CATS IN CAMP DAY FIFTEEN: Offense and Defense Each Function at High Levels in Final Scrimmage

Casey Bauman

Photo by: Andrew Pedersen

CATS IN CAMP DAY FIFTEEN: Offense and Defense Each Function at High Levels in Final Scrimmage

8/17/2019 9:10:00 PM | Football

Casey Bauman helps lead first offense to score on initial drive as starting QB

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Montana – Montana State's final scrimmage of preseason camp provided newly-minted starting quarterback Casey Bauman his first opportunity on center stage, and the redshirt freshman capitalized.

Operating as full a section of the playbook and as complete as personnel package as Saturday offered, Bauman helped move the Bobcats 65 yards in nine plays to open the varsity segment of the proceedings, scoring on a one-yard touchdown run. Bauman led three scoring drives, including two touchdowns. "I thought he did some nice things," MSU head coach Jeff Choate said. "He operated well. There were a couple throws I think he'd like to have back. He missed a glance route to Travis that I think probably would have gone for a big game, but he also threw one right in on Travis that Travis has to bring in down on the goal line."

Three different Bobcats lined up behind center on that initial drive, with one-time quarterbacks Travis Jonsen and Troy Andersen also taking snaps. Jonsen carried three times for 12 yards on that possession, Andersen once for 10 yards, and starting tailback Isaiah Ifanse twice for 10 yards. The most efficient drive of the evening didn't feature a forward pass.

"I thought we were in a pretty good rhythm," Choate said of the first drive. "We gave the offense Troy for one series and they needed to maximize that. Obviously we didn't open up the whole playbook tonight, so it was basically two plays that we called with him in there. I think it was good to see some flow, some rhythm, and that's what we're going to have to do, have that diversity and have some different packages.

Bauman finished the night two-for-six passing for 34 yards and an interception. Quarterback Tucker Rovig completed six of his 12 passes for 63 yards. Choate likes Bauman's ability to operate MSU's option packages. "I think he showed his ability to run the ball. We made him live on a couple plays and he did a nice job pouring it into the end zone on one. That was something we wanted to see by design today, we've done that a couple times (in scrimmages), because I do think he's a capable runner. Our plus-one run game stuff doesn't have to go out the window because he's our quarterback. That needs to continue to be part of our package."

Each of the top two signal callers fell victim to execution mistakes. "Everybody's got their opportunities to make plays," Choate said, "and they've got to go make them. That's my takeaway. We had some miscues early in drives that put us behind the sticks, and we can't do that. That's not who we are. We've got to make good decisions, and that starts with Casey at the quarterback position."

While most observers trained attention on the ones, particularly on offense, Choate's gravitated toward a couple of position battles that have raged throughout fall camp. "I think there will be opportunities for separation at the tight end position," he said, and "… the (inside linebacker is) a really tight race right now. We want to continue to improve and evaluate. I think we know what we have with some of the guys, and (other) guys had nice days."

Montana State's "young guys," primarily players not counted on to fill a key varsity role early in the season, got around half the snaps of the nearly 80 plays. Choate was impressed. "(Running back) Shane Perry's a guy I mentioned on day one, and he showed up tonight and did some nice things in the run game," Choate said. "We had some young guys that got a little nervous when we put the real uniforms on. There were some dropped passes, some blown assignments, some guys that weren't quite as focused as they needed to be."

The scrimmage featured three turnovers. Sal Aguilar intercepted a pass from Ruben Beltran that deflected off a receiver's hands, and Eric Zambrano snagged Bauman's interception on a throw under pressure. Ty'Rese Gibson also forced a fumble that Jory Choate returned 45 yards for a touchdown.

Choate indicated that the Bobcats enter "more of a game(-week) mode" in the days to come. Sunday features player-coach meetings designed to inform players of their roles at the season's outset, then Monday begins "mock game week," which leads to a late-week session focusing on game-day functions and situations. Montana State opens the season on August 31 at Texas Tech of the Big 12 Conference.

RUSHING: Isaiah Ifanse 7-47-0, Travis Jonsen 4-19-0, Karl Tucker II 4-14-0, Logan Jones 3-9-1, Lane Sumner 3-8-0, Kevin Kassis 1-23-0, Casey Bauman 3-2-1, Tucker Rovig 2-3-0, Shane Perry 10-69-0, Jaharie Martin 5-25-0, Cole Oster 2- -1-0.

PASSING: Casey Bauman 2-6-1, 34, 0; Tucker Rovig 6-12-0, 63, 0; Ruben Beltran 3-4-1, 61, 1; Blake Thelen 1-4-0, 5, 0; John Knight 1-5-0, 21, 0.

RECEIVING: Lance McCutcheon 3-25-0, Kevin Kassis 2-34-0, Ryan Lonergan 1-2-0, Coy Steel 1-13-0, Karl Tucker II 1-23-0, Davine Tullis 2-69-1, James Campbell 1-5-0, Tyrone Marshall 1-2-0, Jamahd Monroe 1-21-0.

DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
Sacks: Blake Flovin (2). Other Tackles for Loss: Seer Deines. Forced Fumble: Ty'Rese Gibson. Fumble Recovered: Jory Choate (45 return for TD). Interceptions: Sal Aguilar, Eric Zambrano. Pass Breakups: Troy Andersen, Ty'Rhae Gibson, Elijah King.

SCORING PLAYS
Davine Tullis 30 pass from Ruben Beltran (Caleb Mancini)
Casey Bauman 1 run (Tristan Bailey)
Caleb Mancini 25 FG
Logan Jones 6 run (Tristan Bailey)
Tristan Bailey 50 FG
Jory Choate 45 fumble return
Tristan Bailey 50 FG

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