Saturday, October 8
5 pm
Montana State University
vs
Northern Arizona
Chad Newell
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Bobcats Look to Control Ball, Clock Against Explosive NAU
10/7/2016 6:34:00 PM | Football
Limiting turnovers also key to success Saturday
Montana State football coach Jeff Choate may have taught high school social studies in a previous incarnation, but he's good enough at math to pinpoint one of the problems in his team's 41-38 loss at Sacramento State last Saturday. Specifically, Choate targets the 32 offensive play surplus that the Hornets held over MSU.
"We had to play 98 snaps on defense and I thought that was a factor late in the game," said. "We struggled, and a big part of that was our lack of depth on the defensive line. That came into play in that situation, and we only played 66 snaps of offense. You don't necessarily pay attention to that during the game, but when you look at the stat sheet on the way home you realize that's not a recipe for us to be successful."
That recipe will be sternly tested Saturday, when explosive and athletic Northern Arizona visits Bobcat Stadium. "NAU might be faster than any team we've played up to this point in time, and not just in terms of their tempo but because of their skill athletes," Choate said. "They have excellent skill talent, three FBS drop-downs and two junior college transfers, they have the freshman of the year in the FCS."
Much of that explosiveness shows up on offense. Sophomore Case Cookus missed last week's game with an injury, but Choate said even without its star quarterback NAU's cupboard is far from bare. "You go down the list, they have five guys over 100 yards in receptions and one with 99. That's pretty impressive, those are some very explosive numbers. But that doesn't mean they don't run the ball, because they have a back that averages 81 yards a game and another back that averages 90 yards a game. So they are very balanced on offense and very explosive on offense."
Although Cookus' status is in limbo, a receiver crew anchored by Emmanuel Butler and Elijah Marks and a ground game featuring versatile speedster Kendyl Taylor, who played at Washington while Choate was an assistant coach there before transferring to NAU, give the team plenty of options. "Their offense is their offense," Choate said, pondering whether Cookus' absence changes what the Lumberjacks do when possessing the ball. "I thought they leaned a little more toward the run game against Northern Colorado than perhaps they did in other situations."
That is not likely to change with the quarterback, Choate said. "When I watch them on offense, they're committed to running the ball. I think they do have offensive balance, but there's not a lot of standard concepts – curl, flat, drive, flood. It's get the ball out of your hand quick, get it to your athletes on the perimeter to stretch it horizontally then take shots down the field vertically. They're really efficient and good at what they do."
The mixture of NAU's offensive ability and injury-depleted spots the Cats are working around defensively creates challenges, Choate said. "Certainly tempo is one of the things that concerns me. That can expose our lack of depth and some of the things we've had issues with in terms of injuries on the defensive line. So we have to do a good job getting them off the field and managing ourselves on offense so we give ourselves a chance."
Montana State's offense was productive during much of Saturday's loss at Sacramento State, although it was heavily tilted toward the ground game. That could be the case at times throughout the season, Choate said. "You take what they give you. We had a ton of explosive run plays. I think Gunnar had over 100 yards, Chad had 86, Chris had over 100 yards, we were able to hit some shot plays down the field in the passing game. It was a little bit what they were giving us and a little bit of how we were executing."
The Bobcat offense faces a complex Northern Arizona defense today. "Defensively they're an interesting outfit," he said. "They play a lot of base defense on mixed downs and when it's time to go they bring it. And it's kind of exotic stuff, too, it's not just standard field scrape or inside pressure. They dial up some blitz-of-the-week stuff. (Defensive coordinator) Andy Thompson has been there a long time, that's one of the things that stands out to me."
Montana State's quarterback situation is well-documented, with true freshman Chris Murray exploding for 187 rushing yards and 104 more through the air in Sacramento last weekend. Choate said that both Tyler Bruggman and Murray figure as key elements in the Bobcat offense going forward, but that he plans to manage the situation as he would a pitching staff. "Somebody's going to be the starter, we might need middle relief, and we're nitely going to need closers. How that plays out is a work in progress."
There may not be a set plan for when either player lines up under center. "To say that we're a true two-quarterback system, whether we're going to roll guys by within a series or by series, I don't know if that's the case," Choate said. "It's almost a feel thing, and we have to do what is best for our organization at that moment."
