Kramer on Rolovich and Mason

[catsrback76]

Cat backup ready to go
By SCOTT MANSCH
Tribune Asst. Sports Editor

Montana State will start its backup quarterback Saturday night at Sacramento State.

But that may not be such a bad thing for coach Mike Kramer's Bobcats.


"If Jack Rolovich is going to play the way he practiced (Tuesday)," Kramer said, "we're in for a good run."

Rolovich, a junior who transferred to MSU from the University of Hawaii during the offseason, hasn't thrown many passes for the Cats this year (13-for-30, 173 yards, 1 TD). But Tuesday during practice the strong-armed Rolovich completed 71 of 74 passes.

"What I saw was pretty darn exciting," Kramer said. "He was winging it."

Rolovich will play this week in place of Cory Carpenter, who suffered an ankle sprain in the second half of Montana State's 14-0 victory over Portland State last Saturday in Bozeman. It will be the first career college start for Rolovich, a 6-2, 220-pounder who starred in high school at Novato, Calif.

"I look at it as an opportunity to show my teammates, fans and coaches what I came here to do," said Rolovoich, who was buried on the depth chart at Hawaii before transferring last winter.

Rolovich doesn't figure to be dinking and dunking as the Bobcats take on the Hornets.

"His arm allows him to do some things not as well, but the ball still arrives in a timely fashion," Kramer said. "His footwork doesn't have to be perfect and his sense of where the ball's going doesn't have to be exact. Because he can spin that sucker in there no matter what.

"He's also a gunslinger. I mean, he's willing to take some risks."

Said Rolovich: "I really like to throw the ball downfield. I think that's always been one of my best attributes."

Kramer, who realizes that reckless play by his quarterback is akin to inviting interceptions, has been less than impressed with Rolovich's decision-making at times during practice and games. But the veteran Bobcat coach believes that recent evidence reveals the risk is worthwhile because of the reward it is likely to bring.

Last week against Portland State Rolovich completed several important passes, including a short touchdown flip to halfback Aaron Mason, as the Bobcats picked up an important victory.

"He's mobile, he can evade the rush and he can really throw the ball," Kramer said. "He's got a lot of attributes and it's been a long time since he's been able to display them in a confident manner. It was unfortunate the Cory got hurt. But now we're like, good for Jack. Let's see if he can step on the gas and take this team down the field."

Saturday night's game is a battle to stay in contention in the Big Sky Conference. Both Montana State and Sacramento State are 2-1 in league play. There figures to be a lot of tension. But don't look for the laid-back Rolovich to be nervous.

"He's not one of those kinda guys," Kramer said. "I noticed in practice (Tuesday) that Jack's approach and his decision-making during plays was very, very good. And I don't know why it was so much better. Maybe because there's no threat that he could be immediately replaced by Cory."

Rolovich said he feels increasingly comfortable in Bozeman, just as this Bobcat team — which floundered so badly in September before righting itself — has perhaps eased into its role as a Big Sky title contender.

"Our team has a whole different feel than it had when we were losing," Rolovich said. "There's a whole new aura in the stadium, a whole new feel in the locker room. We're confident, but not cocky. It's not any one thing you can pinpoint, but we know the games that we've lost — whether anybody believes us or not — we know we are better than those teams."

Meanwhile, Kramer said his team is returning to full health but that sophomore halfback Evin Groves, out for six weeks with a knee injury, will come off the bench and back up starting freshman halfback Aaron Mason. Kramer said last weekend he expected Groves to reclaim his spot in the starting lineup.

While Groves sparkled last season down the stretch and was solid in MSU's 19-10 victory over Colorado in the season opener this season, Mason has been nothing short of spectacular recently. The freshman had 192 yards on the ground two weeks ago at Northern Arizona and contributed 128 yards rushing and two scores last week.

"I rethought my position on the tailback spot," Kramer said. "Aaron's got to be the guy that stays out there. He's doing a lot of things right and a lot of things well. So Aaron stays as the starter and Evin's got to be ready when he's called upon."

[/b]"If Jack Rolovich is going to play the way he practiced (Tuesday)," Kramer said, "we're in for a good run."

Coach seems to be genuinely excited to see Jack play this weekend as well. I thought it was interesting that he also stated that he changed his mind on Mason starting. Good moves Coach.

[Blue and Gold]

Good for Kramer for publicly stating his belief in Rolovich. This should make the already laid back QB play with some additional confidence. I sure like the single game focus that this team has taken. I agree with Barechest, the 3 game slide was a wake up to our players AND coaches.