Bobcats lose Stevenson
8/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Nic Stevenson, the starting center during Montana State’s Big Sky Conference Championship run last season and a returning second team all-conference player, has retired due to a shoulder injury.
Stevenson, who would have been a junior this year, started all 12 regular season games for the Bobcats last year before missing the I-AA Playoff game against McNeese State. He played in all 11 games as a redshirt freshman in 2001.
“This is a monstrous loss, because of how great a person Nic is,” said MSU coach Mike Kramer said on Tuesday. “We’ll survive from a football standpoint, but because of who Nic is and what he means to the emotional fabric of this team, this is a tremendous loss.”
Stevenson becomes the third starting underclassman in Kramer’s four seasons whose career was ended by injury. “This loss is every bit as tough as the losses of Brandon Vancleeve and Mike McCafferty,” Kramer said. The Bobcats lost Vancleeve, a tight end, and McCafferty, the team’s middle linebacker, during the 2001 season. “Nic was a stylish, classy player who is now headed toward what will be a successful career in (his family’s) mortuary business. He was a player who perfected his craft, which allowed him to play at a high level despite being slightly undersized.”
Stevenson’s departure moves Lawrence Figueroa, a junior college transfer, into the starting center spot. Zach Wolf, who was to redshirt last year until he was forced into action on seven plays during the McNeese State game due to Stevenson’s absence and an injury to Ryan Henning, will back up Figueroa. “Lawrence Figueroa is doing very well, and Zach Wolf has gone from being an uninvited non-scholarship player to being someone who will contribute. We’re really right back to where we were before, with four of our 12 scholarship linemen unavailable because of injuries.” Two of the four, Stevenson and guard Jeff Bolton, are starters. Guard Garrin Brewton is also hurt.
Bobcat Camp Report
Tuesday - DAY 9
* * * STILL REVVED UP * * *
Bobcat coach Mike Kramer indicated that despite the injury travails experienced by the team’s offensive line, the tempo hasn’t slowed.
“We’re teaching toward the strongest guy in that group rather than the weakest,” he said. “We’re going at the pace that Brent Swaggert and Mataio Toilolo, the two returning first team all-conference players, can handle, and the rest of them are trying to hang on.”
Kramer said the less experienced players, particularly newcomers Lawrence Figueroa and Joaquin Echauri, who haven’t had the benefit of a spring practice with the team, have responded well. “They’re all trying their best to keep up. They’ve answered the challenge. It’s just a matter of time before they’re all on the same page.”
* * * COOP FOR A LOOP * * *
When junior linebacker Roger Cooper makes one of his trademark spectacular plays, Mike Kramer can be seen talking to himself.
“I say, ‘That’s a CP.’ A Cooper Play. Then I slap myself to make sure I saw it right.”
Practice Schedule
Wed., 8/13 - 9:30 am, 2:45 pm
Thu., 8/14 - 2:45 pm
Fri., 8/16 - 9:30 am, 2:45 pm
Of Interest
After Wednesday, MSU has only three more days of two-a-day practices slated
Quips
“The offensive line is the position where we have the opportunity for the most growth this fall.” - Mike Kramer
Countdown to Kickoff
17 days til MSU at Wyoming, 8/30
-msu-
Stevenson, who would have been a junior this year, started all 12 regular season games for the Bobcats last year before missing the I-AA Playoff game against McNeese State. He played in all 11 games as a redshirt freshman in 2001.
“This is a monstrous loss, because of how great a person Nic is,” said MSU coach Mike Kramer said on Tuesday. “We’ll survive from a football standpoint, but because of who Nic is and what he means to the emotional fabric of this team, this is a tremendous loss.”
Stevenson becomes the third starting underclassman in Kramer’s four seasons whose career was ended by injury. “This loss is every bit as tough as the losses of Brandon Vancleeve and Mike McCafferty,” Kramer said. The Bobcats lost Vancleeve, a tight end, and McCafferty, the team’s middle linebacker, during the 2001 season. “Nic was a stylish, classy player who is now headed toward what will be a successful career in (his family’s) mortuary business. He was a player who perfected his craft, which allowed him to play at a high level despite being slightly undersized.”
Stevenson’s departure moves Lawrence Figueroa, a junior college transfer, into the starting center spot. Zach Wolf, who was to redshirt last year until he was forced into action on seven plays during the McNeese State game due to Stevenson’s absence and an injury to Ryan Henning, will back up Figueroa. “Lawrence Figueroa is doing very well, and Zach Wolf has gone from being an uninvited non-scholarship player to being someone who will contribute. We’re really right back to where we were before, with four of our 12 scholarship linemen unavailable because of injuries.” Two of the four, Stevenson and guard Jeff Bolton, are starters. Guard Garrin Brewton is also hurt.
Bobcat Camp Report
Tuesday - DAY 9
* * * STILL REVVED UP * * *
Bobcat coach Mike Kramer indicated that despite the injury travails experienced by the team’s offensive line, the tempo hasn’t slowed.
“We’re teaching toward the strongest guy in that group rather than the weakest,” he said. “We’re going at the pace that Brent Swaggert and Mataio Toilolo, the two returning first team all-conference players, can handle, and the rest of them are trying to hang on.”
Kramer said the less experienced players, particularly newcomers Lawrence Figueroa and Joaquin Echauri, who haven’t had the benefit of a spring practice with the team, have responded well. “They’re all trying their best to keep up. They’ve answered the challenge. It’s just a matter of time before they’re all on the same page.”
* * * COOP FOR A LOOP * * *
When junior linebacker Roger Cooper makes one of his trademark spectacular plays, Mike Kramer can be seen talking to himself.
“I say, ‘That’s a CP.’ A Cooper Play. Then I slap myself to make sure I saw it right.”
Practice Schedule
Wed., 8/13 - 9:30 am, 2:45 pm
Thu., 8/14 - 2:45 pm
Fri., 8/16 - 9:30 am, 2:45 pm
Of Interest
After Wednesday, MSU has only three more days of two-a-day practices slated
Quips
“The offensive line is the position where we have the opportunity for the most growth this fall.” - Mike Kramer
Countdown to Kickoff
17 days til MSU at Wyoming, 8/30
-msu-
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