SATURDAY, OCT. 26 VS. UC DAVIS GAME DA Y FULL PAPER INSIDE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS AT NO. 5 MONTANA STATE, BOBCAT STADIUM, 2:05 P.M. ROLLING ON The Bobcats are 3-0 at home and have yet to be tested in Bozeman. Don’t expect that to change this afternoon I 6 INSIDE LEADING THE CHARGE Vet eran s igna l caller Randy Wright’s return to lineup has transformed UC Davis from winless squad to possible factor in Big Sky title chase I 2 GET YOUR BOBCATS FIX For all of the latest updates and analysis and to join the discussion on the Bobcats’ battle with UC Davis, visit dailychronicle.com/live starting at 2 p.m. today. Also be sure and follow ByKYLE SAMPLE Chronicle Sports Writer B ased purely on mathematics, convert- ing third downs and sustaining long drives is something at which football teams should excel. Ten yards is merely 10 percent of the field length, and four plays is a relatively small drop in the bucket in the context of the game, which generally encompasses 120-140 plays. Last season, Montana State was one of the best teams in the nation at solving the conundrum the four-down allowance presents. The Bobcats were the Football Championship Subdivision’s fifth-best third-down offense tana State was so effective at sustaining drives and ending those of its opponents, you don’t have to look far. It featured an experienced, efficient offense led by a quarterback and center that spent three years together . Defensively , it had seniors in key positions and employed a rather simple philosophy rooted in gap-sound, assign- ment schemes that funneled plays to its best players. one-third of the time. This season, the offense’s success rate has dipped while the defense’s has remained static. The Bobcats are con- vertin g at a 39-pe rcen t clip , while the defense is hold- ing opposing offenses to a 35-percent success rate. What is ailing the offense? “There’s a lot of things that go into it,” Montana State head coach Rob Ash said. Using last week’s win over in bad situations — what coaches describe as being “behind the sticks.” MSU’ s staff plots its down- by-down strategy as cover- ing 4 yards on first down, cutting that distance in half on second and picking up the remainder on third. It keeps the offense in control and saps some of the agg ressive- ness a defense would like to exert. “It’s definitely one of our key goals, ” junior right tack le Quinn Catalano said. “Coach Ash brings it up every week, coach (Tim) Cramsey talks about it every week.” Not surprisingly, in their two most lopsided victories of the season — a 42-24 win over Monmouth and a 63-20 win over North Dakota — the ’Cats were the most successful Aggies quarterback Randy Wright Montana State offense struggling to cure third-down ills “I’m not a big stat guy, (but) the biggest stats in football are how many points we score and how many points they score, turnovers and then, the fourth one, is the third down conversion rate because that’s what keeps us on the field and them off the field.” — Tim Cramsey, MSU offensive coordinator
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unIversIty oF CalIFornIa DavIs at no. 5 montana state, BoBCat staDIum, 2:05 P.m.
rollInG on
The Bobcats are 3-0 athome and have yet to betested n Bozeman. Don’texpect that to change
ths afternoon I 6
InsIDe
leaDInG the
CharGe Veteran sgnal caller
Randy Wrght’s return
to lneup has transformed
UC Davs from wnlesssquad to possble factor
n Bg Sky ttle chase I 2
Get yourBoBCats FIx
For all of the latest updates
and analyss and to jon the
dscusson on the Bobcats’
battle wth UC Davs, vst
dalychroncle.com/lve
startng at 2 p.m. today.
Also be sure and follow
@jmaletz
on Twtter.
ByKYLE SAMPLE
Crc Srts Wrtr
Based purely onmathematics, convert-ing third downs and
sustaining long drives issomething at which footballteams should excel.
Ten yards is merely 10percent of the field length,and four plays is a relatively small drop in the bucketin the context of the game,which generally encompasses120-140 plays.
Last season, Montana Statewas one of the best teamsin the nation at solving theconundrum the four-downallowance presents. TheBobcats were the FootballChampionship Subdivision’sfifth-best third-down offenseand defense, won 11 gamesand advanced to the nationalquarterfinals.
To understand why Mon-
tana State was so effective atsustaining drives and endingthose of its opponents, youdon’t have to look far. Itfeatured an experienced,efficient offense led by aquarterback and center thatspent three years together.Defensively, it had seniors inkey positions and employeda rather simple philosophy rooted in gap-sound, assign-ment schemes that funneledplays to its best players.
