Childhood tragedy inspires former All-Idaho QB as he leads Montana State in playoffs
Tucker Rovig’s parents woke up to a loud, thundering crash and covered in almost 3 feet of snow.
Around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2004, an avalanche slammed into their family cabin on Soldier Mountain in Fairfield, Idaho. Tucker’s grandparents were the only ones downstairs. His parents called to them. Neither responded. They both died on impact when the snow smashed into the structure.
Before she knew that, Tucker’s mother stayed with her two children underneath a comforter upstairs. She asked Tucker, then 5 years old, to sing his favorite songs as a distraction. She maintained hope by praying.
Tucker held his 1-year-old sister Emma tight. He told her she was safe with him. The cabin’s stairs were blocked and about 14 feet of snow filled the living room. Outside, it piled up 15 feet high at its deepest point and stretched as wide as 600 feet.
Tucker never had the chance to spend more time with his grandparents, but the fateful night left him with an indelible memory that’s guided how he’s lived ever since. He learned he needed to live with courage no matter what he faced.
The night before the avalanche, Tucker asked his grandfather to make him a wooden sword because he was an avid Lord of the Rings fan. His grandfather had a woodshop and could make anything he requested.
The sword now hangs in his bedroom. He sees it every morning. Inscribed on it are the words “Tucker The Fearless.”
“How my parents raised me,” Tucker said, “was just the fact, ‘Hey, you’re going to have adversity and stuff like that, you just got to overcome it and just know there’s other mountains you got to climb.’ ”
Sixteen years later, Rovig, a Mountain View High graduate, still points to that night in the cabin as one that’s affected him more than any other. He’s used his experience to become the person he is today. Regardless of the challenges that come his way, he’s handled himself the same. Whether it’s fame he’s come across in his hometown, rehabbing a season-ending foot injury or battling back after losing a position battle, Rovig has always acted the same.
The redshirt sophomore quarterback will make his 14th career start Saturday when No. 5-seeded Montana State (11-3) visits top-seeded North Dakota State (14-0) at noon in the FCS semifinals. It will be the most significant game yet of Rovig’s career. He will treat it like any other week of the season.
Throughout his career, Rovig’s right hand has become a point of fans’ fascination and consternation. His inconsistency in preseason practices plagued outsiders’ perception. But this season, his first with legitimate playing time to show his skills, that same right hand has completed 62% of his passes for 1,819 yards. He’s thrown 14 touchdowns and four interceptions. He hasn’t thrown a pick since Nov. 9, his only interception during MSU’s six-game win streak.
When asked earlier this season what he’s best at as a quarterback, Rovig paused. He bought time by saying, “That’s a good question.” After 10 seconds passed, he settled on an answer.
“I’m not a different guy,” Rovig said. “I’m always the same person. I would say that’s a strength of mine is every practice, every game, I’m the same guy out on the field.”
Rovig waited his turn at Mountain View and didn’t play varsity until his junior year. He won a position battle that year and remained the full-time starter until he graduated. He led the Mavericks to a state championship appearance as a junior and a title as a senior. Every time he came to the sidelines, his facial expression was the same.
Mountain View coach Judd Benedick occasionally became angry after interceptions. Then he’d look at the stoic Rovig.
“It was like ‘All right, you know, that’s all right.’ Whether it was good or bad. ‘What’s next? Let’s go,’ ” Benedick said. “I loved that about him, because I think our guys saw how calm he was and how in control he was.”
The first time Rovig was back home after his first semester at MSU, several people asked him how things were going. He answered politely, his quarterback coach Joel Clark said, but was visibly uncomfortable because he doesn’t like talking about himself.
Clark schedules his workouts based on age group, so Rovig often shows up early or stays late to interact with younger players who look up to him. He usually tries to ask those players more questions than they ask him, because Rovig wants to divert the conversation. He makes himself approachable by offering to throw and catch with them.
“You know how there are some guys that are just too cool?” Clark said. “He’s not a too cool kind of guy.”
After redshirting in 2017 and losing a quarterback competition at the start of 2018, Rovig finally had his chance to solidify himself as the Bobcats’ starter last season. During the bye week, MSU coach Jeff Choate decided Rovig would be “the guy.” But on a routine play in practice, a teammate stepped on Rovig, and the quarterback injured a ligament in his foot. He missed the rest of the season.
He thought back to the cabin that night and his family members. The memory of his grandparents, who never got to watch him play, motivated Rovig. Whenever he faces a difficult situation, he remembers the other circumstances he’s encountered.
Rovig entered fall camp this year as the Bobcats’ most veteran option at quarterback. Choate wanted to choose an opening day starter barely more than a week into preseason practices. Rovig didn’t perform to his best, and redshirt freshman Casey Bauman earned the starting nod.
