Editor’s Note: Leading up to the 118th edition of the fierce football rivalry between the Bobcats and the Grizzlies, Skyline Sports will provide features on five of the game’s key matchups between Montana and Montana State.
PART I —THE MATCHUPS: Troy Andersen vs. Griz defense
PART II — THE MATCHUPS: Griz offensive line vs. Bobcat defensive line
UM offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach has had to tap into his imagination this year to help the Griz mask an inexperienced front. Rosenbach has often put dual-threat quarterback Dalton Sneed in roll out situations to stress the edges of opposing defenses and use Sneed’s athleticism to UM’s advantage.
And while the numbers have not been as prolific for Montana’s wide receivers as the past few seasons operating former head coach Bob Stitt’s up-tempo spread offense, the talent Stitt and his staff recruited and developed has given UM matchup advantages on the perimeter all season.
“As far as this game, Montana has really great skill players,” Montana State senior captain defensive tackle Zach Wright said on Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be really important for the DBs to be able to neutralize them so our d-line can get to work. They will be a huge part of this game and I’m very excited to see what they can do.”
Over the last two seasons, Keenan Curran caught 78 passes for 1,404 yards and 17 touchdowns. The senior is fourth among the Grizzlies’ wide receiver this season with 31 catches for 349 yards and a pair of scores, each touchdown coming in UM’s 57-14 rout of Southern Utah in Cedar City the first Saturday of November.
Curran’s numbers are a reflection of Montana’s offensive adjustments as much as the emergence of a few young stars. Samuel Akem, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound sophomore who is one of the Big Sky’s most imposing perimeter players, has emerged as Sneed’s go-to target. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native is in line for first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors. He has 53 catches for 732 yards and a league-best 12 touchdowns so far this season, all three the best marks on the Grizzlies.
“The Akem kid is a rising star, a vertical shot threat but he’s not the only target they have on the outside,” Montana State third-year head coach Jeff Choate said. “They have a very good group of wide receivers. He’s just emerging as a guy who can really blow the top off. He’s a matchup problem because he’s so long. He can turn it over, long strider but once he gets down the field, he can separate.”
Over the past four games, Akem has two 100-yard games and has caught exactly two touchdowns in each contest. He has 28 catches for 418 yards and eight scores during that span.
“We’ve just been connecting,” Sneed said. “He’s done a great job of creating separation. Coach Rosy (Rosenbach) has put in great game plans to get him open. And we’ve been able to connect.”
As the fly/jet sweep inside receiver in Stitt’s spread, Jerry Louie-McGee was one of the highest usage offensive weapons in the league the last two years. He earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors as a freshman and sophomore by catching a combined 133 passes for 1,358 yards and six touchdowns. He often served as a decoy or an extension of the run game with his ability to operate bubble screens, jet sweeps and deceive defenses with pre-snap motions.
This season, Louie-McGee has been used more sporadically. His ability to get open out of the slot during the second half of Montana’s 48-13 win over Drake basically gave the Griz the upper hand in a contest in which they led by just a touchdown late in the third quarter. Louie-McGee had 14 catches for 133 yards that afternoon. He has 22 catches since, totaling 40 grabs for 435 yards and two touchdowns this fall.
Samori Toure started just one game as a redshirt freshman. But the 6-foot-3, 193-pound speedster from Portland broke out with 31 catches for 553 yards and five touchdowns. He appeared to be the leader internally to become UM’s No. 1 wide receiver coming out of fall camp. He caught seven passes, including a touchdown, in UM’s 26-23 win over No. 13 Northern Iowa to usher in the return of head coach Bobby Hauck in exciting fashion.
Toure’s high water mark since then is a five-catch, 105-yard effort in UM’s 41-14 loss at North Dakota, the second defeat during Montana’s first three-game losing streak since 1992. Toure has 36 catches for 432 yards and two touchdowns this fall.
The depth provided by the four primary wide receivers combined with the big play ability of true freshman Gabe Sulser (six catches, 89 yards, two touchdowns) and the reemergence of the tight end position — Stitt’s offense did not have tight ends — has helped Sneed throw for 2,369 yards and 20 touchdowns, each the third-highest totals in the league.
“I think it’s a good coaching job because you inherit a system that is not stylistically exactly what you want that also comes with a lot of players that aren’t exactly what you need to have to fit that system,” Choate said. “I think they have walked that line and remained very, very competitive and have consistently improved throughout the year. When they hold on to the ball, they are very dynamic on offense.”
Montana State’s secondary is arguably one of the most improved units on the Bobcats and in the Big Sky. Although MSU lost thumper safety Bryson McCabe, a two-time All-Big Sky selection, to graduation, the addition of transfers safety Jahque Alleyne (Virginia Tech) and Greg “Munchie” Filer III (Compton College) along with the developmental progress made by Jalen Cole and Tyrel Thomas in their sophomore seasons have helped the Bobcat defense rank third in the league in opponent passer efficiency rating (116.2).
“It’s huge when those guys are locking up back there,” MSU senior captain defensive tackle Tucker Yates said. “That gives us so much more time to get to the quarterback. We can bring a little more pressure, we can man-to-man, we can bring bogus pressure if those guys are playing at a high level.”
Alleyne has helped Montana State double its interception total from a season ago by leading the Big Sky with five picks. Filer has been particularly good over the last month, taking his second interception to the house for a touchdown in MSU’s 34-24 loss at No. 7 Weber State.
The Bobcat defense has forced 12 of its 16 takeaways over the last four games. Alleyne and Filer each had interceptions against Weber while Alleyne added a 47-yard return to set up a Troy Andersen touchdown with his league-leading pick last week against Northern Colorado. Junior safety Brayden Konkol recovered a pair of fumbles during MSU’s rally in a 24-17 loss at Idaho State.
“It’s about the finish and to have that mentality of getting turnovers,” said MSU senior defensive end Tyrone Fa’anono, who got his first career interception in the second quarter of MSU’s 35-7 win over Northern Colorado last week. “(Defensive coordinator) Coach Ty (Gregorak) has been harping on us all the time trying to get us to turn the ball over. One thing we are trying to do is to finish every game and we are kind of getting the hang of that now.”
In Pocatello, Cole manned up explosive ISU slot Michael Dean, holding the 5-foot-6 former sprint champion to four catches for 54 yards. He is averaging 18 yards per catch and is second in the league with 10 touchdowns. A combination of Thomas and Cole helped limit Mitch Gueller, the league’s leading receiver with 1,135 yards, to three catches for 62 yards.
Northern Colorado senior wide receiver Alex Wesley, a multiple time Big Sky champion in the 400 meters and an All-American in the race last spring, is the only other wide receiver in the league with more than 1,000 yards. He caught two passes for 14 yards against the Bobcats.
Montana’s wide receiver group includes four of the most talented players in the league, each with a different yet complimentary skill set. UM has scored more than 41 points in five of its six wins with many of those scores coming on big passing plays. If Montana State is to claim its third straight rivalry win, the improvements of its secondary will have to show through at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday.
“They are good at wide receiver and we are much better in the secondary than we have been the last couple of years in our program,” Choate said. “I think that bears out in our ability to play a little more man to man, not have to be quite so conservative, not have to max drop in certain situations because that allows the quarterback to run around and create some problems for you.”
“Personnel-wise, we are better. Those guys will be tested on Saturday. We will have to play well back there if we are going to compete.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez and Jason Bacaj. All Rights Reserved.
