Alright, Rosenblatt Stadium is around for a while longer, but it is no longer the home of the College World Series, and life in this corner of the blogosphere is less for it. A couple of notes as summer's first death knell (Independence Day) looms...
* Running backs coach Milo Austin has left Montana State to assume a football operations position at the University of Cincinnati. The move came just four short months after Austin joined the Bobcat staff. MSU coach Rob Ash's accelerated search for a replacement is underway.
* The last week has been a good one for catching up with former Bobcat basketball standouts. University of Iowa law student Ted Morris, an MSU center from 2005-07, blocked 38 shots and grabbed 294 rebounds as a Bobcat. He enters his second year at the UI Law School this fall, and said he's glad the "paper chase" first year is behind him. But, he added with his trademark laugh, "If I can survive (Bobcat coach Brad Huse), I can survive law professors."
Next it was Dewey Michaels' turn to parade through the Fieldhouse. Big Dewey blocked a school-record 149 shots in the Blue and Gold.
Finally, The Bobcat Blog ran into hometown hero Danny Faaborg, he of the flowing, golden locks, was on his way to the library to study, on "break" from medical school in the WAMI program, which has led him to Seattle and Boise in the last two years.
It's great to see guys like that, it's great when former players come back for visits, and it's a great reminder of the quality of people the Bobcat Basketball program turns out. They were all fine, skilled players, but far better people, and they have our continued affection and admiration.
* Finally, on a personal note, if you're in Bozeman over the Fourth of July Weekend and want to see some good baseball and help a good cause, come out to the Legion Field, where the Class A Spikes host the Howard Rein Invitational. Howard was a local high school teacher who volunteered on the Bobcat football stat crew for many, many years untily dying of ALS ("Lou Gehrig's Disease") way too soon. Proceeds from the weekend tournament go to our regional ALS chapter.
--Bill Lamberty
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Paper Chase - May 27, 2010
Today's Paper Chase will be abridged, and we'll then convene after Memorial Day. But two main topics continue to play out in this space.
First, congratulations to Bobcat offensive lineman Mike Person, who found a new home by successfully transitioning to left tackle this spring. He lands in Craig Haley's top 10 FCS offensive linemen lsit, and deservedly so. The Bobcats may be a little thin up front for Rob Ash's taste in terms of numbers, but the group is unquestionably talented, and Person is its leader.
National college football writer Tony Barnhart asks the most pointed and telling question of the entire conference realignment debate: who ever said the BCS was designed to be fair? The interesting nugget contained therein is that if things proceed as they are for the next couple of seasons, the Mountain West is expected to land a spot within the BCS structure in 2012. Meanwhile, Will C. Holden of the Chronicle wonders aloud why the Big Sky can't poach a small handful of schools from other leagues and form a 14-team superconference. When you stand back and admire the scheme, it's a thing of beauty. When you look more closely at the details, it becomes messy.
But that discussion, apparently, is for tomorrow. Today's topic, as usual with Will, is provocative outside-the-box thinking.
One person familiar with such talk is Bobcat football coach Rob Ash. He was not only intricately involved in the formation of the Pioneer League while serving in the same capacity at Drake, but he came up with the name for that conference. Ash said that while coaches are all keenly aware of the rumblings, they -- at least the ones he met with at the recent AFCA meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. -- played things "pretty close to the vest."
First, congratulations to Bobcat offensive lineman Mike Person, who found a new home by successfully transitioning to left tackle this spring. He lands in Craig Haley's top 10 FCS offensive linemen lsit, and deservedly so. The Bobcats may be a little thin up front for Rob Ash's taste in terms of numbers, but the group is unquestionably talented, and Person is its leader.
National college football writer Tony Barnhart asks the most pointed and telling question of the entire conference realignment debate: who ever said the BCS was designed to be fair? The interesting nugget contained therein is that if things proceed as they are for the next couple of seasons, the Mountain West is expected to land a spot within the BCS structure in 2012. Meanwhile, Will C. Holden of the Chronicle wonders aloud why the Big Sky can't poach a small handful of schools from other leagues and form a 14-team superconference. When you stand back and admire the scheme, it's a thing of beauty. When you look more closely at the details, it becomes messy.
