Game

Full Paper
Saturday, oct. 9 Inside
vs. portland state

Day
PORTLAND STATE AT No. 10 MONTANA STATE, 1:35 P.M. BOBCAT STADIUM — HOMECOMING GAME

INSIDE
breaking down
Barriers
McGhee, Burton help make history
for African-Americans in Big Sky
By WILL C. HOLDEN
Chronicle Sports Writer

Chris Wilson went to what he called a “majority-black” NO PASSING FANCY

school in Maryland for junior high. In high school, he
shifted gears to what he called an “all-white” school at n Vikings more of
C.M. Russell in Great Falls. a running team
“I can’t sugar coat it,” Wilson said. “That’s just
the way it is.” these days I 2
Part of a military family, moving wasn’t
unusual for Wilson. But moving to Montana
was certainly a culture shock. And listen-
ing to him describe the experience is
similarly shocking. 5-1?
As Wilson, an African-American and
current redshirt freshman cornerback for n The Chronicle’s
Montana State, traveled around Montana Will Holden handicaps
during track season, breaking 100-meter state
records nearly every time he ran, he heard a similar today’s matchup I 6
refrain.
“There goes the black kid, again.”
It wasn’t whispered, though he heard
the hushed voices, too.
They came as he walked through BIG MIKE
the halls of CMR. He said many of
his classmates knew nothing about n MSU QB McGhee
minorities except “what they saw on lets his father do the
T.V., what they heard on the radio or
what they read on the Internet.” talking I 2
“There were a lot of stereotypes
I had to deal with,” Wilson said.
“In my first two years there, I went
through a lot of issues with racism. Nigel burton
I can’t count on my two hands how
many times I’ve been called the “N” Portland State coach
word.”
But for an impressionable teenager, the phone call from a
Great Falls police officer ordering Wilson to stop dating his
teenage daughter for fear that “a black person would ruin his
family” took the cake.
“It was one thing hearing stuff like that from people who
were immature or uneducated,” Wilson said. “But that was a
grown man. That’s not a kid.”
Suddenly, the normally extraverted Wilson became an
introvert out of necessity.
“I wanted to get out of Montana,” Wilson said. “I honestly
did.”
Then MSU assistant coach Justin Gaines gave Wilson a
call. In a state where the African-American population is less
than 0.6 percent, Gaines, an African-American who played STILL NO. 1?
cornerback for the Montana Grizzlies, became someone n Bozeman, Helena
Wilson could confide in.
Two years later, Wilson is part of a Bobcat team that is High meet in battle of
starting an African-American quarterback for the first
time in its long history in a conference that now has its unbeatens I Page B1
first African-American coach.
More BARRIERS I 5
Printed on recycled paper

Montana State quarterback Denarius

McGhee runs the ball against Sacramento
State last Saturday.