The offense convertednearly half of its thirddowns and the defense al-lowed a conversion about
one-third of the time.This season, the offense’s
success rate has dipped whilethe defense’s has remainedstatic. The Bobcats are con-
verting at a 39-percent clip,while the defense is hold-ing opposing offenses to a35-percent success rate.
What is ailing the offense?“There’s a lot of things that
go into it,” Montana Statehead coach Rob Ash said.
Using last week’s win overWeber State as an example,Ash explained that penaltiesand inconsistent executionoccasionally put the Bobcats
in bad situations — whatcoaches describe as being“behind the sticks.”
MSU’s staff plots its down-by-down strategy as cover-ing 4 yards on first down,cutting that distance in half on second and picking up theremainder on third. It keepsthe offense in control andsaps some of the aggressive-ness a defense would like toexert.
“It’s definitely one of ourkey goals,” junior right tackleQuinn Catalano said. “CoachAsh brings it up every week,coach (Tim) Cramsey talksabout it every week.”
Not surprisingly, in theirtwo most lopsided victoriesof the season — a 42-24 winover Monmouth and a 63-20win over North Dakota — the’Cats were the most successfulon third down, converting acombined 15-of-26 attempts.
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2 | Saturday, October 26, 2013 bozeman daily chronicle
BOBCATS GAME DAY
UC Davis at No. 5 Montana State
2:05 p.m., Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman
Sideline BriefingRecordsNo. 5 Montana State 5-2, 3-0 Big SkyUC Davis 3-5, 2-1
SeriesFourth meeting, Montana State leads 2-1
Weather forecastSunny, 63 degrees
CrowdBobcat Stadium (17,777)
TVMax Media (Chris Byers, Mike Callaghan, Je Eberle)
RadioKXLB-FM (100.7) (Tyler Wiltgen, Dan Davies, RileyCorcoran)
Coaches
SchedulesUC DAVIS
Aug. 31 South Dakota L, 10-7
Sept. 7 Neada L, 37-7
Sept. 14 NORTHERN ARIZONA L, 21-10
Sept. 21 PORTLAND STATE L, 41-10
Sept. 28 IDAHO STATE W, 30-13
Oct. 5 Southern Utah W, 21-3
Oct. 12 MONTANA L, 42-7
Oct. 19 Northern Colorado W, 34-18
Oct. 26 @ Montana State 2:05 p.m.
No. 2 CAL POLY 5 p.m.
No. 16 NORTH DAKOTA 5 p.m.
No. 23 Sacramento State 4:30 p.m.
MonTAnA STATe
Aug. 29 MONMOUTH W, 42-24
Sept. 7 Southern Methodist L, 31-30
Sept. 14 COLORADO MESA W, 26-0
Sept. 21 Stephen F. Austin L, 52-38
Sept. 28 North Dakota W, 63-20
Oct. 5 NORTHERN ARIZONA W, 36-7
Oct. 19 Weber State W, 34-16
Oct. 26 UC DAvIS 2:05 p.m.
No. 2 Northern Colorado 1:35 p.m.
No. 9 Eastern Washington 1 p.m.
No. 16 SOUTHERN UTAH 4 p.m.
No. 23 MONTANA Noon
Players to watchUC DAVIS
QB Rady Wright: Since being reinserted as the
starter ollowing UC Davis’ 0-4 start, the senior has
guided the Aggies to three wins in their past our
games. In last week’s victory at Northern Colorado,
he logged the ourth 300-yard passing game o
his career. He threw or 242 yards and scored on a
5-yard run in last year’s loss to Montana State.
MonTAnA STATe
CB Dt Fwrs: The athletic junior has emerged
as one o the Big Sky’s top shutdown corners. He has
recorded at least one pass breakup in our straight
games, held North Dakota standout wide receiver
Greg Hardin to no catches and last week produced
his frst interception in a win at Weber State. His pick
and subsequent 47-yard return set up Montana Stateor a ourth-quarter touchdown that put what was a
close game out o reach.
