Sports Extra: 2024 college football preview

Montana Grizzlies from Montanas sports.com this is MTN sports extra hello and welcome to the first edition of MTN sports extra on a Saturday I'm Tom Wy thanks for joining us now every Saturday following the 10 o'c News we'll bring you the top sports stories and highlights from around the treasure state we're kicking things off with week zero in the college football World the Montana State Bobcat set to face New Mexico one week from today but we'll begin our show with a look at the defending Big Sky conf champions in Missoula here's mtn's Kyle Hansen with a look at the 2024 University of Montana Grizzlies hey everyone Kyle Hansen here at Dorne Blazer field in Missoula as the Montana Grizzlies have been practicing and prepping here in training camp for the 2024 college football season as the reigning Big Sky Conference champions are looking to make a repeat run to Frisco Texas Grizz football has wrapped up two weeks of training camp as um embarks on a run to replicate last year's conference title and trip to the National Championship so the pag has turned as um welcomes A new challenge as we uh start our third week of it it's been really competitive uh I really like that they're getting after each other um I think they they are coming to work every day I like the spirit of uh wanting to improve and not just survive through practice and get to the season is is pretty prevalent attitudinally this group's really strong the Grizzlies are ranked number three in the FCS entering the season and were picked as the preseason favorite to win the Big Sky once again so far the quarterbacks have been the storyline to watch from Camp as red shirt freshman kle I yot and Fresno State transfer Logan F have led the way with Bobby ha saying both players will play those two will be supplemented by an offense that brings back almost everyone including a stable of lethal weapons including senior receivers and returning starters Junior Bergen Aaron font and kelen white the running backs are also deep with last year's Jerry Rice Award winner Eli Gilman ready for an encore Performance Plus Nick osmo is back for his final season as well as Arizona transfer Stevie rocker Jor and The Versatile Xavier Harris that will be behind an offensive line that loses two key starters but brings back a wealth of experience on the two deep defensively things look a little bit different with eight starters and more key rotational players all gone the Grizzlies return all league players like Trevon gradney and Riley Wilson while Ryan trell Ryder Meyer and Jackson Lee are also all back as players who saw heavy minutes the rest of the spots and the production needs to be filled with some transfers and younger players looking the part early in Camp as they aim to keep the grizzly defense strong but Camp is sorting all of that out as the Grizzlies shape their lineups we got a few more days of heavy fundamental work this is an opportunity to do that you don't get to do it a ton during the seasons more fundamentals keep making sure everybody understands and keep bringing young guys along and all the different different things you get to do when you're in Fall camp training camp for Montana will wrap up next week and then they'll transition to gameweek prep as they get set for the opener here in Missoula on August 31st against Missouri State reporting in Missoula Kyle Hansen MTN Sports the Grizzlies were picked to win the league by both the coaches and the media after a national runner-up finish but Montana State received several first place votes in both polls with a very experienced returning core mtn's Grace Lawrence takes a closer look at the Bobcats in bosan MTN Sports Grace Lawrence here outside Bobcat Stadium because fall Camp is winding down for Montana State as their attention begins to turn to week zero and their matchup at New Mexico the phrase they're taking into this season is to go one and0 every day remain focused on the task or the opponent directly in front of them I think we got a a group that's that's demonstrated a focus that we need um you know living in the moment living day by day I I'm sure a lot of the guys spoke to you know one and old mentality each day and and not getting far ahead of ourselves and we've lived in that world going back to January when this team essentially started this team is led by 23 seniors who were looking to leave it all on the field the Brotherhood is just unmatched honestly just all of us going to the locker room and the camaraderie that we have is just um Second To None really all these older guys that have been together that have played so much football together that have you know endured so many Summers so many Winters together really just give anything for one another for their success for their you know for their senior year last season the Bobcats suffered four losses three of those on the road in three games by four points or less this year they'll rematch Idaho and Montana at home who handed them their two Big Sky losses last season as they look for Revenge a lot I mean that's pretty much all I think about so yeah just uh I mean I'm just excited to play those teams again really I mean so hopefully when we get out on the field may happen the toughest part of their schedule looks to be in the latter half of their season where they will face four of the other teams ranked in the conference pre-season top five but bringing it back to the now they'll get a standalone nationally televised game vers New Mexico in week zero to kickoff college football on August 24th the nation's going to see how confident our our team is and um going out how prepared we are and how hard we've worked this offseason to make it um a special season coming forward um I just hope that we go out there and play fast play physical like I know we can and U make some plays you know run the ball stop the run Pro kind of program we play super hard um and just yeah hard nose tough fast physical football I would say is what I want to stand out in Boseman Grace Lawrence MTN Sports still to come we'll take a deep dive into a wide open Frontier conference and hear from each of the five monana teams stay with us sports extra we'll be right back Frontier Conference welcome back to MTN sports extra powered by Montanas sports.com the College of Idaho was picked to win the frontier conference in the preseason polls but there's five Frontier Conference teams in Montana including three ranked in the top 25 that might have something to say about that mtn's Luke Shelton breaks down the league ahead of week number one hey everyone Luke Shelton out here at the newly re-fed Bob Green Field and before