Prukop/Murray/Anderson/Rovig/Mellot 1st Game Comp

[Long Time Cat]

Hopefully more than just the stat nerds will appreciate this but I thought it was worth a dive into the record books to see how Touchdown Tommy's 1st game stats compared to his most recent predecessors. Statistics can tell you a lot or they can be almost meaningless but still fun to take a look.

In this comparison there are lots of different levels of competition Prukop played FBS schools in his first game, Ark. State but on the other hand Andersen, Rovig, Murray and Mellot didn’t start against cupcakes either, West. Ill, SDSU, NAU and UTM respectively. Murray started from game 6 in 2016 but interestingly Andersen started game one in 2018 then Rovig started games 2 and 3 before they went back to Andersen for game 4 even though Rovig was pretty good in both games he started.

Trivia question for Bobcat faithful: Who was the starting RB in Murray’s first game? I didn’t even remember hearing of him and I consider myself a pretty serious fan.

These stats are for first game as a starter:
________Comp__Att___Pct__Yds__YPA__TD _Rush _TD Rush__Tot Yds__Tot TD
Mellot_____8___ 20___ 40___51___2.6____0____180____2______231____ 2
Andersen__12___ 21___57___81___3.9____0___145____ 2______ 226____ 2
Rovig_____ 13 __ 25___ 52__164___6.6____1____8_____ 0 ______172____1
Murray_____7___ 16___44___88___5.5____0___ 46_____1______ 134____1
Prukop____14___ 26___54__142___5.5____0____4______0______ 146____0

Arguably Mellot had the best first game of the bunch. His first opponent probably better than Andersen’s and Rovig’s not as tough as Murray’s or Prukops. I doubt any of them were playing in wind like we had last Saturday.

I didn't plan to include this but it was too significant to ignore. What was most striking as I reviewed the stats is the change from game 1 to game 2. I will compare just YPA, Total Yds, Total TDs. Everyone improved significantly. To keep this comparison in context every previous starter had an easier opponent (although still FCS opponents) in game 2 whereas Mellott’s will definitely be harder. Murray lost both his first two games. Troy won his first two. Prukop and Rovig split.

__________YardsPerAattempt_______Total Yards _____ Total TDs
__________Gm 1_Gm2_% Chng __ Gm 1_Gm 2_%Chng___ Gm1_Gm2_Chng
Andersen___3.9__7.6____98%______226__318___41%_____2____3___+1
Rovig______6.6__9.1____39%______172__328____91%____1____3___+2
Murray_____5.5__11.1__102%_____134__330___146%_____1____3___+2
Prukop_____5.5__10.7___96%_____146__379___160%_____0____3___+3
Average____5.4__9.6____78%_____157__361___130%_____1____3___+2

Past performance is no guarantee of future results but it looks promising! Maybe that’s just my blue and gold glasses I’m looking through but I’ll take it.

[technoCat]

Lol, I knew who you were talking about for that WSU game but couldn't for the life of me remember his name. Bonus Trivia: Where did he tranfer to after his one year here?

[SACCAT]

Lol, I knew who you were talking about for that WSU game but couldn't for the life of me remember his name. Bonus Trivia: Where did he tranfer to after his one year here?

Believe he transferred to Utah.

[TomCat88]

The degree of difficulty is hard to measure, but the wind, opponent and significance of the game all seem to be higher for Mellott. He was attempting a triple salchow in the Olympics, while everyone else was performing in the trials.

[JDoub]

Lol, I knew who you were talking about for that WSU game but couldn't for the life of me remember his name. Bonus Trivia: Where did he tranfer to after his one year here?

Believe he transferred to Utah.

Ed Vander and the Gibson brothers are all on the roster this season at DII University of Mary
http://goumary.com/sports/football/rost ... ander/6070

[CelticCat]

Lol, I knew who you were talking about for that WSU game but couldn't for the life of me remember his name. Bonus Trivia: Where did he tranfer to after his one year here?

Believe he transferred to Utah.

Ed Vander and the Gibson brothers are all on the roster this season at DII University of Mary
http://goumary.com/sports/football/rost ... ander/6070

How the... Vander had 3 years of eligibility when he signed with MSU in 2016 (for the 2017 season) after a year at a JC. I guess that would mean 2020 would have been his senior year during Covid, but this says he's a junior.

[CelticCat]

Also apparently he played a year at SUU? https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/278149/

So that would be:

2016 JC
2017 MSU
2018 Utah (sat the year out due to transfer rules) - looks like maybe he left the program after spring ball in 2019
2019 SUU (official stats at SUU's site but I can't find any roster page)
2020??
2021 U Mary D2

[2015cat]

Murray’s first game would have actually been vs (then FBS) Idaho in 2016. He played as a true freshman, don’t remember at what point he took over as starter.

[coloradocat]

Murray’s first game would have actually been vs (then FBS) Idaho in 2016. He played as a true freshman, don’t remember at what point he took over as starter.

If I remember correctly it was the first game after he turned 18. I'm not sure if this came from Choate directly or was just on BN but there was talk about how they though it was too much for him to start as a 17 year old and wanted to ease him into the game a little more before handing him the reins.

