Montana State’s practice Tuesday provided a rare sight: full-speed, full-tackle special teams drills.
It was the first, and probably last, live special teams practice of MSU’s fall camp, head coach Brent Vigen said. Kickoffs and punts are especially difficult to work on because they involve the highest-speed collisions and serious injury risk as a result.
“It’s something I don’t think you can do a lot,” Vigen said. “There’s a reason why the kickoff, in particular, is getting weaned out of football in general, so we’d be crazy to sit and think we could do this live every time we do it.”
The Bobcats’ special teams work illustrated a tricky line football teams have to toe whenever they practice. Coaches want to keep every player healthy while preparing for the physicality that shows up every game day. It’s difficult for teams to know if they’ve fallen too short of that line or if they’ve crossed it.
“Football is a physical game, and there’s something to practicing physicality,” Vigen said. “To think you can kind of go through the week and not be physical – whether that’s in pads or your tempos or whatever – and then just flip the switch on Saturdays, I don’t think that can occur.
“Now, you’ve got to be smart.”
Vigen is entering not only his first season at MSU but his first since the NCAA Division I Council approved amendments aimed at limiting contact during preseason football camp. The number of practices with contact allowed was cut from 21 to 18, with a limit of nine full-pad practices and seven with no pads other than helmets.
The results of these changes will need time to become statistically meaningful. Few, if any, teams can go through an entire camp without suffering at least some minor injuries. MSU had health issues throughout the spring, especially on the defensive line. Major injuries will happen no matter how limited contact becomes. But less preseason contact should lead to less attrition.
Less tackling might also benefit teams in ways beyond health.
“Our guys understand how to make each other better physically while staying on their feet,” Vigen said. “If guys can stay on their feet, then you typically stay away from all the collateral damage that can happen when guys are on the ground and guys are falling down. So we’ve gotten a lot better at that no matter what our pad situation is.”
Teams will be able gauge the effect of safety measures simply by comparing post-2021 injury reports with past ones. Even incalculable health results, like how fresh players feel late in the season, might become apparent to attentive coaches and training staffs.
The adverse outcomes of reduced contact are more difficult to measure. Would a missed tackle have been made if that player had more full-contact practices? Would a poor block have been executed if camp wasn’t so limited? Would a kickoff returned for a touchdown have been prevented if the defending team had done more live special teams drills?
Every team deals with the same rules, so contact issues might simply be negated on game day. Perhaps teams can overcome their lack of full contact repetitions with good technique work and with players who can, to some extent, flip a switch.
The Bobcats will get a better sense of their physicality after their season opener at Wyoming on Sept. 4. In the meantime, they’ll try to take advantage of their remaining practices in pads.
MSU is one of the few college teams – both in the Big Sky and nationally – that hasn’t played a game since 2019, making full-contact practices like Tuesday’s important.
“Every time you do it,” Vigen said, “you’re taking on a risk you’re willing to take because it’s part of the game.”
Most impressive players from scrimmage
When Vigen spoke to the media shortly after last week’s intrasquad scrimmage, he was hesitant to highlight specific players. He wanted to watch the film first, he said.
Vigen had digested the tape by Monday’s media availability, and he listed several players who caught his eye.
In the defensive backfield, he mentioned wide receiver-turned-cornerback James Campbell and safety Tre Webb, a recent transfer from San Jose State who is “a guy that we’re gonna want to get on the field,” Vigen said Monday.
At linebacker, the head coach liked what he saw from Billings Senior graduate Nolan Askelson, a sophomore who will back up Troy Andersen and Callahan O’Reilly.
“Nolan Askelson has really made leaps,” Vigen said. “His ability to back up those guys I think is important.”
Junior defensive tackle Blake Hehl has “continued to make strides to be not necessarily a starter, but be a guy we can count on,” Vigen said. Hehl began his college career in 2018 at Fullerton College in California, transferred to D-I Old Dominion a year later and spent last season at Tarleton State in Texas, where he played eight games in the spring.
Another impressive defensive lineman at Saturday’s scrimmage was Chase Benson. The Helena High grad was a third-team all-Big Sky selection in 2019 and missed much of spring practice with injuries.
“It’s good to see him” out there, Vigen said. “That’s the most he’s been able to kind of play in a scrimmage activity for us.”
On offense, Vigen praised dynamic freshman running back Elijah Elliott and redshirt freshman lineman Justus Perkins, a Bozeman grad who was listed as the third-string center on the pre-camp depth chart.
“Justus Perkins is a guy that continues to show that he’s worthy of being on the field,” Vigen said. “Maybe one of the most, I don’t wanna say surprises, but pleasant things out of this fall has been his emergence.”
Rovig’s ‘amazing’ play
Perhaps the highlight of Saturday’s scrimmage was a hurdle by redshirt junior quarterback Tucker Rovig over sophomore defensive back Kendric Bailey. The MSU football team’s Twitter account posted a photo, captured by photographer Garrett Becker, of Rovig at the apex of his impressive jump.
“That was a still shot,” Vigen said with a smile Monday. “It certainly got everybody fired up. I do think hurdling by a ball carrier is about the worst play in America unless you’re – who’s the Alabama running back? – Najee Harris (who’s now with the Pittsburgh Steelers). He seemed to land them all the time.
“No, that was a good run by Tucker. He flashed some athleticism, made a guy miss prior to the hurdle, so that was good for Tucker.”
Rovig fell to the ground as he came down from his jump, said Vigen, who was more relieved that Rovig quickly got back up than amazed by the play.
Among the many teammates Rovig impressed was Matthew McKay, who’s listed as the starting QB ahead of Rovig.
“I was yelling,” McKay said. “It was amazing. I didn’t see it coming, but it was definitely a cool thing to see.”
Kickers have range
Heavy winds during the scrimmage didn’t allow the Bobcats to get a good gauge of their kickers’ field goal range. But Blake Glessner made a 44-yarder into the wind, per Vigen, who said he’d “feel good inside of 55” yards in a game this season.
That doesn’t mean the Bobcats will routinely attempt deep field goals this season, nor will they always keep the offense on the field on fourth down and short in their opponent’s territory.
“To say you just have this blanket approach I think is wrong,” Vigen said. “Week to week, there are a lot of factors that go into that and how you feel you match up, both sides of the football.”
“Certainly how your offense matches up and how they’re playing is a big part of it,” he added. “I do feel like we will be positioned to be effective on fourth down.”