Injury reportUC DAVIS
Undisclosed
MonTAnA STATe
out r sas: LB Na’a Moeakiola (shoulder), WR Kurt
Davis (knee), LB Wyatt Christensen (knee)
out idfity: WR Tanner Roderick (hand), DL Zach
Hutchins (undisclosed), C Christian Williams (eye)
Prbab: S Eryon Barnett (shoulder), DE Preston Gale
(knee)
Quick hitsn Montana State averages three sacks per game,
which is ninth in the Football Championship
Subdivision and frst in the Big Sky Conerence.
n The Bobcats are now 36-2 under Rob Ash when
scoring 30 or more points and 29-1 when holding an
opponent to less than 20.
nMSU is ourth in the FCS in average attendance at
19,960.
n The ‘Cats average 427 yards and more than 37
points per game on their six-year-old tur feld.
nMSU’s three takeaways against Weber State
boosted it into frst place in the Big Sky in turnover
margin.
nSenior running back Cody Kirk’s 12 touchdowns
and 10.6 points per game each lead the conerence.
He is eight touchdowns away rom Don Hass’s single-
season program record.
n The Bobcats have produced at least 20 frst downs
in all seven o their games.
nSenior Brad Daly has at least one tackle or loss in
15 consecutive games dating to 2012.
RoB ASHMSU, 7th year
34th year overall
55-24 at MSU
231-123-5 overall
Ron GoUlDUC Davis, 1st year
1st year overall
3-5 overall
Leaning the opes
ADRIAN SANCHEZ-GONZALEZ/CHRONICLE
Bozeman 11yearold Kaelan Patten, second from left, drops back to pass as Montana State quarterbacks DeNarius McGhee, left, and Jake
Bleskin look on Wednesday afternoon. The Bobcats welcomed local Lions Club youth teams for practice at Bobcat Stadium.
QB’s returnprompts bigturnaroundfor UC DavisBy JON MALETZ
Chronicle Sports Editor
To turn its season around, UCDavis turned to a familiar face.
For the better part of fourweeks, veteran quarterback Randy Wright languished on thesideline as first-year head coachRon Gould seemed intent ongiving strong-armed Boise Statetransfer Jimmy Laughrea every opportunity to land the perma-nent starting job.
Wright, a three-year starterand one of the most decoratedsignal callers in program his-tory, watched helplessly as theoffense stumbled, generating just34 points through its first fourgames — losses to South Dakota,Nevada, Northern Arizona and
Portland State.A curious thing happened inSept. 28’s Big Sky opener against
visiting Idaho State, however. Af-ter yet another inauspicious startfrom Laughrea, whowas fresh off consecu-tive two-interceptionperformances, and twofirst-quarter drives thatstalled, netting justthree points againstone of the league’sperennial bottom feeders, UCDavis called on Wright.
“They said start warming up,”Wright said of Gould and offen-sive coordinator Kevin Daft inan article in the Sacramento Bee.“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Wright, who had not seen thefield since Aug. 31, immediately injected life into the Aggies,throwing for 201 yards, twotouchdowns and spearheading a455-yard offensive output.
More important, he helped UCDavis — and Gould — secure anall-important first victory.
Nearly one month later Wrightremains the starter, and theAggies (3-5, 3-1) are thriving.They’ve won three of their pastfour and have emerged as a vi-able challenger in the Big Sky
title chase.“Randy was a little sporadic
early on. … He really needed tounderstand that we were run-ning a new program and it’s notOK just to go through the mo-tions; it’s unacceptable,” Gouldsaid earlier this week. “He’sreally embraced that. He’s neverpouted; (because of) his com-petitiveness, he wasn’t happy that we benched him, but heworked his fanny off and con-tinued to stay mentally focused.Now that the opportunity hascome up again, he’s taken fulladvantage of it.”
Wright capped his first driveagainst the Bengals with a 20-yard touchdown strike to TomHemmingsen.
CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO
’Cats middle linebacker Michael Foster has recovered a fumble in three consecutive games.
By JON MALETZ
Chronicle Sports Editor
It seemed fitting thatMontana State’s defensivequarterback was wearinga red no-contact jersey atTuesday’s practice.
“The coaches just want meto be careful,”middle line-backer MichaelFoster said ashe stole a quick glance at his
ailing shoulder. “They just want me to heal up.By the time the big gamerolls around, though, I’llbe good to go. I really do
feel f ine.”His air of nonchalance
initially was striking,particularly consideringthe scene that unfolded
earlier this month againstNorthern Arizona; asellout crowd watchedthe junior slowly ambletoward the Bobcat
Stadium sideline in theopening quarter with hisleft arm lifelessly hangingby his side.
Then again, the circum-stances are hardly foreign.The Seabrook, Texas, na-tive played the bulk of the2012 season with a poste-rior labral tear in his rightshoulder that necessitatedoffseason surgery. Hestill managed to lead theBobcats in special-teamstackles and return in timeto participate in fall campwithout limitations.
