If there was ever a bye week that was needed for sustenance, it arrived like manna from heaven for Montana State this week as the undefeated and No. 3-ranked Bobcats are licking their wounds after a fall camp and three games have taken a toll on the two-deep despite MSU’s impressive start.
The Bobcats have built a reputation for having excellent team depth. But no matter how deep they may be, if there are enough injuries in critical positions, then no amount of depth is enough. MSU found that out the hard way a season ago when it came out of the gate smoking only to see injuries play a role in losses of three of its final five games.
This season, MSU has run itself out of all the offensive guards on its two-deep due to injuries at those spots and center. The Bobcats have been running with their starting tackles – Marcus Wehr and Conner Moore – at the guard positions. They are also down three safeties, their starting center, a starting running back, starting kicker and a cornerback.
Starters out after the third game are: center Justus Perkins, guard JT Reed, running back Julius Davis, safety Dru Polidore, cornerbacks Jon Johnson and Simeon Woodard, and kicker Casey Kautzman.
Backups out after the third game are: safeties Taki Uluilakepa, Brock Steel and Blake Stillwell, guard Blake Mastel, and running back Elijah Elliott.
Starting guard Cole Sain slid over to the center spot vacated by Perkins’ injury, which moved Wehr into Sain’s spot at guard. When Reed couldn’t go, Moore moved into the other guard spot.
Getting by without 12 players has been a tall order for MSU, but the Bobcats are still managing to put up huge offensive numbers, while being effective if not overwhelming on defense. MSU is averaging well over 500 yards of total offense per game and has been very stingy with its defensive starters on the field over a seven-quarter stretch that includes the second half against New Mexico, first three quarters versus Utah Tech and first half against Maine.
During that time the MSU starting defense has allowed just seven points and 252 total yards.
Backup kicker Miles Sansted has filled in admirably for Kautzman as he’s made all 14 of his extra points and converted on three of five field goals – one of those was batted away by an unblocked player against Utah Tech.
Perhaps where it hurts the Bobcats most is when the coaches decide to pull out the top players and get the reserves some playing time. With so many players out, there’s been a need to move players off the depth chart onto it and therefore when mop up duty rolls around, it isn’t the players that would be in at that time since they’re now filling more important roles.
Twenty-four of the last 31 points (seven in the fourth quarter against Utah Tech and 17 in the second half against Maine) allowed by MSU have been by the mop-up crew and MSU head coach Brent Vigen noticed that.
“You work real hard to get (backup) guys in the game and the second half wasn’t quite the same,” Vigen said after the Maine game. “So, it looks like we gotta ways to go with that second group. We gotta keep building that depth is my key takeaway from today. On both sides.”
Quarterback Tommy Mellott, who wasn’t injured, gave way to MSU’s backup quarterbacks – Jordan Reed and Chance Wilson – at halftime. Mellott did leave the Utah Tech game at the start of the fourth quarter with what turned out to be severe leg cramps.
There haven’t been any reports of players coming off the injured list and Vigen generally keeps that news close to his vest until just before game time. The speculation is that MSU will hold any players with even slight injury out of the Mercyhurst game as the Bobcats gear up for Big Sky Conference play, which begins with a road trip to Pocatello to face Idaho State in two weeks.
MSU is set to kick off at 1:00 against Mercyhurst at Bobcat Stadium this Saturday.