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2 | bozeman daily chronicle
Sideline
Briefing
Records
Montana State 4-1, 2-0 Big Sky
Portland State 2-2, 1-0
Series
25th meeting, MSU leads 15-9
Weather forecast
Sunny, high 66
Crowd
More than 14,000 expected
TV
ABC 28 (Chris Byers, Mike
Callaghan, AJ Donatoni)
Radio
KXLB-FM (100.7), Jeff Lasky,
Dan Davies, Tyler Wiltgen
Coaches
ROB  NIGEL
ASH BURTON
MSU, 4th year PSU, 1st year
31st year overall 4th year overall
24-15 at MSU 2-2 at PSU
200-114-5 overall 2-2 overall
Schedules
Portland State
9 @ Arizona St. 54  4-1, 2-0. “They played very well
41 @ UC Davis 33
0 @ Oregon 69
38 Idaho St. 3
Today Montana St. 2:05 p.m.
10/16 Montana 6:05 p.m.
10/23 @ Weber St. 3 p.m.
10/30 Eastern Washington 6:05 p.m.
11/6 @ Sacramento St. 3 p.m.
11/13 Northern Colorado 1:05 p.m.
11/20 @ Northern Arizona 3 p.m.
Montana State
59 Fort Lewis 10  It’s something Burton said
22 @ Wash. St. 23
48 Drake  21
30 Eastern Washington 7
64 @ Sacramento St. 61
Today Portland St. 1:35 p.m.
10/16 @ Northern Arizona 4:05 p.m.
10/23 Northern Colo. 1:05 p.m.
10/30 @ Idaho St. 1:35 p.m.
11/6 Weber St. 12:05 p.m.
11/20 @ Montana 12:05 p.m.
Players to watch
PORTLAND state: QB Connor
Kavanaugh is a scrambler and can
make plays when things break
down.
MONTANA STATE:  WR Everett
Gilbert is a playmaker either
running or catching the football.
Injury report
Montana State
OUT: DE Brad Smith (shoulder),
OL Conrad Burbank (knee), Ben
Tauanuu (leg), LB Dustin O’Connell
(collar bone).
DOUBTFUL: LB Clay Bignell
(ankle).
PORTLAND STATE
OUT: LB Matt Segi, QB Drew
Hubel (shoulder), OL Zach Dias, OL
Alex Cosenza, WR Salas Louidor.
BOBCAT GAME DAY
Portland State at Montana State
Portland State still figuring itself out
By WILL C. HOLDEN
Chronicle Sports Writer
A season ago, Portland State
and Montana State romped in a
Portland rain storm before the
Bobcats emerged with a 28-10
win.
Oh, how much has changed
since then.
For starters, Portland State
no longer runs the pass-happy
offense of Jerry Glanville and
Mouse Davis which was once
capable of games like the 2007
shootout against Weber State
in which the Vikings scored 68
points and still lost.
Under new head coach Nigel
Burton, PSU (2-2 overall, 1-0
Big Sky Conference) favors the
run out of the pistol offense. But
just what are these new Vikings
capable of accomplishing? If you
ask Montana State head coach
Rob Ash, it’s yet to be seen.
Why? Because three of the
Vikings’ four games this season
have come against a pair of Pac-
10 teams and Idaho State, which
has won just three games in the
past three years.
The one game that caught
Ash’s eye was the first win for
this new PSU program, a 41-33
triumph on the road at UC Da-
vis, a future Big Sky Conference
school.
“That’s really the only game
where you can base some judge-
ment,” said Ash, whose team is
against a UC Davis team that
went and beat a (Football Bowl
Subdivision team) from San
Jose State. So I think both teams
must be pretty good.”
At the very least, the win over
UC Davis will be one Burton
and his PSU staff will remember.
It’s even been immortalized by
a still frame, as Burton and his
coaches knelt in front of the
scoreboard for a photo after the
game.
“will never happen again.”
“We’re not going to act like
one win is like winning the
McGhee lets game, ‘Big Mike’ do the talking
Denarius McGhee won’t tell
you.
About his name being listed
in Sports Illustrated. Or how
his teams went 66-3 from
seventh grade through high
school. Or how his high school
team was in a Gatorade com-
mercial that was aired during
the NFL playoffs.
He won’t mention how 17
of his classmates signed with
Division I football programs,
including Nebraska, Texas,
Brigham Young and Oklahoma.
Or how some of those schools
wanted him — but as a receiver
or cornerback.
Big Mike will, though.
Michael Gause is the one
who kept all the news clippings,
the awards. He attended all of
Denarius’ games. Never missed
a football game. Or a basketball
game. A track meet.
1:35 p.m. Bobcat Stadium
Portland State junior Cory McCaffrey (1) leads the Vikings with 322 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Super Bowl,” Burton said.
But a win is a win. And
considering they all count the
same in the standings, Burton
said his team isn’t discounting
its 38-3 win over 1-4 Idaho State