But that discussion, apparently, is for tomorrow. Today's topic, as usual with Will, is provocative outside-the-box thinking.
One person familiar with such talk is Bobcat football coach Rob Ash. He was not only intricately involved in the formation of the Pioneer League while serving in the same capacity at Drake, but he came up with the name for that conference. Ash said that while coaches are all keenly aware of the rumblings, they -- at least the ones he met with at the recent AFCA meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. -- played things "pretty close to the vest."
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Paper Chase - May 25, 2010
Craig Haley is back with more news and notes from around the FCS world today, featuring a look at Southern Illinois’ new stadium and some tidbits from the world of FCS scheduling. No look at Big Sky non-conference football scheduling excludes UC Davis, as Craig points out.
Alright, here's you CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT WARNING! If you're sick of reading this stuff, scroll past the next paragraph NOW!
Let's start with some interesting things by way of the Idaho Statesman in Boise, where BSU's President is making noise about "revenue discrimination" in the BCS. The points are interesting and, to my way of thinking, valid, particularly when he challenges BCS Commissioner Bill Hancock's assertion that "every game counts" by wondering how he can claim Boise State's games count while the Broncos are going undefeated while being frozen out of the championship picture. Yet, as the bowl system was never constructed for a purpose other than to attract tourists and attention to a small cabal of warm weather communities, the BCS was built primarily to generate revenue. In an extension of this argument, Andy Staples of SI.com presents the case that non-BCS teams actually enhance the system's television ratings and fan interest.
Bill Speltz of the Missoulian gets inside the head of UM Athletic Director Jim O'Day, who has been out front of the process. That process might include Boise State moving to the Mountain West, which could affect the Big Sky Conference, but WAC Commissioner Karl Benson's possible targets might surprise you. I would not have landed on Cal Poly, UC Davis, and Portland State as possibilities. The Las Vegas Sun gives us more regional insight from a Mountain West perspective. If you're thinking big picture, John Rohde of the Daily Oklahoman envisions a new conference landscape. The Omaha World Herald's Tom Shatel brings a different look at college football's potential conference shuffle nearly every day. He points out that Big 10-watching is addictive, but involves a lot of down time. He points out several awkward possibilities for the Big 10, which may have to choose between Michigan and Ohio State playing annually to advance to the Big 10 title game each year, or playing their annual rivalry game and one week later meeting for in the conference championship game. He also takes a look at how the expansion possibilities are playing out at Ground Zero, otherwise known as downtown Omaha. Teddy Greeinstein of the Chicago Tribune looks at the nuts and bolts of Big 10 expansion.
Idaho State color man Brad Bugger has a couple of interesting notes up on ISU's Bengal Blog, including a look at the Bengals' season opener against UM-Western and the idea that the school's men's basketball squad is likely to take its act on the road this summer.
Dave Reardon's look at the University of Hawaii's quest to replace receivers coach Ron Lee includes a couple of names familiar to Bobcat fans - Mouse Davis, recently the OC at Portland State, and Nick Rolovich, brother of former Bobcat signal caller Jack Rolovich.
Newly-minted Colorado head basketball coach Tad Boyle, formerly the head man at Northern Colorado, returned to his old stomping grounds in Greeley last week to a warm welcome. Interest in Buffs Basketball? Go figure.
Eastern Washington will play on red artificial turf this fall, and it will also play in a newly-renamed stadium. Welcome to Roos Field, nothing at all like Woodward Stadium.
As was pointed out last week by Bob Robinson, the supreme ruler of all basketball bloggers in and around the Northwest, Craig Kilborn is returning to TV. The former Bobcat shooting guard, who never really led the Big Sky in turnovers but who has gotten a lot of mileage out of saying he did, gets his own show on Fox next month. Kilborn was brilliant on SportsCenter and even better on the Daily Show, and we're looking forward to his debut!
-Bill Lamberty
Alright, here's you CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT WARNING! If you're sick of reading this stuff, scroll past the next paragraph NOW!
