Bryce Sterk
Photo by: Garrett Becker
Bobcat Offense Rises to Occasion Tuesday
8/7/2018 4:48:00 PM | Football
MSU responds to a strong defensive start to preseason camp
BOZEMAN, Montana – The heat rose. The intensity rose. And during Montana State's fifth preseason practice Tuesday in Bobcat Stadium, the Bobcats' offense rose.
"I thought it was a very good day today and I was very, very happy with the way our kids worked," Choate said. "It was very warm, the turf changes things because it's a lot warmer on the turf than it is on the grass. I think our guys offensively had some pretty good focus today. One of the defensive guys, when we went to a punt period after the play-it period, said, 'We can't kick their butt every day.' So they kind of knew that the offense rose to the occasion today and I anticipate (the defense) having a little extra juice (Wednesday)."
Tuesday's practice marked the first full-pad practice of the fall, and Choate was happy with how his players responded. "You put the pads on and sometimes that changes the dynamic, but I think in modern football, especially early in camp, it really doesn't change things that much. We really didn't go live much today except for a little Oklahoma Drill we did at the beginning to set the tone, but I thought it was good work. I thought it was really good work."
The situational work staged in Tuesday's practice "really didn't set our offense up for success," Choate said. "That was by design. We kind of wanted to throw those guys to the wolves. We did four different to-minute situations. In one of them we probably had the ball in field goal range and Troy took a sack, which obviously is a critical thing you can't do in that situation. It's going to be a great learning tool for him and all those other quarterbacks, and the offense as well."
On the coin's flip side, Choate liked the work of his team's defense. "On the other side, the emphasis is how important that (sack) is defensively. If you can get that sack and get them off schedule, whether it's on the first play of the drive or in that middle field goal range, it can change the whole dynamic of the game."
The defensive unit's staunch play when it mattered pleased Choate. "Really I thought our defense, even though they let some things happen in the team periods, in the play-it periods they swelled up in the red zone and did some nice things. There was a lot of really good stuff to learn off of."
Montana State's preseason practices continue at 10:30 am on Wednesday.
#GoCatsGo
"I thought it was a very good day today and I was very, very happy with the way our kids worked," Choate said. "It was very warm, the turf changes things because it's a lot warmer on the turf than it is on the grass. I think our guys offensively had some pretty good focus today. One of the defensive guys, when we went to a punt period after the play-it period, said, 'We can't kick their butt every day.' So they kind of knew that the offense rose to the occasion today and I anticipate (the defense) having a little extra juice (Wednesday)."
Tuesday's practice marked the first full-pad practice of the fall, and Choate was happy with how his players responded. "You put the pads on and sometimes that changes the dynamic, but I think in modern football, especially early in camp, it really doesn't change things that much. We really didn't go live much today except for a little Oklahoma Drill we did at the beginning to set the tone, but I thought it was good work. I thought it was really good work."
The situational work staged in Tuesday's practice "really didn't set our offense up for success," Choate said. "That was by design. We kind of wanted to throw those guys to the wolves. We did four different to-minute situations. In one of them we probably had the ball in field goal range and Troy took a sack, which obviously is a critical thing you can't do in that situation. It's going to be a great learning tool for him and all those other quarterbacks, and the offense as well."
On the coin's flip side, Choate liked the work of his team's defense. "On the other side, the emphasis is how important that (sack) is defensively. If you can get that sack and get them off schedule, whether it's on the first play of the drive or in that middle field goal range, it can change the whole dynamic of the game."
The defensive unit's staunch play when it mattered pleased Choate. "Really I thought our defense, even though they let some things happen in the team periods, in the play-it periods they swelled up in the red zone and did some nice things. There was a lot of really good stuff to learn off of."
Montana State's preseason practices continue at 10:30 am on Wednesday.
#GoCatsGo
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