Bobcat FB Sunday Notebook
10/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
INJURY REPORT: For the sixth straight game, Montana State enters the Sacramento State contest with a new starter on the injured list. QB Cory Carpenter’s ankle injury could keep him on the shelf as the ‘Cats head to Sacramento, but RB Evin Groves may return for the first time since the season opener. FS Marcosus LeBlanc (shoulder) is, like Groves and Carpenter, questionable. DE Paul Bartsch (shoulder) remains out. DE Aaron Papich, SS Ryan Force, and WR Josh Lewis should be full go.
MIKE KRAMER’S TENTATIVE MEDIA AND APPEARANCE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday: 7:15 am – Mike Kramer, KJJR Radio, Kalispell (via phone)
12 noon – Billings Quarterback Club
6 pm – Mike Kramer, Bobcat Quarterback Club, Bozeman
Tuesday: 10 am – Coaches Corner, Holiday Inn
12 noon – Papa John’s Media Lunch
7 pm – Mike Kramer, Bobcat Quarterback Club, Great Falls
Wednesday: 12 noon – Mike Kramer, Bobcat Quarterback Club, Helena
6 pm – Cat Chat, Mike Kramer, hosted by Kris Atteberry, Old Chicago (100.7 KXLB-FM)
Thursday: 12 noon – Mike Kramer at Butte Quarterback Club
Practice is 3:30 pm Tuesday through Thursday, 4:30 pm in Hornet Stadium on Friday
TEAM NOTES
• MSU ended its three-game home losing streak, the team’s longest since losing 10 straight at home in 1999-2001; with Saturday’s shutout win over Portland State
• The Bobcats have beaten nationally-ranked I-AA squads in consecutive weeks for the third time in Mike Kramer’s tenure, making him the third coach to do so and the first to do it more than once
• Montana State has won its first two road games of a season for the first time since 1978
• MSU’s game Saturday is its first night game of the season, and the Bobcats’ current four-game losing streak at night began at Sacramento State in 2004
• The 132 yards allowed by Montana State’s defense is the fourth-lowest opponent offensive output of the Mike Kramer era (the lowest was 112 yards amassed by Portland State in 2003), and was the best defensive effort by a Big Sky team this year
• Montana State finished even in turnovers on Saturday, and remains -6 on the season
• Four players entered the season with double-digit consecutive start streaks intact – Ryan Force at 22, Epikopo King, Aaron Papich and Joe Hirst at 11 each – but only Hirst’s survives intact, now at 17; each of the others have missed games with injuries
• If Jack Rolovich takes over at quarterback Saturday Cory Carpenter will become the seventh Bobcat starter to miss time this year, joining TE Elliott Barnhart, RB Evin Groves, WR Josh Lewis, DE Aaron Papich, LB Epikopo King, and SS Ryan Force. All but Carpenter and Lewis are returning starters, which forced players with little or no experience into key lineup spots.
• The pass thrown by Viking quarterback Sawyer Smith which MSU linebacker Bobby Daly intercepted at the Bobcat 25-yard line was the last play PSU ran in Bobcat territory all day
• Aaron Mason’s first-quarter touchdown (2:58) gave Montana State its first lead in a home game this season after 192 minutes of football
• After allowing opponents to convert 30 of 61 third-down tries in the first four games, NAU and Portland State combined for 5-for-24 on third down the last two games
• After scoring five touchdowns in the team’s first four games, MSU has seven in the last two
• The Bobcat defense has held two straight opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing
• Chadron State and UC Davis combined to rush for 332 yards against the Bobcats in games two and three, while the ‘Cats have limited the last three foes to just 279 yards
• The Bobcats allowed three returns on the seven punts by Jack Rolovich and Tyler Bolton
• The Bobcats pinned PSU inside the 20 twice on punts and once on a kickoff
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEES
OFFENSE: RB Aaron Mason – 5-10, 181, Fr, Imperial Beach, CA
Aaron Mason became the first Bobcat since Ryan Johnson in 2002 to post back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, leading MSU to a 14-0 win over Portland State in Bobcat Stadium on Saturday. Mason rushed for 128 yards, his second straight 100-yard effort, and the first at home since Evin Groves, also a freshman at the time, did so in similar field conditions in last year’s season-ending win over Montana. Mason’s second 100-yarder came in workmanlike fashion, carrying 34 times with a long carry of just 14 yards. He scored on a one-yard run in the first quarter to cap a drive on which he’d gained 31 yards, then caught a three-yard pass to seal the victory in the fourth quarter.