last week.
“I think Idaho State was a test
for us,” Burton said. “As much
as someone could say that team
is kind of shooting itself in the
foot, I think our guys did things
to force the issue. We played well
when faced with that test and
now it’s on to the next one.”
At the very least, the Vi-
kings’ two wins this year have
something in common: In each
contest, they threw the ball less
than 25 times.
When was the last time PSU’s
offense threw that few times?
You guessed it — during that
28-10 drubbing in the deluge
against MSU.
It was the beginning of the
end for Glanville, who resigned
following the season partly due
to criticism that he was too lax
Tim
Dumas
Chronicle
Sports Editor
That’s why not being able to
watch Denarius become one of
the nation’s top quarterbacks
“is killing me,” says Gause,
known simply as “Big Mike”
in Texas, where he works for
the sheriff ’s department and
referees volleyball, football and
basketball.
Big Mike wasn’t sure if Den-
arius would start as a freshman,
so he never made any travel
plans.
“He was always tied (in fall
with the program. It’s a criti-
cism that may never be levied
on Burton. Ash said the first
thing that jumps off the tape
about Burton’s Vikings is their
discipline.
“I think Nigel has really done
an excellent job in his first year,”
he said. “(The Vikings) are very
good at defending the run, they
have a skilled secondary and I
like what they’re doing on of-
fense. Nigel has taken the talent
that he had and has molded it
into his schemes very well.”
Burton believes it’s at least
partly due to the new offseason
program he has installed at PSU,
which Washington Husky trans-
fer Willie Griffin called unique.
“It was so physical,” said Grif-
fin, one of the program’s new
running backs. “I’ve never seen
anything like it.”
Five games into the season,
the Vikings have only dealt with
two major injuries. In Burton’s
eyes, it’s not a coincidence.
“My theory is if you’re passive
camp, with last year’s starter
Cody Kempt),” Big Mike said.
“And when you’re tied, the job
always goes to the senior.”
Not this time.
Big Mike wasn’t always big.
He says he weighed 188 pounds
during his 13-year stint in the
Army, a period that included
playing football while stationed
in Greece.
And he didn’t know he was
Denarius’ father until a blood
test revealed the truth when his
son was 7 years old. Until then,
Denarius was living with his
mother in a housing project in
McComb, Miss., a city that was
once a focal point of the Civil
Rights Movement in the 1960s
— when police and the KKK
often clashed.
After finishing sixth grade,
little Denarius and Big Mike,
in search for a more stable life,
Saturday, October 9, 2010
COURTESY OF PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
in practice and worried about
getting hurt, you probably are
going to get hurt,” Burton said.
“It all starts with the offseason
practices. We had 98 percent
participation in terms of guys
not just being here for the
summer but being at all their
workouts.
“That was something that
has never happened at Portland
State before.”
A good contingent of healthy
players has made Burton’s new
pistol offense easier to install.
But just how good will the
new-look Vikings end up being?
Right now, Griffin said, it’s a
work in progress.
“I’ve been around a lot of foot-
ball programs and I know this
team can be very good,” Griffin
said. “Are we progressing as fast
as we’d like to? Probably not.
But we’re working every day and
we’re starting to see results.”
Will Holden can be reached at
wholden@dailychronicle.com and
582-2690.
moved to Euless, Texas, between
Dallas and Fort Worth.
You want Denarius McGhee
to open up? Bring up his father.
When asked about how much
of an influence he has been,
McGhee looks skyward and
sighs. The kind that says, how
can I put this into words?
“I look to him for everything,”
he finally says. “And for love. He
shows me a lot of love.”
McGhee not only is the starter
for Montana State, he’s thrown
for more yards than any other
freshman in the Football Cham-
pionship Subdivision. Through
five games, he has led the Bob-
cats into the red zone 29 times,
also an FCS high. (The ’Cats
crossed the opponent’s 20-yard
line 40 times last season — in 11
games).
More dumas I 5
bozeman daily chronicle Saturday­, October 9, 2010 | 3

