Saturday, November 12
BOZEMAN
1:30 pm
Montana State University
vs
UC Davis
Senior running back Chad Newell
Bobcats Host UC Davis in Home Finale Saturday
11/11/2016 1:34:00 PM | Football
MSU honors 13 seniors in final Bobcat Stadium appearance
Jeff Choate appreciates every moment a football team has together, from early morning off-season workouts to the daily grind of practice to the exhilaration of entering a stadium together on game day. Each of those opportunities he considers special.
But Choate knows that Saturday's game, Montana State's 2016 home finale, rises above most.
"There's not a lot of forever games," he says, "but this is a forever game for our seniors. They'll always remember the last opportunity they had to go out in Bobcat Stadium and play in front of our home fans. I'm focused and determined to send these seniors out the correct way, and I know we'll have a group of young men (on the team) that feel the same way."
Montana State's senior class has endured a difficult 2016 season, but Choate has nothing but praise and appreciation for the group. "I'm extremely grateful for the group of seniors that we have," he said. "They've never been resistant. They've always come to work with an open mind and an open heart. I think they're appreciative of some of the things we've brought to the program. That's one of the things that makes this even more painful because I have a great deal of respect for these young men and I hurt for them because I want to see them have the success that I think they deserve."
The Bobcats meet a UC Davis team that has traveled a parallel path this fall. The Aggies – like MSU – stand 2-7, although UC Davis has a Big Sky win to its credit. MSU is 0-6 in league play. Both teams have been competitive in most of their contests. Even the teams' statistics point to a close contest today – UC Davis scores 27 points a game, the same amount the Bobcat defense allows.
While the Aggies haven't visited Bobcat Stadium since 2013, the team's personnel and approach remind of recent UCD squads. "They're a multiple formation offense," Choate says, "but they're really pro style in what they want to do. They run a lot of two-back sets, a lot of two tight ends. They're very much committed to running the football. When they push the ball down the field it's usually to (Keelan) Doss."
Mamusamoa Luuga leads the way for the Aggies, averaging 90 yards a game rushing. Joshua Kelley chips in 50 yards a game. "What kind of makes their offense is their two running backs," according to Choate. "They have a little bit different styles of running, but they complement each other very well."
The Aggies defense, Choate says, uses an alignment MSU hasn't seen much of and likes to apply pressure. "They run primarily an odd front, and that's something different. We haven't seen the center covered in a while. They're going to blitz a bunch. They're almost 45% pressure. If you hit a play on them or get in the red zone, you can expect pressure. That's kind of their reaction."
Choate calls the Aggies a physical outfit on defense. "Defensively their leading tackler is their safety, Zach Jones. He has a similar body type to Bryson (McCabe), he's a very similar player. He's a very active in-the-box safety. He's a physical tackler. Their inside linebacker (Nas) Anesi is a very, very physical guy. He produces game in and game out. I really like (Anthony) Bumgart, he's an undersized defensive lineman but he plays bigger than he is. He's very active, a good pass rusher."
Choate has been very pleased with stretches of his team's play throughout 2016, he said. But the success, the progress, is invariable interrupted. "We have these stretches where we practice very, very well, very efficiently," he said, "then we have lulls. And that's kind of how we play in games. We have some very good stretches, then we hit lulls. We have a lack of maturity in how we focus for long stretches in games, and that's shown up in practices."
While Choate can't help but look to the future and ironing out the team's issues on a long-term basis, he always returns to the moment. He comes back to the next practice, the next game. And this week he arrives at this year's 14 seniors.
"I know all those guys are going to be very, very successful men, and part of the reason is because I see how they've handled the situation this year," Choate said. "There would mean nothing more to me that to walk out of the Stadium (today) after a win to help those young men take a little of the sting out of this thing and to set us up for the last week of the season."
Saturday's kickoff is 1:30 pm, and the game is televised regionally on ROOT Sports and nationally on DirecTV's Audience Network.
But Choate knows that Saturday's game, Montana State's 2016 home finale, rises above most.
"There's not a lot of forever games," he says, "but this is a forever game for our seniors. They'll always remember the last opportunity they had to go out in Bobcat Stadium and play in front of our home fans. I'm focused and determined to send these seniors out the correct way, and I know we'll have a group of young men (on the team) that feel the same way."
Montana State's senior class has endured a difficult 2016 season, but Choate has nothing but praise and appreciation for the group. "I'm extremely grateful for the group of seniors that we have," he said. "They've never been resistant. They've always come to work with an open mind and an open heart. I think they're appreciative of some of the things we've brought to the program. That's one of the things that makes this even more painful because I have a great deal of respect for these young men and I hurt for them because I want to see them have the success that I think they deserve."
The Bobcats meet a UC Davis team that has traveled a parallel path this fall. The Aggies – like MSU – stand 2-7, although UC Davis has a Big Sky win to its credit. MSU is 0-6 in league play. Both teams have been competitive in most of their contests. Even the teams' statistics point to a close contest today – UC Davis scores 27 points a game, the same amount the Bobcat defense allows.
While the Aggies haven't visited Bobcat Stadium since 2013, the team's personnel and approach remind of recent UCD squads. "They're a multiple formation offense," Choate says, "but they're really pro style in what they want to do. They run a lot of two-back sets, a lot of two tight ends. They're very much committed to running the football. When they push the ball down the field it's usually to (Keelan) Doss."
Mamusamoa Luuga leads the way for the Aggies, averaging 90 yards a game rushing. Joshua Kelley chips in 50 yards a game. "What kind of makes their offense is their two running backs," according to Choate. "They have a little bit different styles of running, but they complement each other very well."
The Aggies defense, Choate says, uses an alignment MSU hasn't seen much of and likes to apply pressure. "They run primarily an odd front, and that's something different. We haven't seen the center covered in a while. They're going to blitz a bunch. They're almost 45% pressure. If you hit a play on them or get in the red zone, you can expect pressure. That's kind of their reaction."
Choate calls the Aggies a physical outfit on defense. "Defensively their leading tackler is their safety, Zach Jones. He has a similar body type to Bryson (McCabe), he's a very similar player. He's a very active in-the-box safety. He's a physical tackler. Their inside linebacker (Nas) Anesi is a very, very physical guy. He produces game in and game out. I really like (Anthony) Bumgart, he's an undersized defensive lineman but he plays bigger than he is. He's very active, a good pass rusher."
Choate has been very pleased with stretches of his team's play throughout 2016, he said. But the success, the progress, is invariable interrupted. "We have these stretches where we practice very, very well, very efficiently," he said, "then we have lulls. And that's kind of how we play in games. We have some very good stretches, then we hit lulls. We have a lack of maturity in how we focus for long stretches in games, and that's shown up in practices."
While Choate can't help but look to the future and ironing out the team's issues on a long-term basis, he always returns to the moment. He comes back to the next practice, the next game. And this week he arrives at this year's 14 seniors.
"I know all those guys are going to be very, very successful men, and part of the reason is because I see how they've handled the situation this year," Choate said. "There would mean nothing more to me that to walk out of the Stadium (today) after a win to help those young men take a little of the sting out of this thing and to set us up for the last week of the season."
Saturday's kickoff is 1:30 pm, and the game is televised regionally on ROOT Sports and nationally on DirecTV's Audience Network.
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