Nerve damage this timearound has producedsome lingering discom-fort, sure, but Foster iscertain the injury won’t
relegate him to the role of bystander.
“You’re going to getstingers; if you pinch it, it
just fires and it sucks for
a while,” he said. “You’vegot to just deal with it,play through it. … I don’twant to let my teammatesdown.”
Foster was amonga host of Bobcats thatswarmed star runningback Zach Bauman ashe plunged through themiddle for a negligiblegain on the first play of NAU’s second possessionOct. 5. While the exactcircumstances are a bithazy, Foster remembersfalling to the turf and
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bozeman daily chronicle Saturday, October 26, 2013 | 5
BOBCATS GAME DAY
UC Davis at No. 5 Montana State
2:05 p.m., Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman
Photo courtesy of
uc Davis
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The Aggies tackedon two more field goalsbefore the half to amassa 16-0 lead, and then putthings out of reach witha 14-point fourth quar-ter and the dominantrunning of transfer GabeManzanares, who finishedwith 208 yards on 33 car-ries.
One week later, Man-zanares rushed for 175and two more scores andWright pitched in with aneconomical 193 yards on16-of-25 passing in Davis’21-3 win over SouthernUtah.
After Oct. 12’s 42-7
setback against Montana,Wright and company regrouped last week inGreeley, Colo. The signalcaller logged his fourth300-yard passing gameand matched a career highwith four touchdowns ina 34-18 win over North-ern Colorado that was farmore one-sided than thefinal score would indicate.The Aggies’ first fourdrives covered 74, 74, 79and 82 yards and resultedin 24 points, they convert-ed 11 of 16 first downs and
accumulated a season-high488 yards of offense.
They ran 42 plays to theBears’ 17 in the first 30minutes alone.
“I’m very pleased with
how the guys came back and regrouped,” Gouldsaid. “Their effort andconcentration on the roadhas been very spectacular.It was a good, good team
victory.”A marquee win this
afternoon against a muchmore formidable foe,No. 5 Montana State (5-2,3-0) — the third rankedFootball ChampionshipSubdivision team it hasfaced thus far — couldposition Davis for a titlerun in the next month.The prospect is not so far-fetched; the Aggies scored24 points in the thirdquarter to snatch the leadin last year’s tussle with theBobcats, who responded
with a 17-point final frameto escape California witha 48-41 victory and theirthen-unblemished recordintact.
Wright rushed for ascore in that contest in ad-dition to completing 23 of 27 passes for 242 yards.
MSU players and coach-es came away impressedwith the Santa Rosa, Calif.native, who last week set aprogram record for pass-ing completions (1,170)and needs just 23 yards tobecome the second Davis
player to throw for morethan 8,000.
“I remember him jukingme once last year, whichwas not fun,” linebackerMichael Foster said. “It
was one of those that eatsat you.”
Added head coach RobAsh, “Randy Wright had afabulous game against us
last year. I’m very con-cerned about him; he’s agreat player. He throwsthe ball extremely well,but boy, where he hurt uslast year was with his feet.… He was able to run fora touchdown, and he wasable to extend plays, keepplays alive. … He’s playingreally well right now, and itseems like he’s getting bet-ter every week like I saidtheir whole team was.
“I thought we were alittle careless in the pocketlast week against WeberState. We need to just refine
our passing lanes and getback to what we do. It’s notanything new, it’s just tryingto get our technique betterso that we keep the pocketintegrity so that there’s notreally a lot of wide openspace for him to get out.”
Gould is excited to havehis veteran quarterback back in the mix.
“He gets us in and outof plays so nicely. … If weneed to check plays, hedoes a great job of seeingit, seeing the field and get-ting us into the right play
starting out and the guysin great positions,” thecoach added.
“The leadership fromRandy has just really emerged.”
“It happened so fast, but my arm went limp from my neck down to my f ingertips. WhenI moved, pain shot all the way through,” he said. “It was a weirddeal, and I honestly thought itwas my labrum; it hurt in thesame place as my other shoul-der. … The feeling came back,though, so I went back in.