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bozeman daily chronicle Saturday, October 9, 2010 | 5

BOBCAT GAME DAY
Portland State at Montana State
1:35 p.m. Bobcat Stadium

Barriers/from 1 Willingham at the University

For some, the progress
symbolized by every snap MSU
quarterback Denarius McGhee
takes or every play-call PSU
head coach Nigel Burton makes
today will be hard to notice. But
not for Wilson.
“It’s amazing to see that a
leader of this team, a leader in
this conference is of color,” Wil-
son said. “To see that there’s no
struggle here, no conflict, it’s just
amazing.”
Burton sees progress
That this article found its way
into a newspaper irks Burton. He
looks forward to a day when this
story no longer has a place on
this page.
But he also knows the facts.
While strides have been made
for minority head coaches in
the NFL, NBA and even NCAA
men’s basketball, NCAA football
lags behind.
When he was named head
coach at Portland State in De-
cember, Burton became one of
32 head coaches of color in all
of college football. That means
he helps form a faction of less
than 6 percent in a profession of
582 that coach a sport where 41
percent of the participants are of
color.
And the percentage of that 41
percent that have experienced is-
sues of racism similar to Wilson
might surprise you, Burton said.
“I don’t think there are too
many of those guys out there
who have never had an experi-
ence like that,” Burton said.
But Burton is the first to point
out progress, especially the
progress being made in Oregon
— a place where he says closed-
minded people “don’t fair very
well.”
This past January, the Oregon
Senate unanimously passed a bill
that requires state universities to
interview a minority candidate
before hiring a head football
coach.
The bill was drafted at the re-
quest of a Portland State student
Sam Sachs, who played football
for Western Oregon. Sachs is
white.
“Once everybody found
out all the facts, it passed very
smoothly,” Burton said. “I was
very happy to see it.”
Having played for two Afri-
can-American head coaches in
his three years of college football,
running back Willie Griffin said
he sees what he calls “necessary
steps” being made.
Griffin played for Tyrone
of Washington before transfer-
ring to PSU to play for Burton’s
staff. The native of Oakland,
Calif., said the diversity on each
staff was “extremely important”
to him in making his college
choices.
“It gave me a great sense of
pride,” Griffin said. “Coach
Willingham and coach Burton
are two individuals who I think
have really helped make progress casionally ran under center in
in college football.”
Bobcat head coach Rob Ash,
who serves as the vice presi-
dent of the American Football
Coaches Association (AFCA),
champions diversity on college
football coaching staffs as well.
He called the hiring of five
African-Amer-
ican assistant
coaches on his “We all sweat and bleed the same colors.”
staff, includ-
ing current
assistants Kerry
Dixon and Gaines, “absolutely
essential.”
“People gravitate to people
they’re comfortable with,” Ash
said. “I think our coaches do a
good job of relating to everyone
on the team, regardless of their
background, but it’s just so es-
sential to have diversity on your
staff. It just assures that every-
body is going to find somebody
that they’re comfortable with.”
Burton’s actions signify his
agreement with Ash. With
five Caucasians, four African-
Americans, two Polynesians and
one Libyan on his staff, PSU staff
is one of the most culturally di-
verse in the Big Sky Conference.
But to Burton, only two colors I don’t think it’s a major issue
matter.
“Sweat and blood,” he said.
“We all sweat and bleed the same to see the best players out on the
colors.”
The age of Denarius
Despite the fact that it appears minders that African-Americans, think you get that more in col-
the spotlight was made for him,
there’s a bashful side to McGhee. Bozeman population as of the
And it’s obvious he’s never
been the face of a football pro-
gram before.
But just five games into his
college career, it appears evident
that fans can’t get enough of
McGhee’s pinpoint passes or the
100-watts that beam out of every agreed that barbers are often
Texas-sized smile.
When asked about the neces-
sity of the ongoing expansion
of Bobcat Stadium, one booster
said, “Denarius McGhee de-
serves a better place to play.”
When confronted with the
information, that McGhee grin
grows so fast his mouth goes
agape.
“Man, I don’t know about
that,” he said. “I think our team
does, though.”
It’s a team that has never had
an African-American starting
under center. It goes back to the
late 1980s when the Bobcats last
had an African-American take a
snap, period.
The last such signal callers
were Antonio Anderson and
Clarence McKinney, who oc-
Earle Solomonson’s veer offense.
McKinney’s last year with the
Bobcats was in 1990, after which of college football, the huddle
he transferred to the University
of Mary in North Dakota.
While McKinney says he still
follows MSU, mostly to keep tabs
on his former high school pro-
