Bobcats’ Chances Against Jackrabbits
Almost exactly a year ago, South Dakota State visited Bozeman and Montana State fans thought they had witnessed the emergence of the next great Big Sky Conference quarterback. Up to that point, the mostly ground based Chris Murray hadn’t shown that he could be a dual threat quarterback and then all of a sudden he went off for 311 yards passing, 4 touchdowns through the air, and 107 yards rushing. Did the Cats win? No. Adam Vinatieri’s damn nephew scored the eventual winning touchdown on a fake field goal. But did the Cats think they had a big time QB? Hell yeah.
Well, it didn’t quite keep going that way for Chris Murray and now MSU will have Troy Anderson, their LB/RB/QB hybrid behind center against the Jackrabbits this weekend. Andersen, coming off a game where he threw for just over 80 yards and ran for another 140, heads into a road game against the #3 team in the FCS. There were flashes of an adequate passer in the second half of the Western Illinois game but nothing that would strike fear into a secondary (besides having to try and tackle him when he takes off). What can we expect this week?
It’s hard to tell what the 2018 Jackrabbits will look like on defense as their opening game at Iowa State was “rained out.” South Dakota State returns 7 defensive starters from 2017 including NFL prospect Jordan Brown at corner back. What could give hope to Montana State fans that see this as an automatic loss? SDSU’s total defense was ranked 71st in the nation (out of 123 teams) in 2017 and were ranked 80th in rush defense and 60th in pass defense. There SHOULD be improvement with more experience on the defensive side but I don’t think we’d say the Jacks have a stout D.
Montana State has a slightly less adequate passer at quarterback compared to last year and last year’s quarterback ran and threw all over the Jackrabbits. In every article you read, the coaches praise how Troy picks up positions and skills so quickly – have they put him in position to be more comfortable this week and will he look to his second read before pulling the ball down and running? If Troy can come out and surprise SDSU with anything resembling a passing game, this changes everything. If SDSU sells out on Troy running and he gets into any kind of throwing rhythm, I think Choate and company will have a blast calling plays for this offense.
Montana State’s defense looks to be able to hang with most teams and the pressure they get on the QB looks much improved. If Troy and the offense can do anything similar to what the Cats did last year, as hard as that will be, I think that MSU can keep it close against one of the nation’s top tier teams. In Troy We Trust.
Also, I could be dead wrong and could have let my Bobcat brain forget that MSU has a LB/RB at quarterback and all hell will break loose if they get down when the modified Wild Cat doesn’t work.
About the Author
Hot Take Nate Hot Take Nate now resides in Northern California but still calls Montana his home. It'll always be home.
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