GREAT FALLS — Jeff Choate had a list a page long of the missed opportunities by his team that he read aloud on Saturday afternoon.
Montana State’s head coach noted a collection of positives following his team’s Triangle Classic scrimmage in the Electric City. But the message was clear: the 135-minute session was characterized by mistakes and miscues as much as the Bobcat defense’s ability to take away the football.
From redshirt freshman cornerback Will Martel stripping sophomore tight end Woody Brandom after a long catch and run to sophomore quarterback Chris Murray botching an option pitch to senior running back Nick LaSane to junior defensive end Grant Collins’ savvy gamesmanship to thwart the offense’s two-minute drill to uncharacteristic dropped passes by senior Mitch Herbert and sophomore Kevin Kassis, the Bobcat offense certainly let a collection of scoring opportunities slip away.
“What I just told the young men was the defense shouldn’t feel too good about themselves because if our offense takes advantage of opportunities and our playmakers finish plays, there’s probably about four touchdowns that the offense left out there,” said Choate, who posted a 4-7 record in his first season at the helm last fall. “I mean, just blatant drops. We are in the two-minute period, (the defense) blows a coverage, Woody has the ball coming down inside the 20-yard line, we are going to make that field goal. Credit to the defense for punching the ball out and creating a turnover. But that’s a self-inflicted wound.
“Herby (Herbert), one of the more sure-handed guys on our roster, he drops a sure touchdown pass in that back corner. Kevin Kassis had a drop that would’ve been a critical conversion for us in a red-zone situation.
“I was obviously pleased with the production of our defense but the offense had opportunities we squandered by not finishing plays.”
Although MSU’s top two offensive units managed just 250 total yards combined, senior quarterback Tyler Bruggman gained steam as the day went on, saving his two best throws for his last, including a laser to Herbert for the last of four touchdowns on the day.
Murray, while still a work in progress throwing the football, showed once again that he is among the most electric athletes in the Big Sky Conference with a bursting 70-yard touchdown run.
“I thought both Tyler and Chris played very well,” said MSU senior left tackle Dylan Mahoney, the only Great Falls native who participated in his hometown on Saturday. “Chris busting out that 70-yarder, that’s pretty explosive right there. They wanted to say it’s a tackle but I don’t think so. You aren’t tackling ol’ No. 8. He made good decisions with the ball and if he keeps improving, he’ll be a great player this fall.”
Almost exactly a year removed from fracturing his fibula and snapping all the tendons in his left leg and less than a week removed from missing practice with the flu, senior safety West Wilson grabbed the day’s lone interception, picking off redshirt freshman Kamden Brown to end the longest period of the day for the third strings.
“That felt good,” said Wilson, whose parents Bruce and Elizabeth Wilson came from Columbia, Missouri to watch the Triangle. “Just like last fall, got the ball, wanted to score, got tossed to the ground (laughs). My leg is still questionable. I keep thinking I’m going to break one of these and it never happens. The first tackle, I can’t even get out of it. But I’m on the leg press though.”
Sophomore running back Anthony Pegues showed his ability to explode in and out of his cuts during the first fully live contact session to end the third week of MSU’s five-week spring ball schedule. He finished with scrimmage-highs of 10 carries and 43 yards. His two-yard touchdown and Murray’s touchdown were MSU’s two scores on the ground.
“I thought Anthony Pegues had a nice day,” Choate said. “Sometimes when you don’t go live or you don’t get as many turns as you’d like in spring ball, he showed some things to me in live settings, some good vision, finishing runs, it was nice to see that.”
“Anthony Pegues, he finally got a chance,” added Murray. “That’s a great opportunity. I think he moved up the depth chart after today.”
Redshirt freshman Lewis Kidd took his first snaps with the starting offense. The 6-foot-6 converted defensive tackle is up to 285 pounds and battling for one of the two starting guard spots vacated by the graduation of All-American J.P. Flynn and the retirement of senior Monte Folsom last week.
“It’s physical play, that’s what you get on the line and I’m used to that,” said Kidd, who has put on almost 20 pounds since arriving from the Twin Cities. “A little bit different, footwork and that kind of stuff. It’s interesting. I haven’t played it in awhile so I’m still learning, getting my fundamentals down.
“On the inside, you are going to have a lot more help,” the high school left tackle continued. “When you are a guard, it’s a combo block probably 90 percent of the time and that’s great. And I get to pull and I love pulling.”
Redshirt freshman Jacob Hadley earned the first slight leg up in the battle for MSU’s starting Sam linebacker spot with a performance that showed flashes of his unique potential. The 6-foot-6 converted safety has the body and ball skills of a possession receiver, the mass (220 pounds) of a true outside linebacker and Saturday, showed he has the knack of a natural pass rusher, notching two touch sacks of Murray and two other tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
And Collins, finally fully healthy for the first time since his sophomore season in high school, showed flashes of the dominant presence on the edge Choate hopes he can become. The Bozeman product spearheaded an MSU defensive effort that included three takeaways on a blue bird day at Memorial Stadium.
“We brought the energy a little bit more than the offense did today and it definitely showed,” said Collins, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound Bozeman product who had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a tackle for loss during a goal line period on Saturday. “Everyone is flying around to the ball and we are really working turnovers, which is big for us. We’ve been working hard and I always expect the best from us.”
