31st career touchdown. True freshman Chris Murray had his most efficient day in the read option game, giving and keeping correctly on almost every opportunity. He rushed for 98 yards on 19 carries, including a key 22-yard touchdown.
“I like that style,” Choate said. “We are going to have to be more diverse as an offense when we mature and develop. I think our offensive line did a really nice job today. Chad had over 100 yards and Chris did a really good job of making decisions. When he ran the ball, he ran the ball with more authority, was more physical finishing runs. That’s a step in the right direction for him.”
Newell’s 132 yards pushes him to 631 yards this season and gives him 2,039 for his career. He is 116 yards behind Wayne Edwards for ninth in MSU history despite splitting carries with an array of productive ball carriers during his career and battling injuries throughout his final season.
“Doesn’t surprise me a bit,” Choate said of Newell’s effort in his home finale. “At the end of the day, if you are me, who do you want with the ball in their hands at the end of the day? He’s a first-class young man and he’s a tremendous football player.”
Montana State’s offensive line was a looming question mark entering the 2016 season. The Bobcats graduated four standout players who each started for three and sometimes four seasons, including All-American ironman left tackle John Weidenaar (49 straight starts) and All-Big Sky center Joel Horn.
The group returned Flynn, a 6-foot-5, 317-pound monster who earned All-Big Sky honors each of the last three seasons. But the group had to adjust to its third coach in as many seasons while working in four new starters, including a true sophomore transfer in center Alex Neale and redshirt freshman Mitch Brott at both tackle spots. Junior Monte Folsom was recruited as an inside linebacker and spent time on the defensive line before moving to offensive line late last season. Junior Dylan Mahoney played almost exclusively on the right side last year before taking over for Weidenaar at left tackle. When he went down with turf toe two games into Big Sky play, graduate transfer Patrick Carroll moved into the lineup at right tackle and Brott flipped to left tackle.
The sum total has been solid but sometimes inconsistent play by the group. MSU is averaging 196.4 rushing yards per game and averaging 5.0 yards per carry. But Montana State is toward the bottom of the Big Sky in almost every other offensive category. On Saturday, with Mahoney back in the lineup for the first time in five games, the group played its most complete game of the season.
“The o-line put me on their back,” Newell said. “God dang, how about those guys. I had holes on holes to run through. Big, gaping holes. They were moving those guys, getting great movement. Those guys put the time in and they were ready. So thankful to run behind that group. Having Mahoney back was huge just as far as his experience and the type of player he is. Healthy, he’s an all-conference player and having him back healthy up front was huge for our team.”
Flynn referenced the group’s preparation as a key to the solid performance.
“This week we were able to get a lot of film in and a lot of film together as an offensive line,” Flynn said. “I’m only at six credits so I have the luxury of watching film pretty much whenever I want. I have four-day weekends, no class on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays but that’s not the case for everyone else. So it makes a big difference when you can get four, five six, seven guys going over blitz tape and stuff like that.”
Since the calendar turned to November, Choate has emphasized finding a breakthrough moment to turn the tide as his team tried to snap its six-game losing streak. On Saturday, the Bobcats made several key plays, from sophomore Buck end Grant Collins’ best game at his new position — he played Mike linebacker last year — with 2.5 tackles for loss to junior Mac Bignell’s strip-recovery to shift the momentum in MSU’s favor for good to true freshman Kevin Kassis’ 23-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Cam Sutton on a wide receiver reverse pass.
“I think there were a couple,” Choate said. “The one thing we talked about last night as a team was let’s not talk about getting three takeaways. Let’s get one, not give them the ball and we probably win. Ironically enough, that’s what happened. I think that takeaway was a critical moment. I thought the fourth down stop near the block house end zone was a critical moment. I thought our ability to get the first downs was big.”
Davis entered its first trip to Bobcat Stadium since 2013 with a game plan to control the clock and run the ball. Sophomore Josh Kelley rushed for 99 yards on 10 carries, including a 37-yard gain on a fly sweep handoff out of the slot. The Aggies’ first scoring drive lasted seven minutes, 20 seconds.
Montana State locked in over the last two and a half quarters, eventually winning the rushing and time of possession battles. Davis gained just 105 yards and managed just seven first downs after intermission.
“It came down to third downs and we were very ineffective on third downs in the first half and you saw that change in the second half,” Choate said. “One of the things that occurred was when our defense needed a break, our offense picked them up to give them confidence and a break to catch their breath and talk. That’s team football.”
Montana State held the ball for nearly 19 minutes in the second half.
“It was a big talking point at halftime in the locker room because last week we slipped,” Bignell said. “We knew we had to get buckled down and go to work. It helped us out a lot and helped the offense a lot too.”
“The offense did a good job of holding on to the ball for what seemed like forever in the second half. It felt like we were barely out there.”
During last week’s 38-21 loss at Southern Utah, Montana State defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak came down from his seat in the press box to rip the Bobcat defense with about eight minutes left in the game. On Saturday in Bozeman, Gregorak spent the first half in the press box and second half on the sideline, a place he occupied almost exclusively on game day during his 12 seasons as an assistant at the University of Montana.
“We made a decision actually earlier in the week that he would stay upstairs for the first half and come downstairs for the second half regardless of what is going on in the game,” Choate said. “There’s a lot of advantages upstairs and it would allow him to get into the flow of the game and see what their game plan was and then come down in the second half to provide different energy on the sideline.”
Montana State finishes its season with the 116th edition of the fiercest rivalry in the West as the Bobcats square off with the Montana Grizzlies in Missoula on Saturday.
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
