Jeff Choate thinks he is starting to get a feel for talent around the Big Sky Conference.
As Montana State’s first-year head coach enters his sixth week of game preparations, he’s been able to prepare for two Big Sky teams and has seen film on a collection of other league squads. Choate sees “a lot of commonalities”, particularly along the offensive and defensive lines. He said there are certainly good players on the fronts but the offensive units all look similar. The defensive lines, while “having some really good players, don’t have any groups with four or five guys who are going to terrorize you.”
The film does show Choate the advantage an elite quarterback can provide. MSU’s new head coach is quickly learning the skill positions, especially on the perimeter among the wide receivers and the defensive secondary, are what can separate teams when conference play hits full tilt.
When Choate popped in the game tape on Northern Arizona, the speed of NAU’s skill position players, from swift tailbacks Kendyl Taylor and Joe Logan to wide receiver Elijah Marks, is noticeable. The size of hulking wide receiver is impossible to miss on film or in person. Northern Arizona’s offensive weapons are cause for concern for Montana State’s head coach.
“This, NAU, and when we play Eastern Washington,” Choate said when asked about defense’s toughest tests this season. “What I’ve seen, those are the tests. I’m starting to get a feel for this league now. What I’ve seen without question, those two groups have really good skill talent.”
NAU quarterback Case Cookus (15) with offensive coordinator Tim Plough/by NAU Athletics
Northern Arizona has moved the ball up and down the field at will. But miscues, lacking red-zone efficiency, a slew of penalties and injury to star quarterback Case Cookus have piled up into a 1-4 start for the preseason Big Sky favorites.
NAU ranks second in the Big Sky in total offense at 504 yards per game, including 318 yards per game through the air, the third-best in the league. Cookus threw for 1,173 yards, 13 touchdowns and just one interception before going down with a potential season-ending shoulder injury in the third quarter of Northern Arizona’s 50-35 loss to Eastern Washington. The Lumberjacks trailed the Eagles just 36-28 at the time and had possession of the ball.
The Lumberjacks drove the ball into the Arizona State red-zone five times, managing just two field goals. NAU’s lone touchdown in the 44-13 loss was Marks’ 87-yard catch and run even though Cookus completed 23-of-33 passes for 369 yards.
At No. 17 Western Illinois, NAU converted just one of three red-zone trips, committed eight penalties and gave up 539 yards of offense in a 34-20 loss. Taylor, a senior who transferred from Washington before last season and played wide receiver in 2015, rushed for 97 yards while Mark sand Butler both caught touchdowns.
Against Division II New Mexico Highlands, Cookus threw seven touchdowns, including five to Butler and two more to Marks in a 73-3 win. The next week, Cookus threw three touchdowns, Taylor caught one and rushed for another during his first career 100-yard day. Cookus’ injury and two interceptions thrown by backup Blake Kemp led to NAU’s third straight loss.
With Cookus on the shelf in Greeley, NAU fumbled twice in the red-zone and committed 11 penalties resulting in 108 yards and negated at least one touchdown in a 21-18 loss to fall to 1-4. NAU piled up 493 yards of offense, its fifth straight with more than 425 and its third game with at least 491.
NAU running back Kendyal Taylor (13)/by NAU Athletics
Choate, who spent the last two seasons at Washington, praised Taylor’s speed and ability to create mismatches in the passing game because of his diverse skill set. He said he remembered Taylor being a versatile weapon for the Huskies in the one season he spent on Chris Peterson’s staff when Taylor still went to UW. This season, Taylor has 405 rushing yards and 143 receiving yards.
Marks is averaging 17.9 yards per catch and his 554 yards and 31 grabs are both in the league’s top four. Butler has been kept in check more often this season but is still averaging 14.6 yards per catch and 82 yards per game. His six touchdown receptions are tied for second in the league with Southern Utah’s Mike Sharp behind EWU All-American Cooper Kupp (7).
“We have to get off the field and manage ourselves on offense to give ourselves a chance,” Choate said.
On Wednesday’s Big Sky Conference coaches’ call, NAU head coach Jerome Souers confirmed Cookus is out “indefinitely”, adding he would see a specialist soon and might miss the rest of his sophomore season. The 2015 FCS Freshman of the Year has already thrown 50 touchdowns in his first 15 career starts.
“I don’t think it’s possible to overstate his importance to what we do offensively,” Souers said before his team’s game against UNC. “His ability to play the position, Case has been a unique find for us. He’s progressing into an outstanding quarterback and this injury is a major setback for him. He took it really hard.”
