Big Ten football used to be referred to as “three yards and a cloud of dust” back in the 1960s. It was fitting due to the style of football at the time and the natural grass, turned to dead grass, turned to dirt playing surfaces.
Cut to the Big Sky and Montana State University in 2023 where the Bobcats appear to be revolutionizing the run game as we know it before our very eyes. So far, it’s simply called “run the damn ball” and when you’re averaging 7.9 yards every time you do, then why not?
“The yards per carry right now, that’s something I’ve never been a part of,” Montana State head coach Brent Vigen said on Monday after his team rushed for 325 yards on just 30 carries in a 59-19 win over Cal Poly.
“I know there has been some big plays, particularly with (senior quarterback) Sean (Chambers) lately. It seems like every one of the running backs has lent their hand there. And what’s been neat in a bunch of our games is our 2s have really come in and really held up there end of the bargain.”
Last week, even when Vigen put in players like true freshman Adam Jones, the rookie from Missoula Sentinel continued adding to the YPC average. He ripped off a 49-yard touchdown on the first carry of his college career.
“We still had a few starters in there, but that’s what you want to see your next group of guys do. Even at the end, Garrett Coon and Jordan Reed had long runs.
“Our scheme is challenging but more than that, our players are doing their best. That load, with maybe the exception of the South Dakota State game, the load has been spread out and we have been able to have fresh ball carriers and guys really trying to seize their particularly opportunities.
“And, of course, our five guys up front are really playing well. And our two tight ends (seniors Derryk Snell & Treyton Pickering), that is definitely where all this starts, the production.”
Before putting too much thought into that, here’s a Top 10 list of MSU’s run game stats that boggle the mind:
No. 10
Of the top eight players in terms of yards per carry, per the Big Sky Conference official statistics, seven are Bobcats. A couple – Jordan Reed (No. 1 at 14.7) and Garrett Coon (No. 7 at 7.0) – only have a handful of carries apiece, but the rest have played steadily when not injured. Elijah Elliott, Jared White and Sean Chambers occupy the 2-4 spots with 9.3, 9.1 and 8.9 averages, respectively. Scottre Humphrey and Julius Davis are No. 6 and No. 8 at 7.3 and 6.7, respectively. The BSC requires that you’ve played at least four games, so Tommy Mellott (7.4) isn’t listed or MSU would have eight of the top nine.
No. 9
Chambers has scored 11 rushing touchdowns on just 52 carries this season. Humphrey has six TDs on 23 carries. That’s 17 scores on 75 carries or once every 4.5 rushes. As a team, the Bobcats have 25 rushing touchdowns which is on pace to break last year’s school record of 49. Chambers threatened Troy Andersen’s single-season rushing touchdown record of 21 last season before finishing with 19 TDs.
No. 8
Chambers has 30 career rushing touchdowns – currently third on the school record list – despite playing in just 18 games. A year ago, his 19 rushing touchdowns were the third- most in school history and just two short of the record Andersen’s record. Chambers’ 88-yard TD run against Portland State was the third-longest in school history.
No. 7
MSU set team records for rushing yards in a season with 4,366 and average yards per rush in 2022 getting 6.5 per carry. Both of those marks are on pace to be broken in 2023.
No. 6
In 2022, MSU broke the yards per carry average for a season at 6.5 yards per carry, which was 0.8 better than the previous record. Just one year later, MSU is on pace to obliterate that mark with its stunning 7.9 clip. Only three teams (Idaho 9.3, MSU 9.1 and Sacramento State 8.1) in the 12-team BSC average more than that passing the ball.
No. 5
Not only is MSU’s run game improving on a yearly basis, but it’s also improving weekly. After two games the Bobcats were getting 6.1 per carry, then 6.9 a week later, 7.2 after that, then 7.6 and now 7.9. Only one other BSC team averages over 5.0 yards per carry (Portland State at 5.5).
No. 4
With 648 yards on 65 rushes in the last two games (Portland State and Cal Poly), MSU was just two yards short of averaging 10 yards per carry.
No. 3
On the offensive line, which is the main reason for MSU’s success, only two starters (center Justus Perkins and tackle Marcus Wehr) are in the same spots they were in during 2022 and Wehr missed the second half of the season with an injury. Rush Reimer moved from tackle to guard despite being an All-American as a sopohomore on the blindside. Conner Moore took over Reimer’s left tackle spot. And Omar Aigbedion, a former transfer from Army West Point, is a full-time starting guard who holds one of the FCS’s top in-game ratings by position.
No. 2
The run game has been without the services of opening day starting running back Lane Sumner since the first quarter of the first game. MSU has missed Mellott, who ran for 1,071 yards in 2022, from the middle of the second game until this past week (3.5 games). Humphrey has missed the past two games with a leg injury and Davis, who is the starter, missed last week’s game.
And the No. 1 stat about MSU’s run game
The offensive line has two players (Cole Sain and JT Reed) that started a year ago who are on the sidelines with injuries this season. Sain and Reed, along with Jacob Kettels, who started a few games in 2022, Titan Fleischman and center Holden Sampson, who are now listed as backups, might constitute the second-best offensive line in the conference if available and needed.
During the fourth quarters of last four games – with Kettels, Fleischman, Sampson, Jaden Perkins and Tommy Nilson primarily manning the offensive line – the Bobcats have rushed for 392 yards on just 39 carries (two kneel downs), which is over 10 yards per rush.
That’s not the only transition point. Following the 2021 season, MSU lost All-American Lewis Kidd to the NFL and All-Big Sky guard Taylor Tuiasosopo to graduation. Then All-Big Sky tackle TJ Sessions transferred to Cal, all-league guard/tackle Connor Wood transferred to Missouri and multi-year starting center Zach Redd forewent his final year of eligibility.
To accentuate the attrition, longtime offensive line coach Brian Armstrong (2016-2022) took the same position at Fresno State. Vigen hired former Wisconsin and Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Al Johnson.
The offensive, just like the entire offensive unit, haven’t skipped a beat.
“We have a run game where you have to defend us sideline to sideline and that’s not always the case,” Vigen said. “Often times, run games exist between the tackles. Maybe you get a few things off the edge to a tight end side that accumulate, but by and large, our run game is challenging. Then you throw in the sideline to sideline RPO game that we’ve probably done more than anything, I don’t think we get defenders where we want to be.”
