MSU football: Bobcats face bye week after loss to Texas A&M

By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Writer

When Rob Ash accepted the job at Montana State in June, he was already looking ahead to this weekend. No game on Week 2 sounded good back then.

SEAN SPERRY/CHRONICLE Montana State's Aaron Mason scrambles around the Texas A&M defense for a first down at College Station, Texas, on Saturday. Mason helped the Bobcats to 403-yards against Texas A&M. But after MSU played well and came out reasonably healthy from Saturday's game at Texas A&M, maybe this Saturday isn't the best time to be idle.

Especially for an offense that has something to prove.

Sure, the Bobcats put up 252 yards and 14 first downs by halftime. They just weren't able to manage the more-important yards and third-down situations near the goal line.

Three missed field goal attempts didn't help either, though MSU was more in need of touchdowns in its 38-7 loss in College Station, Texas, in front of the largest crowd (79,438) to watch a Bobcat sporting event.

Out of 14 possessions, Montana State penetrated A&M's 30-yard line on seven occasions and scored just once.

"We have to point the finger at ourselves," quarterback Jack Rolovich said after the game. "We just didn't finish."

Against a team that was the toughest to convert against on third down last year in the Big 12 Conference, MSU went five for its first six on Saturday. The Bobcats also converted on fourth down late in the game and piled up 304 yards passing, 267 by Rolovich, who connected with nine different receivers.

All are impressive stats. But the bottom line is that they didn't reach the end zone after an impressive 83-yard drive to begin the game.

"We couldn't just be satisfied with seven points like that," Rolovich said. "In the back of everyone's mind, you knew you were going to have to put up more."

Defensively, while the Bobcats played a strong first half, in the end, the big play was their undoing. Texas A&M had five plays of at least 20 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per attempt.

The special teams unit also allowed two kickoffs that were each returned for at least 38 yards, plays that led to 10 points.

So is this a good week for a bye?

"I have mixed feelings about that," Ash said. "I think the next thing we need is a win. What every team needs is a win; to wait two weeks to have an opportunity to get a win ..."

No matter the preference, the Bobcats are off Saturday while their next opponent, Dixie State College (1-1), will play at West New Mexico University. By the time the Rebels come to Bozeman on Sept. 15, they will

have played three games.

Dixie, 1-10 last season, ended a six-game losing streak Saturday by defeating Adams State, 24-16. DSC opened the season with a 41-14 loss to Mesa State, the only team the Rebels defeated last year.

The MSU-Dixie matchup will at least give the Bobcats the size advantage along the line of scrimmage. Though despite being the smaller unit against A&M, Montana State was not overmatched once the ball was snapped.

"Their four dudes probably outweighed our five dudes, but we showed that we could play with them," offensive lineman Peder Jensen said, while adding: "We're going to take the bye week and roll into Dixie State with the same attitude and the same tempo."

NOTES: David Taylor's 66-yard kickoff return late in Saturday's game was the program's longest kick return of any kind since Corey Smith returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown against Montana in 2003. ... The previous largest crowd to watch MSU was the 69,127 that witnessed Florida's 69-0 win in 1988. ... Montana State's leading tackler was Bobby Daly, who was in on 11 stops. Dane Fletcher had three tackles for loss, a team high. Kory Austin was credited with MSU's only sack. ... Rolovich's 21 completions and 39 attempts were career highs. Tyler Lulay's four receptions were also a career high.

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