[Common Cat]

Any chance we start Rovig this week?

[The MICKSTER]

Murray’s first game would have actually been vs (then FBS) Idaho in 2016. He played as a true freshman, don’t remember at what point he took over as starter.

If I remember correctly it was the first game after he turned 18. I'm not sure if this came from Choate directly or was just on BN but there was talk about how they though it was too much for him to start as a 17 year old and wanted to ease him into the game a little more before handing him the reins.

That could be. My memory (which taint that good no more) was that he was put in during the Idaho game and started after that, but the first 2-3 starts he wasn't allowed to be interviewed because he was still a minor and didn't turn 18 til late October or early November....????

[coloradocat]

Any chance we start Rovig this week?

And then Bauman in the semis and Troy and in the championship game!

[Common Cat]

Any chance we start Rovig this week?

And then Bauman in the semis and Troy and in the championship game!

We are not going to win a championship with a run first qb.

[CelticCat]

Murray’s first game would have actually been vs (then FBS) Idaho in 2016. He played as a true freshman, don’t remember at what point he took over as starter.

If I remember correctly it was the first game after he turned 18. I'm not sure if this came from Choate directly or was just on BN but there was talk about how they though it was too much for him to start as a 17 year old and wanted to ease him into the game a little more before handing him the reins.

That could be. My memory (which taint that good no more) was that he was put in during the Idaho game and started after that, but the first 2-3 starts he wasn't allowed to be interviewed because he was still a minor and didn't turn 18 til late October or early November....????

I don't think Choate granted interviews to any freshman, period.

[BleedingBLue]

Any chance we start Rovig this week?

And then Bauman in the semis and Troy and in the championship game!

We are not going to win a championship with a run first qb.

But, but, but, he's ready!!!!

[iaafan]

Any chance we start Rovig this week?

And then Bauman in the semis and Troy and in the championship game!

Just to prove that it doesn’t matter who’s the QB, we’re still better than everyone

[seataccat]

Murray’s first game would have actually been vs (then FBS) Idaho in 2016. He played as a true freshman, don’t remember at what point he took over as starter.

If I remember correctly it was the first game after he turned 18. I'm not sure if this came from Choate directly or was just on BN but there was talk about how they though it was too much for him to start as a 17 year old and wanted to ease him into the game a little more before handing him the reins.

That could be. My memory (which taint that good no more) was that he was put in during the Idaho game and started after that, but the first 2-3 starts he wasn't allowed to be interviewed because he was still a minor and didn't turn 18 til late October or early November....????

Losing Chris Murry was such a shame. He had so much upside potential and I think Vigen could have really developed him. When we lost coach Noah Joseph we lost far more than a defensive backs coach. He was a strong mentor and guide for young men like Chris. I think he could have really helped him.

[Long Time Cat]

Murray’s first game would have actually been vs (then FBS) Idaho in 2016. He played as a true freshman, don’t remember at what point he took over as starter.

If I remember correctly it was the first game after he turned 18. I'm not sure if this came from Choate directly or was just on BN but there was talk about how they though it was too much for him to start as a 17 year old and wanted to ease him into the game a little more before handing him the reins.

That could be. My memory (which taint that good no more) was that he was put in during the Idaho game and started after that, but the first 2-3 starts he wasn't allowed to be interviewed because he was still a minor and didn't turn 18 til late October or early November....????

Good catch!! Murray did play and start his first game in 2016. It was the 6th game of the season against NAU. It appears that prior to that he played a similar role to Tommy's, running the wild cat a few plays per game. I have corrected the original post to reflect the new info and to hopefully make it easier to read. What is surprising to me is there is still a significant improvement from his first game as a starter to game 2 for Murray. If our previous starters are any indication Tommy's passing should improve significantly and he should have over 300 yards of total offense. One other important stat is that Troy and Murray didn't complete a long pass in their first game but both had completions of 45 yards or longer in their second game. If the trend holds true Tommy will complete at least one pass over 40 yards and I predict a win for the Cats.

[luckyirishguy25]

Any chance we start Rovig this week?

And then Bauman in the semis and Troy and in the championship game!

We are not going to win a championship with a run first qb.

But, but, but, he's ready!!!!

****** haters.

[Camo_Cat]

Chris Murray got his first start in a 27-45 loss against Weber State on October 15, 2016: https://msubobcats.com/news/2016/10/15/ ... state.aspx

https://msubobcats.com/news/2016/10/16/ ... story.aspx
• Freshman quarterback Chris Murray rushed for 131 yards on 19 carries Saturday, and is now Montana State's leading rusher on the season with 440 yards. That total is third-best in school history among freshmen (behind Aaron Mason's 645 in 2006 and Dave Alt's 455 in 1956).
• Chris Murray became the second Bobcat on record (joining Joe Volek in 1990) to throw three touchdowns in his starting debut for the Cats – Volek, a junior college transfer, threw five against NAU in 1990.
• Chris Murray's 199 passing yards vs. Weber State is ninth-best in school history among players making their starting debut, but third among freshmen behind Travis Lulay's 262 yards (at Idaho State, 2002) and Mark Fisher's 204 yards (vs. Idaho, 1991).