“I’ve had situations where I felt like I’m ‘the guy’ and then I lose a position or something like that,” Rovig said. “It’s just something that’s really helped is my past and what I’ve gone through.”
Benedick heard the news of Rovig being relegated to a backup and texted him, asking if he was OK.
“Yep, I’m good,” Benedick recalled the quarterback replying. “I just need to keep working. I just need to keep working like I’m the guy and when I get my opportunity I’m going to make the most of it.”
Weeks later, when Rovig supplanted Bauman and entered the starting lineup for good in the fourth game of the season, Benedick shared his excitement for him.
“I tried to make the most of my opportunity,” Rovig replied again. “And hope I can keep getting better and keep getting a chance to prove myself.”
Rovig has played his best in recent weeks. During MSU’s six-game win streak, he’s completed 84-of-126 passes for 986 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception.
He wasn’t always this productive. Rovig threw interceptions in three straight games earlier in the year. He threw for 77 yards in a loss to North Dakota. He completed half or less of his passes three times in a four-game stretch.
“It’s sports, it’s football, it’s life. Sometimes you’re not going to play well,” wide receiver Kevin Kassis said. “But consistently he’s been the same person day in and day out.”
In the past three years, Rovig formed the habit of calling his dad after daily team meetings wrap up around 6 p.m. They usually talk for about 15 minutes while Rovig drives home. Sometimes they talk about football, sometimes whatever may be bothering Rovig, sometimes simply what they did that day.
But they always talk.
The week the Bobcats prepared to play at UC Davis on Nov. 16, Choate pulled Rovig and Bauman aside. He wanted to share a moment with the two of them. Though the coach rarely takes time to reflect during the season, he thought it was necessary.
Choate became emotional as he thanked the duo. When Bauman first joined the program, Rovig didn’t immediately bond with him. A year and a half later, Rovig calls Bauman one of his best friends. Rovig played one of his best games against the Aggies.
Bauman didn’t perform as well as Choate would’ve hoped in the first three games but has played an instrumental role in Rovig’s development. Rovig has found a way to improve while playing in a run-heavy offense that features a variety of wildcat quarterbacks and him standing off to the side as a decoy.
“All he’s done is win a bunch of games for us. That’s all he’s done,” Choate said of Rovig. “He’s never complained about his role.”
When he drives to Bozeman before the start of fall camp every year, Rovig stops by the cabin in Idaho. This year, fall camp was particularly frustrating. Rovig didn’t play as well as he wanted. One of the most important traits Choate was looking for was consistency, and Rovig displayed the opposite.
The frustrating part for Rovig was he didn’t have enough time to fix it before Bauman was named the starter. But Rovig kept working on what he could do better. He stayed the same guy.
Throughout Rovig’s turbulent career, he’s still looked every day at the sword his grandfather gifted him. The “Tucker The Fearless” message inspired the tattoo “Isaiah 41:10” inked on the inside of his right bicep.
“Fear not for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God,” Rovig said, reciting the Bible verse from memory. “I’ll strengthen you with my righteous right hand.”
Idaho ties in FCS semifinals
▪ No. 5 Montana State (11-3) at No. 1 North Dakota State (14-0), noon MT, Saturday, ESPN2
▪ No. 3 Weber State (11-3) at No. 2 James Madison (13-1), 4:30 p.m. MT, Saturday, ESPNU
Montana State
Jack Vering, OL, Capital
Tucker Rovig, QB, Mountain View
Zach Redd, OL, Rocky Mountain
Connor Wood, OL, Rocky Mountain
Hudson Klundt, OL, Twin Falls
Jeff Choate, head coach, Boise State
Matt Miller, offensive coordinator/QBs coach, Boise State
Byron Hout, defensive line coach, Boise State/Lake City
Nate Potter, tight ends coach, Boise State/Timberline
Bobby Daly, linebackers coach, Idaho
Weber State
Raoul Johnson, DE, Bishop Kelly
George Tarlas, DE, Borah
George Barrera, OL, Borah
Jake Constantine, QB, Boise State
Desmond Williams, S, Boise State
Mitchel Maxfield, LB, Emmett
Cole McGinnis, OL, Gooding
David Ames, WR, Skyline
Jonah Williams, DE, Rocky Mountain
Zeke Birch, DL, Madison
Kalvin Stewart, LB, Eagle
Hayden Cowden, K/P, Twin Falls
Jay Hill, head coach, BYU-Idaho
Brent Myers, offensive line coach, Boise State
Joe Dale, safeties coach, Madison
Grant Duff, outside linebackers coach, BYU-Idaho/Blackfoot
Note: This list was compiled using biographical information provided on team websites.
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 2:44 PM.