Tucker Rovig
Photo by: Garrett Becker
NOTES and QUOTES: Montana State 47, UAlbany 21
12/7/2019 6:40:00 PM | Football
The Bobcats stormed past UAlbany to advance to the FCS Playoff Quarterfinals
QUOTES
From Montana State Coach Jeff Choate: "I want to start off by recognizing Albany and congratulate them on a great season. I really believe it was a worthy opponent. The CAA's an outstanding league and our kids played well today, and it takes nothing away from the season those guys had. I really appreciated getting the opportunity to meet Coach Gattuso. He's a class guy, and those guys have a bright future in front of them. With that being said, I'm really, really prolud of the way our team played together as a team today. There's no doubt that it was a complete victory in all three phases. The punt return yardage was huge for us in the first half, set us up on some short fields. We got the takeaways we wanted on defense, and we executed and operated on theoffensive side with some explosive plays. I thinought Tucker (Rovig) played an excellent game today, 24-of-30 for almost 280 yards, three touchdowns, gave our receivers chancesdown the field. Two-seven's been owing me those interceptions for about four years now, it's about time he paid me back, and Amandre and the D-front did an excellent job up front."
From UAlbany Coach Greg Gattuso: "First I would open with congratulations to Montana State for a good football game. I think they're a good team. I think the fans are incredible. I take my hat off to them. We knew it was coming, but the energy that their fans generate here is something to be commended. From our end, our kicking game really got us in a lot of trouble. I thought we were really battling on defense. They had a couple of big plays but I felt like we were going to have a shot of getting this thing pretty close at half and we just couldn't punch through. Again you have to credit them. We block a kick and run it back and don't get points out of it, 26-7 at half instead of something a little better for us. They're a good football team, they're well-coached, and I would give them a lot of credit. At the end of the day they out-kicked us, and that was a phase of the game that was very frustrating for us. It opened the door for short fields, field position, which is big, especially against a running team. You've got to make them drive the field. But at the end of the day, this football team, I just love these guys."
NOTES
* Montana State advances to the FCS Playoff Quarterfinals for the first time since 2012
* MSU's 47 points and 28 first downs program post-season highs (23 post-season games)
* Kevin Kassis' 131 receiving yards was his second-highest total, and boosts his career total to 1,897 career yards, 5th in Bobcat history, and career-high 11 catches gives him 146 as a Bobcat, 4th in Bobcat history
* Bryce Sterk raised his season total to 20 tackles-for-loss (2.5 on Saturday) and 15 sacks (1.5), the fourth-most sacks in a season in Bobcat history
* Isaiah Ifanse's 39 rushing yards raises his career total to 1,582, 19th in Bobcat history
* Montana State's 203 rushing yards raises the team's season total to 3,444, adding to the single-season record
* Tucker Rovig's 24 completions was a career high
From Montana State Coach Jeff Choate: "I want to start off by recognizing Albany and congratulate them on a great season. I really believe it was a worthy opponent. The CAA's an outstanding league and our kids played well today, and it takes nothing away from the season those guys had. I really appreciated getting the opportunity to meet Coach Gattuso. He's a class guy, and those guys have a bright future in front of them. With that being said, I'm really, really prolud of the way our team played together as a team today. There's no doubt that it was a complete victory in all three phases. The punt return yardage was huge for us in the first half, set us up on some short fields. We got the takeaways we wanted on defense, and we executed and operated on theoffensive side with some explosive plays. I thinought Tucker (Rovig) played an excellent game today, 24-of-30 for almost 280 yards, three touchdowns, gave our receivers chancesdown the field. Two-seven's been owing me those interceptions for about four years now, it's about time he paid me back, and Amandre and the D-front did an excellent job up front."
From UAlbany Coach Greg Gattuso: "First I would open with congratulations to Montana State for a good football game. I think they're a good team. I think the fans are incredible. I take my hat off to them. We knew it was coming, but the energy that their fans generate here is something to be commended. From our end, our kicking game really got us in a lot of trouble. I thought we were really battling on defense. They had a couple of big plays but I felt like we were going to have a shot of getting this thing pretty close at half and we just couldn't punch through. Again you have to credit them. We block a kick and run it back and don't get points out of it, 26-7 at half instead of something a little better for us. They're a good football team, they're well-coached, and I would give them a lot of credit. At the end of the day they out-kicked us, and that was a phase of the game that was very frustrating for us. It opened the door for short fields, field position, which is big, especially against a running team. You've got to make them drive the field. But at the end of the day, this football team, I just love these guys."
NOTES
* Montana State advances to the FCS Playoff Quarterfinals for the first time since 2012
* MSU's 47 points and 28 first downs program post-season highs (23 post-season games)
* Kevin Kassis' 131 receiving yards was his second-highest total, and boosts his career total to 1,897 career yards, 5th in Bobcat history, and career-high 11 catches gives him 146 as a Bobcat, 4th in Bobcat history
* Bryce Sterk raised his season total to 20 tackles-for-loss (2.5 on Saturday) and 15 sacks (1.5), the fourth-most sacks in a season in Bobcat history
* Isaiah Ifanse's 39 rushing yards raises his career total to 1,582, 19th in Bobcat history
* Montana State's 203 rushing yards raises the team's season total to 3,444, adding to the single-season record
* Tucker Rovig's 24 completions was a career high
Players Mentioned
Thursday, July 31
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 03
Wednesday, May 03
