With a precocious true freshman showing flashes of brilliance while leading Montana State’s previously sputtering offense to two straight touchdown drives, Tyler Bruggman could have lost all belief in himself.
Instead, Bruggman used Chris Murray’s first two career rushing touchdowns as the spark he needed to get himself into gear at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
MSU quarterback Chris Murray (8) looks for space vs. Western Oregon Saturday
Murray, a true freshman out of Lawndale (California) High, saw his most extensive action of his rookie season during Montana State’s matchup with Division II Western Oregon. On the first possession of the second quarter, the dual-threat signal caller scored a four-yard touchdown, MSU’s first of the day, to capitalize on Jessie Clark’s sack-strip forced fumble recovered by Marcus Ferriter.
Following his first career score, Murray remained in at quarterback for two more drives, leading the Bobcats to a score capped by his six-yard touchdown run as MSU jumped out to a 17-0 lead less than five minutes into the second quarter.
Bruggman did not look sharp during the first quarter and, outside of four possessions so far this season, the journeyman has looked inconsistent at best. So when Murray took the field for a third straight possession with MSU facing its first long field of the second frame, one would not be wrong to give pause.
But Bruggman, a former four-star recruit from Phoenix who most recently played at Scottsdale Community College after stops at Washington State and Louisville, did return. Once back under center, the 6-foot-1 junior looked sharp.
On the first possession following Bruggman’s reinsertion, the strong-armed righty fired a bullet to junior wide receiver Mitch Herbert for a 25-yard gain on a quick slant. On the play, he found senior tight end Austin Barth for a 13-yard gain into the red-zone. Bruggman then ran a perfect play-action fake and fired into a window to find John D’Agostino for a 13-yard touchdown, the Bozeman native’s second touchdown in as many weeks.
MSU quarterback Tyler Bruggman (11) drops back vs. Western Oregon Staruday
On his second possession after reentering the game, Bruggman scrambled for 15 yards into Western Oregon territory, then whizzed a 30-yard touchdown to junior Justin Paige to give the Bobcats a 31-0 with more than three minutes remaining until halftime.
The Bobcats never looked back, posting a 55-0 win in front of 17,577 mostly uninterested fans, more than half of which did not come back after halftime at Bobcat Stadium on a breezy Saturday afternoon. Bruggman finished 17-of-29 for 211 yards and three touchdowns.
“All of our jobs is to do what we are asked to do to help the team and Chris is a tremendous player, makes a lot of plays, brings a different skill set to the table, all things defenses have to prepare for that can help our offense move the ball and score points,” Bruggman said. “We are just doing what we are asked to do. I’m just rolling with the punches.
“We are always motivated and it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we have to keep the foot on the gas.”
Montana State head coach Jeff Choate has made no secret of his desire to use Murray, an elite athlete with raw quarterback skills. Choate has also been adamant that, while Murray is talented and an intriguing option for the rebuilding Bobcats, Bruggman remains Montana State’s starting quarterback.
“We wanted to get (Bruggman) some rhythm throws and when we reminded ourselves of that, I thought he did a really nice job of operating,” Choate said.
MSU defenders swarm Western Oregon running back Steven Long
While the Bobcat offense moved the ball at will for the duration of a 31-point second quarter, the defense smothered Western Oregon’s offense completely. After earning two first downs and gaining 27 yards on the first drive, the Wolves managed just 163 total yards and sixx first downs the rest of the way. The shutout is the first posted by the Bobcats since a 26-0 win over Division II Colorado Mesa in September of 2013.
“Getting a shutout, it’s hard,” said Montana State senior John Walker, a graduate transfer from Colorado. “When I was at Colorado, we didn’t get a shutout against anybody. It’s hard to get a shutout no matter who you playing.”
Western Oregon punter Nathan Osborn punted the ball 10 times for 357 yards, almost than twice as many yards as the Wolves gained offensively. The Bobcats forced five turnovers for the second straight week, bringing the total for takeaways this season to 12. MSU leads the FCS with a +8 turnover margin.
