Montana State’s biggest question mark coming into the 2025 season was the cornerback position. The 2024 Big Sky Conference champions graduated standouts like Simeon Woodard and Jon Johnson along with senior nickel Miles Jackson. MSU also saw sophomore Andrew Powdrell bail for the FBS after an all-league season.
A month in 2025, that group has rapidly turned into one of Montana State’s strengths and according to redshirt freshman Carson Williams there’s no looking back now.
“I like the fact that we don’t quit,” Williams, who is listed as Jhase McMillan’s backup, said. “In the Oregon game we could’ve easily laid down and stop going but our guys fought to the end of the game. We’re hungry, we want it, and I feel like the more we see each other want it, the more we’re going to want it.”
Williams and fellow cornerbacks, junior Takhari Carr, redshirt freshmen Seth Johnson and McMillan, along with the rest of the MSU defense, have allowed just seven pass plays over 20 yards all season, which has included games against FBS No. 5 Oregon and FCS No. 2 South Dakota State. Williams pointed out that he and peers’ ability to play press coverage has been a key to keeping teams for going deep on them.
The four cornerbacks play roughly the same number of snaps, which is common throughout the MSU defense, where the linemen rotate up to 10 players and the two linebacker spots rotate three or four players.
“We’ve been tackling great, we’ve been covering great,” Williams said. “It’s just a few minor slip ups that we need to clean up. (Cornerbacks) coach (Trent) Greene has been on us about our minor ticks, our minor errors when it comes to press coverage. The more we keep working on it and the more we keep grinding in press then the more lethal we’ll get and honestly, we haven’t really got bombed all year if we’re being honest and I don’t plan on that happening this week either.”
Greene is in his first season at MSU after coaching the safeties at Missouri Southern State. He served as a defensive analyst at Arizona State and Washington State before that. Green was a two-time second-team All-MAC selection at linebacker for Bowling Green.
“Coach Greene is always telling us to cap the verticals. That’s one thing we don’t want to give up is the vertical,” Williams said. “We’ll take a five-yard hitch, we’ll take a 3-yard hitch. We gotta come down and tackle. If we’re in press (coverage) we need to throw (our) hands on and throw off timing. Just little things like that he’s taught us. The more we put the hands on and the more we start fearing to the receivers, the more they’re not going to throw our way.”
Despite their collective youth, the quartet hasn’t appeared to backdown in any situation. The four rotate nearly equally throughout the game and despite no one getting a solid nod as a permanent fixture, there’s been no mental lapse.
“Confidence standpoint came from when Coach Greene first got here, he put the confidence in us that we need,” Williams said. “He saw the talent that we had, so he saw the few chinks that we had to take care of once it came game day. He was really intense with us in practice, and practice is always a thousand miles per hour. No stop, all gas, no brakes. (Team captain and safety) Caden Dowler he’s always in our ear “lets go boys, lets go. We gotta be faster, we gotta be stronger, more physical.” But it came down to Coach Greene who really brought us along. ‘Don’t be scared of anything, everybody’s gotta come see us.’”
Head coach Brent Vigen, who is seeking his 50th career win Saturday, believes confidence is the main characteristic for players in the secondary.
“Confidence is a premium at that position and that’s okay,” Vigen said. “You’d much rather have it that way than the other way. They’re all thick-skinned kids too. They’re all guys that believe that if I missed out on that play, I’m going to make the next one. If I made the last play, I’m going to make the next one. You’ve got to have that short memory out there whether it’s a good or bad play.
“They’re all skilled. That matters first and foremost that they have the ability. Confidence is real; they’re all real things. The corners are all competitive men. They all want to be challenged. They want that really hard job at times of being on an island. All fearless tacklers and that’s something that doesn’t always come into play, but it’s an expectation.”
The entire secondary benefits from MSU’s strong and deep defensive line, which has opponents game planning to get the ball out quick on pass plays to avoid sacks. This allows the secondary to play up on receivers and in the event of a completion make quick tackles without allowing much yardage after the catch.
“Coach Howe has a saying called, “Swarm” and that’s our motto and that’s our standard,” Williams said. “All 11 hats to the ball. Coach Howe is always on us about getting to the ball, getting to the ball, getting to the ball, getting to the ball, getting to the ball. Somebody doesn’t get to the ball we have to up-downs. That’s just our standard here.”
Last week against Mercyhurst, the Bobcats were caught off guard when the Lakers’ crafty 5-foot-9 quarterback Adam Urena began chucking quick passes to receivers just past the line of scrimmage. Urena would finish the game with 206 yards – most by an FCS quarterback and only seven less than Oregon’s Dante Moore – and completed 23 of 35 attempts. However, he couldn’t get his team on the scoreboard as the Bobcats incessantly locked down once Mercyhurst got in the red zone.
SDSU’s Chase Mason was 17 for 25 for 174 yards and three touchdowns, San Diego’s Dom Nankil was just 13 for 24 for 124 yards and a touchdown. Collectively, FCS starting quarterbacks are just 53 for 84 for 504 yards; 6.0 yards per attempt and just 168 yards per game.
Williams is one of 15 players from Texas and like many players from out of state he wasn’t quite sure what he was getting into moving to Montana. It has grown on him quickly, however, especially the rabid fanbase. His hometown is Houston, and he graduated from Westfield High School where he was a first team All-District 14-6A selection. He had three interceptions and 21 pass breakups his senior season. Johnson and McMillan are both from Texas as well, while Carr is from California.
“Honestly the fans, man,” Williams said of his favorite thing about Montana. “The fans get me every time when I’m running out on the field, and I see the e yellow and blue in the stands and I hear everybody screaming. The little kids knowing my name now; it’s just an honor to be playing here. I wouldn’t want to be playing for anybody else.
“I’m a kid from Houston. I didn’t even know Montana had sports until I got up here. Then when I got up here and seen how much they love football, it’s just like Texas. Montana loves football as much as Texas I feel like and I’m honored to be playing in Bobcat Stadium.”
Carr had a coming out party of sorts last week against Mercyhurst when he recovered a fumble forced by tackle Paul Brott and ended the Lakers’ final possession when he broke up a pass by tipping a ball twice that eventually ended up being intercepted by linebacker Ryan Krahe. McMillan leads all the cornerbacks in tackles with 13. Johnson has 1.5 tackles-for-loss to go with nine tackles.
The elder statesman Carr is from Compton, Calif. and had a pair of pass breakups against Mercyhurst last year when he was backing four-year starter Simeon Woodard. McMillan hails from Fulshear, Tex., which is also in the Houston area. Johnson is from Frisco, Tex., which is in the Dallas area.
That quartet will be in action this Saturday when MSU hosts Eastern Washington for its homecoming game with kickoff slated for 2:00.
