The Jackrabbits are hosting a familiar out of conference opponent in #3 Montana State (1-0). They have played each other in the last two seasons in the FCS semi-finals with the home team earning the victory each time. The 2021 Jackrabbits ran out of gas in Bobcat Stadium after a brutal series of road trips while the 2022 Bobcats were pushed around in the cold and ice of DJD Stadium. Montana State returns much of their lineup but does have a number of new faces at wide receiver and on defense. Brent Vigen is back as the head coach and I’m sure he will have his team fired up to avenge the loss from last December.
Offense
The Bobcats offense was explosive in 2022 and is off to a good start this season. They averaged 43 points per game via 311 rushing yards per game and 184 passing yards per game. On 3rd down they converted 44% of the time and in the redzone they scored 84% per of the time but settled for field goals too often (61% TD rate). In week 1 against Utah Tech they scored 63 points and had 638 total yards of offense (407 rushing and 231 passing).
Montana State went with a dual QB system last season and it sounds like they plan to continue with that in 2023. #4 Tommy Mellott (6-0, 209, JR) and #10 Sean Chambers (6-3, 221, SR) formed quite a duo last year with Mellott being named 2nd Team All-Big Sky and a HERO Sports Sophomore All-American and Chambers being named 3rd Team AP All-American as an all-purpose player. At this stage in their careers, Mellott and Chambers are both better runners than passers but they are certainly not BAD at passing either. Mellott passed for 1,698 yards, completed 61% of his passes and threw 10 TDs to 4 INTs. He also rushed for 1,061 yards (6.4 ypc avg) and 13 TDs. He was 8 of 14 for 157 yads and 1 TD against Utah Tech. Chambers passed for 623 yards (60.5% completion rate), 8 TDs to 4 INT and added 845 rushing yards (6.5 ypc) and 19 TDs. Chambers was hurt on the opening drive in December and the Montana State offense did not function the same way. These two were the leading rushers for the Bobcats but there has been an emphasis on getting them to the 2nd read vs. just tucking and running if the 1st read is unavailable.
Gone is Isaiah Ifanse but they played a majority of the 2022 season without him and the room is still loaded with talent including Wisconsin transfer #32 Julius Davis (5-10, 200). Davis rushed for 200 yards on 35 over his three seasons with the Badgers. Davis looked powerful and explosive in week 1 and had 1 TD and also had a 19 yard reception on an end around. Two other new faces had strong games against Utah Tech. #22 Scottre Humphrey (5-11, 207, Fr) had 14 carries for 114 yards and 3 TD including a 47 yard scamper. #3 Jared White (5-10, 200, RFr) had just 4 carries but for 84 yards and 1 TD. White also added a 47 yard receiving TD. Montana State does return #13 Elijah Elliott (5-10, 188, JR), #24 Lane Sumner (5-8, 198, SR), and #5 Garrett Coon (6-0, 195, So) as well. Elliott paced this group with 726 yards (6.2 ypc) and 1 TD. Sumner added 433 (6.0 ypc) and Coons had 307 (6.1 ypc) with 1 TD. Again this is a talented group. Sumner may have got dinged up after a hard hit early in the game against Utah Tech. He only had 3 carries and they all came early. The only person out of this group who had a carry last December was Elliott and he had just 2 carries for 1 yard. I anticipate a much closer game year and Montana State will want to run the ball throughout the game and not just try and play catchup. Elliott and Sumner combined to catch 21 passes for 208 yards in 2022 as well.
