Photo by: Daryn Hendrickson
GAME #9: Bobcats Begin Regular Season Home Stretch with Showdown in Walkup Skydome
11/4/2022 10:09:00 AM | Football
NAU's home arena stands as the most challenging historically for Montana State
BOZEMAN, Montana – Montana State's football team put its open week to good use, and the team's depth chart helps prove the point.
In addition to a week of honing in on fundamentals and fine-tuning the game plan, four players join the active roster for the Bobcats' game Saturday at Northern Arizona. Four return from injury (receivers Coy Steel and Malik Mullins for the first time in 2022, guard Cole Sain, and quarterback Sean Chambers who remains day-to-day), and safety Rylan Ortt from suspension.
MSU head coach Brent Vigen enjoyed the bye week and the benefits it brought, but not as much as what's next.
"Bye weeks are great," he said, "but I know our guys are hungry to play again. I know we're anxious to continue to get better. That's a big part of what we want to be about at this time of year, can we continue to get better as a football team? Can we continue to find guys to step up on offense, defense, special teams."
Montana State (7-1, 5-0 Big Sky) faces a Northern Arizona team that enters play 3-5 overall and 2-3 in league play, but one that improves weekly. The Lumberjacks own wins in two of their last three contests, victories over Cal Poly and Idaho State sandwiched around a loss to UC Davis. NAU's surge follows a 1-4 start that included a win over Sam Houston and losses to Arizona State and Portland State, and a pair of teams that have spent time in the FCS polls in Idaho and North Dakota. Like the Bobcats, Northern Arizona is coming off its bye week.
"They've played some people really tough, they've been on the road a lot, they've only had three home games," Vigen said. "They're a team that has our full attention. On both lines of scrimmage they have big, physical guys. On defense their safeties in particular are guys that really tackle well. RJ Martinez was freshman of the year in the conference last year at quarterback and he's continued to build upon that. There's a lot of guys he spreads the ball out to, I think four guys have over 30 catches, so it's going to be a challenge."
Martinez triggers the Lumberjacks offense, throwing for 240.6 yards per game. Hendrix Johnson (38 catches, 393 yards), Jamal Glaspie (37 catches, 435 yards), Coleman Owen (35 catches, 306 yards) and Draycen Hall (31 catches, 204 yards) provide plentiful targets in the pass game. Hall leads the team with 35.4 rushing yards a game, while George Robinson (33.1) and Kevin Daniels (37.7) also contribute to a strong ground game.
Quarterback Tommy Mellott is hitting his stride leading the Bobcat offense. He rushed for a Big Sky quarterback record 273 yards against Weber State's staunch rush defense last time out, and since returning from an injury is 31-for-53 passing with four touchdowns and one interception. While the Cats introduce more pass-catchers into the equation this week, the teams running back situation remains thin. Lane Sumner is not scheduled to play this week, so Elijah Elliott and Garrett Coon will likely get the majority of carries from the running back position.
Defensively, an active linebacker corps and strength up front continues to anchor the team. Sebastian Valdez is one of only two interior linemen in the Big Sky's top 10 in sacks (7.5), and Callahan O'Reilly is the only player in the league in the top 10 in both interceptions and fumbles forced.
While Halloween is in the rear view mirror, NAU's Walkup Skydome has been MSU's house of horrors over the years. The Cats have lost three straight and 14 of 18 overall in that building, which is foreign turf for everyone on the Bobcat team except fullback RJ Fitzgerald. Vigen says that introduces a different element into this weekend's trip. "For most of our guys it will be the first time they've played in the Skydome. A new venue always brings its own challenges."
Kickoff Saturday 2 pm Bozeman time, 1 pm in Flagstaff. The game is televised around Montana on the MTN network of stations.
#GoCatsGo
In addition to a week of honing in on fundamentals and fine-tuning the game plan, four players join the active roster for the Bobcats' game Saturday at Northern Arizona. Four return from injury (receivers Coy Steel and Malik Mullins for the first time in 2022, guard Cole Sain, and quarterback Sean Chambers who remains day-to-day), and safety Rylan Ortt from suspension.
MSU head coach Brent Vigen enjoyed the bye week and the benefits it brought, but not as much as what's next.
"Bye weeks are great," he said, "but I know our guys are hungry to play again. I know we're anxious to continue to get better. That's a big part of what we want to be about at this time of year, can we continue to get better as a football team? Can we continue to find guys to step up on offense, defense, special teams."
Montana State (7-1, 5-0 Big Sky) faces a Northern Arizona team that enters play 3-5 overall and 2-3 in league play, but one that improves weekly. The Lumberjacks own wins in two of their last three contests, victories over Cal Poly and Idaho State sandwiched around a loss to UC Davis. NAU's surge follows a 1-4 start that included a win over Sam Houston and losses to Arizona State and Portland State, and a pair of teams that have spent time in the FCS polls in Idaho and North Dakota. Like the Bobcats, Northern Arizona is coming off its bye week.
"They've played some people really tough, they've been on the road a lot, they've only had three home games," Vigen said. "They're a team that has our full attention. On both lines of scrimmage they have big, physical guys. On defense their safeties in particular are guys that really tackle well. RJ Martinez was freshman of the year in the conference last year at quarterback and he's continued to build upon that. There's a lot of guys he spreads the ball out to, I think four guys have over 30 catches, so it's going to be a challenge."
Martinez triggers the Lumberjacks offense, throwing for 240.6 yards per game. Hendrix Johnson (38 catches, 393 yards), Jamal Glaspie (37 catches, 435 yards), Coleman Owen (35 catches, 306 yards) and Draycen Hall (31 catches, 204 yards) provide plentiful targets in the pass game. Hall leads the team with 35.4 rushing yards a game, while George Robinson (33.1) and Kevin Daniels (37.7) also contribute to a strong ground game.
Quarterback Tommy Mellott is hitting his stride leading the Bobcat offense. He rushed for a Big Sky quarterback record 273 yards against Weber State's staunch rush defense last time out, and since returning from an injury is 31-for-53 passing with four touchdowns and one interception. While the Cats introduce more pass-catchers into the equation this week, the teams running back situation remains thin. Lane Sumner is not scheduled to play this week, so Elijah Elliott and Garrett Coon will likely get the majority of carries from the running back position.
Defensively, an active linebacker corps and strength up front continues to anchor the team. Sebastian Valdez is one of only two interior linemen in the Big Sky's top 10 in sacks (7.5), and Callahan O'Reilly is the only player in the league in the top 10 in both interceptions and fumbles forced.
While Halloween is in the rear view mirror, NAU's Walkup Skydome has been MSU's house of horrors over the years. The Cats have lost three straight and 14 of 18 overall in that building, which is foreign turf for everyone on the Bobcat team except fullback RJ Fitzgerald. Vigen says that introduces a different element into this weekend's trip. "For most of our guys it will be the first time they've played in the Skydome. A new venue always brings its own challenges."
Kickoff Saturday 2 pm Bozeman time, 1 pm in Flagstaff. The game is televised around Montana on the MTN network of stations.
#GoCatsGo
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