The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder from Thousand Oaks, California is an elite talent in the FCS and his loss will be felt. But Montana State defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak is equally worried about the mismatches NAU’s collection of athletes on offense can create.
“You are just preparing for an offense because their perimeter is very special,” Gregorak said. “They have some excellent wide receivers, some very talented running backs and an offensive line that is very good at what they do.
‘They are a different animal with (Cookus) but I think you just have to prepare for the offense itself because their receivers, other than Eastern Washington, they won’t get any better.”
NAU quarterback Blake Kemp (10)/by NAU Athletics
Kemp threw two interceptions against EWU but completed 9-of-12 passes in that game, including a nine-yard touchdown to William Morehand. Last week, he completed 35-of-46 passes for 273 yards, including a two-yard strike to Marks for the junior’s fifth touchdown catch this season.
Souers said the southpaw senior “looked very promising”, adding that his team needs to clean up its mistakes like Kemp’s red-zone fumble, Logan’s red-zone muff and an illegal procedure penalty that negated a long touchdown.
“I told (the MSU defense) before the Sac game that we hadn’t done anything yet,” Gregorak said. “The two quarterbacks who had a pulse, the two guys who were decent quarterbacks who can line up in spread formations and sling it, both quarterbacks threw for 350 yards. Against the two quarterbacks who can play well, we didn’t do anything.”
Bryant’s Dalton Easton threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns in MSU’s 27-24 win in its home opener. Nate Ketteringham threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns in Sac State’s 41-38 comeback win over MSU last week in Sacramento.
Kemp is a graduate transfer playing his final season in his home state. The former Hamilton High (Chandler) standout prepped with Taylor. The duo were a part of a team that won 53 games, earned a national ranking, played for four Arizona state titles and won three. Kemp spent two years at Mesa Community College before spending two more at East Carolina.
As the ECU starter last season, he threw for more than 2,600 yards and 16 touchdowns. A new coaching staff in the off-season prompted Kempt’s transfer back to his home state.
“Blake can throw the ball but he’s also a runner,” Taylor said last week. “He’s a powerful runner too, so he won’t shy away from contact. Almost kind of like a Tim Tebow. I can’t put it on him like that but he’s a little bigger, tougher guy who likes to get hit who can also sling the ball. I don’t think we will miss too much from Case.”
MSU cornerback John Walker (22)/by Brooks Nuanez
Montana State’s secondary has shown vast improvements under Gerald Alexander’s tutelage operating Gregorak’s scheme. MSU’s 16 takeaways lead FCS football, the Bobcats have notched nine interceptions and the team is allowing 20.4 points per game, the lowest number in the Big Sky.
Senior cornerback John Walker, a graduate transfer from Colorado who played extensively for three years in the Pac 12, anchors the secondary. On Saturday, he will most often line up across from Butler, a 6-foot-4, 229-pound athletic freak who caught 15 touchdowns and averaged 19 yards per catch during his All-America sophomore season.
“John and all the corners are going to have their work cut out for them because Butler, he’s special,” Gregorak said. “He has such a presence on the field because he’s such a big guy. He’s a big, good looking guy who looks like one of those mannequins dressed up in Montana State uniforms outside our office.”
The Bobcat defense pitched a shutout against Division II Western Oregon in a 55-point win before stuffing North Dakota in their Big Sky Conference opener. MSU kept All-American running back John Santiago under 100 rushing yards for just the fourth time in his 15 career starts. The Bobcats rose to the occasion on third downs and, aside from Brady Oliveira’s 60-yard touchdown run that proved to be the game-winner in UND’s 17-15 escape, MSU knocked UND on its heels.
But that matchup catered to MSU’s strengths. Montana State’s defense got worn out by Sac State’s up-tempo offense last week as the Hornets ran 94 plays and totaled 510 yards of offense. On Saturday, NAU will bring an even more explosive set of talent to Bozeman.
“I think that’s one thing that stands out: this team has excellent team speed, certainly better than we do,” Choate said. “It’s not just how fast they run plays on offense but how fast their skill players are. That’s something that gives you headaches and you stay up late at night. How do we mitigate this? At times, you just have to be smart about it. If you want to catch that 15-yard play, ok, you are going to get 15 yards and live to fight another day.”
Photos courtesy of Northern Arizona Athletics or noted. All Rights Reserved.