OTHER NOTES: Cory Carpenter’s strange pattern of production continued Saturday – after throwing for 337 yards against Chadron State he combined for just 266 in the next two games, and after throwing for 300 against NAU he threw for just 68 against Portland State… Donell Wheaton caught a season-high nine passes, while the rest of the team combined for just six
DEFENSE: LB Bobby Daly, 6-1, 218, So, Helena, MT
Bobby Daly led a suffocating Bobcat defense on Saturday, as Montana State earned a 14-0 shutout over Portland State. The sophomore registered a team-high seven tackles, including three solos, and turned in the day’s biggest play. With MSU clinging to a 7-0 lead and Portland State facing a first-and-10 from the Bobcat 28, Daly snagged a Sawyer Smith pass to snuff the threat and turn the tide. That play was the last of six straight that the Vikings ran inside the MSU 45, and was also the last play PSU would run in Bobcat territory all day. Daly and his defensive mates engineered MSU’s first conference shutout since topping Sacramento State 20-0 in 2001, and held PSU to just 132 yards of total offense, the lowest total a Big Sky defense has allowed in 2006.
OTHER NOTES: MSU defensive linemen were credited with three sacks Saturday, including the first two of Brandon Hoffenbacker’s career, and applied considerable pressure on the opposing quarterback for the second consecutive week… … Bobby Daly led the Bobcats in tackles for the third time this season… Ryan Force, from suburban Portland, finishes his career 3-1 against his hometown rival, Portland State… Kory Austin failed to break up a pass for the first time all season
SPECIAL TEAMS: RS Kory Austin, 5-11, 184, Jr, Sacramento, CA
Kory Austin returned six punts for 43 yards Saturday, with a long of 17, in sloppy weather and field conditions.
OTHER NOTES: Jeff Hastings remains perfect on the season, converting all seven of his field goals and all nine of the extra point tries… Donell Wheaton can be excused for his near-gaffe on his return of the opening kickoff of the second half (he balked before bringing the kick out of the end zone, almost kneeling at the one yard line) – it was the first kick MSU returned since the Eastern Washington game
MIKE KRAMER’S TENTATIVE MEDIA AND APPEARANCE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday: 7:15 am – Mike Kramer, KJJR Radio, Kalispell (via phone)
12 noon – Billings Quarterback Club
6 pm – Mike Kramer, Bobcat Quarterback Club, Bozeman
Tuesday: 10 am – Coaches Corner, Holiday Inn
12 noon – Papa John’s Media Lunch
7 pm – Mike Kramer, Bobcat Quarterback Club, Great Falls
Wednesday: 12 noon – Mike Kramer, Bobcat Quarterback Club, Helena
6 pm – Cat Chat, Mike Kramer, hosted by Kris Atteberry, Old Chicago (100.7 KXLB-FM)
Thursday: 12 noon – Mike Kramer at Butte Quarterback Club
Practice is 3:30 pm Tuesday through Thursday, 4:30 pm in Hornet Stadium on Friday
TEAM NOTES
• MSU ended its three-game home losing streak, the team’s longest since losing 10 straight at home in 1999-2001; with Saturday’s shutout win over Portland State
• The Bobcats have beaten nationally-ranked I-AA squads in consecutive weeks for the third time in Mike Kramer’s tenure, making him the third coach to do so and the first to do it more than once
• Montana State has won its first two road games of a season for the first time since 1978
• MSU’s game Saturday is its first night game of the season, and the Bobcats’ current four-game losing streak at night began at Sacramento State in 2004
• The 132 yards allowed by Montana State’s defense is the fourth-lowest opponent offensive output of the Mike Kramer era (the lowest was 112 yards amassed by Portland State in 2003), and was the best defensive effort by a Big Sky team this year
• Montana State finished even in turnovers on Saturday, and remains -6 on the season
• Four players entered the season with double-digit consecutive start streaks intact – Ryan Force at 22, Epikopo King, Aaron Papich and Joe Hirst at 11 each – but only Hirst’s survives intact, now at 17; each of the others have missed games with injuries
• If Jack Rolovich takes over at quarterback Saturday Cory Carpenter will become the seventh Bobcat starter to miss time this year, joining TE Elliott Barnhart, RB Evin Groves, WR Josh Lewis, DE Aaron Papich, LB Epikopo King, and SS Ryan Force. All but Carpenter and Lewis are returning starters, which forced players with little or no experience into key lineup spots.
