Turnover Margin Improvement Two-Sided Coin for MSU through Two Games
9/16/2016 2:16:00 PM | Football
Relationship between protecting ball, taking it away helps both sides
The visual reminder is always there.
"If you walk past our locker room there's only one stat that we have up," said Bobcat head coach Jeff Choate, "and it's a big board. It's turnover margin. That's what we hang our hat on around here, and we will for a long time."
Coupled with constant verbal reminders such as HOB – "Hands On Ball" – and CPR – "Club, Punch, Rip" – it's hard to watch a Bobcat practice without hearing an MSU defensive coach preaching the importance of taking the football away from the opponent. "That's been an emphasis," MSU head coach Jeff Choate says succinctly.
And through two games, the results have been stark. Montana State's defense leads the Big Sky Conference with seven takeaways through the first two games of the season. To confirm the emphasis on and importance of taking the ball away, Cat fans need look no further than the two big interceptions by John Walker inside the MSU five-yard line against Bryant last week.
The Bobcats' turnover margin of +3.0 leads the FCS heading into Saturday's game against Western Oregon, and the defense's seven takeaways has been a leading topic of conversation surrounding MSU football this week. But the hard work Montana State's defense has putting into practicing the art of the takeaway has positively affected MSU's offense.
"I think all the time swatting and grabbing and trying to rake out (the ball) really helps us preach ball security from the (offensive) side," Bobcat offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said. "Every day our defensive guys are trying to punch it out and trying to go get picks. That makes us concentrate on taking care of the football."
Choate says the relationship between the defense working on taking the ball away and the offense's emphasis on protecting it helps both sides. "I think they do go hand-in-hand," he said. "You get what you emphasize, I know that for sure, and our number one thing in fall camp was that it's all about the ball. It's about taking care of the ball on offense, and it's about taking it away on defense. We put a tremendous amount of emphasis on that, and I think you're seeing it pay off."
Senior running back Chad Newell agrees. "Especially at running back we've always talked about" protecting the ball, he said. But he said the intense scrutiny on that topic has ratcheted up the offense's attention to detail. "Just the camp the defense had working on taking the ball away made us work that much harder."
And that work, Newell says, may just be helping the Big Sky's top-rated turnover defense. "I think us protecting the ball better makes them work harder and get better at taking it away."
Montana State hosts Western Oregon at 2 pm Saturday. Order tickets at 406/994-CATS (2287), or here: http://msubobcats.com/sports/2015/4/3/FB_0403154323.aspx?path=football
"If you walk past our locker room there's only one stat that we have up," said Bobcat head coach Jeff Choate, "and it's a big board. It's turnover margin. That's what we hang our hat on around here, and we will for a long time."
Coupled with constant verbal reminders such as HOB – "Hands On Ball" – and CPR – "Club, Punch, Rip" – it's hard to watch a Bobcat practice without hearing an MSU defensive coach preaching the importance of taking the football away from the opponent. "That's been an emphasis," MSU head coach Jeff Choate says succinctly.
And through two games, the results have been stark. Montana State's defense leads the Big Sky Conference with seven takeaways through the first two games of the season. To confirm the emphasis on and importance of taking the ball away, Cat fans need look no further than the two big interceptions by John Walker inside the MSU five-yard line against Bryant last week.
The Bobcats' turnover margin of +3.0 leads the FCS heading into Saturday's game against Western Oregon, and the defense's seven takeaways has been a leading topic of conversation surrounding MSU football this week. But the hard work Montana State's defense has putting into practicing the art of the takeaway has positively affected MSU's offense.
"I think all the time swatting and grabbing and trying to rake out (the ball) really helps us preach ball security from the (offensive) side," Bobcat offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said. "Every day our defensive guys are trying to punch it out and trying to go get picks. That makes us concentrate on taking care of the football."
Choate says the relationship between the defense working on taking the ball away and the offense's emphasis on protecting it helps both sides. "I think they do go hand-in-hand," he said. "You get what you emphasize, I know that for sure, and our number one thing in fall camp was that it's all about the ball. It's about taking care of the ball on offense, and it's about taking it away on defense. We put a tremendous amount of emphasis on that, and I think you're seeing it pay off."
Senior running back Chad Newell agrees. "Especially at running back we've always talked about" protecting the ball, he said. But he said the intense scrutiny on that topic has ratcheted up the offense's attention to detail. "Just the camp the defense had working on taking the ball away made us work that much harder."
And that work, Newell says, may just be helping the Big Sky's top-rated turnover defense. "I think us protecting the ball better makes them work harder and get better at taking it away."
Montana State hosts Western Oregon at 2 pm Saturday. Order tickets at 406/994-CATS (2287), or here: http://msubobcats.com/sports/2015/4/3/FB_0403154323.aspx?path=football
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