MSU roars into spring Wednesday afternoon
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Bobcats Open Spring Football Camp Wednesday
3/22/2011 11:53:19 AM | Football
MSU begins spring drills on plow-and-play plan
Montana State welcomes 14 returning starters and a half-dozen others with starting experience to the team's spring football camp, but head coach Rob Ash expects to direct much of his attention elsewhere when drills begin on Wednesday.
“Spring camp will be much different this year,” said MSU's fifth-year head coach, who led the Bobcats to a share of the Big Sky title and the FCS Playoffs last fall. “The emphasis will be more on fine-tuning and indentifying which of our new and younger players are ready to compete for playing time.”
Led by quarterback DeNarius McGhee, the Bobcat offense returns nine players with starting experience (eight full-time starters), including five linemen. Senior center Alex Terrien anchors the line, while Leo Davis returns on the right side and Conrad Burbank moves from guard to left tackle. Part-time starting guards Ben Tauanuu and Casey Dennehy, along with starting receivers Elvis Akpla and Everett Gilbert and running back Orenzo Davis, also return.
With experience returning at every offensive position group, Ash said sorting through depth issues stands as a priority. “We need to see what Grayson Galloway can do at quarterback, and see what we have with (running backs) Tray Robinson and Kerry Sloan,” Ash said. “We'll also evaluate our two new offensive linemen (Tyler Thomas and Stephen Memory) to see if they can start for us.”
Six starters return on the defensive side of the ball for MSU. Returning linemen John Laidet (end) and Zach Minter (tackle) join starting cornerback Darius Jones to sandwich a talented group of three returning starters at linebacker. Depth behind Jody Owens, Clay Bignell and Aleksei Grosulak remains a question mark, but not the biggest one on that side of the ball, Ash said.
“We're making a priority of finding defensive playmakers,” he said. “We're going to tweak the defensive scheme some, but the important thing will be locating guys who can make plays, especially at defensive end, where we're evaluating Brad Smith to see if he's ready, and in the secondary.”
Ash will probe two of the program's primary tenets – running the football on offense, and stopping opposing ground games on defense – to see if either can be team strengths entering the fall. “We'll be physical this spring to see if we can run the ball and stop the run,” he said. “Answering those two questions will go a long way to helping us sort through some of the personnel areas we've identified as important.”
MSU opens practice Wednesday in Bobcat Stadium, with weekly practices slated for Wednesday, Friday and Saturday except during the week beginning on April 11, which will be a Monday-Wednesday week. Weekday sessions are slated for 4 pm, with Saturday practices beginning at different times throughout the spring. The Cats take the annual Triangle Classic to Great Falls on April 16, with the scrimmage beginning at 3 pm.
Thursday, July 31
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 03
Wednesday, May 03