Let's start with some interesting things by way of the Idaho Statesman in Boise, where BSU's President is making noise about "revenue discrimination" in the BCS. The points are interesting and, to my way of thinking, valid, particularly when he challenges BCS Commissioner Bill Hancock's assertion that "every game counts" by wondering how he can claim Boise State's games count while the Broncos are going undefeated while being frozen out of the championship picture. Yet, as the bowl system was never constructed for a purpose other than to attract tourists and attention to a small cabal of warm weather communities, the BCS was built primarily to generate revenue. In an extension of this argument, Andy Staples of SI.com presents the case that non-BCS teams actually enhance the system's television ratings and fan interest.
Bill Speltz of the Missoulian gets inside the head of UM Athletic Director Jim O'Day, who has been out front of the process. That process might include Boise State moving to the Mountain West, which could affect the Big Sky Conference, but WAC Commissioner Karl Benson's possible targets might surprise you. I would not have landed on Cal Poly, UC Davis, and Portland State as possibilities. The Las Vegas Sun gives us more regional insight from a Mountain West perspective. If you're thinking big picture, John Rohde of the Daily Oklahoman envisions a new conference landscape. The Omaha World Herald's Tom Shatel brings a different look at college football's potential conference shuffle nearly every day. He points out that Big 10-watching is addictive, but involves a lot of down time. He points out several awkward possibilities for the Big 10, which may have to choose between Michigan and Ohio State playing annually to advance to the Big 10 title game each year, or playing their annual rivalry game and one week later meeting for in the conference championship game. He also takes a look at how the expansion possibilities are playing out at Ground Zero, otherwise known as downtown Omaha. Teddy Greeinstein of the Chicago Tribune looks at the nuts and bolts of Big 10 expansion.
Idaho State color man Brad Bugger has a couple of interesting notes up on ISU's Bengal Blog, including a look at the Bengals' season opener against UM-Western and the idea that the school's men's basketball squad is likely to take its act on the road this summer.
Dave Reardon's look at the University of Hawaii's quest to replace receivers coach Ron Lee includes a couple of names familiar to Bobcat fans - Mouse Davis, recently the OC at Portland State, and Nick Rolovich, brother of former Bobcat signal caller Jack Rolovich.
Newly-minted Colorado head basketball coach Tad Boyle, formerly the head man at Northern Colorado, returned to his old stomping grounds in Greeley last week to a warm welcome. Interest in Buffs Basketball? Go figure.
Eastern Washington will play on red artificial turf this fall, and it will also play in a newly-renamed stadium. Welcome to Roos Field, nothing at all like Woodward Stadium.
As was pointed out last week by Bob Robinson, the supreme ruler of all basketball bloggers in and around the Northwest, Craig Kilborn is returning to TV. The former Bobcat shooting guard, who never really led the Big Sky in turnovers but who has gotten a lot of mileage out of saying he did, gets his own show on Fox next month. Kilborn was brilliant on SportsCenter and even better on the Daily Show, and we're looking forward to his debut!
-Bill Lamberty
Ogden Lands on The Sports Network's D-Line List
If you play in the middle of the defensive line, you’re probably not going to get a lot of wholesale love. Some stats occasionally, praise from coaches in the privacy of the film room, and knowing glances from teammates who appreciate a job well done. But widespread adulation? That’s reserved for defensive ends who pile up sacks, and linebackers with gaudy tackle totals.
It was the defensive line’s turn in Craig Haley’s microscope last week, and an extremely productive and deserving Bobcat took a turn in the limelight. Haley identified MSU defensive tackle Dan Ogden as one of the top 10 defensive linemen. That’s not top 10 interior linemen, but top 10 linemen of any ilk.
Haley’s look at Ogden:
Dan Ogden, Montana State, Senior - Bobcats defensive line coach Bo Beck says Ogden can read blocks as fast as any player he has been around. The 6-foot, 261-pound All-Big Sky first-team selection does this with a quick first step, instincts and intelligence. By combining those skills, the defensive tackle makes opposing linemen miss with their block attempts. Last season, he totaled 44 tackles, including 5.5 sacks, while pursuing ball carriers all over the field.