• The pass thrown by Viking quarterback Sawyer Smith which MSU linebacker Bobby Daly intercepted at the Bobcat 25-yard line was the last play PSU ran in Bobcat territory all day
• Aaron Mason’s first-quarter touchdown (2:58) gave Montana State its first lead in a home game this season after 192 minutes of football
• After allowing opponents to convert 30 of 61 third-down tries in the first four games, NAU and Portland State combined for 5-for-24 on third down the last two games
• After scoring five touchdowns in the team’s first four games, MSU has seven in the last two
• The Bobcat defense has held two straight opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing
• Chadron State and UC Davis combined to rush for 332 yards against the Bobcats in games two and three, while the ‘Cats have limited the last three foes to just 279 yards
• The Bobcats allowed three returns on the seven punts by Jack Rolovich and Tyler Bolton
• The Bobcats pinned PSU inside the 20 twice on punts and once on a kickoff
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEES
OFFENSE: RB Aaron Mason – 5-10, 181, Fr, Imperial Beach, CA
Aaron Mason became the first Bobcat since Ryan Johnson in 2002 to post back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, leading MSU to a 14-0 win over Portland State in Bobcat Stadium on Saturday. Mason rushed for 128 yards, his second straight 100-yard effort, and the first at home since Evin Groves, also a freshman at the time, did so in similar field conditions in last year’s season-ending win over Montana. Mason’s second 100-yarder came in workmanlike fashion, carrying 34 times with a long carry of just 14 yards. He scored on a one-yard run in the first quarter to cap a drive on which he’d gained 31 yards, then caught a three-yard pass to seal the victory in the fourth quarter.
OTHER NOTES: Cory Carpenter’s strange pattern of production continued Saturday – after throwing for 337 yards against Chadron State he combined for just 266 in the next two games, and after throwing for 300 against NAU he threw for just 68 against Portland State… Donell Wheaton caught a season-high nine passes, while the rest of the team combined for just six
DEFENSE: LB Bobby Daly, 6-1, 218, So, Helena, MT
Bobby Daly led a suffocating Bobcat defense on Saturday, as Montana State earned a 14-0 shutout over Portland State. The sophomore registered a team-high seven tackles, including three solos, and turned in the day’s biggest play. With MSU clinging to a 7-0 lead and Portland State facing a first-and-10 from the Bobcat 28, Daly snagged a Sawyer Smith pass to snuff the threat and turn the tide. That play was the last of six straight that the Vikings ran inside the MSU 45, and was also the last play PSU would run in Bobcat territory all day. Daly and his defensive mates engineered MSU’s first conference shutout since topping Sacramento State 20-0 in 2001, and held PSU to just 132 yards of total offense, the lowest total a Big Sky defense has allowed in 2006.
OTHER NOTES: MSU defensive linemen were credited with three sacks Saturday, including the first two of Brandon Hoffenbacker’s career, and applied considerable pressure on the opposing quarterback for the second consecutive week… … Bobby Daly led the Bobcats in tackles for the third time this season… Ryan Force, from suburban Portland, finishes his career 3-1 against his hometown rival, Portland State… Kory Austin failed to break up a pass for the first time all season
SPECIAL TEAMS: RS Kory Austin, 5-11, 184, Jr, Sacramento, CA
Kory Austin returned six punts for 43 yards Saturday, with a long of 17, in sloppy weather and field conditions.
OTHER NOTES: Jeff Hastings remains perfect on the season, converting all seven of his field goals and all nine of the extra point tries… Donell Wheaton can be excused for his near-gaffe on his return of the opening kickoff of the second half (he balked before bringing the kick out of the end zone, almost kneeling at the one yard line) – it was the first kick MSU returned since the Eastern Washington game
Justine Lamontagne Interview
Wednesday, June 10
WBB - Montana State vs Portland - Behind the Mic
Friday, March 27
2025 Code of a Champion
Monday, March 23
Spring Football Preview Press Conference
Friday, March 13
