Tanner Bleskin and the Bobcats head to Great Falls
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcats Visit Great Falls
4/15/2011 10:35:23 AM | Football
MSU plays Triangle Classic in Memorial Stadium on Saturday
It was a throwaway line after a spring practice, but when Bobcat football coach Rob Ash said with a chuckle that his team's offense threw balls to Tanner Bleskin during last Sunday's wind-blown scrimmage to assure completions it spoke volumes.
Bleskin has caught passes in deplorable weather conditions this spring, as he did throughout his freshman season last fall, as he has ever since moving from quarterback to receiver at Great Falls CM Russell High School. But don't try to get MSU's sophomore receiver to say much about what has already happened.
“The easy thing to say is that you're only as good as your next rep,” said Bleskin, who finished fourth on the Bobcat team with 31 catches and 502 receiving yards last fall. “You can be catching them any time, but you're only as good as your next rep so don't get too big a head.”
Bleskin and the Bobcats travel to Great Falls for MSU's annual Triangle Classic weekend, which begins with Friday's banquet (6 pm) and wraps up with a scrimmage Saturday at 3 pm in Memorial Stadium. Saturday morning also features youth football and cheerleading clinics.
The decade-old event is one circled on the calendars for many Bobcat players, including Bleskin. “It's awesome,” he says with a smile. “I like going back to Great Falls, it's a great place to play and playing my home games there in high school was just awesome.”
Bobcat players and fans alike revel in the support MSU's program receivers in north-central Montana. “I think it's great for our kids, especially the out-of-state players, to see the kind of support they have around the state,” Ash says. “They have an impact on people around the state not only by how they play football, but by how they represent the University and the State of Montana. This is a great way for our kids to understand that.”
One of the storylines of the spring has been the emergence of backup quarterback Grayson Galloway in the absence of starter DeNarius McGhee. Bleskin, who built a strong bond with McGhee when both were on the scout team as redshirts in 2009, said Galloway's performance has been admirable.
“You just have to have the right approach to things,” Bleskin said. “Grayson isn't DeNarius. They're both different players, they're both good players, but it's been a challenge. You're used to DeNarius and now you have Grayson, and it's been tough on Grayson stepping in the way he has. Last year he was a scout team quarterback and now he's leading the offense. It's been a growing process for everybody, but I think it's starting to come around.”
When Galloway found Bleskin a couple of times during last Sunday's scrimmage, the Bobcat offense began to click. That is a function, Bleskin said, of individuals doing their jobs.
“You just have to take care of your part of the puzzle. He's started clicking, and we can help him out, he's thrown some good balls that we've dropped, too. We're starting to piece it together, too, the timing, when he throws a good ball we're catching it, stuff like that.”
Kickoff Saturday is at 3 pm.
SCORING SYSTEM FOR TRIANGLE CLASSIC SCRIMMAGE
The following scoring system will be used for the 2011 Bobcat Football Spring Game. The format of the game will be offense vs. defense with either side of the ball having the opportunity to score on every play. We hope you enjoy this scoring system and the 2011 Triangle Classic.
OFFENSE:
TD – 6 points
FG – 3 points
Explosive Play of 20+ – 2 points
2 Point Play – 2 points
1st Down – 1 point
PAT – 1 point
DEFENSE:
TD – 7 points
Turnover – 5 points
Sack – 2 points
FG Block – 2 points
4th Down Stop – 2 points
Safety – 2 points
TFL – 1 point
Stop – 1 point
PAT Block – 1 point
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