we take a look at this upcoming Frontier Conference football season let's recap the highlights of 2023 the Montana Western Bulldogs emerged as outright Conference champions and the frontier then saw three teams qualify for the playoffs Montana Western Montana Tech and the College of Idaho which Advanced all the way to the semifinals unsurprisingly the yotes were the top pick in this year's preseason coaches poll followed by Western Southern Oregon Tech and Carol college and this year will Mark the end of an era with the frontier footprint set to get a lot bigger in 2025 as the conference welcomes five new members from the Northstar Athletic Association a new chapter is looming but for now let's take a look at how Montana's five Frontier programs are shaping up as the 2024 season approaches and let's start with the defending conference Champion Montana Western Bulldogs who last season claimed their first outright Frontier Crown since 1995 but then Western's first home playoff game since 1994 ended in disappointment as the Bulldog second round comeback bit against the College of Idaho came up a touchdown short looking back head coach Ryan Norse knows that his team didn't properly embrace the opportunity you we were a little down that we were playing another Frontier team instead of looking at it in the appropriate light of I mean this is a chance to win a National Championship but that was last season and this year's team is loaded with proven Playmakers including the offensive player of the year in QB Michael pandre All-American receiver Eli Norse and running back Jake Humphrey all all three of those guys were first year starters in 2023 Western has a lot of Talent on its roster but you know what so do all the teams in the frontier yeah it takes full effort I mean everyone in this conference is amazing uh it's very hard conference in the country so every week you got to prep yourself enough to win a game and play as a team and just be hungry and if that backdrop behind pandri looks new well that's because it is Western's long awaited oncampus field is finally here and ready to roll for 2024 this field is the future of Bulldog football and it'll serve as a reminder to keep looking forward like I said New Opportunities For Us New Field new environment so what we got to do is take it a practice at a time and a game at a time and we don't look behind us just take every single day at a time now let's swing back to but where Montana Tech is also looking to bounce back from a home playoff loss after falling to Dickinson State in the first round a tough defeat but it was the iger's first trip to the postseason since 2016 proud of of what we did last year but not satisfied and that's the expectations to be in the playoffs every single year uh but it's a new year you know it's a it's a new team even though we got a lot of guys back and with 28 seniors including threeyear starting QB Blake thielen Tech is looking to make a return to the playoffs and then some yet despite all that experience this team knows it has a lot of work to do before the season opens us collectively as a team we uh still have a lot to learn uh still a lot to to get better at um and I think in these next few weeks uh we're really going to elevate our our game that senior running back Lander Smith who was third in the conference last year in rushing yards after filling in for an injured Blake counts in 2023 he'll now be the focal point of tech backfield I like taking uh advantage of every opportunity I get to step on the field and I'm excited to do it with all these guys yeah I mean Landers you give it to him he's he's going to run through somebody's face so it's it's always fun just to give him the ball and kind of see what he can do but with plenty of weapons around him like senior wide receiver Wyatt Alexander Thelen believes tchas poise to field a well balanced offense that back Field's looking really well and just the back field with the wide receiver room I think it's a very good compliment and obviously the guys up front I got a bunch of guys that uh that I believe in and they believe in each other and uh yeah we're excited for a great year let's go baby well that's all from me and but now let's send things up to Johnny Walker and Helena who caught up with the Carol College Fighting Saints that's right Luke I'm at Carol College's Nelson Stadium where they've got this brand new turf ready to go for football season and Carol will be putting that new Turf to good use early this season playing five of their first six games at home it's exciting never happened before never had six out of 10 at home never had five out of the six at home uh so yeah we got to take advantage of it and play well and play well early and play well in the middle and play well at end so you know what I mean coach bcel says that part of playing well for the Fighting Saints this year will involve getting more explosive on offense the unit averaged just over 300 yd per game last season the second lowest average of any Frontier team senior Jack perco will quarterback Carol's offense for the fourth straight year perker says an influx of athleticism should help the Carol offense become more explosive oh for sure athleticism wise yeah we we've definitely improved in that and that's not a knock on our old guys I'm just I'm I'm hyping up these guys you know I'm really excited for this next season despite a disappointing finish to last season that left Carol fourth in the frontier standings and out inside the national playoffs the Fighting Saints still finish top three among Frontier teams in scoring defense and Total Defense we're held to a a different standard the D line here at Carrol so um that will definitely continue to be and we got we got the guys to do it this year you know we got a lot of talent got a lot of young guys coming up the creatures will be back this year Carol season officially kicks off September 7th against Montana Tech right here in Nelson Stadium reporting from Carol College Johnny Walker MTN Sports still to come our college football previews continue with stops and Billings and H more Saturday night sports extra after the Rocky Mountain break welcome back to MTN sports extra powered by Montana sports.com well if there's anything to learn from past Frontier conference season it's that any team can surprise you and coming off a six and4 season the Rocky Mountain battling Bears brought in a giant recruiting class with eyes on a breakout season mtn's Alec bofinger has more from herb Clint Field the 2023 football season was a bit of a roller coaster for Rocky Mountain College the batland Bears opened three in one but unceremoniously dropped three