Greg Filer
Photo by: Andrew Pedersen
CATS IN CAMP DAY FOUR: Defense Responds on Tuesday
8/5/2019 5:50:00 PM | Football
MSU's defense logged five takeaways during live segments during practice #4
BOZEMAN, Montana – The ebb and flow of preseason camp landed strictly in one place on Tuesday.
"Clearly the defense had the upper hand today," fourth-year Montana State head coach Jeff Choate said after the team's second straight day in shoulder pads. Montana State's stop unit gathered in five turnovers and one day after it "got casted on pretty good came out with the right mindset today," Choate said.
"They obviously wanted to get it back," Choate said of his defense's ability to bounce back. That's what he expects from the offense on Tuesday, when practice moves into Bobcat Stadium and becomes more team-focused. "And as I told the offense, we're going to win a lot of games if our defense takes the ball away five times but we aren't going to win any (when) our offense gives it away five times. What I'm really more interested in from an offensive standpoint is how those guys respond tomorrow when we go back into our 11-on-11, situational periods."
Choate credited his team's secondary for causing havoc for the offense. "There's no question, this is a pretty experienced, long, athletic, rangy, fast secondary, and when you combine that with guys like Amandre Williams and Troy Andersen coming off the edge, I don't think our offense is the only one that's going to have trouble with that," he said.
On the team's fourth day of practice, Choate said information overload can creep into the equation. "You have days where part of it is we're putting in more offense, so there's more for them to think about. They don't have the banked reps. Defensively, especially on the D-line and in the secondary, once the ball's in the air, once the ball's snapped, it's reactionary, so the precision's not going to be there early on."
Still, when it came time for what Choate likes to call the MSU offense's DNA plays, things looked better. "In the 9-on-7 period I thought the offense kind of handled them," he said. "We put in our gap schemes, what our bread-and-butter's been over the last three years, power and counter, and the defensive guys didn;'t fit that initially really well. But it's never as good as you think and never as bad as you think."
The Cats begin practice #5 in Bobcat Stadium on Tuesday at 11 am.
PLAYER OF THE DAY: Isaiah Ifanse was one of the season's most pleasant surprises a season ago, setting Montana State's freshman rushing record with over 1,000 yards. Much more is expected of Ifanse this season, and by naming him Monday's Player of the Day Choate acknowledged that Ifanse's work has been
There was a run he made today in inside run period, he was so patient and just kind of glided in there and pretty soon poped out the other end. You can't really coach that.
OFFENSIVE ADD-INS: Choate likes his team's offensive performance to this point, but said that Tuesday the staff looks at adding a power dimension to the offense by dipping into the defense. "(Tuesday) is an offensive emphasis day for us in the red zone," Choate said. "That means, Troy (Andersen) will play offense, Amandre (Williams) will play offense, so you'll see guys who have specifically been on defense getting some opportunities to show what they can do on the offensive side of the ball."
HILL SPEAKS UP: While lauding his team's depth at inside linebacker, Choate gave a nod to senior Josh Hill, whose presence has added enthusiasm. "This is the first live period he'd had in practice in basically two years. He's never been much of a talker, but he was chirping pretty good today."
#GoCatsGo
"Clearly the defense had the upper hand today," fourth-year Montana State head coach Jeff Choate said after the team's second straight day in shoulder pads. Montana State's stop unit gathered in five turnovers and one day after it "got casted on pretty good came out with the right mindset today," Choate said.
"They obviously wanted to get it back," Choate said of his defense's ability to bounce back. That's what he expects from the offense on Tuesday, when practice moves into Bobcat Stadium and becomes more team-focused. "And as I told the offense, we're going to win a lot of games if our defense takes the ball away five times but we aren't going to win any (when) our offense gives it away five times. What I'm really more interested in from an offensive standpoint is how those guys respond tomorrow when we go back into our 11-on-11, situational periods."
Choate credited his team's secondary for causing havoc for the offense. "There's no question, this is a pretty experienced, long, athletic, rangy, fast secondary, and when you combine that with guys like Amandre Williams and Troy Andersen coming off the edge, I don't think our offense is the only one that's going to have trouble with that," he said.
On the team's fourth day of practice, Choate said information overload can creep into the equation. "You have days where part of it is we're putting in more offense, so there's more for them to think about. They don't have the banked reps. Defensively, especially on the D-line and in the secondary, once the ball's in the air, once the ball's snapped, it's reactionary, so the precision's not going to be there early on."
Still, when it came time for what Choate likes to call the MSU offense's DNA plays, things looked better. "In the 9-on-7 period I thought the offense kind of handled them," he said. "We put in our gap schemes, what our bread-and-butter's been over the last three years, power and counter, and the defensive guys didn;'t fit that initially really well. But it's never as good as you think and never as bad as you think."
The Cats begin practice #5 in Bobcat Stadium on Tuesday at 11 am.
PLAYER OF THE DAY: Isaiah Ifanse was one of the season's most pleasant surprises a season ago, setting Montana State's freshman rushing record with over 1,000 yards. Much more is expected of Ifanse this season, and by naming him Monday's Player of the Day Choate acknowledged that Ifanse's work has been
There was a run he made today in inside run period, he was so patient and just kind of glided in there and pretty soon poped out the other end. You can't really coach that.
OFFENSIVE ADD-INS: Choate likes his team's offensive performance to this point, but said that Tuesday the staff looks at adding a power dimension to the offense by dipping into the defense. "(Tuesday) is an offensive emphasis day for us in the red zone," Choate said. "That means, Troy (Andersen) will play offense, Amandre (Williams) will play offense, so you'll see guys who have specifically been on defense getting some opportunities to show what they can do on the offensive side of the ball."
HILL SPEAKS UP: While lauding his team's depth at inside linebacker, Choate gave a nod to senior Josh Hill, whose presence has added enthusiasm. "This is the first live period he'd had in practice in basically two years. He's never been much of a talker, but he was chirping pretty good today."
#GoCatsGo
Players Mentioned
RB/QB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DL
/ FootballThursday, July 31
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 03
Wednesday, May 03
