Bobcat History Lesson #11: Stenerud's Kick
11/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
On an autumn day in October of 1964, a few members of Montana State's ski team took a break from a workout in Gatton Field, where the Bobcat football team played its home games. On that day, Bobcat basketball coach Roger Craft wandered by just as one of those skiers kicked a football. From that sequence of seemingly random events was born one of the greatest football careers in history.
Jan Stenerud was a Montana State sophomore, and his right leg caught the attention of Craft, who quickly alerted Jim Sweeney. And while Sweeney knew Stenerud was raw, he knew there was talent.
This fall marks the 40th anniversary of Jan Stenerud's crowning achievement as a Bobcat. On November 6, he nailed an NCAA record 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies. While the kick didn't win the game -- Montana State already led comfortably -- it drew headlines across the nation, and remains one of the finest moments in Montana State Athletics history.
The historic kick came early in the game. Montana kicked off, and a strong wind blew the ball out of bounds at the MSU 41. Runs by Gary Richards and Don Hass gave MSU the ball at the Grizzly 41, but when the drive stalled Bobcat coach Jim Sweeney sent Stenerud onto the field. The partisan crowd roared when Stenerud, with a tailwind, nailed the record 59-yard attempt.
From there, the game became a blowout. An injury-battered Bobcat team destroyed the Grizzlies, 24-7. Hass, the famed Iron Tumbleweed, scampered for 129 yards, and the 'Cats intercepted three Grizzly passes. Montana managed only 214 total yards. The win was a satisfying capstone of a frustrating season. That injuries turned a championship contender into a 3-7 also-ran is unquestionable, especially considering that 1965 was the only year in a five-year span beginning the previous season that Montana State did not win the Big Sky crown.
But on that one afternoon, in one unforgettable Cat-Griz moment, Jan Stenerud -- who is in Bozeman for today's game -- erased the bad feelings of 1965, and provided Bobcat fans a piece of history.
(information for this story provided by The Montanan Yearbook and The Great Divide by Pat Kearney)
Jan Stenerud was a Montana State sophomore, and his right leg caught the attention of Craft, who quickly alerted Jim Sweeney. And while Sweeney knew Stenerud was raw, he knew there was talent.
This fall marks the 40th anniversary of Jan Stenerud's crowning achievement as a Bobcat. On November 6, he nailed an NCAA record 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies. While the kick didn't win the game -- Montana State already led comfortably -- it drew headlines across the nation, and remains one of the finest moments in Montana State Athletics history.
The historic kick came early in the game. Montana kicked off, and a strong wind blew the ball out of bounds at the MSU 41. Runs by Gary Richards and Don Hass gave MSU the ball at the Grizzly 41, but when the drive stalled Bobcat coach Jim Sweeney sent Stenerud onto the field. The partisan crowd roared when Stenerud, with a tailwind, nailed the record 59-yard attempt.
From there, the game became a blowout. An injury-battered Bobcat team destroyed the Grizzlies, 24-7. Hass, the famed Iron Tumbleweed, scampered for 129 yards, and the 'Cats intercepted three Grizzly passes. Montana managed only 214 total yards. The win was a satisfying capstone of a frustrating season. That injuries turned a championship contender into a 3-7 also-ran is unquestionable, especially considering that 1965 was the only year in a five-year span beginning the previous season that Montana State did not win the Big Sky crown.
But on that one afternoon, in one unforgettable Cat-Griz moment, Jan Stenerud -- who is in Bozeman for today's game -- erased the bad feelings of 1965, and provided Bobcat fans a piece of history.
(information for this story provided by The Montanan Yearbook and The Great Divide by Pat Kearney)
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