The Bobcats have revamped their wide receiver group again in 2023. The one carry-over is #2 Clevan Thomas Jr. (5-11, 194, Gr) who had 22 receptions for 333 yards, and 3 TDs last season. He was Mellott’s top target in week 1 with 5 receptions for 59 yards. They especially seem to have a connection on the back shoulder throw. He is joined by #7 Lonyatta Alexander Jr. (6-3, 202, So) a Washington and Arizona State transfer and #6 Ty McCullouch (6-1, 181, Jr) a Colorado State transfer. These two both missed week one, Alexander with an eligibility issue and McCullouch with injury. Their status is currently unknown. Alexander played in 13 games between his two stops and had 1 catch for 9 yards against Portland State last season. McCullouch had a nice career for Colorado State catching 41 passes for nearly 600 yards and 1 TD over four seasons. In fact, he had 3 receptions for 36 yards when the Jackrabbits defeated the Rams in 2021. One of the best names in the FCS (and a dangerous playmaker), Taco Dowler is out for this season. He was the other returning player with some juice. New faces to the offense will be #85 Aidan Garrigan (6-3, 199, So), #25 Jacob Trimble (6-0, 184, Fr), and #17 Christian Anaya (6-1, 182, Fr). Garrigan and Anaya combined for 2 receptions, 18 yards and a TD last season. #16 Marqui Johnson (5-8, 165) is electric with the ball in his hands and was listed as a running back last season but is listed as a wide receiver this year. He had 4 catches on the year for 32 yards and rushed for 418 yards on 32 carries (13.1 ypc) and had 7 TDs. He did not record any stats in week 1.
The Bobcats do have an excellent tight end in #80 Treyton Pickering (6-4, 246, SR) and h-back #8 Deryk Snell (6-2, 240 Sr). Pickering had 19 receptions for 311 yards and 1 TD while Snell added 22 receptions for 324 yards and 3 TDs. These are two good players who the Jacks will have to account for. #87 Ryan Lonergan (6-4, 241) added 1 reception for 45 yards against Utah Tech and appears to be another big bodied weapon for this offense.
The offensive line for Montana State had a bad day against the Jackrabbits in December. This group will want to get revenge after getting bullied in the snow. They only gave up 18 sacks total in 2022 but 4 of them were against the Jacks! The Bobcats also averaged 6.5 ypc last season and that does not happen with out a good offensive line to clear the way. From left to right they go #72 Conner Moore (6-5, 306, RFr), #63 Rush Reimer (6-5, 300, Jr), #65 Justus Perkins (6-0, 282, Jr), #68 Omar Aigbedion (6-3, 308, So), and #76 Marcus Wehr (6-2, 292, Jr). In a couple of interesting moves, Moore appears to have beaten Reimer for the left tackle job where Reimer was an All-American. Aigbedion beat out #55 JT Reed (6-3, 277, Jr) who was the starter in 2022. Reed did not dress for the season opener due to injury so we do not know his status currently. This is a talented group and it will be interested to see if they try something different after really struggling against the Jacks in the previous matchup.
Defense
The Bobcats play a 4-2-5 defense that is built to stop the passing offenses of the Big Sky. They allowed a concerning 26.64 ppg in 2022 and opponents rushed for 140 yards per game and passed for 220 ypg. However, they were excellent on 3rd down where opponents converted just 35.16% of the time. In the playoff matchup, SDSU converted 5 of 9 3rd down attempts. They also recorded 31 sacks for a loss of 192 yards! Finally, opponents converted on 28 of 31 trips in the redzone including 22/31 touchdowns (71%).
The defensive line has plenty of experience and is led by #95 Sebastian Valdez (6-3, 291, Jr). Valdez has really good quickness and was a 1st Team All Big-Sky selection. He recorded 44 tackles, 10 TFL, 7.5 sacks, had 2 PBUs, 3 QBH, and 2 forced fumbles. The guy is a wrecking ball in the middle! #92 Black Schmidt (6-2, 292, Jr) is also back in the starting line up after recording 23 tackles, 4 TFL, 3 sacks, and 4 QBH in 2022. The ends are #10 Brody Grebe (6-3, 248, Jr) and #98 Ben Seymour (6-2, 233, Sr). Grebe had 30 total tackles, 5 TFL, 3 sacks, and 3 QBH while Seymore added 34 tackles, 6 TFL, 2 Sacks, and 3 QBH as well. These starting four are certainly able to get after the quarterback effectively! in reserve roles, #11 Kenneth Eiden IV (6-1, 247, So), #94 David Alston (6-4, 257, Sr) and #50 Zach Black (6-4, 271, So) played well for MSU. Eiden was especially active recording 38 total tackles, 8 TFL, and 4 sacks. Alston, a Nebraska transfer, 8 had tackles and 2 sacks while Black had 10 tackles and 2 for loss. This group is not huge but they are active and quick! Eiden and Alston really looked good against Utah Tech and made it really difficult for the Trailblazer QBs to feel comfortable in the pocket.