Astutely, Haley gave the nod to six pure defensive tackles and another couple who can play inside or out. Renard Williams of Eastern Washington and Sacramento State’s Christian Clark join Ogden.
It was the defensive line’s turn in Craig Haley’s microscope last week, and an extremely productive and deserving Bobcat took a turn in the limelight. Haley identified MSU defensive tackle Dan Ogden as one of the top 10 defensive linemen. That’s not top 10 interior linemen, but top 10 linemen of any ilk.
Haley’s look at Ogden:
Dan Ogden, Montana State, Senior - Bobcats defensive line coach Bo Beck says Ogden can read blocks as fast as any player he has been around. The 6-foot, 261-pound All-Big Sky first-team selection does this with a quick first step, instincts and intelligence. By combining those skills, the defensive tackle makes opposing linemen miss with their block attempts. Last season, he totaled 44 tackles, including 5.5 sacks, while pursuing ball carriers all over the field.
Astutely, Haley gave the nod to six pure defensive tackles and another couple who can play inside or out. Renard Williams of Eastern Washington and Sacramento State’s Christian Clark join Ogden.
Former Bobcat OC Still Blazing Offensive Trails
Tucked neatly into The Sporting News Daily’s list of college football’s top 10 offensive coordinators last week was a name familiar to Bobcat fans, Jim McElwain. By now, everyone knows that Jimmy Mac has found his way to fame as Nick Saban’s play-caller at Alabama, and by his next trip home to the Treasure State will likely be sporting a national championship ring.
After parting ways with MSU upon Cliff Hysell’s retirement after the 1999 season, and after some time pulling double shifts with the coffee klatches at Kagy Korner, McElwain landed with John L. Smith at Louisville. It was not an accident. To his ever-lasting credit, Hysell worked diligently to help each of his assistants find work in the business. McElwain followed the former Idaho coach, with whom Hysell’s Bobcats waged some legendary battles, to Michigan State. From there the Missoula native spent a year in Al Davis’ Oakland Raiders circus, migrated back into college football for a season at Fresno State, and was then lured to one of the game’s holy places, Tuscaloosa.
For the great things McElwain has accomplished since leaving MSU, it’s worth a look back at his time in Blue and Gold.
When McElwain arrived from Eastern Washington as Cliff Hysell’s offensive coordinator in the summer of 1995, the Bobcats were fresh off a season in which the MSU offense was last (8th) in the league in scoring, passing* yards, and total yards. The program had long since identified itself as a team that would get done whatever it got done on the ground first, but was only 5th in the Big Sky in that category.
*In fairness, it should be pointed out that MSU threw for 217.3 yards a game in the pass-happy Big Sky that season, good for last in the league but 32nd nationally. Yes, that’s when the Big Sky was the Big Sky.
The offensive numbers hadn’t been that bleak throughout the Hysell era, but it was close. In the 7-4 1993 season, MSU finished 6th in scoring offense and 7th in total offense in the Big Sky. And with little time to restructure the offense and no influence as to the players he recruited, McElwain’s first Bobcat offense struggled in similar fashion. In a campaign that featured significant in-season quarterback shuffling, the Bobcats finished 8th in the league in passing yards, total yards, and scoring.
You can see where this is going, of course, as easily as those paying attention 15 years ago could see which direction the MSU offense was headed. In spite of remaining at the bottom of the league rankings in most offensive categories, MSU threw for nearly 300 yards more scored 54 more points in 1996 than the year before, and with the quarterback position coalescing around Rob Compson and two springs in McElwain’s system MSU’s offense took off in 1997. The team threw for 2,430 yards, 8th-most in school history to that point and 6th-best in the Big Sky. MSU scored 227 points, slightly down from the season before but also 6th in the league.
