BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 78 Days Remain Until the Gold Rush Game
6/13/2018 12:37:00 PM | Football
Jan Stenerud remains one of the greatest Bobcats of all-time
June 13: Bobcats by the Numbers takes a look at current and past Bobcats that correspond to the number of days remaining before Montana State opens the 2018 football season against Western Illinois in Bobcat Stadium's annual Gold Rush game on August 30.
#78
Retired for Jan Stenerud: Of all the players venerated by college football programs around the nation, Jan Stenerud's path may be the most unique. A Norwegian who came to Montana State as a ski jumper, Stenerud was discovered by basketball coach Roger Craft while goofing around on Gatton Field. Craft told Sweeney, Sweeney eventually took a look, and the rest is history. Stenerud became a legend at Montana State by booting longer field goals than anyone had ever seen. Students would show up early at Gatton Field to watch him boot the ball in warmups, and whenever the team approached the 50-yard line the cry would rise to 'Send in Stenerud.' That call was answered in 1965, when the affable Norwegian drilled a 'world record' 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies. That anecdote always draws a laugh from Stenerud. "So many people have told me they were there when that kick beat the Grizzlies," he says with a smile. "But it was in the first half, and we won 24-7." Jan's first Bobcat jersey number, 78, is retired in his honor, and he remains the only Big Sky Conference football player enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Chronology: Don Delande (1956), Jan Stenerud (1966), Oyvind Torp (1968), Gary Beller (1970-71), Tom Frizzell (1972), Dick Lyman (1973), Pat Dunbar (1974-77), Randy Kearns (1978), Bob Kardoes (1979-82), Robert Doud (1983), Retired for Jan Stenerud
Bonus Note for #78: One season after Stenerud's famous field goal, another Bobcat hit the number 78 in a different way. Hank Urza booted a punt 78 yards in a 24-10 MSU win against Idaho at Gatton Field. That was the longest punt on record in Bobcat history to that point (although records only began about a decade earlier).
#78
Retired for Jan Stenerud: Of all the players venerated by college football programs around the nation, Jan Stenerud's path may be the most unique. A Norwegian who came to Montana State as a ski jumper, Stenerud was discovered by basketball coach Roger Craft while goofing around on Gatton Field. Craft told Sweeney, Sweeney eventually took a look, and the rest is history. Stenerud became a legend at Montana State by booting longer field goals than anyone had ever seen. Students would show up early at Gatton Field to watch him boot the ball in warmups, and whenever the team approached the 50-yard line the cry would rise to 'Send in Stenerud.' That call was answered in 1965, when the affable Norwegian drilled a 'world record' 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies. That anecdote always draws a laugh from Stenerud. "So many people have told me they were there when that kick beat the Grizzlies," he says with a smile. "But it was in the first half, and we won 24-7." Jan's first Bobcat jersey number, 78, is retired in his honor, and he remains the only Big Sky Conference football player enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Chronology: Don Delande (1956), Jan Stenerud (1966), Oyvind Torp (1968), Gary Beller (1970-71), Tom Frizzell (1972), Dick Lyman (1973), Pat Dunbar (1974-77), Randy Kearns (1978), Bob Kardoes (1979-82), Robert Doud (1983), Retired for Jan Stenerud
Bonus Note for #78: One season after Stenerud's famous field goal, another Bobcat hit the number 78 in a different way. Hank Urza booted a punt 78 yards in a 24-10 MSU win against Idaho at Gatton Field. That was the longest punt on record in Bobcat history to that point (although records only began about a decade earlier).
Thursday, July 31
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 03
Wednesday, May 03