— Nigel Burton, Portland State head coach our society,” Ash said.
tege and current Bobcat running
backs coach Kerry Dixon, whom the football team, and as you
he coached at Houston Yates
High, he admitted he hasn’t been through on a football field, pretty
back to Bozeman in years.
Still, he said, he can’t imag-
ine it’s changed much from the
welcoming place it was almost 20
years ago.
“When I stepped off the plane
from Houston, Texas, it was defi- combating racism in the United
nitely a culture shock,” McKin-
ney said. “But I must say that the
people of Bozeman welcomed us said, “and I see white kids from
with open arms. I couldn’t have
asked for a better atmosphere to
play college football.”
Gaines would have to agree.
“Obviously there’s racism
everywhere in American, but
here,” he said. “Whether it’s
Bozeman or Missoula, fans want Wilson as he’s made the transi-
field, regardless of the color of
their skin.”
Still, there are frequent re-
measured at 0.33 percent of the
2000 census, are a miniscule mi-
nority, even in a university town.
For one, Gaines sometimes
gets his haircut from Wilson
because “no one else in Bozeman room or on the team or with the
knows how to cut black hair.”
Jordan Craney laughed and
tough to find. But that hair
seems to be the greatest of wor-
ries means something to MSU’s
starting safety, a native of Poca-
tello, Idaho, which has a similar
lack of diversity.
Being biracial, Craney knows
there was a time when he
“wouldn’t even have been al-
lowed to be here.”
“I think it’s important to un-
derstand,” Craney said. “People
sacrificed before us so that I
could play football, so that my
parents could be married, so that
we can have an African-Amer-
ican quarterback in a place like
Montana, where you don’t have
too much diversity.
“I think it’s important to un-
derstand that things really have
changed in this country.”
SHaring the same field
For most teams in present-day
has become a relic of the game’s
past like natural grass, H-shaped
goal posts or the quick kick.
But Ash hasn’t forgotten what
the huddle can be seen to sym-
bolize.
“It’s one of the great
unifying symbols in
“You get guys from
all kinds of differ-
ent backgrounds on
go through everything you go
soon the ways you divide people
up get blurred. All that matters is
that you’re teammates.”
It’s one of the reasons why
Burton loves the game of football
and believes it’s done wonders
States.
“I look at our team,” Burton
Beaverton, Ore., I see black kids
from Oakland, I see Hispanic
kids from Los Angeles, I see
Asian kids from Newberg, Ore., I
see Polynesian kids from Hawaii.
“They come together and form
a team and it becomes pretty
hard to hold on to prejudices.”
It’s been especially true for
tion from high school to college.
“There’s something that the
guy across from you can do that
you can’t do,” Wilson said. “I
lege than you do in high school
because the sense of mind that
you gain from high school to
college.
“We’re all a family. There is
no sense of color on the locker
coaches.”
For McGhee, it has gone even
further than that.
“To step out in front of 14,000
fans and having this feeling that
they care as much about whether
you win or lose as they do about
you as a person, it’s pretty spe-
cial,” McGhee said. “It’s been an
honor to play here.”
Will Holden can be reached at
wholden@dailychronicle.com and
582-2690.
B IG S K Y
notes
200 FOR ASH: Montana
State’s Rob Ash earned his
200th career NCAA coaching
victory on Saturday with the
Bobcats’ overtime win over
Sacramento State.
Ash has 24 victories in
his fourth season with the
Bobcats. He won 51 games
at Juniata from 1980-88. Ash
then won 125 games in 18
seasons at Drake. Ash is the
first coach in Big Sky history
to win his 200th career game
coaching in the league. Ash is
one of seven active coaches at
the FCS level with 200 career
wins.
Ash is one of three coaches
to have coached in the Big
Sky to reach 200 career wins.
Nevada’s Chris Ault cur-
rently has 211 career wins.
Jim Sweeney, who coached
Montana State from 1963-
67, finished his career with
200 victories, earning the
milestone at Fresno State.
Ault won 111 games while
coaching in the Big Sky, a
league record.
ROAD WINS — FINALLY:
Northern Arizona, Eastern
Washington, Montana and
Montana State all earned
road victories last Saturday.
During the first four weeks of
the season, the only road vic-
tories by Big Sky teams came
by Portland State (at UC
Davis) and Northern Arizona
(at Idaho State).
Portland State was the only
home team to win on Sat-
urday. The Vikings opened
their home schedule with a
38-3 win over Idaho State
at Hillsboro Stadium. Idaho
State has lost 17 straight road
conference games and 24
straight overall away from
Pocatello.
NO JONES: Eastern Wash-
ington’s Taiwan Jones sat out
last weekend’s 35-24 road win
over Weber State with an in-
jury. Jones still leads the FCS
in all-purpose yards (238.8
yards per game) and his 129.5
rushing yards per game is
sixth in the nation.
Jones is expected to play
today at home against North-
ern Arizona.
Big SkY
CONFERENCE
Standings
Team Conf. All
MSU 2-0 4-1
N. Ariz. 1-0 3-1