“I spent (the following week)getting a couple MRIs to makesure it wasn’t in my neck;something like that and I’d defi-nitely have to pass the torch to(backup) Rhett Young — I don’twant to be in a wheelchair forthe rest of my life. … They saidit was nerves, though, and they said it was something I couldplay through. So that’s what you
do.”Added fellow linebacker Cole
Moore, “Mike is an extremely tough and resilient kid, andit’s important to have him outthere. Alex (Singleton), Mikeand I have been able to developconfidence in each other to bein the right spots and be execut-ing and making plays. He may come out for a play or two, butyou can bet he’ll get right back in there and be ready to go.”
That’s good news for theBobcats, who have experiencedsome attrition at the position inrecent months. Injuries shelved
one player — Na’a Moeaki-ola — for the season and forcedanother likely starter, AlekseiGrosulak, to leave the programduring the summer.
Foster eagerly embraced anaugmented role and addedresponsibility. After a period of transition and some early seasoninconsistency, Foster, Mooreand Singleton have transformeda perceived team weakness intoan unequivocal strength.
“Mike is really coming intothat role and developing into agreat playmaker for us,” MSUlinebackers coach Kane Ioane
said. “He’s really the leader of our defense; he’s basically thequarterback out there, gets those
guys up front lined up and theback end, as well. He’s invaluableto have out there at all timesbecause of his communicationskills and his ability.”
Foster has logged 33 tacklesand has recovered a fumble inthree consecutive games. Thelast came at a most opportunetime. With little more than 10minutes remaining in the fourthquarter of last week’s contest inOgden, Utah, Weber State wasmarching and appeared poisedto produce the go-ahead touch-down. Foster turned the tide ona second and 4 at MSU’s 22-yardline, however, stripping tailback Josh Booker and emerging fromthe scrum with the ball.
“As far as pulling the trigger, Icould see a few times where hedidn’t want to use his shoul-der — the bad shoulder — at
certain points,” Ioane said of Foster, who spent some time onthe sideline in Ogden. “I think he was still playing fast andphysical, so we’re certainly notlosing any step with him beingout there.
“If he’s going to be on thefield, he’s going to give it ev-erything he has, fly around andbe the physical ball player heis. In practice we have to toneit down a bit and have him puton the red jersey — no one cantouch him, which makes his lifeeasy — but when he’s on thefield he can’t worry about injury.
If you’re out there, you’ve gotto just go play. If things flareup, we’ll have him take a quick break and get him out there asquick as he can.”
The red jersey comes off thisafternoon.
Don’t expect Foster to behesitant.
“Yeah, you feel it when it hap-pens, when you make a big hit,but then it just goes away,” Fos-ter said. “In the moment, youhave that adrenaline going andyou have to keep pushing. Youhave to keep doing your job.”
Montana State also producedits largest average gains on firstdown in those wins — 10.1yards against Monmouth and9.3 in Grand Forks, N.D.
The consequences of notpicking up 4 yards on first down
typically create rippling effects.Cramsey says his creativity is di-minished when Montana Stateis behind the sticks and almostnonexistent in long-yardagesituations with low percentagesof success.
It should comfort the staff that the Bobcats have aver-aged 7.2 yards on first down,although the numbers areskewed by the 16 plays of 20 ormore yards they have already produced on first down.
Of their 223 first downs, 93have gained 4 or fewer yards,which is similar to their third-
down success rate.Montana State faced 28 firstdowns against Weber State (it
was credited with 20 but facedeight others as part of start-ing the game with the ball andafter scores and turnovers) andgained 4 or more on 17.
In the second quarter, quar-terback DeNarius McGhee wassacked for a loss of 10 on firstdown. He then found DavidDash for 11. The down and dis-
tance was not ideal, and a falsestart pushed the ’Cats back 5more; despite a 12-yard comple-tion to Cody Kirk, the Bobcatshad to punt.
On their first drive of thethird quarter, the ’Cats faced athird and 2 after Shawn Johnsonpicked up 2 on first down andMcGhee connected with BrianFlotkoetter for 6 a play later.It was the distance in whichCramsey feels comfortable;he can open the playbook andselect any number of plays froma number of formations.
A holding call negated that,
however, and McGhee fired anincomplete pass on third down.“I think it’s the fourth biggest
stat in football,” Cramsey said.“I’m not a big stat guy, (but)the biggest stats in football arehow many points we score andhow many points they score,turnovers and then, the fourthone, is the third down conver-sion rate because that’s whatkeeps us on the field and themoff the field.”
Cramsey, Ash and the otheroffensive assistants are search-ing for ways to increase MSU’ssuccess rate on third down.
