Cats Win Opener
8/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
season opener, Junior Adams showed that he is back to being an impact player after anoff-season of injuries, and Mike Kramer won his first season opener and home opener as
MSU’s head coach as the Bobcats beat Saint Mary’s (CA) 27-24 in Bozeman on Saturday.
Montana State’s outstanding individual efforts were punctuated by EJ Cochrane’s
game-winning field goal with three seconds left, which capped a 50-yard drive in the last 2:43
of the game. Cochrane’s game-winning kick came despite the fact that he had kicked the ball
out of bounds twice on kickoffs. "This is great," Cochrane said. "As soon as Kramer said, ‘EJ,
it’s your kick,’ I knew it was my opportunity to show what I could do."
What he could do was nail a 47-yard field goal, the longest of his career, to give MSU the win.
"EJ is our long-distance kicker," Kramer said. "He has a strong leg. You have to have a plan
and you have to stick to it, and EJ rewarded us today."
The 8,657 fans that enjoyed MSU season-opener in Bobcat Stadium were rewarded with
vintage performances by Ryan Johnson and Junior Adams. Johnson, a Payton Trophy
candidate, rushed 35 times for 216 yards, the 10th-best day in Bobcat history. Adams caught
five passes for 105 yards. And Kane Ioane, MSU’s superb junior safety, had 21 tackles, afumble caused and a fumbled forced.
"Ryan was spectacular, which is exactly what we expect from him," Kramer said. "He is aworkhorse. It took him carrying 35 times for us to get the win, and Ryan was up to it."
Johnson held up fine despite the bad back that shelved him in the spring, and said the SaintMary’s defensive alignment aided his cause. "They got in three down linemen for most of thesecond half, and that made it easier to run. Sometimes we had a triple-team on the nose tackle,and the holes were opening up huge."
MSU sustained no injuries Saturday, and plays at Stephen F. Austin next Saturday.
MSU’s head coach as the Bobcats beat Saint Mary’s (CA) 27-24 in Bozeman on Saturday.
Montana State’s outstanding individual efforts were punctuated by EJ Cochrane’s
game-winning field goal with three seconds left, which capped a 50-yard drive in the last 2:43
of the game. Cochrane’s game-winning kick came despite the fact that he had kicked the ball
out of bounds twice on kickoffs. "This is great," Cochrane said. "As soon as Kramer said, ‘EJ,
it’s your kick,’ I knew it was my opportunity to show what I could do."
What he could do was nail a 47-yard field goal, the longest of his career, to give MSU the win.
"EJ is our long-distance kicker," Kramer said. "He has a strong leg. You have to have a plan
and you have to stick to it, and EJ rewarded us today."
The 8,657 fans that enjoyed MSU season-opener in Bobcat Stadium were rewarded with
vintage performances by Ryan Johnson and Junior Adams. Johnson, a Payton Trophy
candidate, rushed 35 times for 216 yards, the 10th-best day in Bobcat history. Adams caught
five passes for 105 yards. And Kane Ioane, MSU’s superb junior safety, had 21 tackles, afumble caused and a fumbled forced.
"Ryan was spectacular, which is exactly what we expect from him," Kramer said. "He is aworkhorse. It took him carrying 35 times for us to get the win, and Ryan was up to it."
Johnson held up fine despite the bad back that shelved him in the spring, and said the SaintMary’s defensive alignment aided his cause. "They got in three down linemen for most of thesecond half, and that made it easier to run. Sometimes we had a triple-team on the nose tackle,and the holes were opening up huge."
MSU sustained no injuries Saturday, and plays at Stephen F. Austin next Saturday.
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