Saturday, October 26
Grand Forks, ND
11 a.m. MT
Montana State University
at
North Dakota
Photo by: Garrett Becker
GAME #9: Bobcats Host 'Improving' Southern Utah Squad Saturday at 12 Noon
10/31/2019 4:17:00 PM | Football
MSU looks to get back on winning track
BOZEMAN, Montana – When Jeff Choate looks at Southern Utah, he doesn't see a 2-7 football team.
After a 59-34 thrashing of Idaho State that came on the heels of close losses to two nationally-ranked teams, Choate sees something entirely different. "I think they're a dangerous team with a lot of momentum," Montana State's fourth-year coach says of the Thunderbirds (2-7 overall, 1-4 in Big Sky play). His Bobcats (5-3 overall, 2-2 Big Sky) host SUU today.
And while Southern Utah enters this week's game with some mojo, the Bobcats have dropped two straight games and look to get back on the winning track. "I think our guys are into familiar territory, if you will," he says of a squad that dropped consecutive mid-season games a year ago before rallying to finish 8-5 and qualify for the FCS Playoffs. "I think our guys kind of get that sometimes you've got to wait for it to get hard, because when it gets hard that's when other people start to fall off. You've got to have that toughness, that edge, and start to grab a gear and move forward."
The Bobcats held North Dakota to 16 points a week ago, but could only manage 12. Getting better, Choate says, remains job one. "We have our deficiencies, without a doubt, but so does every single team. Every single team's got an Achilles heel, they've got flaws. Right now you've got Sac State and Weber that are the cream of the crop in this league and it's a dog fight for everybody else who wants the opportunity to play post-season football. There's three or four teams, or even as many as five, that are still in that mode. There's a lot of football to be played. We've got to improve, without a doubt, but really what we have to do is play to win."
In Southern Utah, the Bobcats face a team that has scored at least 25 points in three of their last four games, and which has improved its scoring output in two straight. The Thunderbirds scored a season-high 59 points against Idaho State last Saturday. Quarterback Chris Helbig triggers the SUU offense, while Lance Lawson has 67 catches for 634 yards and three touchdowns. "(Helbig) has gotten better and better as the year's gone on," Choate said. "He's identified who he's comfortable with. (Lawson) is a spark for them on offense in a variety of ways. They've started to run the quarterback in the plus-one run game, designed runs, and that's really helped them and helped their offense start to gel. They play a variety of guys at running back but they're all capable players. (Zach Larson), the center, is one of the best offensive linemen in the country over the last couple of years."
Montana State's offense is likely to face a lot of different looks from Southern Utah, according to Choate. "On defense they're really kind of multiple, but we see a different defense anyway every week," he said. "The exception is a North Dakota because they're so aggressive anyway. This isn't a team that on paper has a high blitz percentage, but if you're watching us you probably go, 'Bring (pressure) as much as you possibly can and see if they have an answer for it.' Their base is a 4-3, you'll see them play 4-2-5 nickel against lighter set teams, they'll get into some odd stack at times. They're more multiple in their coverage looks than they are in the front. Not a heavy blitz team, but a team that has improved over the last three weeks playing really good competition."
While Montana State's run game provided its usual production in last week's 16-12 loss at North Dakota, the Bobcats didn't throw the ball effectively. "Clearly we've got to be more explosive on offense," Choate said, but emphasized that he continues to believe in this Bobcat team. "I have a lot of confidence – a lot of confidence – in our group. We have some tremendous senior leaders, I like our captains, I like the toughness of this group, I like how we're playing defense right now. I have total confidence in this group to go achieve what we still have in front of us."
Montana State's final four games of the regular season provide the opportunity to lean on the core traits the program has built during his time in charge, Choate said. "Now it's about toughness, it's about discipline, it's about passion, it's about competitiveness. That's what we have to hang our hat on."
And most importantly, it's about treating the next task as the most important. "It's a one-game-at-a-time mentality," he said.