#30 Danny Uluilakepa (6-1, 220, Jr) is the man in the middle and was the second leading tackler for MSU in 2022. He had 81 stops, 2 INT, and 3 PBU. He missed some time last season due to injury or his stats would have been even better! #41 Nolan Askelson (6-1, 224, SR) played a bunch last season and started 3 games and was 4th on the team in tackles with 64. He added a sack, and 1 INT and 2 PBU from his will position. #43 McCade O’Reilly (6-0, 214) is a key reserve and he had 13 tackles last season in limited opportunities. His older brother Callahan, led the defense last season.
The secondary is where there has been some turnover compared to what we saw in December. The corners are #6 Miles Jackson (5-11, 194, Jr), #9 Simeon Woodard (5-10, 173, Jr), #1 Andrew Powdrell (5-10, 164, FR), and #4 Jon Johnson (6-0, 171, Jr). Woodard is key hold-over from 2022 when he had 49 tackles, 4 TFL, and 1 INT. Jackson has played in 22 games the last two seasons combined but mostly as a special teams ace. Powdrell is a highly regarded recruit out of Texas and Johnson is a transfer from El Camino Juco. Lots of unknowns in this group and in week 1 they certainly looked like a group that needs more time to gel! The safety/nickel spot belongs to Level Price (5-8, 184, Sr) after the graduation of All-American Ty Okada. Price had 15 tackles and 2 PBUs last season from a reserve role. In week one he led the team in tackles with 7 including a TFL. At safety, #26 Ryland Ortt (6-1, 206) played in just 6 games last season due to injury. However, he still managed 34 tackles, 1 INT, and 2 PBU. #2 Dru Polidore (6-1, 181, So) played in 12 games and had 22 tackles and 2 TFL. #18 Kendric Bailey (6-1, 206, Sr) played in 8 games and had 23 tackles, and 2 PBU. I’m very curious to see how this revamped secondary looks for the Bobcats. It may be a group that improves on the group from last season or it may need some time to gel. We’ll find out on Saturday!
Special Teams
The Bobcats have entirely different kickers/punter in 2023. #93 Brendan Hall (6-9, 232) is handling both duties as a combo guy. Hall is an SMU transfer. He was excellent there and I have no idea why he transferred to MSU as he played as both a Freshman and Sophomore. He had 169 kickoffs over two years and 97 of those were touchbacks. His freshman year he also punted and had 36 attempts for a 42 yard average. He had a long of 67 that year, landed 9 inside the 20 and 5 traveled 50+ yards. This guy sounds like a weapon for MSU! He has not attempts any PATs or FGs in his career.
The return men for Montana State are both dangerous. Marqui Johnson is one of the best kickoff return specialists in the country and will provide a challenge for the Jackrabbit return units. Johnson had a 31 yard average last season on 28 returns and 1 TD. Ty McCullouch is also listed as the punt returner. It doesn’t appear that he handled these duties at Colorado State. McCullouch did not play in week one and Derryk Snell filled in. I’m curious what MSU does if McCullouch can’t go this week.
Prediction
I think the Jacks win this one but it will be a true test. Montana State is much better than they showed last season and is certainly healthier than the team that ventured to Brookings. I think Montana State will be ultra motivated to prove they belong in the same tier as the Jacks. SDSU must be ready to go from the first whistle. I think this could be a high scoring game and could see a score like 38-24 be a realistic outcome.
Go Jacks!
Matt
Outstanding coverage of the visiting team. Well done sir. Scottre Humphrey was electric in the first game. Clearly the leader in (an absolutely stacked) RB room. MSU’s 4th RB could start on any Big Sky team! When MCullough gets back this offense will be one of the best in the nation. LB and DB’s are clearly the holes for MSU. Injury plagued and undersized at backer. DBs should actually be better than last year! Expect Taco Dowler’s twin brother Caden to have a big impact at Safety this week! It’s the only thing you missed.
Wow. That analysis and write-up was spot on perfect. We have nothing in the local sports writer’s circle in Bozeman that can hold a candle to this – well done.