(STATS) – An opposing coach was being interviewed before his team played Montana State early last season when he halted the line of questioning to ask one of his own:
“Am I losing my mind or was No. 15 a linebacker last year when we played Montana State?”
No need to be confused, coach, Troy Andersen has left many opponents feeling out of sorts.
The two-way standout may be the most-versatile player in FCS college football. If the Bobcats build on last year’s banner season, Andersen will play one of the bigger parts – on both sides of the ball.
In short, Andersen was a quarterback and safety in high school and entered Montana State with the idea of playing linebacker or safety; switched to running back as a true freshman and carried the ball on the Bobcats’ first play of the 2017 season, later made starts at linebacker and kept playing both ways before earning the Big Sky Freshman of the Year award; and became the starting quarterback as a sophomore when the team had a need at the position, set the conference’s single-season record for rushing yards by a signal caller (1,412) and the school mark for rushing touchdown record (21) all the while helping the Bobcats qualify for the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2014.
“It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind,” Andersen said, “but it’s fun.”
The plan for Andersen is changed again for his junior season. Last year’s co-choice for Big Sky first-team quarterback is switching back to starting outside linebacker, beginning with Saturday’s season opener at Texas Tech.
Make no mistake, however, the Bobcats also will continue to take advantage of Andersen’s offensive skills. Redshirt freshman Casey Baumann is the new starting quarterback, but Andersen will get carries in the backfield, either in a Wildcat shotgun formation or as a fullback/running back, catch the ball as a wide receiver or tight end, even go back to passing, which wasn’t his strength as a sophomore although he improved throughout the season.
“I really do enjoy defense,” said Andersen, who at 6-foot-3, 233 pounds, looks the part at linebacker. “It’s a little more free over there, you get to read and react. You’re the one doing the hitting, so you’re not taking those blindside shots as an offensive player. I think I’m really going to enjoy playing linebacker this year.”
It wasn’t easy to pinpoint Andersen for preseason honors. He was a fullback on the Big Sky first team and positioned as an “athlete” on the STATS FCS Preseason All-America First Team and the Walter Payton Award Watch List. Quite simply, he belonged somewhere because his impact feels like everywhere.
“I don’t want to put Troy in a box,” Bobcats fourth-year Jeff Choate explained last year. “He’s an exceptional young man and a unique football player. I don’t want to create artificial limits.”
Andersen’s instinctive style leads to his playmaking. When he suffered a broken hand in last year’s season opener, he took off from playing quarterback the next two games, but went back to linebacker and running back. He had a sack in a handful of defensive plays against South Dakota State and a week later broke off a 57-yard touchdown run against Wagner.
When the conference schedule began a week later against Portland State, Andersen was back behind center. He posted the program’s biggest rushing performance in seven years (211 yards) while producing 318 total yards and three touchdowns.
“I think it’s that desire to not let your brothers down, your teammates down, the guy standing next to you,” Andersen said. “We just have so much trust in each other that you don’t want to let them down. It’s not about the individual, it’s kind of about the team.”
Andersen said he didn’t feel overly confident when he was named the starting quarterback last year, but he likes how he grew as a team leader. When the ball in his hands, it often takes more than one defender to bring him down. It sets a tone.
He’s spent the preseason getting reacclimated to linebacker, and Anderson likes to think his style is “fast and physical, smart. I’m still trying to get the feel for kind of reading the offensive line and what offenses are trying to do to us. I hope that will come with some time. I just try to pay attention in meetings and learn as much as I can every day. I think it’s going pretty good.”
Montana State will be pretty good as well. Last season was highlighted by a third straight win over archrival Montana followed by a playoff triumph over UIW. The Bobcats were ousted in the second round by eventual national champion North Dakota State, ending an 8-5 campaign.
“When you play the best, you kind of get a feel for how they are,” Andersen said. “After last year, we just realized we have to really get after it and kind of change how we do things if we want to compete with the best. We’ve had a really good offseason and I think we’re ready to take the next step.”
Not surprisingly, Andersen harbors NFL dreams, and he appears to be best suited for playing defense at the next level. An agricultural business major, he also would like to one day run the family cattle ranch in Dillon – less than a two hour’s drive from Montana State’s Bozeman campus.
For now, he’s happy to roam like a wild horse with the Bobcats.
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