Vandals look to weather Bobcats' running QB

At first, the loss of Chris Murray to academic ineligiblity meant opposing teams didn’t have to prepare for a running quarterback at Montana State.

But his eventual replacement, sophomore Troy Andersen, is shaping up to be an even bigger headache as a runner for opposing defenses.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Andersen has rushed for a team-high 517 yards and seven of the team’s 13 rushing touchdowns for Montana (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky), which hosts Idaho (2-3, 1-2) today at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman.

“They’re going to snap it to that big quarterback, and he’s going to run with it,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said of Montana State.

Andersen led Beaverhead County High in Dillon, Mont., to a state A title in 2016. As a true freshman last year at Montana State, Andersen ran for 515 yards and two touchdowns. He also played linebacker, a position he also plays this season, despite being the starting quarterback.

“Everybody knew of him out of high school. He’s just a big, physical, tuff competitor,” Petrino said.

Montana State is coming off a bye week, after playing league-leading Eastern Washington tough in a 34-17 loss. Andersen ran for 132 yards and two scores in that game. The Bobcats and Idaho have both played Portland State, with Montana State winning 43-23 and the Vandals winning 20-7.

Andersen has thrown 54 passes for 344 yards and one touchdown, with three interceptions. Freshman Tucker Rovig has passed 68 times for 584 yards and four TDs, with two interceptions. Most of those numbers came in a win over Wagner in Week 2, and a loss to South Dakota State in Week 3 when Andersen was limited on offense due to a hand injury. Andersen started the opener at quarterback against Western Illinois, as well as in weeks 4 and 5 vs. Portland State and EWU.

Idaho, meanwhile, has been routed in two of its three conference games, most recently 62-28 at Idaho State last week.

Still, Montana State coach Jeff Choate, who used to travel down to Moscow to watch Vandal games when he was a student at St. Maries High, remains impressed with the Vandals.

“They gave up a ton of yards and a lot of explosive plays to a very good outfit,” Choate said of the ISU game.

“They have elite players,” Choate said of Idaho. “You go position by position, and they have some of the top players in this league at a lot of spots. This is a dangerous outfit. I think they will come in here with a lot of motivation, and they have talent.”

Idaho plays at Montana State for the first time since 1995 — the Vandals’ last season in the Big Sky before moving up to Division I-A for 22 seasons. This is Idaho’s first season back in the Sky. The teams met in 2000 and 2016 in Moscow, with the Vandals winning. Two years ago, Idaho won 20-17 in the season opener, in Choate’s debut as Bobcats coach.

Snow is predicted in Bozeman this morning, but is expected to stop prior to gametime.