BOZEMAN — Coming off its road win at Western Illinois, Montana State has switched focus to its next non-conference opponent, Norfolk State. The Spartans and Bobcats will kick off at 1 p.m. from Bobcat Stadium on Saturday.
Norfolk State brings another dual-threat quarterback in Juwan Carter. The junior has eight total touchdowns through the air and on the ground this season. However, this isn't the first time the Cats have faced a dual-threat QB. They did so two weeks ago against Southeast Missouri State’s Daniel Santacaterina and held him to 114 yards through the air in the 38-17 win.
But MSU head coach Jeff Choate said Carter will be all over the field come Saturday, so his staff’s preparation against him will be crucial to Montana State's success.
“This team makes you defend all 11, and that’s not to say SEMO or Texas Tech or Western Illinois didn’t make you defend all 11 -- they just didn't have a lot of designed quarterback runs," said Choate. "I mean, if the play breaks down you have to leverage the quarterback. In this situation you’re going to have to account for No. 8 in everything. The thing it also changes is, stylistically you don’t want to play a lot of man to man. Having to defend the quarterback both as a runner and a passer changes things quite a bit.”
