(Editor's note: Montana State University news release)
BOZEMAN — Montana State’s offense scored three touchdowns and the defense logged one takeaway and displayed good tackling in the Bobcats’ first spring football scrimmage in Bobcat Stadium Friday evening.
Scottre Humphrey scored from 3 yards out and Adam Jones from 1 yard, while Colson Coon rushed for 48 yards and Humphrey 41.
“We ran the ball well offensively, I thought our running backs did a good job there,” said MSU coach Brent Vigen.
"First scrimmage in the books and we got the work we wanted in, about 90 plays. We were pretty limited on special teams today, but it’s the first opportunity to be in a game-relative situation. There are plenty of returning guys on the team at the same time to keep things moving along. I thought the guys competed well today. I thought the quarterbacks made some plays and that obviously spills over to who makes the catches on the other end.”
Starting quarterback Tommy Mellott completed 7 of 10 passes for 56 yards. Jordan Reed connected on 6 of 9 passes and tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ty McCullouch. Zachary Dodson-Green’s three catches led the team.
Dru Polidore’s interception led the defensive effort. Ryan Krahe added a sack.
“Defensively I thought we flew around," Vigen said. "There’s certainly ebbs and flows with the movement up front. I think our experience in the O-line is a little greater right now, we’ve got to keep coming in the D-line side of things, but I thought the guys went after it well today."
Vigen lauded the defense’s tackling.
“We’ve gone a couple live drills in practice and I think we’ve tackled well," he said. "Tackling is about understanding angles and leverage and then executing the technique. I think the guys have done a good job coaching that and the guys have done a good job executing.”
Vigen also praised his four quarterbacks:
“Tommy continues to come along. He’s wearing a yellow jersey out there so the scrambles, there were a few of those out there and where they fit in is tough to quantify, but he did complete the ball. Jordan threw a touchdown out there and that was a nice ball. Patrick Duchien and Chance Wilson got the chance to go out there today, and I thought they did some good things and have all the way through spring.”
Montana State enters its fourth week of practice on Tuesday, with another closed scrimmage on April 13 and the Sonny Holland Spring Classic on April 20.
TOUCHDOWNS
Scottre Humphrey 3 run (Casey Kautzman)
Ty McCullouch 20 pass from JR Reed (no PAT attempted)
Adam Jones 1 run (no PAT attempted)
RUSHING LEADERS: Colson Coon 9-48-0, Scottre Humphrey 8-41-1, Adam Jones 15-32-1, Elijah Elliott 6-34-0
PASSING: Tommy Mellott 7-10-0, 56, 0; Jordan Reed 6-9-0, 67, 1; Chance Wilson 4-6-0, 32, 0; Patrick Duchien 3-4-1, 30, 0
RECEIVING LEADERS: Zachary Dodson-Green 3-24-0, Christian Anaya 2-17-0, Taco Dowler 2-12-0
