MSU Stadium Expansion Plan <– Click to see the video

Included are six phases:

A. It should first be mentioned that MSU is installing FieldTurf as we speak.
1. 38 new skysuites over the student side bleachers.
2. Replace the south endzone bleachers with a bowl, in total adding about 600 seats (getting rid of those rickity bleachers we currently have).
3. Upper bowl of south endzone (adding 3,730 seats).
4. Rebuild east (student) grandstand, adding 3800 seats and removing 6000.
5. Lower bowl of north endzone, adding 2,630 seats.
6. Upper bowl of north endzone, adding 3,730 seats.

New capacity will be approximately 22,00, and is schedule to be completed over the course of about 10 years.

I thought I’d spend a few minutes talking about what has been going on in MSU land so far this spring.

First, the big news out of Bozeman is the fact that the Board of Regents approved a plan that would allow MSU to purchase an artificial playing surface.  While the specific surface has not yet been selected, the construction will begin after spring drills sometime and is scheduled to be completed by August 1st, making it available for the upcoming season.  This was most likely pushed for after a muddy last season, including a mudbowl that was the Souther Utah game.  The Cats have also had to cancel about half their practices so far because of weather and no dry playing surface, so this will also be beneficial for spring ball.

The first scrimmage has been completed as of 4/13, and the Cats played fairly well considering the limited number of practices they have been able to hold.  Of course the biggest question in the Bobcat camp is who is going to emerge as the starting QB after the departure of senior QB Jack Rolovich?  The candidates:  Jordan Rasmussen (6′4 226), a redshirt sophomore who is the last remaining Kramer prototype QB recruit;  Mark Iddins (6′2 198), a mobile, highly regarded JC transfer with 2 years left to play; or Mark Desin (5′11 192), who simply broke the Montana high school passing record, throwing over 9,000 yards in his high school career, who is the most mobile of the three, as he is pretty much guaranteed a spot at WR (where he played last year) if he doesn’t win the job.  You would think with Desin’s size that he wouldn’t have a chance, but he played well in the first scrimmage, as he went 10-16 for 93 yards and one score, with a few nice scrambles (which they don’t record).

Stats from the first scrimmage:

RUSHING: Aaron Mason 8-33, Blayde Becksted 11-21, Anthony Tillemans 8-12.
PASSING: Jordan Rasmussen 13-8-0, 80, 0; Mark Desin 16-10-0, 93, 1 TD; Mark Iddins 10-8-0, 52, 1; Willie Sullivan 3-1-1, 2, 0.
RECEIVING: Tyler Bolton 5-53-1, Derek Green 3-18-0, Brandon Bostick 3-33-0, Joe Schreibeis 3-28-0, DeAndre Green 3-22-1, Shane Robison 3-27-0, Blayde Becksted 2-2-0, Anthony Tillemans 2-3-0, Deon Toliver 1-6-0, Derek Erickson 1-5-0, Aaron Mason 1-3-0, Mecklen Davis 1-5-0.

Star RB Demetrius Crawford sat out with a minor injury, as did first-team all-american LB Bobby Daly.  If the name Mecklen Davis sounds familiar to you, he was a starter for the Cat B-Ball team 2 years ago, and was a solid bench player last year as well.

Brian Bignell, HS, 6-2, 225, DL Helena Capitol, (AA Co-MVP)
Jared Rohrback, HS, 6-1, 215, LB Great Falls CMR, (AA Co-MVP)
Matt Harris, JR, 6-2, 225, LB Orange Coast Community College, (JC)
Mark Iddins, JR, 6-3, 205, QB Mukilteo, WA (JC - Scout 3 star)
Anthony Patterson, JR, 6-4, 300, OL Sierra Junior College (CA)
Steven Foster, HS, 6-5, 240, TE Helena High
Ben Taunauu, HS, 6-5, 286, OL Mater Dei HS (CA)
Rick Haluszka HS, 6-2, 205, QB/DB/P Harlem, MT
Jody Owens HS, 6-0, 195, LB Mesquite Horn HS (TX)
Clint Mentzal HS, 6-5, 280, RT, Midlothian High (TX)
Ricky Evans HS, 6-0, 185, RB, South Grand Prarie HS (TX)
Zach Coleman HS, 5-10, 165, CB, Bishop Dunne HS (TX)
C.J. Palmer HS, 6-0, 225, RB/LB, Klein HS(Houston, TX)
DeSean Thomas HS, 6-0, 190, CB/WR, Cleburne HS(TX)
Matt Bernard HS, 6-4, 305, OG, Gig Harbor High School (WA)
James Ekumah, HS, 6-1, 215 LB, Arlington Bowie HS (TX)
James Andrews, HS, 6-1, 185 CB, Rockwall HS(TX)
Jason Cunningham, HS, 6-2, 165 K, Tascosa HS(Amarillo, TX)
Jake Chilton, HS, 6-0, 185 DB, Billings(Central)
Reil Cornelius, HS 6-3 180, WR Helena
Turner Daines, HS 6-3 265, OL Billings(Central)
Ryan Damberger, HS 6-1 215 TE Bozeman
Derek DeJong, HS 6-4 215 DE Manhattan Christian
Heath Howard, HS 5-10 180 CB Plentywood
Kevin Steiner, HS 6-5 205 TE Shelby