Saturday's game likely boils down to an easy-to-understand concept. "It's going to come down to execution," Choate said. "We've got a good football team coming to town and they're a wounded animal, too. I told our team back in August that more football games are lost than won, and I think that probably relates to this game."
"We had to play 98 snaps on defense and I thought that was a factor late in the game," said. "We struggled, and a big part of that was our lack of depth on the defensive line. That came into play in that situation, and we only played 66 snaps of offense. You don't necessarily pay attention to that during the game, but when you look at the stat sheet on the way home you realize that's not a recipe for us to be successful."
That recipe will be sternly tested Saturday, when explosive and athletic Northern Arizona visits Bobcat Stadium. "NAU might be faster than any team we've played up to this point in time, and not just in terms of their tempo but because of their skill athletes," Choate said. "They have excellent skill talent, three FBS drop-downs and two junior college transfers, they have the freshman of the year in the FCS."
Much of that explosiveness shows up on offense. Sophomore Case Cookus missed last week's game with an injury, but Choate said even without its star quarterback NAU's cupboard is far from bare. "You go down the list, they have five guys over 100 yards in receptions and one with 99. That's pretty impressive, those are some very explosive numbers. But that doesn't mean they don't run the ball, because they have a back that averages 81 yards a game and another back that averages 90 yards a game. So they are very balanced on offense and very explosive on offense."
Although Cookus' status is in limbo, a receiver crew anchored by Emmanuel Butler and Elijah Marks and a ground game featuring versatile speedster Kendyl Taylor, who played at Washington while Choate was an assistant coach there before transferring to NAU, give the team plenty of options. "Their offense is their offense," Choate said, pondering whether Cookus' absence changes what the Lumberjacks do when possessing the ball. "I thought they leaned a little more toward the run game against Northern Colorado than perhaps they did in other situations."
That is not likely to change with the quarterback, Choate said. "When I watch them on offense, they're committed to running the ball. I think they do have offensive balance, but there's not a lot of standard concepts – curl, flat, drive, flood. It's get the ball out of your hand quick, get it to your athletes on the perimeter to stretch it horizontally then take shots down the field vertically. They're really efficient and good at what they do."
The mixture of NAU's offensive ability and injury-depleted spots the Cats are working around defensively creates challenges, Choate said. "Certainly tempo is one of the things that concerns me. That can expose our lack of depth and some of the things we've had issues with in terms of injuries on the defensive line. So we have to do a good job getting them off the field and managing ourselves on offense so we give ourselves a chance."
Montana State's offense was productive during much of Saturday's loss at Sacramento State, although it was heavily tilted toward the ground game. That could be the case at times throughout the season, Choate said. "You take what they give you. We had a ton of explosive run plays. I think Gunnar had over 100 yards, Chad had 86, Chris had over 100 yards, we were able to hit some shot plays down the field in the passing game. It was a little bit what they were giving us and a little bit of how we were executing."
The Bobcat offense faces a complex Northern Arizona defense today. "Defensively they're an interesting outfit," he said. "They play a lot of base defense on mixed downs and when it's time to go they bring it. And it's kind of exotic stuff, too, it's not just standard field scrape or inside pressure. They dial up some blitz-of-the-week stuff. (Defensive coordinator) Andy Thompson has been there a long time, that's one of the things that stands out to me."
Montana State's quarterback situation is well-documented, with true freshman Chris Murray exploding for 187 rushing yards and 104 more through the air in Sacramento last weekend. Choate said that both Tyler Bruggman and Murray figure as key elements in the Bobcat offense going forward, but that he plans to manage the situation as he would a pitching staff. "Somebody's going to be the starter, we might need middle relief, and we're nitely going to need closers. How that plays out is a work in progress."
There may not be a set plan for when either player lines up under center. "To say that we're a true two-quarterback system, whether we're going to roll guys by within a series or by series, I don't know if that's the case," Choate said. "It's almost a feel thing, and we have to do what is best for our organization at that moment."
Saturday's game likely boils down to an easy-to-understand concept. "It's going to come down to execution," Choate said. "We've got a good football team coming to town and they're a wounded animal, too. I told our team back in August that more football games are lost than won, and I think that probably relates to this game."
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