Saturday, September 11
Pullman, WA
4:00 PT
Montana State University
at
Washington State
Everett Gilbert and the Bobcats face Washington State on Saturday at 5 pm MT.
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
MSU Game Notes vs. Washington State
9/10/2010 7:51:01 AM | Football
Bobcats travel to Pullman to face Pac 10 foe
Montana State takes a big step up in competition level Saturday, visiting Martin Stadium in Pullman for a 5 pm MDT/4 pm PDT contest against Pac 10 foe Washington State. The Cougars lost their opener at Oklahoma State last weekend, 65-17 in Stillwater. The Bobcats rushed for 287 yards in MSU's season-opening win against Fort Lewis. Four Bobcats rushed for 50 or more yards, while the Bobcat defense held FLC to just eight first downs.
QUITE A VIEW
Montana State's game at Washington State Saturday is available throughout the state via Fox Sports Northwest on alternative channels: on Bresnan cable in Montana - channel 63 in Anaconda, 2 in Billings, 22 in Bozeman, 6 in Butte, 63 in Deer Lodge, 63 in Dillon, 43 in Great Falls, 15 in Hamilton, 20 in Helena, 43 in Havre, 6 in Kalispell, 22 in Livingston, 13 in Missoula and 21 in Polson; on Mid-Rivers in Montana - channel 59 in Lewistown, 62 in Glendive, 62 in Baker, and 62 in Sidney.
QUITE A VIEW, PART II
All eight of Montana State's games televised statewide on Max Media stations (listed in attachment), as well as this week's game on FSNW, are available in High Definition (HD). All 11 Bobcat games are televised this season, the most substantial television package in the league of which a majority of games are available in HD.
THIS WEEK'S GAME
KICKOFF: 5:05 pm MDT/4:05 pm PDT
SITE: Pullman, WA
STADIUM: Martin Stadium
RADIO: Bobcat Radio Network (Jeff Lasky, Dan Davies, Tyler Wiltgen)
TELEVISION: Fox Sports NW (Greg Heister, Jason Gesser, Jen Mueller)
FOR OPENERS
• The Bobcats were 2-6 against Paul Wulff during his eight seasons as Eastern Washington's head coach, including losses in the last five straight meetings
• Montana State is 24-4 when positive or even in turnover margin since the beginning of 2006, but just 5-15 when finishing a game negative in turnovers.
• Rob Ash is 0-3 in road openers at Montana State, with all three of those contests against FBS opponents
STADIUM STUFF
• The Bobcats are 0-7 in Pullman's Martin Stadium (0-6 against WSU, 0-1 against Idaho)
• The 2010 season is the first in MSU history that the Bobcats have played all 11 games on artificial turf
BIG SKY BULLET POINTS
• Montana State has led the Big Sky in total defense the last two seasons
HIGHLIGHTS
• Rob Ash joins Herb Agocs as MSU's only coaches to begin their Bobcat careers with three straight winning seasons
• Freshmen or sophomores caught 10 of MSU's 17 completed passes Saturday, and freshmen combined to rush for 121 yards
• MSU scored on all six of its red zone trips last week, including five touchdowns
STREAKS
• Montana State owns eight consecutive winning seasons, one away from the best string in school history (1956-64)
• WR Everett Gilbert has caught at least one pass in each of his 12 career games
• RT Mike Person has started 24 straight game on the Bobcat offensive line
MILESTONES
• Jason Cunningham's 28 career field goals is three from MSU's career top 10 list
• CJ Palmer's 13 career rushing touchdowns is five from MSU's career top 10
SHINING
• WR Elvis Akpla caught three touchdown passes in 2009, and added two to that total on Saturday
• LB Aleksei Grosulak led the team with six tackles in his Bobcat debut last week
• K Jason Cunningham is 28-for-38 in his career on field goals
FOUR AT A TIME
Montana State's four-man battle royale for running back honors resulted in a productive day on the ground in the season-opening win over Fort Lewis. The Bobcats rushed for 287 yards, with four players gaining at least 50 yards on the ground. The last time four Bobcats combined for that kind of production was against Portland State in 2008, when four players gained at least 45 yards.
Dandy Debuts
Denarius McGhee threw for 178 yards in Saturday's win over Fort Lewis on 11-for-17 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions. McGhee's game stands as the fourth-highest passing total by a freshman starter in his Bobcat debut, but McGhee is along in throwing no interceptions in more than 15 attempts.
