Bobcats By the Numbers: #62
7/3/2015 11:21:00 AM | Football
Nic Stevenson was a scrappy center that was part of a big moment in MSU history
Every day we look at players who donned the jersey number corresponding to the number of days until the Bobcats open the 2015 season on September 3 against Fort Lewis College. 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 will be welcomed enthusiastically via e-mail at: blamberty@msubobcats.com. Complaints about featured players also welcome, but possibly with less enthusiasm.
#62
Mitch Brott, OL: Following his brother Wilson's path to Bozeman, Mitch Brott is a big (6-6, 270) offensive line prospect who earned second team all-state and first team all-conference honors at Billings West last fall. His joins a stable of big and talented freshmen offensive linemen in the MSU program.
Spotlight Player: The idea that freakish size is a prerequisite to play Division I college football may not be outlandish, but is easily proven wrong. Nic Stevenson is one data point in that column. At 6-2, 255, Nic Stevenson was a very good center for the Cats, and was part of the program's renaissance as its starting center during the 2002 championship season. He was marvelous, and in spite of off-season shoulder surgery entered 2003 as a preseason All-America. But the shoulder never came around, and a promising and productive career was cut short. Still, Stevenson's legacy remains part of an offensive line – and a group of Montana kids, as he originally hailed from Baker – that turned Montana State Football around. Stevenson brought strong Bobcat bloodlines to Bozeman as his aunt Melanie Stocks is the school's Director of Sports Facilities.
Other Notable 62s: The Bobcats had a nice little formula for developing good offensive linemen during Cliff Hysell's tenure as head coach – recruit big, run-blocking tight ends and wait for them to grow out of the position. Brent Ludwig was one such player whose career was not quite what it could be due to the team's thin talent base. Ludwig earned playing time at tight end as a true freshman in 1996, a season that could have been a valuable developmental campaign for him, but played only a little. After moving to tackle in the spring of 2007, Ludwig played regularly and started three games at tackle. He moved further inside in 1998, and earned First Team All-Big Sky honors at center. MSU's offensive tailspin in 1999 allowed Ludwig to net only Second Team All-Big Sky honors as a senior, and it's easy to speculate how spectacular an offensive lineman he might have been in 2000, but his career is easy to appreciate on its own merit, as it played out. Brent Ludwig was an excellent offensive lineman for the Bobcats in the late 1990s.
Through the Years: Bob Grine (1956), Bob Hyatt (1957), John Munk (1958), Jim Berg (1959), Jim Berg (1960-61), Milt Horton (1963), Clark Smith (1964-66), Gene Weyer (1967), Bob Beeker (1968), Leon Preston (1969-70, Wayne Norton 1971), Lonny Sanders (1974), Dan Ueland (1973, '75-77), Don Samuelson (1978-80), Don Leake (1981-82), Doug Richards (1983-84), Mike Vasquez (1985), Rob Fulton (1986-88), Joe Gradney (1989-92), Mike Nye (1993-95), Aaron Wilkins (1996-), Brent Ludwig (1997-99), Nic Stevenson (2000-02), Troy Watson (2004), Neil Boyce (2005-07), Ben Tauanuu (2008-11), Brad Mathis (2012-13), Mitch Brott (2015-)
#62
Mitch Brott, OL: Following his brother Wilson's path to Bozeman, Mitch Brott is a big (6-6, 270) offensive line prospect who earned second team all-state and first team all-conference honors at Billings West last fall. His joins a stable of big and talented freshmen offensive linemen in the MSU program.
Spotlight Player: The idea that freakish size is a prerequisite to play Division I college football may not be outlandish, but is easily proven wrong. Nic Stevenson is one data point in that column. At 6-2, 255, Nic Stevenson was a very good center for the Cats, and was part of the program's renaissance as its starting center during the 2002 championship season. He was marvelous, and in spite of off-season shoulder surgery entered 2003 as a preseason All-America. But the shoulder never came around, and a promising and productive career was cut short. Still, Stevenson's legacy remains part of an offensive line – and a group of Montana kids, as he originally hailed from Baker – that turned Montana State Football around. Stevenson brought strong Bobcat bloodlines to Bozeman as his aunt Melanie Stocks is the school's Director of Sports Facilities.
Other Notable 62s: The Bobcats had a nice little formula for developing good offensive linemen during Cliff Hysell's tenure as head coach – recruit big, run-blocking tight ends and wait for them to grow out of the position. Brent Ludwig was one such player whose career was not quite what it could be due to the team's thin talent base. Ludwig earned playing time at tight end as a true freshman in 1996, a season that could have been a valuable developmental campaign for him, but played only a little. After moving to tackle in the spring of 2007, Ludwig played regularly and started three games at tackle. He moved further inside in 1998, and earned First Team All-Big Sky honors at center. MSU's offensive tailspin in 1999 allowed Ludwig to net only Second Team All-Big Sky honors as a senior, and it's easy to speculate how spectacular an offensive lineman he might have been in 2000, but his career is easy to appreciate on its own merit, as it played out. Brent Ludwig was an excellent offensive lineman for the Bobcats in the late 1990s.
Through the Years: Bob Grine (1956), Bob Hyatt (1957), John Munk (1958), Jim Berg (1959), Jim Berg (1960-61), Milt Horton (1963), Clark Smith (1964-66), Gene Weyer (1967), Bob Beeker (1968), Leon Preston (1969-70, Wayne Norton 1971), Lonny Sanders (1974), Dan Ueland (1973, '75-77), Don Samuelson (1978-80), Don Leake (1981-82), Doug Richards (1983-84), Mike Vasquez (1985), Rob Fulton (1986-88), Joe Gradney (1989-92), Mike Nye (1993-95), Aaron Wilkins (1996-), Brent Ludwig (1997-99), Nic Stevenson (2000-02), Troy Watson (2004), Neil Boyce (2005-07), Ben Tauanuu (2008-11), Brad Mathis (2012-13), Mitch Brott (2015-)
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