Not sure yet:

Todd Brandt, HS, 6-5, 215, OL Bozeman, (First team All State) 

Brandt had verballed according to all news outlets, but his name is strangely absent from the signing day list.

Full bios and more information can be found in this PDF.

Carlos Taylor scored a career-high 34 points en-route to a 74-58 victory over the Montana Grizzlies Saturday night in Bozeman. A crowd of over 6,500 watched as the two teams evenly battled for the first half and part-way into the second half, before MSU went on an 11-0 run to take a 4 point lead, and would never look back. Taylor’s 34 points were the 3rd highest total by a Bobcat versus the Griz in MSU history, and the most by a Bobcat since 1988.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/sports/

Fans got a first look at the 2007 Bobcats under the direction of first year head coach, Rob Ash, Saturday afternoon during a 115 play scrimmage. The offense was able to move the ball well, something they rarely seemed to do in the Kramer era. Aaron Mason finished with 144 yards on 19 carries, and Jack Rolovich had 253 yards on 15 of 22 passing, including a 48 yard TD strike to Josh Lewis. Lewis would finish with 3 catches for 96 yards. Either this is a sign that the offense will be much improved under coach Ash, or the defense is still adjusting to a new scheme. Only time will tell, but I was happy to finally see some offensive production in a scrimmage for once. Read the SID release here.

Yes, that Jonathan Beasley. The same that led Kansas State to a Big 12 championship appearance and bowl appearances in 2000 and 2001. Last season he had been working as a graduate assistant at Emporia State, and last fall he was quarterbacks and running backs coach at Wichita North High. While I think Junior Adams had been doing a terrific job as receivers coach, it is always nice to have high profile guys come in, if anything for recruiting alone. Read the article here.

Don Bailey, former offensive coordinator for Montana State, is reported to be heading to Weber State to coach WRs.  Bailey was scrutinized in his time in Bozeman, for a vanilla playback and predictable calls.  But then again, that just described every fanbase’s opinion of their OC.  Bailey was highly thought of in regards to recruiting, however.

ISU has announced they have hired former linebackers coach and defensive coordinator Rob Christoff.  Christoff will coach linebackers for the Bengals.  He was promoted to DC last year when former DC Pete Kwiatkowsk left the team to accept a position at Boise State.  Many Cat fans were hoping Christoff would be retained, but that was not the case.

Rob Ash has nearly finalized his coaching staff, with the latest addition being Bo Beck, who will be coaching the defensive line.

Head Coach : Rob Ash (Drake)
Offensive Coordinator : Dale Ploessl (Drake)
Offensive Line Coach : Jason McEndoo (MSU)
Running Backs : ?
Wide Receivers : ?
Quarterbacks : Jim Svoboda (UCLA)
Tight Ends / Kickers : EJ Arnold (MSU)
Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers : Jamie Marshall (Drake)
Secondary : Noah Joseph (Eastern Illinois)
Assistant Secondary : Justin Gaines (Midwestern State)
Assistant Linebackers / Video Coordinator : Kane Ioane (MSU)
Defensive Line : Bo Beck (Iowa State)

According to the Des Moises Register (I can’t remember if you put that in italics or underline it or what), Rob Ash informed his players today that he will be accepting the head coach position at Montana State. Ash has been head coach at Drake for 18 seasons, compiling a 125-63 record during his time there. He was impressive in his public forum, and it is pure speculation on who was truly the first pick of the AD, but with Van Diest and Lennon both withdrawing for whatever reasons, Ash was the frontrunner. We shall see how he does with scholarships.