The talented, aggressive hometown product cracked the starting lineup at middle linebacker as a redshirt freshman in 2015. In Choate’s first season, Collins moved to Buck end, a standup defensive end in defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak’s 3-4 defense. It’s a key playmaking spot and Collins’ continued emergence could pay big dividends for MSU this fall.
“Grant is really anchoring the edge,” Choate said. “The biggest thing with Grant in this situation is he has had a lot of shoulder issues, since he was a sophomore in high school and this is really the first healthy off-season he’s had. He’s about 235 now instead of 219 like he was at the end of the season. I think his physical confidence in terms of his strength and body mass coupled with the experience he gained playing the position a year ago, I think he has a tremendous opportunity to be an impact player in this league.”
A season ago, Bruggman won the starting job and retained it for the first six games of MSU’s season. But Murray forced his way into the competition with a 187-yard, three-touchdown performance off the bench in a loss at Sacramento State. Three weeks later, the then 17-year-old took over as the starter and sprinted his way to Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors.
Yet Choate has said multiple times this spring that the quarterback competition, while Murray’s to lose, remains an open battle with MSU’s season-opener at Washington State still months away.
Saturday, Bruggman rushed for a first down during the “backed up” team period in which the offense started inside its own five. He also completed 6-of-13 passes for 115 yards and a six-yard touchdown strike to Herbert, who finished with three catches for 25 yards. He also found Keon Stephens twice for 37 yards, including a 27-yard gain on a beautifully thrown back-shoulder ball on last possession for the No. 2 offense.
“It’s good to see Tyler providing some competition,” Choate said. “I think he threw the ball very, very well today.”
Murray completed 5-of-11 passes for 39 yards and rushed for 61 more, including a 70-yard screaming sprint to pay dirt on a zone read option play.
“Chris’ skill set is different,” Choate said. “All the defensive guys were saying, ‘We tagged off on him,’ and I was like, ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, but you are not making that play on Chris in the open field. That probably is a 75-yard touchdown.’ I’ve seen that one happen a few times. We just have to find the right blend and continue to dial in on what he does well.”
MSU quarterbacks coach DeNarius McGhee is in the process of a total overhaul of Murray’s mechanics. He still looks hesitant when getting through his reads in his pass progressions and has a tendency to take off too quickly. But his athleticism is startling in the open field.
“They weren’t going to get me on that one, that little burst of speed through that crease, I would’ve took it to the house,” Murray said.
“My decision making was good. Making the throws, giving my guys an opportunity down the field, completing the easy passes. Good play, or bad play, you have to go to the next. Mitch, I know he’ll catch that touchdown he dropped. Kevin Kassis, I know he’ll make that sideline play. It’s next play and I know my guys will make it.”
While Bruggman’s fall out of the starting spot was swift and highly visible, internally he continued mentoring and supporting Murray. MSU found a way to win its final two games in the first year of what Choate hopes is a quick three-year re-ascension to the top of the Big Sky.
“That’s what competition is about and competition is always healthy,” Bruggman said. “I’m pushing him and he’s pushing me and as a result, we are making the team better. However we can help the team win is what we will do.”
Redshirt freshman running back Jake Roper caught a three-yard touchdown from Murray for the third score by the starting offense and the fourth overall during one of the goal-line periods. Junior Noah James notched two first downs and rushed for 40 yards on 10 carries overall. Brandom finished with two catches for 32 yards but had the fumble force by Martel, a walk-on from Bozeman initially recruited as a safety. Senior Justin Paige had the long reception of the day, hauling in a 32-yard reception on a nice ball from Bruggman. Kassis had Murray’s longest completion with a 27-yard gain on a post pattern over the middle.
The Bobcats have practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week before taking Easter weekend off. Two weeks from Saturday, MSU will host the Sonny Holland spring game in Bozeman to conclude Choate’s second spring football.
“Get healthy for sure,” Wilson said when asked the main operative for the rest of spring football. “We are all hurt again but that’s how spring goes, usually. We’ve only gone live once which was today and maybe like one period another practice so the Sonny Holland will be nice to really get it cracking on turf. We are looking forward to that.”
RUSHING: Anthony Pegues 10-43-1, Noah James 10-40-0, Chris Murray 4-61-1, Nick LaSane 6-8-0, Jake Roper 5-5-0, Tyler Bruggman 2-5-0.
PASSING: Chris Murray 5-11-0, 39, 1 TD; 6-13-0, 115, 1 TD; Brady McChesney 2-3-0, 32, 0; Kamden Brown 0-1-1, 0, 0.
RECEIVING: Mitchell Herbert 3-25-1, Keon Stephens 2-37-0, Woody Brandom 2-32-0, Justin Paige 2-42-0, Jake Roper 1-3-1, Kevin Kassis 1-27-0, Connor Sullivan 1-4-0
SACKS: Jacob Hadley (2)
OTHER TACKLES-FOR-LOSS: Balue Chapman, Jacob Hadley, Grant Collins
FUMBLES FORCED: Grant Collins, Will Martell
FUMBLE RECOVERED: Will Martell, Grant Collins
INTERCEPTION: West Wilson
PASS BREAKUPS: Braelen Evans, Will Martel
Photos by Colter Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.