More of the Turnover Tale
Montana State's record when...
Positive in Even in Negative in
TO Margin TO Margin TO Margin
2010 1-0 0-0 0-0
2009 4-0 1-1 2-3
2008 4-0 0-0 3-5
2007 5-0 1-1 0-4
2006 5-1 3-1 0-3
2002-05 11-5 11-6 7-11
Turnover of a Different Sort
Jason McEndoo has begun each of his eight seasons as Bobcat O-line coach with a different lineup than that with which he finished spring drills. This year's lineup change comes because Leo Davis and Conrad Burbank missed spring drills. Still, McEndoo has presided over some impressive iron man streaks. Brent Swaggert, Peder Jensen and Jeff Hansen each started at least 40 games for the Bobcats. Mike Person could also reach that level.
Freshtastic
Freshmen accounted for four of Montana State's eight touchdowns in the opener.
The Rush on Rushing
Montana State's 287 rushing yards and 532 total yards both stand as Big Sky-leading marks after one week of play, although each of the top four schools in both categories played non-Division I foes.
Some Fresh Offense
Montana State's offense takes a youthful turn this season, when three freshmen (QB Denarius McGhee, RB Cody Kirk, WR Tanner Bleskin) and two sophomores (WR Elvis Gilbert, OG Ben Tauanuu) start. In spite of returning eight starters from 2009, the Bobcats start only three seniors - OT Mike Person, TE Kyle Begger, and WR Julius Lloyd.
Opening Up Young
Montana State's defensive depth chart features 10 players in the top 22 that are either freshmen or sophomores. In Saturday's opener redshirt freshman Aleksei Grosulak led the team in tackles, and five other Bobcat freshmen registered at least one defensive tackle.
D.O.'s FF
When Dan Ogden stripped Justin Johnson in the first quarter Saturday - a fumble which Jordan Craney recovered to set up a Bobcat touchdown - it marked the first forced fumble of the preseason All-America's college career.
Talkin' Turnovers
Montana State opened the season +1 in turnover margin
The Rush to Judgment
Montana State led the Big Sky in rush defense with 82.8 yards a game allowed in 2009, 60.6 against conference opponents. The Bobcats opened 2010 allowing Fort Lewis just 22 net rushing yards.
More Rushing Remarks
Since the beginning of the 2008 season, MSU has allowed its three FBS opponents to rush for 167.7 yards per game, but has held FCS foes to 47.9 yards (719 total) in 15 games and its three non-DI foes 34.0 yards per game (102 total).
Opening
Since the 2008 opener, Idaho State is the only Bobcat opponent to score on its first drive of the game. The Bengals marched 82 yards in 7:35 to grab a 7-0 lead, and led 10-3 late in the half before MSU exploded for 17 points in the last 4:07.
A Long Way to Go
Since stepping into the kickoff role in MSU's third game of 2009, Jason Cunningham has pinned the opponent at or inside the 20-yard line 18 times on 49 kickoffs. Last season, Cunningham produced nine touchbacks and three other kickoffs that pinned the opponent inside the 20 on his 39 kickoffs. In the 2010 season opener, Cunningham drilled three touchbacks and three other kicks that pinned Fort Lewis inside the 20 on his 10 kickoffs.
Pins
Fort Lewis began 13 drives in Saturday's season opener, all on either punts or kickoffs. The Skyhawks' average starting field position was its own 21 yard line, and four of the team's drives began inside its own 20. Jason Cunningham pinned FLC inside the 20 three times on kickoffs, while Rory Perez got into the act with one punt pin.
No Returns
MSU's freshman punter Rory Perez punted three times in his Bobcat debut. Fort Lewis wasn't able to return any of those punts, due in large part to Perez's impressive hang time.
Long Distance Kicking
Jason Cunningham is the only Bobcat to nail two 50-yard field goals in one season. His seven field goals of 40 yards or longer is fourth in school history.
Block Party
From 1999-2006, Montana State blocked a total of eight kicks, and in MSU's recorded history has topped four blocks in a season only twice (six in 1990, and nine in 1984). Here is a look at the block-party-on-wheels that has been the Rob Ash Era:
More on Blocks
MSU has allowed six blocked kicks since the beginning of the 2008 season, five by FBS schools. Sac State is the only FCS school to block a Bobcat kick in the past two seasons.