“We’ve been very opportunistic all year and I was excited to see not just the guys who were out there last Saturday but even some other guys getting in there and creating turnovers, (Lukas) McCarthy, West Wilson,” Choate said. “It’s a little bit of a feeding frenzy and that’s a good thing for us.
“For us to be able to hang a 0, that’s really hard to do. I’ve been a lot of places and I haven’t been a part of very many of those no matter who you are playing.”
Walker dropped a sure pick-six in the first half but snared his third interception in the last two weeks on the first possession of the second half, giving him as many interceptions this season as MSU notched all of 2015 already. Two plays later, Bruggman hit Herbert for a 32-yard touchdown to give MSU a 41-0 lead.
MSU wide receiver John D’Agostino celebrates a touchdown reception vs Western Oregon
On the first possession of the fourth quarter, MSU lined up in a five-wide receiver set only to run quarterback draw with Murray. He glided into the end zone untouched for an 18-yard touchdown, his third of the day.
Sophomore Logan Jones scored a nine-yard touchdown on the heels of a 13-yard scurry to cap the scoring and give MSU a 55-0 lead. Junior West Wilson sealed the win with the first interception of his career with 3:17 left.
MSU’s first 10 points came as a result of a short field. D’Agostino blocked a punt toward the end of the first quarter that redshirt freshman Keon Stephens recovered at the WOU 3-yard line. A penalty backed MSU up to the 18 but true freshman Gabe Peppenger salvaged the possession by hitting the first field goal of his career from 31 yards out.
Clark’s sack-strip forced fumble set up Ferriter’s first fumble recovery, which led to Murray’s first touchdown on an afternoon of firsts. Redshirt freshman linebacker Josh Hill snared his first career interception to set up Devon Tandberg’s 37-yard field goal to extend the lead to 34-0.
The afternoon saw true freshman Kevin Kassis recorded his first rush and the explosive Californian added a nifty 20-yard punt return in the first half. Ferriter set up D’Agostino’s first career blocked punt with the first tackle for loss in his career.
Patrick Carroll, a graduate transfer from UNLV, entered the action for the first time this season with 10 minutes to play in place of right guard Monte Folsom. He played the rest of the game.
After Osborn’s 10th punt, Murray found Brandon Brown for the first catch of his senior season. Murray finished 3-of-6 for 50 yards and rushed nine times for 33 yards and the three scores. Redshirt freshman Ben Folsom completed his first two career passes to true freshman Karl Tucker II and sophomore tight end Curtis Amos for their first career catches.
“I think you have a good one-two punch right there with Tyler and Chris,” MSU senior captain left guard J.P. Flynn said. “You have a guy who can move well in the pocket with Chris Murray, a spark plug back there. You never know where he’s at or what he’s doing with the ball. Those last two plays of the first half were completely wrong plays, not what was supposed to be called but he made it work, got in the end-zone. Then you have Tyler, the consistent guy back there. One thing is that ‘Ol’ Sticks’, No. 11 back there is finding a rhythm and gaining some confidence and starting to sling the rock like we all know he can.”
MSU wide receiver Kevin Kassis (85) and tight end Woody Brandom (46) celebrate during the tunnel run
After two straight home victories, the Bobcats’ attention now turns to a Homecoming showdown a suddenly surging North Dakota squad. A season after narrowly missing the FCS playoffs with a 7-4 record that included a 44-38 win over a ranked Bobcat squad in Grand Forks, UND is 1-2 entering Big Sky Conference play. The Fighting Hawks lost at Stony Brook 13-9 on a blocked punt the Seawolves returned for a touchdown with less than two minutes to play. UND lost at FBS Bowling Green 27-26 on a missed two-point conversion with 13 seconds to play. North Dakota rallied from a 31-17 fourth-quarter deficit to win its home opener 47-44 in double overtime over South Dakota thanks to a game-winning touchdown run by star running back John Santiago.
“I don’t know if it would’ve mattered if it was 3-0, you just have to get that win,” Choate said. “I think it was important for us to hit some shot plays and find a groove at times on offense. But this is a completely different animal coming here next week. This is a real good football team. We are going to have our hands full. We are going to need Bobcat Nation to be loud and proud and to come back after halftime.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
