Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
CATS IN CAMP: Day 8 Notebook - MSU Conducts Closed Scrimmage Saturday
8/10/2018 2:48:00 PM | Football
Jeff Choate says Saturday marks the beginning of building his team's depth chart
BOZEMAN, Montana – To this point, everyone on the Bobcat football had a spot. Beginning in the moments after Saturday's closed scrimmage in Bobcat Stadium, things begin to change.
"It's really just been a seating chart up to now," says MSU coach Jeff Choate, "everybody's been getting reps. (After the scrimmage) we've got to put it into a depth chart and push toward that next scrimmage a week from Saturday."
Choate said the bottom line will be the bottom line as the coaching staff evaluates Saturday's scrimmage. "I think it's production," he said. "I'm trying to get out of it healthy and have a pretty good exchange. We'll probably get into that 80 to 85 play range, let the younger guys have a go of it at the end and really set that pecking order."
Specific to the Montana State's quarterback competition, Choate said evaluating the combatants in the context of a game-like setting stands as an important phase of the process. "I think we've got to let them play three downs (at a time), let them have a couple series where we let them get into a flow. If our defense is playing real well and juiced up and get a three-and-out, it's not fair to evaluate a kid (if there's a bad snap or a sack), but by the same token (the quarterback) is the field general. Can you regroup that squad right there and get them to produce for you?"
Choate said Saturday's scrimmage is another step on the journey to finding the team's quarterback for the August 30 opener against Western Illinois, not its end point. " I don't think the competition will end on Saturday," he said. "I'm not going to come out on Monday after a scrimmage and say, 'Hey, by the way, here's our starting quarterback,' I wouldn't anticipate that happening. I think what will happen is that we will tighten up the reps, meaning that (if) two guys have separated themselves they'll get the majority of the reps and let's move forward. Once we get to that point we can make a better decision because we've got a bigger body of work (to evaluate)."
The Bobcats take Sunday off before returning to practice Monday.
EARLY HONORS: Four Bobcats earned mention on Phil Steele's Preseason All-Big Sky team, released on Friday. A trio of seniors earned second team honors – center Alex Neale and defensive linemen Zach Wright and Tucker Yates – while junior punter Jered Padmos joined them. Junior tackle Mitch Brott was named to the third team.
POWERFUL: Brenda Tracy survived a gang rape by four individuals, including two football players, when she was a college student nearly two decades ago. She has dedicated her life to advocating powerfully not only for survivors of similar experiences, but that men can make a difference in creating safe spaces for everyone. She visited Montana State on Thursday, presenting her experience and emotions to the Bobcat football team. "I think it was very impactful for our young men," said Bobcat coach Jeff Choate. "She's very honest and hits you right between the eyes with the reality of what she went through. The message wasn't intended to point fingers at young men in that room, it was meant to tell a story about how that can impact a survivor but also to let them know they can make a difference. I think our kids listened to that, and took it to heart."
LITERAL FAMILY: Every college football program talks about its players being brothers, and in many locker rooms that concept is true. In Montana State's football locker room, it is literally true. Senior tight end Wilson Brott and his brother Mitch, a junior tackle, are first and foremost have been in the program together for four years, but a pair of twin freshmen – T'Rhae and Ty'Rese Gibson – are making names for themselves. "The Gibsons, they're (numbers) 12 and 13, they look exactly alike, they tuck their jerseys in (so the difference in numbers isn't obvious), they're arguing all the time. It's kind of comical."
FIGURATIVE FAMILY: While Choate appreciates brotherhood in a literal sense, he particularly emphasizes the sense of brotherhood created by the common experience of Bobcat football. "That's what we're trying to create. This is their extended family while they're here, whether they're local kids who gain brothers from LA or Florida or Texas or Washington or they're from out of state and get those brothers from here in Montana. That's a big part of the locker room developing and chemistry being right and those guys being comfortable with one another and learning to appreciate their differences. That's one of the awesome things about football."
#GoCatsGo
"It's really just been a seating chart up to now," says MSU coach Jeff Choate, "everybody's been getting reps. (After the scrimmage) we've got to put it into a depth chart and push toward that next scrimmage a week from Saturday."
Choate said the bottom line will be the bottom line as the coaching staff evaluates Saturday's scrimmage. "I think it's production," he said. "I'm trying to get out of it healthy and have a pretty good exchange. We'll probably get into that 80 to 85 play range, let the younger guys have a go of it at the end and really set that pecking order."
Specific to the Montana State's quarterback competition, Choate said evaluating the combatants in the context of a game-like setting stands as an important phase of the process. "I think we've got to let them play three downs (at a time), let them have a couple series where we let them get into a flow. If our defense is playing real well and juiced up and get a three-and-out, it's not fair to evaluate a kid (if there's a bad snap or a sack), but by the same token (the quarterback) is the field general. Can you regroup that squad right there and get them to produce for you?"
Choate said Saturday's scrimmage is another step on the journey to finding the team's quarterback for the August 30 opener against Western Illinois, not its end point. " I don't think the competition will end on Saturday," he said. "I'm not going to come out on Monday after a scrimmage and say, 'Hey, by the way, here's our starting quarterback,' I wouldn't anticipate that happening. I think what will happen is that we will tighten up the reps, meaning that (if) two guys have separated themselves they'll get the majority of the reps and let's move forward. Once we get to that point we can make a better decision because we've got a bigger body of work (to evaluate)."
The Bobcats take Sunday off before returning to practice Monday.
EARLY HONORS: Four Bobcats earned mention on Phil Steele's Preseason All-Big Sky team, released on Friday. A trio of seniors earned second team honors – center Alex Neale and defensive linemen Zach Wright and Tucker Yates – while junior punter Jered Padmos joined them. Junior tackle Mitch Brott was named to the third team.
POWERFUL: Brenda Tracy survived a gang rape by four individuals, including two football players, when she was a college student nearly two decades ago. She has dedicated her life to advocating powerfully not only for survivors of similar experiences, but that men can make a difference in creating safe spaces for everyone. She visited Montana State on Thursday, presenting her experience and emotions to the Bobcat football team. "I think it was very impactful for our young men," said Bobcat coach Jeff Choate. "She's very honest and hits you right between the eyes with the reality of what she went through. The message wasn't intended to point fingers at young men in that room, it was meant to tell a story about how that can impact a survivor but also to let them know they can make a difference. I think our kids listened to that, and took it to heart."
LITERAL FAMILY: Every college football program talks about its players being brothers, and in many locker rooms that concept is true. In Montana State's football locker room, it is literally true. Senior tight end Wilson Brott and his brother Mitch, a junior tackle, are first and foremost have been in the program together for four years, but a pair of twin freshmen – T'Rhae and Ty'Rese Gibson – are making names for themselves. "The Gibsons, they're (numbers) 12 and 13, they look exactly alike, they tuck their jerseys in (so the difference in numbers isn't obvious), they're arguing all the time. It's kind of comical."
FIGURATIVE FAMILY: While Choate appreciates brotherhood in a literal sense, he particularly emphasizes the sense of brotherhood created by the common experience of Bobcat football. "That's what we're trying to create. This is their extended family while they're here, whether they're local kids who gain brothers from LA or Florida or Texas or Washington or they're from out of state and get those brothers from here in Montana. That's a big part of the locker room developing and chemistry being right and those guys being comfortable with one another and learning to appreciate their differences. That's one of the awesome things about football."
#GoCatsGo
Players Mentioned
OT
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TE
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CB
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C
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P/K
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DL
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DT
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