Dumas/from 1 an oncoming linebacker

One other column
stands out on the NCAA
statistics page. McGhee
is listed as a sophomore,
though the error can be
understood: He doesn’t re-
semble a first-year player.
Doesn’t act like one,
either.
“It’s ALL about the
team,” McGhee says.
“What do your accolades
matter?”
Is this kid really 19?
The selfless, down-to-
earth, egoless attitude
comes from Big Mike.
He says he sat Denarius
down after a seventh-
grade game in which he
ran 75 yards for a touch-
down. Big Mike didn’t
just attend all of his son’s
games, he taped them,
too. And it was while
watching the film that
Mike made sure to point
out that Denarius would
have “gotten smashed” by
had his teammate not
stepped in the way to cre-
ate an opening.
“Everybody was jump-
ing on Denarius,” Mike
said of the touchdown
run’s aftermath, “but
nobody said anything to
the boy who made the
block.”
The lesson? “You’re
only as good as your
weakest player.”
Denarius McGhee will
continue to deflect any
attention sent his way.
He won’t acknowledge
his statistics. He’ll say,
even after last week’s
career (up till now) game,
excelptmt.com | Bozeman 406.556.0562 | Manhattan 406.284.4262
that he could have done
better.
potentially get a shot at
the national champion-
Portland St. 1-0 2-2
E. Wash.
Montana
2-1 3-2
2-1 3-2
If he’s helping the team, ship.” Sac. St. 1-2 2-3
N. Colo. 1-2 2-3
only then will he be satis- He doesn’t need Big
fied. Mike to tell you that
Weber St. 1-2 2-3
Idaho St. 0-3 1-4
“If we improve each much. Today’s Games
week,” McGhee says, Tim Dumas can be Idaho St. at Montana, 1 p.m.
“we’ll be that team to beat reached at tdumas@ Portland St. at MSU, 1:35 p.m.
NAU at E. Wash., 2 p.m.
and potentially win the dailychronicle.com and N. Colo. at Sac St., 3 p.m.
Big Sky and move on to 582-2651.
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MPT, CMPT DPT DPT, MTC DPT, SCS
6 | boz eman daily chronicle Saturday, October 9, 2010

