Bob Surdam, Bobcat end in the 1950s
Bobcats by the Numbers: 81
6/7/2013 11:47:00 AM | Football
A couple of #81s remind us that it's only 81 days until kickoff
Every day we look at players who donned the jersey number corresponding to the number of days until the Bobcats open the 2013 season on August 29 against Monmouth. The list of MSU football players by the jersey number is based on preseason rosters. The set of available rosters is complete from 1946-81 and '83-present. Only the 1926-27, 1934, 1937 and 1941 rosters are available in the pre-WWII years. Corrections, additions, or rosters that fill out the set are welcome to blamberty@msubobcats.com.
#81
Jacob Stanton, WR: Jacob Stanton comes to MSU as an athletic receiver from Billings Central who played quarterback in high school. He was a first team all-state choice on Central's state championship team.
Spotlight Player: Bob Surdam was a good but unremarkable football player for the Bobcats during Montana State's great run in the late 1950s. He was an important member of the school's 1956 National Championship squad as a freshman, and a starter after that, Surdam is an interesting study of the Montana State program, and college football as a whole, during the 1950s. “Thinman” or “Bones”, as he was commonly called, Surdam was unusually lanky at 6-3, 175. But he was also seasoned. He spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, and upon his arrival in Bozeman was “the tallest and oldest of returning picketmen (ends),” according to the school's 1957 media guide. He was part of a wave of U.S. service men not only in the post-WWII years but throughout the 1950s that flooded college athletics, in part taking advantage of the GI Bill. Surdam was married with a child during his time with the Bobcats, and was a very good player during a college football era when players were less drilled in football but far, far more drilled in life than those today.
Spotlight Game: Aaron Hill didn't have a great career at Montana State. He didn't even really have a great season in 2002, his only campaign as a Bobcat. But man alive, did he have some great games. Known as “Tiger” for his resemblance of golfer Tiger Woods, the Oregon State transfer was MSU's second-leading reciver with 721 yards and a team-high nine touchdown catches. He brought good bloodlines – his father, Jerry Hill, was an NFL star – and good friendships – he was a teammate at OSU with Junior Adams and Tyler Thomas – to Bozeman. He caught 16 passes in MSU's tumultuous first six games that year, but at the season's most pivotal moment he was at his best. Against Idaho State in a game best known as Travis Lulay's starting debut, Hill was magnificent. He caught eight passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, as the Bobcats lost on a controversial play at the end of the game. At NAU he caught six balls for 155 yards, and in the crucial win over Sac State – which gave MSU a tie-breaker in winning the league's automatic playoff berth after beating Montana – he caught six balls for 175 yards.
Through the Years: Bob Surdam (1956-57), Dick Nawotczynski (1959), Bill Cords (1960-61), Dick Larson (1963-64), Randy Pederson (1966-67), Tim Dunn (1969), Mark Nelson (1971), John McCaffrey (1973-75), Jeff Muri (1976), Toby Alt (1977-80), Mike Carle (1982), Mike Carrington (1983), Rob Fulton (1984-85), Von Narcisse (1986), Jerrod Watson (1987-88), Don Starke (1990), Scott Patchett (1991), Lance Reithmeier (1992), Mike Gollaher (1993-94), Eric East (1995-98), Seth Rorem (1999, Aaron Den Hartog (2000-01), Aaron Hill (2002), Branton Sherman (2003-04), Jevon Miller (2005), Kyle Begger (2006-2010), Michael Perryman (2011)
#81
Jacob Stanton, WR: Jacob Stanton comes to MSU as an athletic receiver from Billings Central who played quarterback in high school. He was a first team all-state choice on Central's state championship team.
Spotlight Player: Bob Surdam was a good but unremarkable football player for the Bobcats during Montana State's great run in the late 1950s. He was an important member of the school's 1956 National Championship squad as a freshman, and a starter after that, Surdam is an interesting study of the Montana State program, and college football as a whole, during the 1950s. “Thinman” or “Bones”, as he was commonly called, Surdam was unusually lanky at 6-3, 175. But he was also seasoned. He spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, and upon his arrival in Bozeman was “the tallest and oldest of returning picketmen (ends),” according to the school's 1957 media guide. He was part of a wave of U.S. service men not only in the post-WWII years but throughout the 1950s that flooded college athletics, in part taking advantage of the GI Bill. Surdam was married with a child during his time with the Bobcats, and was a very good player during a college football era when players were less drilled in football but far, far more drilled in life than those today.
Spotlight Game: Aaron Hill didn't have a great career at Montana State. He didn't even really have a great season in 2002, his only campaign as a Bobcat. But man alive, did he have some great games. Known as “Tiger” for his resemblance of golfer Tiger Woods, the Oregon State transfer was MSU's second-leading reciver with 721 yards and a team-high nine touchdown catches. He brought good bloodlines – his father, Jerry Hill, was an NFL star – and good friendships – he was a teammate at OSU with Junior Adams and Tyler Thomas – to Bozeman. He caught 16 passes in MSU's tumultuous first six games that year, but at the season's most pivotal moment he was at his best. Against Idaho State in a game best known as Travis Lulay's starting debut, Hill was magnificent. He caught eight passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, as the Bobcats lost on a controversial play at the end of the game. At NAU he caught six balls for 155 yards, and in the crucial win over Sac State – which gave MSU a tie-breaker in winning the league's automatic playoff berth after beating Montana – he caught six balls for 175 yards.
Through the Years: Bob Surdam (1956-57), Dick Nawotczynski (1959), Bill Cords (1960-61), Dick Larson (1963-64), Randy Pederson (1966-67), Tim Dunn (1969), Mark Nelson (1971), John McCaffrey (1973-75), Jeff Muri (1976), Toby Alt (1977-80), Mike Carle (1982), Mike Carrington (1983), Rob Fulton (1984-85), Von Narcisse (1986), Jerrod Watson (1987-88), Don Starke (1990), Scott Patchett (1991), Lance Reithmeier (1992), Mike Gollaher (1993-94), Eric East (1995-98), Seth Rorem (1999, Aaron Den Hartog (2000-01), Aaron Hill (2002), Branton Sherman (2003-04), Jevon Miller (2005), Kyle Begger (2006-2010), Michael Perryman (2011)
Thursday, July 31
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 03
Wednesday, May 03