The 1998 season brought more improvement, and proved to be the team’s offensive peak for the years between Dave Arnold’s aerial high-wire act of the 1980s and the Travis Lulay-era teams of the early 2000s. MSU threw for 2,639 yards that year, the 4th-highest total in school history to that point and the most by a Bobcat team not led by Kelly Bradley. Rob Compson was terrific, and the passing explosion led the Bobcats to 348, the most in the Big Sky and still the 3rd-best mark in school history. The Bobcats averaged 31.6 points a game, and for the only time in the last 30 yards led the Big Sky in scoring.
Read that again. Montana State led the Big Sky in scoring in 1998 for the first time in 20 years, and hasn’t done so since. That was an amazing accomplishment then, and stands as an even more amazing accomplishment now. In three full years, McElwain built the Big Sky’s most productive offense.
Of course, a lot of things went wrong in 1999, but after some wistful moments McElwain’s offensive brilliance burned through at each of his stops. More importantly, all who have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him recall and appreciate the humility and humor.
After parting ways with MSU upon Cliff Hysell’s retirement after the 1999 season, and after some time pulling double shifts with the coffee klatches at Kagy Korner, McElwain landed with John L. Smith at Louisville. It was not an accident. To his ever-lasting credit, Hysell worked diligently to help each of his assistants find work in the business. McElwain followed the former Idaho coach, with whom Hysell’s Bobcats waged some legendary battles, to Michigan State. From there the Missoula native spent a year in Al Davis’ Oakland Raiders circus, migrated back into college football for a season at Fresno State, and was then lured to one of the game’s holy places, Tuscaloosa.
For the great things McElwain has accomplished since leaving MSU, it’s worth a look back at his time in Blue and Gold.
When McElwain arrived from Eastern Washington as Cliff Hysell’s offensive coordinator in the summer of 1995, the Bobcats were fresh off a season in which the MSU offense was last (8th) in the league in scoring, passing* yards, and total yards. The program had long since identified itself as a team that would get done whatever it got done on the ground first, but was only 5th in the Big Sky in that category.
*In fairness, it should be pointed out that MSU threw for 217.3 yards a game in the pass-happy Big Sky that season, good for last in the league but 32nd nationally. Yes, that’s when the Big Sky was the Big Sky.
The offensive numbers hadn’t been that bleak throughout the Hysell era, but it was close. In the 7-4 1993 season, MSU finished 6th in scoring offense and 7th in total offense in the Big Sky. And with little time to restructure the offense and no influence as to the players he recruited, McElwain’s first Bobcat offense struggled in similar fashion. In a campaign that featured significant in-season quarterback shuffling, the Bobcats finished 8th in the league in passing yards, total yards, and scoring.
You can see where this is going, of course, as easily as those paying attention 15 years ago could see which direction the MSU offense was headed. In spite of remaining at the bottom of the league rankings in most offensive categories, MSU threw for nearly 300 yards more scored 54 more points in 1996 than the year before, and with the quarterback position coalescing around Rob Compson and two springs in McElwain’s system MSU’s offense took off in 1997. The team threw for 2,430 yards, 8th-most in school history to that point and 6th-best in the Big Sky. MSU scored 227 points, slightly down from the season before but also 6th in the league.
The 1998 season brought more improvement, and proved to be the team’s offensive peak for the years between Dave Arnold’s aerial high-wire act of the 1980s and the Travis Lulay-era teams of the early 2000s. MSU threw for 2,639 yards that year, the 4th-highest total in school history to that point and the most by a Bobcat team not led by Kelly Bradley. Rob Compson was terrific, and the passing explosion led the Bobcats to 348, the most in the Big Sky and still the 3rd-best mark in school history. The Bobcats averaged 31.6 points a game, and for the only time in the last 30 yards led the Big Sky in scoring.
Read that again. Montana State led the Big Sky in scoring in 1998 for the first time in 20 years, and hasn’t done so since. That was an amazing accomplishment then, and stands as an even more amazing accomplishment now. In three full years, McElwain built the Big Sky’s most productive offense.
Of course, a lot of things went wrong in 1999, but after some wistful moments McElwain’s offensive brilliance burned through at each of his stops. More importantly, all who have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him recall and appreciate the humility and humor.
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