Kari Gibb/MDN The Minot State University (MSU) offense runs scripted plays against the MSU defense in team sessions on day one of the fall camp in full pads Saturday, August 10, with 17 days and counting to the season opener against Valley City State on Thursday, August 29.

The Minot State University (MSU) football team started practice in full pads on Saturday, August 10, with several key pieces of information to discover. Nothing in football is known until the pads go on and hitting happens for real.

MSU has talent returning on defense with linebackers and defensive backs. The Beavers were the top ranked passing defense and sixth in total defense in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) last season. In rushing defense MSU was 11th and will need a stiffer group on the defensive line to move up the list.

The Beavers have solid skill players returning on the offense as well. MSU was fourth in rushing offense last season but last in passing offense to be last in scoring and total offense for the year. With 515 rushing attempts, the most in the NSIC, opposing teams could load the box with eight or even nine players in attempts to stifle the running attack.

MSU runs a version of the spread option attack. The benefit of that strategy is forcing the defensive players to make choices to control the fullback, quarterback and pitch back on any running play. The time it takes to assess and make a decision allows the offense time to move forward in attack.

Once the defense is committed to how they will stop the running game, the play-action passing attack can be a serious threat to the opposition as they have committed to defending the running attack first. The key to that explosive play-action passing attack is two fold; wide receivers who block on running plays to make the passing routes look the same as running blocks and quarterbacks recognizing what the opposing defense is doing to stop the run.

FInding wide receivers that can mask passing routes in blocking efforts is not always an easy task. Finding quarterbacks that can read what defenders are working the run first, and making the correct read and pass in the play-action is not much easier.

With the countdown on, days 17 to 7 will be vital in watching for trends and mixing the right players on the field. Finding depth and solid performance in the defensive line play, wide receivers who hide their routes in the blocking scheme and quarterbacks who can read and execute the run as well as the play-action pass in pads with live hitting occurring is vital this week.

The last seven days of practice is about fine tuning the plans of attack against Valley City State as well as building team chemistry through repetitive actions in team drills. By the weeks end, the coaches will have a better idea of what they actually have in pads.