Bobcat kicker Luke Daly
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcats By the Numbers: #45
7/20/2015 8:38:00 AM | Football
One year into his career as MSU's kicker, Luke Daly is a productive contributor
For every day of the summer we will 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.
#45
Luke Daly, K: Luke Daly didn't wrap up the starting kicker job until just days before his redshirt freshman season in 2014, but once in that role things really took off. Daly converted 13 of his 19 field goal attempts last fall, and was 12-for-13 inside 40 yards. He was even better on kickoffs, producing touchbacks on more than one-third of his kicks and averaging nearly 63 yards per kick. He earned Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his effort against North Dakota. As MSU's offense began to click in October Daly's presence was required less and less on field goals, but he enters his sophomore season as one of the team's mainstays.
Spotlight Player: It's an obvious over-simplification to say that Treasure State products have been the backbone of the Bobcat football program for the century-plus of its existence. The Bobcat program began to really take off early in the 21st century, though, when non-scholarship and low-scholarship players from Montana began matriculating to MSU in larger numbers, and staying their entire careers. One of the greatest examples is Ty McDonald, a Montana High School Heisman winner who picked up the nickname "The Bus Driver" when that's the role a new assistant thought he held in the program on the trip to Great Falls for the Triangle Classic because he was attired in blue jeans and boots rather than team sweats or shorts. McDonald was a solid special teams contributor and reserve tight end, and coming from an agricultural family near Geyser his MSU heritage was strong. Away from the football field is where McDonald really made his mark. He won the University's Torley Award as the senior male who most exemplified the spirit of community service and involvement, he earned an International Stockmen's Education Foundation Travel Fellowship to the 2007 International Livestock Congress in Denver, a Val Glynn Award for leadership and scholarship, was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi agricultural honorary, interned for former U.S. Senator Conrad Burns in Washington D.C., and traveled to Taiwan to study international grain use in the spring of 2006. Ty McDonald was a favorite during his time at MSU, and remains a sterling example that college athletics provides opportunity far beyond the playing field.
Through the Years: Eldon Penfield (1926), Ed Arnold (1940), Marvin Markuson (1941), Edward Kirsman (1946), James Kane (1947), Harry Perrigo (1948), Marv Kildahl (1949), Dale Boatright (1950), Bob Black (1953-55), Ed Burns (1956), Bob Allen (1959), Bob Wickersham (1969-70), Gary Michael (1971), Roscoe Schmidt (1973-75), Brian Febach (1976), Britt Freeman (1977-78), Brian Matthews (1979-81), Mike Callaghan (1982-85), Tyler Huber (1986-87), Von Narcisse (1988), Cory Voggesser (1989-93), Rodney Ellis (1994), Errol Rice (1996), Charles Eaton (1997), Mike McCafferty (1999-2001), Drew Vanderhoff (2002), Zach Wermers (2003), Ty McDonald (2004-07), Jason D'Alba (2008-10), Cody Dopps (2012), Luke Daly (2013-)
#45
Luke Daly, K: Luke Daly didn't wrap up the starting kicker job until just days before his redshirt freshman season in 2014, but once in that role things really took off. Daly converted 13 of his 19 field goal attempts last fall, and was 12-for-13 inside 40 yards. He was even better on kickoffs, producing touchbacks on more than one-third of his kicks and averaging nearly 63 yards per kick. He earned Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his effort against North Dakota. As MSU's offense began to click in October Daly's presence was required less and less on field goals, but he enters his sophomore season as one of the team's mainstays.
Spotlight Player: It's an obvious over-simplification to say that Treasure State products have been the backbone of the Bobcat football program for the century-plus of its existence. The Bobcat program began to really take off early in the 21st century, though, when non-scholarship and low-scholarship players from Montana began matriculating to MSU in larger numbers, and staying their entire careers. One of the greatest examples is Ty McDonald, a Montana High School Heisman winner who picked up the nickname "The Bus Driver" when that's the role a new assistant thought he held in the program on the trip to Great Falls for the Triangle Classic because he was attired in blue jeans and boots rather than team sweats or shorts. McDonald was a solid special teams contributor and reserve tight end, and coming from an agricultural family near Geyser his MSU heritage was strong. Away from the football field is where McDonald really made his mark. He won the University's Torley Award as the senior male who most exemplified the spirit of community service and involvement, he earned an International Stockmen's Education Foundation Travel Fellowship to the 2007 International Livestock Congress in Denver, a Val Glynn Award for leadership and scholarship, was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi agricultural honorary, interned for former U.S. Senator Conrad Burns in Washington D.C., and traveled to Taiwan to study international grain use in the spring of 2006. Ty McDonald was a favorite during his time at MSU, and remains a sterling example that college athletics provides opportunity far beyond the playing field.
Through the Years: Eldon Penfield (1926), Ed Arnold (1940), Marvin Markuson (1941), Edward Kirsman (1946), James Kane (1947), Harry Perrigo (1948), Marv Kildahl (1949), Dale Boatright (1950), Bob Black (1953-55), Ed Burns (1956), Bob Allen (1959), Bob Wickersham (1969-70), Gary Michael (1971), Roscoe Schmidt (1973-75), Brian Febach (1976), Britt Freeman (1977-78), Brian Matthews (1979-81), Mike Callaghan (1982-85), Tyler Huber (1986-87), Von Narcisse (1988), Cory Voggesser (1989-93), Rodney Ellis (1994), Errol Rice (1996), Charles Eaton (1997), Mike McCafferty (1999-2001), Drew Vanderhoff (2002), Zach Wermers (2003), Ty McDonald (2004-07), Jason D'Alba (2008-10), Cody Dopps (2012), Luke Daly (2013-)
Players Mentioned
K
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