BOBCAT GAME DAY
Portland State at Montana State
1:35 p.m. Bobcat Stadium

The Edge Montana State

Depth charts
Portland State
Portland State at Montana State Offense Defense
LEFT TACKLE LEFT END
When Montana State has the ball 72 Mike Person 6-5/295 Sr 99 Jack Forbes 6-3/225 Jr
70 Killian Fitzpatrick 6-8/270 Fr 94 Bryant Long 6-3/245 Fr
Passing: Outside of Washington State, EDGE have even more time to dissect defenses
this Portland State secondary may be the today, which isn’t good news for PSU. LEFT GUARD LEFT TACKLE
most talented Denarius McGhee has seen Rushing: Don’t be surprised if you 57 Casey Dennehy 6-1/270 So 95 Julious Moore 6-0/290 Fr
this season. DeShawn Shead has proven see more of C.J. Palmer this week. In 71 Jesse Hoffmann 6-4/286 Sr 97 Alika Vaiese 6-1/275 Jr
himself at the Big Sky level, and fellow his 12-carry, 131-yard, two-touchdown CENTER RIGHT TACKLE
corner David Ross, who was ranked the performance in MSU’s 64-61 win over
56 Shaun Sampson 6-0/249 So 92 Travis Beckley 6-4/285 Sr
15th-best corner in the nation coming out Sacramento State last week, Palmer
of high school when Nigel Burton recruited showed the kind of speed that has kept 61 Alex Terrien 6-4/285 Jr 98 Josh ah Toon 6-3/280 Fr
him to Oregon State, has no business being him from being a feature back his whole RIGHT GUARD RIGHT END
in the Big Sky. Throw in ballhawking safety Manoa career. And following that performance, he got much 61 Alex Terrien 6-4/285 Jr 93 Carl Sommer 6-4/260 Jr
Latu, another member of Burton’s outstanding first more work in practice this week than he has at any 71 Jesse Hoffmann 6-4/286 Sr 32 Brian Walters 6-0/220 Sr
recruiting class, and you see why even a team like other point this season. If Orenzo Davis isn’t careful,
RIGHT TACKLE LINEBACKER
Arizona State wasn’t able to decimate the Vikings he may end up becoming the change of pace back
through the air. with Palmer getting the majority of the carries. 50 Leo Davis 6-4/271 Jr 42 Joel Sisler 6-2/210 So
With sizable and rangy corners like Shead and Both should have success against Portland State’s 70 Killian Fitzpatrick 6-8/270 Fr 40 Quinn Stewart 6-2/220 Jr
Ross, don’t expect another huge day from Julius run defense, which, regardless of the presence of QUARTERBACK LINEBACKER
Lloyd or Elvis Akpla. But McGhee has shown he can solid linebackers like Ryan Rau and D.J. Macarthy, 9 Denarius McGhee 6-0/197 Fr 56 Ryan Rau 6-1/230 Jr
get by when opposing teams work to take away is bad. Say what you will about the Oregon Ducks
and how they’re going to run the ball on anybody, 12 Cody Kempt 6-2/211 Sr 44 Shane Melbo 6-1/220 Jr
those weapons. And because PSU doesn’t have
any linebackers or safeties who can stick with slot good rush defenses never give up 528 yards to any RUNNING BACK LINEBACKER
receivers like Everett Gilbert, DeSean Thomas and opponent. I know the Vikings held both UC Davis 8 Orenzo Davis 5-9/185 Jr 41 DJ Macarthy 6-0/235 Sr
Kruiz Siewing, along with tight ends like Kyle Begger and Idaho State to under 76 yards on the ground, but 20 C.J. Palmer 6-0/210 Jr 54 Jaycob Shoemaker 6-0/230 So
and Shane Robison, expect those players to come to both teams are the worst at running the ball in their W RECEIVER CORNERBACK
the forefront today. respective conferences.
But the key to all of this is still McGhee. As good Meanwhile, MSU is the best rushing offense in the 14 Everett Gilbert 5-9/180 So 6 David Ross 6-0/180 Jr
as the Vikings may be in coverage, they can’t cover Big Sky, averaging five yards a carry with 12 rushing 27 DeSean Thomas 6-1/180 Jr 25 Michael Williams 5-9/165 So
forever. And while Viking defensive end Carl Sommer, touchdowns. And the Bobcats may even get two X RECEIVER STRONG SAFETY
another Oregon State transfer, has made strides, starting offensive lineman back this week. They have all 1 Elvis Akpla 6-1/187 Jr 15 Manoa Latu 6-1/205 Jr
PSU’s pass rush is more anemic than the ones MSU the personnel they need to run on the Vikings today.
86 Tanner Bleskin 6-3/210 Fr 27 Donte Almond 6-2/195 Jr
has faced the past two weeks. It means McGhee will Edge: Montana State
Z RECEIVER FREE SAFETY
When PORTLAND STATE has the ball 82 Julius Lloyd 6-0/184 Sr 22 Nathan Snow 5-11/190 So
10 Kruiz Siewing 5-11/182 So 2 Nick Green 6-2/200 So
Passing: The strong statement made Rushing: Going back to the point just
about the Bobcats’ pass defense in this EDGE made, keeping a lid on Kavanaugh is the TIGHT END CORNERBACK
column last week was supported over the key to slowing all aspects of the PSU 81 Kyle Begger 6-2/245 Jr 24 Deshawn Shead 6-2/195 Jr
first 30 minutes against the Hornets, as attack, and that includes rushing. In 88 Shane Robison 6-5/250 Jr 29 Denzel Davis 5-9/170 So
MSU held Sac State quarterback Jeff Flem- wins against UC Davis and Idaho State, KICKER PUNTER
ing to 51 yards on less than a 50 percent Kavanaugh rushed for over five yards a 15 Jason Cunningham 6-1/162 Jr 30 Thomas Duyndam 6-4/215 So
completion rate while picking him off carry. That forces defenses to key on PSU’s
twice. But everything changed in the third quarterback, which opens up holes for
quarter, when MSU gave up a staggering the crafty Cory McCaffrey, who gained an Defense Offense
258 pass yards, with Fleming completing 15 of 24 astounding 8,460 yards in three years in high school, BANDIT LEFT TACKLE
passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns. and the speedy Washington Husky transfer Willie 90 Dan Ogden 6-0/270 Sr 79 Dustin Waldron 6-6/280 Jr
The true Bobcat pass defense is somewhere in Griffin. 51 Nick Gale 6-4/280 So
34 Preston Gale 6-2/239 Fr
between. It obviously hurt them a week ago not In the Bobcats’ 28-10 win in an ugly, rainy game in
having Jordan Craney, having Darius Jones play Portland last year, they held Kavanaugh to 67 yards TACKLE LEFT GUARD
with a massive cast and having to rely more on true on 20 carries. He was sacked four times and passed 96 Zach Minter 6-2/277 So 67 Manuel Rojas 6-2/290 So
freshmen Sean Gords and Steven Bethley. All those for 67 yards. But the Bobcats had the services of Clay 63 Zach Logan 6-3/295 Fr 51 Nick Gale 6-4/280 So
parties should be back at full strength and with Bignell, who led the team with eight tackles and 2.5 NOSE TACKLE CENTER
more seasoning this week, so it stands to reason that tackles for a loss in that game, and a very healthy 61 Adam Kleffner 6-3/310 Jr
against Portland State’s passing offense, which looks defense line, which logged 2.5 of those four sacks. It’s 45 Jason D’Alba 6-2/277 Sr
even more lethargic than Sac State’s did coming in, very likely the Bobcats will have neither today. 98 Christian Keli’i 6-0/282 So 72 Dalton Jasso 6-2/280 So
a return to form for MSU’s pass defense, which was Expect Bignell, who didn’t practice all week, to miss END RIGHT GUARD
the second best in the conference before the Hornet his second straight game with an ankle sprain. Expect 11 John Laidet 6-5/250 Jr 66 Mitch Gaulke 6-2/265 Fr
game, could be in order. defensive tackle Dan Ogden, who is consistently 49 Caleb Schreibeis 6-3/245 So 73 Seth Giandomenico 6-4/275 Jr
The key for the Vikings, like MSU, is their quarter- banged up, to continue to have pains — growing
SAM LINEBACKER RIGHT TACKLE
back. Connor Kavanaugh is not a great passer, but he and otherwise — as he shifts to defensive end to
has a knack for avoiding pressure, which helps him make up for the loss of Dustin O’Connell. Players 44 Aleksei Grosulak 5-10/250 Fr 69 Kyle Ritt 6-2/290 So
find open receivers and scramble for big gains. The like Aleksei Grosulak, filling in for Bignell, and Zach 9 Roger Trammell 6-1/230 Jr 64 Mitchell Van Dyk 6-9/270 Fr
key for MSU today will be containing him, which may Minter, who is getting more work at defensive tackle, MIKE LINEBACKER QUARTERBACK
be tough for a battered MSU defensive line. But these will have to prove they can play a full 60 minutes 42 Clay Bignell 6-2/236 Jr 10 Connor Kavanaugh 6-0/180 Jr
PSU receivers aren’t exactly special, so at the very today. After getting scared last week at Sacramento
44 Aleksei Grosulak 5-10/250 Fr 14 Tygue Howland 6-3/220 Sr
least, don’t expect MSU to be gashed through the air State, expect that they will.
for a second straight week. Edge: Montana State WILL LINEBACKER RUNNING BACK
23 Jody Owens 6-1/214 So 1 Cory McCaffrey 5-9/180 Jr
special teams 59 Tanner Ripley 6-1/214 Sr 28 Willie Griffin 5-8/195 Jr
BOUNDARY CORNER TIGHT END
Kicking & punting: MSU continues On the flip side, Montana State did man-
to excel in both areas. Jason Cun- EDGE age to block the game-tying field goal try 26 Arnold Briggs 5-10/185 Sr 91 Rory Richards 6-3/225 Sr
ningham has proven he has ice in his from Sacramento State last week, so PSU 17 Sean Gords 5-10/185 Fr 81 Julius Thomas 6-5/240 Sr
veins, as he’s 13 of 14 on field goals this has to be prepared too. FREE SAFETY RECEIVER
year with one game-winner and one Returns & coverage: Everett Gilbert 22 Michael Rider 5-11/196 Sr 83 Nick Hutter 5-11/180 Sr
55-yarder. and Orenzo Davis have put together
32 A. Cosme-Peko 5-11/209 Sr 12 Kalua Noa 6-1/205 So
Returners have still only gained some nice kickoff returns this season,
two yards off of Rory Perez’s hang but other than that both teams are ROVER RECEIVER
time-heavy punts. Kicker Zach Brown, rather pedestrian when it comes to 7 Jordan Craney 6-1/205 Sr 84 Justin Monahan 6-2/185 So
an all-conference selection last year, returning. 5 Joel Fuller 6-0/200 So 85 Nevin Lewis 6-2/195 So
and punter Thomas Duyndam have been equally As far as covering kicks and punts, both teams FIELD CORNER FLANKER
deadly for the Vikings. have been solid.
13 Darius Jones 5-10/167 So 5 Ray Fry 5-8/180 Sr
The key for both teams will be blocking for kicks And a week after seeing onside kicks attempted
and punts. The Bobcats have missed five point- by each team at Sac State, don’t expect to see 24 James Andrews 6-1/187 Jr 87 Keitrell Anderson 5-9/170 So
after tries this season because of shoddy blocking anything as whacky this week. PUNTER KICKER
and they even had a punt blocked last week, too. Edge: Montana State 18 Rory Perez 6-2/180 Fr 19 Zach Brown 6-1/180 So

H A N D C RA F T E D C U I S I N E NEW
2011

overall
Portland State has the ability to sneak up on
teams this season, and its talented secondary
and run-based pistol offense could both give FREE
MSU trouble. But Montana State has too much
firepower on offense and will be too motivated
WI-FI
on defense for the Vikings to have a chance at
slipping by in Bozeman today. The Bobcats come
out firing on all cylinders once again, and this
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