“It’s different every week.We could sit here and talk forhours on specifically what (theproblem) is,” Cramsey said. “Iwould say it’s a combination;it’s play calling, it’s execution.That’s what it comes down to alot of times. I have to do a better
job of calling plays when thingsdon’t go well and they have todo a better job of executingwhen things don’t go well. Wenever separate them from each
other. … If we’re both doingit well, we’re going to have bigtime games.”
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bozeman daily chronicle6 | Saturday, October 26, 2013
BOBCATS GAME DAY
UC Davis at No. 5 Montana State
2:05 p.m., Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman
Depth charts
Montana State
OffenseLEFT TACKLE
55 John Weidenaar 6-7/280 So
76 Marshall Womack 6-5/280 Fr
LEFT GUARD
63 Kyle Godecke 6-5/315 So
72 Charles Lee 6-3/280 Jr
CENTER
74 Matthew Devereux 6-3/300 So
70 Joel Horn 6-4/295 So
RIGHT GUARD
75 JP Flynn 6-5/304 Fr
72 Charles Lee 6-3/280 Jr
RIGHT TACKLE
79 Quinn Catalano 6-4/300 Jr64 Andy Austin 6-3/285 Sr
QUARTERBACK
9 DeNarius McGhee 6-0/212 Sr
2 Jake Bleskin 6-1/195 So
RUNNING BACK
25 Cody Kirk 5-10/213 Sr
33 Shawn Johnson 5-9/175 Jr
X RECEIVER
86 Tanner Bleskin 6-3/218 Sr
83 Manny Kalfell 6-3/193 So
F/Y RECEIVER
4 Jon Ellis 5-10/175 Sr
12 David Dash 5-7/174 Jr
Z RECEIVER
84 Brian Flotkoetter 6-2/211 Jr
11 Tanner Roderick 6-3/185 So
TIGHT END
80 Tiai Salanoa 6-3/257 Sr
93 Lee Perkins 6-2/240 Jr
KICKER
18 Rory Perez 6-3/185 Sr
DefenseEND
7 Preston Gale 6-3/254 Sr
10 Odin Coe 6-3/250 So
TACKLE
47 Taylor Dees 6-2/273 Jr
92 Nate Bignell 6-2/273 So
NOSE TACKLE
50 Craig Ashworth 6-1/280 Sr
90 Taylor Sheridan 6-3/280 So
BANDIT
41 Brad Daly 6-1/240 Sr
46 Hayden Vick 6-3/236 Jr
SAM LINEBACKER
16 Cole Moore 6-2/220 Jr
34 Blake Braun 6-1/225 Fr
MIKE LINEBACKER
51 Michael Foster 6-1/228 So
58 Rhett Young 6-0/215 Jr
WILL LINEBACKER
43 Alex Singleton 6-2/240 Jr
29 Fe’ao Vunipola 5-10/222 Fr
BOUNDARY CORNER
37 Deonte Flowers 5-11/183 Jr
36 Brad Nordahl 5-11/172 Jr
ROVER
5 Robert Marshall 6-0/200 Jr
22 Eryon Barnett 6-2/200 Sr
FREE SAFETY
1 Steven Bethley 5-11/210 Sr
26 James Nelson 5-11/199 Jr
FIELD CORNER
3 Sean Gords 5-10/193 Sr
26 James Nelson 5-11/199 Jr
PUNTER
18 Rory Perez 6-3/185 Sr
THE EDGEUc Davis at Montana state
Which UC Davis deense will be making the trip
to Bozeman?
The unit that held Northern Arizona star
tailback Zach Bauman to just 56 yards on 18
carries and the Lumberjacks to 191 yards o total
oense? The unit that surrendered just 45 on the
ground and three points to Southern Utah?
Or, will it be the group that looked
downright clueless against the Griz
and was obliterated against Portland
State? The Vikings logged six rusheso at least 25 yards and a whopping
427 on the ground — on 38 carries, no
less — in Sept. 21’s 41-10 rout o the
Aggies.
Then again, will it really even
matter?
The Aggies have showcased ashes o stout
deensive play — particularly during their current
three-wins-in-our-games stretch — but they’ve
ailed to fnd a proven ormula or slowing the
Big Sky’s upper-echelon oenses.
The Bobcats certainly ft into that category.
Montana State is averaging more than 38 points
and 457 yards o total oense per game. It has
scored 35 touchdowns; UC Davis has just 15.Montana State has showcased some enviable
versatility and an ability to concoct the ideal
game plan to exploit whatever the deense
throws at it.
