GAME DAY NOTEBOOK #5: Bobcats Looks to Extend Impressive Run with the Run

Tucker Rovig and Shane Perry look to power the Bobcat ground game on Saturday

Photo by: Garrett Becker

GAME DAY NOTEBOOK #5: Bobcats Looks to Extend Impressive Run with the Run

9/28/2019 12:00:00 PM | Football

Montana State sends its league-leading ground game against NAU's top-rated passing attack

By: Bill Lamberty

Montana State enters its fifth game with lingering injury concerns on a cool, windy, rainy day in Bozeman. Running back Isaiah Ifanse is doubtful, although Logan Jones may be available. Troy Andersen will start at linebacker, and could play a limited role on offense. CB Munchie Filer, WR Willie Patterson, CB Ty Okada, RB Karl Tucker II and TE Jacob Hadley are all expected to miss today's game with injuries. Choate indicated that Sophomores Lane Sumner and Shane Perry stand to get the bulk of the carries.

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Montana State rides a modest five-game home field win streak into today's game. It's actually the program's longest win streak in Bobcat Stadium since a six-game streak that overlapped the 2012-13 seasons.

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The Bobcats bring an even more impressive streak into today's game. Montana State has rushed for at least 100 yards in the last 15 straight games. In fact, the team's only double-digit rushing day in Jeff Choate's three-plus seasons came last September at South Dakota State.

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One Lumberjack carries familial ties into today's game. Sophomore tight end Max Michalczik is the son of Oregon State offensive line coach Jim Michalczik, who held that same position at Montana State from 1992-98. Michalczik met his future wife Jen, who was coaching on Dave Gantt's volleyball staff at the time, and they also have a younger son.

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Saturday's contest matches Jeff Choate with first-year Northern Arizona coach Chris Ball, but it's hardly the first interaction between the two. When Choate accepted a position on Mike Leach's first staff at Washington State in 2012, he needed housing for his family. Enter Ball, who was departing WSU for a position at Arizona State. "I actually rented Chris' house in Pullman," Choate said with a laugh. "We needed a place to live and they needed to get their house sold, so we rented and kept it in order and showed it. Actually, Janet (Choate) did all of that."

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Chris Ball becomes Jeff Choate's sixth opposing coach in his first year as a head coach at his school. The Cats are 3-2 in those games, having defeated Montana's Bobby Hauck (first year, second stint) and Western Illinois' Jared Elliott (first game as a head coach) in 2018 both resulted in Bobcat victories. Choate split two such games in 2017, beating Idaho State's Rob Phenicie while losing to Eastern Washington's Aaron Best, both in their first seasons as head coaches. And he dropped a 2016 contest to first-time head coach Demario Warren of Southern Utah in 2016.

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Northern Arizona's explosive passing attack, and Montana State's ability to defend it, has drawn considerable attention this week. One factor in that process from a Bobcat standpoint is MSU's ability to control the football. Even without Isaiah Ifanse and Troy Andersen contributing the last two weeks, the Cats average 258.8 yards a game on the ground, 11^th in the FCS. Northern Arizona stands 65^th in the FCS in rushing defense, allowing 169.0 yards a game.