Jason Cunningham nailed three field goals Thursday
Bobcats Show Balance in First Fall Scrimmage
8/11/2011 7:19:00 PM | Football
Offense, defense each show good signs
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Rob Ash was conflicted after Montana State's first full-contact scrimmage of fall camp on Thursday.
“I thought that it was very competitive, very balanced,” said Montana State's fifth-year head coach said with a laugh. “It was pretty even, which makes it tough for the head coach. You don't know whether to be happy or upset.”
The 60-play scrimmage featured highlights on both sides of the ball. The Bobcat defense limited the offense to only one touchdown, a nine-yard pass from DeNarius McGhee to Tanner Bleskin on a drive that started at the 20-yard line going in. Otherwise, the defense held the offense to field goal attempts on five other drives, and forced three-and-outs five times.
Ash said that good fundamentals defensively led to the impressive performance. “The defense tackled well today, I thought,” he said. “The defense's job of holding the offense to field goals in the red zone was important to me today. We didn't get a touchdown until the very last possession of the whole scrimmage on offense, so that was a really good job by the defense.”
McGhee, the reigning All-Big Sky quarterback, posted an efficient outing. He finished three-for-five passing for 31 yards with the one touchdown. Most impressively, the Bobcats did not turn the ball over, and the day's only penalty was a false start.
“We had some holes the running backs were able to get through, so there was a good mix (of positives on offense and defense),” Ash said. “I thought both (the veteran running backs, Cody Kirk and Tray Robinson) did well. There's a mismatch in our two line, we're deeper in the two defensive than on offense right now, so that's hard for those guys. I need to get more opportunities for Kerry and CJ to show us what they can do.”
Ash said the balanced nature of the scrimmage should leave both sides wanting more. “I was happy with how the defense held up against a veteran offense very well, that was good. The offense didn't just slice through them, so that was maybe a little bit of a wakeup call for the offense, especially the ones, that it might not be easy sledding all the time this year just because we had a good year last year. But we may have a pretty decent defense.”
In the end, Ash was pleased with the execution by both sides. “We got our plays off on time, we were lined up properly, we got our personnel on and off the field. I was happy with that, especially for the first scrimmage.”
Montana State returns to practice Friday morning at 9:15 am.
SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS
RECEIVING: Elvis Akpla 2-16, Tray Robinson 1-15, Chase Young 1-12, Kerry Sloan 1-14, Shawn Johnson 1- -1, Matt Thibault 2-19, Michael Perryman 1-3, David Dash 2-15, Donny Tudahl 1-10, Tanner Bleskin 1-10-1.
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