BILLINGS — The battle of wits Saturday between Rocky Mountain College football coach Chris Stutzriem and MSU-Northern coach Andrew Rolin will be a like-minded affair.
Stutzriem and Rolin have plenty in common — they’re young head coaches and ex-college quarterbacks, each with an offensive pedigree and schemes that depend on efficiency under center.
“We both want a guy that can move around a little bit and run the show, though I think it changes from year to year with what you have and what each guy does well,” Stutzriem said.
“I don’t know what he’s telling his quarterbacks, but they do some similar stuff as us with formations and route concepts and all that. I’m sure he’s trying to get his guy to get a lot of completions and not turn the ball over, which I think is everybody’s goal.”
The game, which will mark Northern’s first homecoming contest at the new Tilleman Family Field in Havre, kicks off at 1 p.m.
Rocky is 2-1. Northern is 0-3.
Rolin is in his fourth year as coach of the Lights. He played quarterback at FCS San Diego from 2005-08, notably for then-Toreros coach Jim Harbaugh. It’s there that Rolin began his coaching career, and he later had stops as an assistant at Washington and San Jose State.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Rolin coached running backs and wide receivers and was the recruiting coordinator at San Jose State. He was also the offensive coordinator at Libby High School in 2017.
“I understand what he’s trying to do up there, build it the right way. That’s what I think is important,” Stutzriem said. “I think he’s a good coach and he’s put coaches around him that are really good, and I think he’s having success with that. We’ve had some good talks. He’s from the Harbaugh tree. Just a really nice guy.”
Stutzriem is in his third year leading Rocky. He played quarterback at FBS Wyoming, FCS Indiana State and finally NAIA Morningside (Iowa). As a coach, Stutzriem was most recently an assistant at Southwestern Oklahoma State, but also previously was Rocky’s offensive coordinator for two years.
Additionally, he was the offensive coordinator at William Penn, and before that was reunited with his coach at Wyoming, Joe Glenn, to serve on the offensive staff at South Dakota.
“They're pretty talented, especially on the perimeter on offense and defense,” Rolin said about Rocky to the Havre Daily News. “I think Stutzriem has done a nice job developing some of those guys and putting his brand on their culture and what they do.”
Rocky is quarterbacked by veteran Nate Dick, who is off to a strong start after battling back from multiple injuries in previous years. Dick averages 278.0 passing yards per game, which ranks 10th in the NAIA. He’s thrown eight touchdowns and three interceptions.
Stutzriem and Rocky’s offense will match up against first-year Northern defensive coordinator and hall of famer Mike Van Diest, whose legacy in the Frontier Conference is set in stone: Van Diest previously coached Carroll to six NAIA national championships.
Van Diest “has them dialed in,” Stutzriem said. “I know they’ve given up some points (42 in all three games) but they’re a lot more sound. They’re athletic in the secondary and they’ve got some good guys up front that like to get after the quarterback.”
Northern’s offense is helmed by Eastern Kentucky transfer Kaymen Cureton, who is strong in the pocket at 215 pounds. The Lights put up 28 points in the second half last week in a loss to Montana Western, 21 of which were scored by the offense.
“He’s a really good player,” Stutzriem said of Cureton. “He can throw it, he can run it, and I think he does a good job of getting rid of the ball and not holding on to it. I think they have some playmakers on the edge. They had a great second half against a really good Western team, so that’s a little bit scary.”
Rocky and Northern met during the league’s abbreviated (and optional) schedule last spring. The Battlin’ Bears prevailed 24-21 after scoring 17 second-half points.
The Bears are coming off a 31-29 loss to Montana Tech, a game in which they trailed 31-7 before rattling off three consecutive touchdowns.
Rocky is looking for a faster and more consistent start this week.
“We still had a shot to go to overtime (against Tech) and win the game,” Stutzriem said. “We played good football in the second half. We battled back and kept going. We’ve just got to turn it into four quarters.”
“We talk about scores and stops all the time,” he said. “If we get the ball first, hey, let’s go down and score and then get a stop on defense. If the defense is out there first, let’s get a stop and then come back with a score on offense. I think understanding that and trying to play a little bit better team football is important.”