Game-Winner
Jason Cunningham's third field goal vs. Northern Arizona in 2008, a 38 yarder with 1:24 to play, marked his first college game-winner. He tied the USD game in 2009 with a 21-yarder in the last minute.
2010 Montana State Depth Chart
Offense
LEFT TACKLE
72 Mike Person*** 6-5 295 Sr&
70 Killian Fitzpatrick 6-8 285 RFr&
LEFT GUARD
57 Casey Dennehy** 6-1 273 So&
71 Jesse Hoffmann** 6-4 286 Sr&
CENTER
61 Alex Terrien** (TARE-ee-unh) 6-4 291 So&
56 Shaun Sampson 6-0 249 So&
RIGHT GUARD
62 Ben Tauanuu* (tau-uh-NOO-ooh) 6-4 317 So&
71 Jesse Hoffmann** 6-4 286 Sr&
RIGHT TACKLE
50 Leo Davis* 6-4 271 Jr&
75 Andrew Verlanic (vurr-LANN-ick) 6-4 276 So&
QUARTERBACK
9 Denarius McGhee (duh-NAIR-ee-us) 6-0 197 RFr&
12 Cody Kempt* 6-2 220 Jr+
RUNNING BACK
20 CJ Palmer* 6-0 235 Jr
25 Cody Kirk 6-0 235 RFr&
8 Orenzo Davis (ore-ENN-zoe) 5-9 185 Jr+
W RECEIVER
14 Everett Gilbert* 5-9 177 So
6 Gianni Carter (jee-AW-nee) 6-1 197 RFr&
X RECEIVER
86 Tanner Bleskin 6-3 210 RFr&
1 Elvis Akpla (ACK-pluh) 6-1 185 Jr&+
Z RECEIVER
82 Julius Lloyd 6-0 184 Sr+
10 Kruizz Siewing* (Cruise See-wing) 5-10 182 So&
TIGHT END
81 Kyle Begger** 6-2 245 Jr&
88 Shane Robison* (ROB-isson) 6-5 245 So&
Defense
BANDIT
48 Dustin O'Connell*** 6-2 245 Sr&
34 Preston Gale 6-2 239 RFr&
TACKLE
90 Dan Ogden*** 6-0 270 Sr
96 Zach Minter* 6-1 265 So
NOSE 45 Jason D'Alba* (dee-AL-buh) 6-2 277 Sr&+
98 Christian Keli'i* (kuh-LEE-ee) 6-0 282 So
END 49 Caleb Schreibeis* (SHRY-bice) 6-3 245 So&
11 John Laidet** (luh-DETT) 6-5 250 Jr&+
SAM 44 Aleksei Grosulak (uh-LECK-see GROSS-uh-lack) 5-10 215 RFr&
9 Roger Trammell (truh-MELL) 6-1 230 Jr+
MIKE 42 Clay Bignell** 6-2 236 Jr&
44 Aleksei Grosulak (uh-LECK-see GROSS-uh-lack) 5-10 215 RFr&
WILL 23 Jody Owens* 6-1 214 So&
59 Tanner Ripley*** 6-1 214 Sr&
BOUNDARY 26 Arnold Briggs ** 5-10 185 Sr&
CORNER 8 Zach Coleman* 5-10 175 So&
OR 17 Sean Gords 5-10 185 Fr
FREE SAFETY
22 Michael Rider*** 5-11 196 Sr&
5 Joel Fuller* 6-0 200 So
ROVER 7 Jordan Craney*** (CRAY-nee) 6-1 205 Sr
32 Anthony Cosme-Peko* (COZZme-PECK-oh) 5-11 209 Sr+
31 Steven Bethley 5-11 220 Fr
FIELD 13 Darius Jones* (DARE-ee-us) 5-10 167 So
CORNER6 Heath Howard 5-10 179 So&
OR 2 Chris Wilson 6-2 179 RFr&
*-number of letters earned
&-player used redshirt year
+-transferred to MSU
KICKS 15 Jason Cunningham** 6-1 162 Jr
PUNTS 18 Rory Perez 6-2 180 Fr
RETURNS 82-Julius Lloyd, 1-Elvis Akpla, 14-Everett Gilbert
SNAPS: 65-Tim Garcia HOLDER: 19 Rick Haluszka
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