straight they seem to find something in late October though as they finished with three consecutive wins to finish six and four I think our guys kept competing kept coming to work practice every day and doing the right things and working extremely hard um unfortunately a horrible accident brought us close together I think which you know uh that part was good but I'd never want to go through that again um and then I think our our our leadership has has really done a good job throughout the offseason after juggling bodies at the quarterback position throughout last season Gren bule took the job and ran with it grabbing an NAA offensive player of the week award in the process I mean I'm always pretty confident in my abilities and stuff like that but what really gives me confidence is the guys around me I mean I got incredible Talent around me I got up front were fantastic um in the receiver room running back room and then the guys on the defense always got our back and then coaching they always put me in a great position I mean coach Bloom coach tuts always make sure I know the X's and O's know what to expect and they put me in a great position to win as if the Bears needed any more motivation the unveiling of the frontier conference preseason polls Place Rocky Sixth and that just doesn't sit well in the locker room you could say that I'm not a huge preseason guy I think we'll let the playing talk for itself but um when we we see the preseason rankings come out we're not very happy we know what we got we know what we're capable of but it's it's outside stuff we don't care as much now Rocky won't have to wait long to make a statement as they open the season at number 16 Dickinson States now up in h checking in on the lights here's will Charlton after back-to-back seasons of winning only a combined single game the Montana State Northern football program feels confident that this season is going to bring about positive change the northern lights are just about ready to begin the third year Under head coach Jerome sour and sour said he believes this will be a pivot year last year we played with 58 this year we'll have 100 uh so we we're building the the football program in depth and we're starting to gain some experience and so we expect to see improvements in year three for us he also said that those numbers create more competition within the program having more experience having more guys that are capable playing you know creates a different competitive tension among the the uh different positions so it's more uh competitive two players that bring a lot of the experience mentioned our grad transfer quarterback Zack Brooks with all the new guys all the Freshman I think we can uh keep building and some of them I think can probably uh play for us right away so I'm excited and Junior linebacker Lucas ther these guys coming in they're not just guys they're great guys like uh coach always harps on camaraderie it's one of our court values and I like I really see that building but to get to where the lights want to be it won't be easy out the gates as we look at at our our schedule it's a it's a tough one in the fact that we have four of our first five games are on the road the lights open up on the road Thursday August 29th against the only team they beat last season mville state in h will Charlton MTN Sports still to come one of the best athletes in Montana history is working his way up the coaching world catching up with Hell in a capital Legend Matt Miller Matt Miller Next welcome back to MTN sports extra powered by Montanas sports.com well Matt Miller's name is all over the Boise State football record books a photo from his playing days is still displayed at the Broncos facility and since 2020 his name has been on the wall outside of an office now accompanied by his coaching title MTN Sports slim Kimmel recently caught up with a hel in a capital graduate guys make sure we're still running down the field here Matt Miller's football Journey has brought him back to the place where he achieved his highest success the former Montana Gatorade Player of the Year starred at Boise State from 2011 to 2014 leaving the Broncos as the program's career leader in receptions this place means a lot to me my wife and um obviously now being to give it back forward to these student athletes is some were very passionate about and yeah get do I love day two is awesome Miller began his coaching career at his Alma moer in 2015 after four years on the Montana State coaching staff Miller is back at Boise State grooming the Broncos next great receivers we've been very fortunate and very grateful that the head coaches here have given us opportunities to continue to work at a university and a place that we love so much and we just trying to do everything that we can to be successful since returning to Boise State in 2020 Miller has worked to advance his career much like many of his former Montana State colleagues this fall when Boise State plays Nevada Miller will match coaching wits with a host of former Bobcat coaches including Jeff choke who was named the wolfpack's head coach last winter he's like a second father to me um he's still a guy that I can call even probably all about one week out of the year for advice in this profession and and how to handle business another Montana on the Nevada coaching staff is defensive coordinator Kane I own who overlapped with Miller at both Montana State and Boise State bigger picture our wives got really close our families got really close and so that means the world to both of us I know and uh having a friend in this profession who can we can talk to and when we're down we can p pick each other up and when we're having success celebrate that with each other that's that's a lot of fun for us as both iion and Miller climb the coaching ranks neither has forgotten his football routs back in Montana he's a great great compliment when people tell tell you that hey you're a Montana guy that says a lot about who you are as a person the values you have being that Montana guy is wake up every morning be where your two feet are outwork everybody when times get tough grab the extra gear because that's what we're made of up there Boise State opens its season August 31st against Georgia Southern the Broncos received votes in the Associated Press top 25 and were picked to win the Mountain West Conference reporting in Boise slim Kimmel MTN Sports well that's our time for this edition of MTN sports extra thanks for tuning in and remember our coverage does not end here visit Montanas sports.com for stories scores and highlights all the way from Eureka to Baker and everywhere in between until then have a great night