Even Without Spring Drills, Bobcats Look to Maintain Strong Pass Rush

Photo by: Garrett Becker

Even Without Spring Drills, Bobcats Look to Maintain Strong Pass Rush

4/3/2020 3:35:00 PM | Football

Position changes and opportunities for young players top the list when teams return to the field

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Montana – Third-and-long, fourth quarter, close game. There's hardly a situation in football that gets the blood flowing like that kind of critical, game-changing scenario.

At that moment, offenses rely on quarterbacks. In response, the fulcrum of the defense becomes the pass rush. Montana State rushed the quarterback in 2019 with a ferocity unseen at MSU since the days when Buck Buchanan Award winners Caleb Schreibeis and Brad Daly and interior linemen such as All-Americas Zach Minter and Dan Ogden played meet-me-at-the-quarterback week after week early in the 2010s.

For the second straight year, though, the Cats have lost All-America caliber defensive line play. "I've been pretty fortunate in the four years I've been here," says Bobcat defensive line coach Byron Hout, "to coach, I wouldn't even say just great football players, I'd say great people. They had such success on the football field, (but) the camaraderie that group has, it's such a tight unit, and how it's watching each senior class leave and what they've left behind for the next class has been really cool."

The task ahead of Montana State's defensive line is clear – maintain the pass rush that helped MSU 23^rd in the FCS in scoring defense and 38^th in total defense. Much of that success stemmed from a front seven that that produced 2.73 sacks a game, 20^th in the FCS, and 7.2 tackles-for-loss per outing, 28^th nationally. Senior defensive end Bryce Sterk, a Second Team All-America as a senior last fall, led the way with 15 sacks, second-most in the Big Sky and sixth in the FCS, while outside linebackers Troy Andersen (6.5 in just 10 games) and Amandre Williams (5.0) also made strong contributions.

Choate understands that the talent loss is acute. "We obviously know we have some critical losses" on the defense, he said, "not just in terms of production but in leadership. (Senior defensive tackle and team captain) Derek Marks was a strong leader and tremendous player, Bryce Sterk with all that production, (inside linebacker) Josh Hill, you could go right down the list."

That list is impressive. Sterk, Marks, Hill each earned All-Big Sky honors. Versatile Marcus Ferriter and Washington grad transfer Jason Scrempos are also gone from the defensive line, leaving Hout, defensive coordinator Kane Ioane, and Choate to piece together a front seven providing similar production.

The process begins with the same question every spring, Hout says. "I look at it like, What are we losing and what tools do we have to work with? If you have a guy like (linebacker) Troy Andersen that can come off the edge, that opens up some things you can do. We have to find out what we have, and that's what spring was supposed to be for. We have to find out what Brody Grebe can do, what Chad Kanow can do, what these different pass rushers can do. So finding out who personnel-wise will be the ones that can replace (the graduated seniors) is number one."

There are "plenty of talented guys" to consider once on-field work resumes, Hout said. Senior Chase Benson returns to anchor the line's interior, which includes returners who have served apprenticeships. Redshirt freshman Tua Areta is a nose tackle that "I was really excited to watch" during spring drills, Hout said, because "he really had a great off-season." Byron Rollins moves to tackle from end, and junior Kyle Rygg is also in line for playing time inside. Redshirt freshman defensive end Marcus Wehr "has an unbelievable motor," Hout said, adding that tackle Blake Schmidt "is a hard-nosed football player, I call him Chase (Benson) 2.0." Tackle Seer Deines could see time to after injury derailed his 2019 season.

Once personnel is evaluated and placed, Ioane said the questions change. "What are some different fronts that we can utilize, or change, or tweak, in order to take advantage of the personnel we've got? There's always ways in which we can better with our X's and O's and schematically."

Choate said there's no singular way to harass opposing quarterbacks. "There's always more than one way to look at the pass rush," he said. "Essentially what you're trying to do is create one-on-one opportunities for your best guys. We might have to get more creative and be more detailed in terms of the way we break down other people's protections, and not just rely on five great one-on-one matchups, let's say. If we bring five at you, we're trying to create the best one-on-one matchup based on our personnel and your personnel."

This spring was to be a proving ground for senior Kyle Finch, a superb role player the past two seasons at Buck. Sterk occupied that hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end position in 2018 before Amandre Williams' emergence precipitated Sterk's move to end a year ago.

Finch is making that same move. He said following Sterk's path has made the transition that much easier. "That helps a lot," Finch said. "There are a ton of correlations in our defensive scheme between that Buck position (and end). It was awesome to see Bryce make a really smooth transition, obviously, and have a great season, and I learned a lot from having him there, both at the end and Buck positions. I hope to make the transition smoothly as well."

The familiarity of that change isn't lost on Hout. "Finch is in the same boat as Sterk a year ago," he said of the Dillon product who earned First Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors last season. "He knows what he's doing, how offenses are trying to attack us. He'll make that position switch (from Buck to end), and I'm excited about him."

Even with position switches, even if the Cats can again add a piece to the defensive line in the spring or summer, the work can't conclude until the team returns to the field. "Then week-to-week it's, how do we get our best pass rushers on the field on third down, how are we going to scheme it up, and how are we going to coach it up so they understand quarterback leverage, what type of quarterback are they playing," Hout said. "So we look at all those things, but right now the most important thing is figuring out what we have."

Or as Ioane says succinctly, "That's what it's all about, who do we have in that (defensive line) room, what are their strengths, and how do we take advantage of that?"

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