Cody Kirk, Shawn Johnson and company ran
wild against North Dakota and Northern Arizona
and are averaging nearly 5 yards per carry.
While quarterback DeNarius McGhee threw
or just 72 yards on 7-o-18 passing against the
Lumberjacks, the ‘Cats still managed
to cruise to a 29-point win on the
strength o 276 on the ground.
McGhee stepped into thespotlight last week against Weber
State, logging his frst 300-yard
passing eort in 13 team games
and showcasing a strong arm and
uncanny playmaking ability. Clearly,
any concerns about his throwing
shoulder being tender are a thing o the past.
“Just his aura, his presence exudes confdence.
… You can see it watching flm,” UC Davis head
coach Ron Gould said o McGhee. “You don’t
really stop this young man. Hopeully you’ve got
to contain him.”
Good luck, coach. You might be able to corral
McGhee, but the Bobcats have ar too many
weapons at their disposal to be completelystopped today. Barring a turnover-flled
aternoon, MSU should roll.
WHEN MONTANA STATE HAS THE BALL
At Tuesday’s weekly news conerence,
Montana State middle linebacker Michael Foster
said the UC Davis oense reminds him a lot o
the Northern Arizona unit the ‘Cats shut down in
their last home game.
I that is indeed the case, UC Davis
will play right into the Bobcats’ hands.
It is usually unorthodox or spread,
zone-read teams that have givenMSU its this all. The ‘Cats have had
little trouble shutting down pro-
style oenses, however, especially
ones that have struggled inding the
end zone.
UC Davis, which averages just 16
points per game, is the second lowest scoring o-
ense in the Big Sky and the third least proicient
in terms o total oense.
MSU head coach Rob Ash said he was worried
about Davis quarterback Randy Wright making
plays with his legs like he did in MSU’s 48-41 win
over the Aggies last season. Foster echoed his
coach’s sentiments, saying he remembered the
quarterback juking him on a run.
We don’t think that is going to happen again
this year, even with community college transer
Gabe Manzanares, the Big Sky’s ourth-leading
rusher, in the backield. Manzanares broke out
with 383 rushing yards against Idaho
State and Southern Utah, but he has
largely been held in check against
the league’s top squads (40 yardsagainst Northern Arizona and 60
against Montana.) He will struggle to
help move the chains today against
a deense that repeatedly has a
demonstrated knack or neutralizing
an opponent’s top oensive weapons
— just ask North Dakota’s Greg Hardin or NAU’s
Zach Bauman.
Montana State’s deense has really settled in
since a tough outing at Stephen F. Austin.
Despite troubles stopping the run last week-
end at Weber State, MSU’s deense has largely
kept teams rom scoring and will likely continue
that trend today.
WHEN UC DAVIS HAS THE BALL
Last year’s matchup between these teams was
a wild one.
Montana State looked like
it was going to cruise past the
Aggies as it amassed a 38-14
haltime lead, but UC Davis
ripped o 24 third-quarter
points to tie the game heading
to the ourth. Montana State
eventually took control and got
out o Davis, Cali., with a 48-41win ater ormer saety Joel Fuller knocked down
Randy Wright’s Hail-Mary attempt on the game’s
second-to-last play.
We would be surprised i this one ollowed
suit. Montana State has had its
troubles this season, but it has
been a relatively sae pick at
home.
In the past two years,
Montana State has lost just two
games at Bobcat Stadium, and
this doesn’t appear to be the
third. The ‘Cats will get their
sixth win o the season andremain undeeated in the Big Sky two weeks
beore a much-anticipated meeting with a ellow
unbeaten, No. 3 Eastern Washington.
38 13
EDGE
EDGE
THE BOTTOM LINE
UC Davis
DefenseLEFT END
18 Nick King 6-3/245 Sr
90 Zak Pettit 6-4/255 Fr
TACKLE
95 Anthony Kaspar 6-2/275 Jr
75 Inoke Raikadroka 6-0/275 Fr
TACKLE
55 Kyle DeVaughn 5-11/285 So
97 Khalid Jones 6-1/280 Sr
RIGHT END
8 Colin Kelly 6-3/235 Sr
94 Marques Barron 6-2/248 Jr
SAM LINEBACKER
35 Jonathan Bias 6-3/230 So53 Russell Reeder 6-3/200 Fr