BOZEMAN — Quarterback has been one of the strongest positions for Montana State over the previous two football seasons. It’s also been filled with questions.
Are the QBs running too much? How well can they pass? Can they stay healthy? Should there be a two-QB system? If not, who should be the primary signal caller?
Those last two questions have mostly disappeared now that Sean Chambers no longer plays for the Bobcats. The first three loom as large as ever. The players and coaches believe the answers will be positive.
“The last couple of years, we had two (QBs) that could run the football and change the math with the extra hat in the run game,” said MSU offensive coordinator/QBs coach Tyler Walker. “We still have the capability to do that, but (we’re focused on) being more balanced. We can throw the football.”
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Montana State offensive coordinator Tyler Walker talks to reporters after the Bobcats’ first practice of fall camp about his offensive philosophies, moving from tight ends coach to quarterbacks coach and more on Friday, July 26, 2024, in Bozeman.
For starters
Tommy Mellott has started at QB in at least part of his first three seasons at Montana State. The Butte native turned into a legend as a freshman when he grabbed the starting reins at the beginning of the 2021 Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and led the Bobcats to the national title game. He became the full-time starter in 2022 and remained QB1 last year.
Chambers was listed as the backup but essentially served as a co-starter in 2022 and 2023. He regularly replaced Mellott in the red zone, and he started several games because Mellott was injured.
Two of Mellott’s three seasons have ended on the sidelines against North Dakota State. He suffered an ankle injury on the opening drive of the 2021 FCS title game, and he left last season’s second-round playoff game in the fourth quarter after hurting his knee. The 2022 semifinal loss at South Dakota State was a physically painful one for Mellott too, and injuries robbed him of three regular season games in each of the last two seasons.
Avoiding injuries is easier said than done, and Mellott’s elite running ability is key to MSU’s offense. Walker doesn’t want to significantly reduce that element of the playbook in his first season as OC.
But Mellott has worked hard with MSU’s strength, physical therapy and training staffs this offseason, he said, and there are ways to minimize his injury risk during games.
“The easy thing for myself is to try to make every play, the biggest play, try to score on every play,” Mellott said. “But obviously there are a lot of benefits to getting out of bounds instead of trying to get the extra two yards, or taking a checkdown immediately instead of sitting in there to try to see if the next read’s going to be immediately open, and if it’s not then you might be taking a shot.
“I think that it’s going to be more like chess than it has been like checkers.”
Mellott’s passing has steadily improved since his run-heavy freshman season, as evidenced by his 12-of-16, 209-yard performance against NDSU last year. Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence that one of his best passing games as a Bobcat happened while Chambers mostly stood on the sideline due to injury.
“They’re two phenomenal athletes, Sean and Tommy, great guys, both really good at what they do. But I don’t think having the two-quarterback system allowed them to actually get into the flow of the game,” said MSU wide receiver Ty McCullough. “Last year we saw Tommy actually get into the flow for the first time in the season, and we saw what he was able to do. He was killing out there.
“I’m really excited to see what he does now with him being the No. 1 option, not one 1A-1B. I think he’s going to turn a lot of heads.”
Montana State wide receiver Ty McCullough talks to reporters about the Bobcats’ upcoming fall camp, preparing for New Mexico, Tommy Mellott’s passing ability and more on Thursday, July 25, 2024, at the Bobcat Athletic Complex in Bozeman.
Breakout candidates
Redshirt sophomore Jordan Reed is listed as Mellott’s backup on MSU’s fall camp-opening depth chart. Reed completed 16 of 30 passes for 212 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions in six games last season, all in garbage time situations. The El Centro, California, native missed all of 2022 due to a torn ACL.
Unlike Mellott and Chambers, Reed’s arm is his greatest attribute.
“Is he as dynamic a runner as some of the other guys? No, but he’s fast enough,” Walker said. “He can put the ball anywhere on the field we need him to, and he’s had a great offseason. He’s got to prepare every week that he’s a starter. All those guys in the room have to prepare that you’re the starter because you just never know.”
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