Kickoff is 12 noon in Bobcat Stadium. The game airs on ROOT Sports Northwest on cable systems across Montana, and on DirecTV's Audience Network.
#GoCatsGo
After a 59-34 thrashing of Idaho State that came on the heels of close losses to two nationally-ranked teams, Choate sees something entirely different. "I think they're a dangerous team with a lot of momentum," Montana State's fourth-year coach says of the Thunderbirds (2-7 overall, 1-4 in Big Sky play). His Bobcats (5-3 overall, 2-2 Big Sky) host SUU today.
And while Southern Utah enters this week's game with some mojo, the Bobcats have dropped two straight games and look to get back on the winning track. "I think our guys are into familiar territory, if you will," he says of a squad that dropped consecutive mid-season games a year ago before rallying to finish 8-5 and qualify for the FCS Playoffs. "I think our guys kind of get that sometimes you've got to wait for it to get hard, because when it gets hard that's when other people start to fall off. You've got to have that toughness, that edge, and start to grab a gear and move forward."
The Bobcats held North Dakota to 16 points a week ago, but could only manage 12. Getting better, Choate says, remains job one. "We have our deficiencies, without a doubt, but so does every single team. Every single team's got an Achilles heel, they've got flaws. Right now you've got Sac State and Weber that are the cream of the crop in this league and it's a dog fight for everybody else who wants the opportunity to play post-season football. There's three or four teams, or even as many as five, that are still in that mode. There's a lot of football to be played. We've got to improve, without a doubt, but really what we have to do is play to win."
In Southern Utah, the Bobcats face a team that has scored at least 25 points in three of their last four games, and which has improved its scoring output in two straight. The Thunderbirds scored a season-high 59 points against Idaho State last Saturday. Quarterback Chris Helbig triggers the SUU offense, while Lance Lawson has 67 catches for 634 yards and three touchdowns. "(Helbig) has gotten better and better as the year's gone on," Choate said. "He's identified who he's comfortable with. (Lawson) is a spark for them on offense in a variety of ways. They've started to run the quarterback in the plus-one run game, designed runs, and that's really helped them and helped their offense start to gel. They play a variety of guys at running back but they're all capable players. (Zach Larson), the center, is one of the best offensive linemen in the country over the last couple of years."
Montana State's offense is likely to face a lot of different looks from Southern Utah, according to Choate. "On defense they're really kind of multiple, but we see a different defense anyway every week," he said. "The exception is a North Dakota because they're so aggressive anyway. This isn't a team that on paper has a high blitz percentage, but if you're watching us you probably go, 'Bring (pressure) as much as you possibly can and see if they have an answer for it.' Their base is a 4-3, you'll see them play 4-2-5 nickel against lighter set teams, they'll get into some odd stack at times. They're more multiple in their coverage looks than they are in the front. Not a heavy blitz team, but a team that has improved over the last three weeks playing really good competition."
While Montana State's run game provided its usual production in last week's 16-12 loss at North Dakota, the Bobcats didn't throw the ball effectively. "Clearly we've got to be more explosive on offense," Choate said, but emphasized that he continues to believe in this Bobcat team. "I have a lot of confidence – a lot of confidence – in our group. We have some tremendous senior leaders, I like our captains, I like the toughness of this group, I like how we're playing defense right now. I have total confidence in this group to go achieve what we still have in front of us."
Montana State's final four games of the regular season provide the opportunity to lean on the core traits the program has built during his time in charge, Choate said. "Now it's about toughness, it's about discipline, it's about passion, it's about competitiveness. That's what we have to hang our hat on."
And most importantly, it's about treating the next task as the most important. "It's a one-game-at-a-time mentality," he said.
Kickoff is 12 noon in Bobcat Stadium. The game airs on ROOT Sports Northwest on cable systems across Montana, and on DirecTV's Audience Network.
#GoCatsGo
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