BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 10 Days Left, and Some of MSU's Greatest Stars Wore #10
8/20/2018 4:42:00 PM | Football
Travis Jonsen and Dante Sparaco have some big shoes to fill
August 20: Bobcats by the Numbers takes a look at current and past Bobcats whose jersey numbers 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.
#10
Travis Jonsen: An elusive, athletic quarterback whose career began at Oregon, Travis Jonsen has struggled with a foot injury nearly since arriving at Montana State, but when healthy he's proven to be a playmaker. His straight-line speed is eye-popping, but he is also elusive and much stronger than you'd think. His presence is allowing the Bobcat coaching staff to be plenty creative when it comes to building the athletic ability of him and Troy Andersen into the offensive scheme. Regardless of who lines up where, you're likely to see both on the field at once on many occasions.
Dante Sparaco, DE: Regardless of what happens in the rest of his football career, Dante Sparaco will always be only the third freshman at Colorado to register a sack in his first collegiate game, which occurred just a season ago. In the offseason Sparaco transferred to Montana State, where his father Dino played (1990-92). He is an athletic, physical defensive end who has opened eyes during the spring and in August, and bolsters the Bobcat front seven in 2018.
Spotlight – Harvey Wylie: The ascent of the Harvey Wylie almost perfectly matched that of the Bobcat football program in the early '50s. During Tony Storti's first season as coach in 1952 Wylie was a reserve quarterback, but switching to halfback the next year he emerged as The Calgary Comet. He also served as Montana State's primary place-kicker, and was a driving force behind the Bobcats' sterling 8-1 season in 1954, when he was a junior. Wylie returned to Calgary after his days in Bozeman and enjoyed a CFL Hall of Fame career, starring for his hometown Stampeders. The two-time All-Canadian All-Star also played baseball for the Bobcats, and in addition to the Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame and the CFL Hall of Fame, he was also inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. The MSC engineering grad later served as President of Beaufort-Delta Oil Project Limited.
Chronology: Brick Breeden (1927), Earl Johnson (1930), James Gennaray (1931), John Dunckel (1934), John Holmquist (1937), John Phelan (1940), Ned Davis (1941), Leonard Seelinger (1946), Adam Marshall (1947-49), Harvey Wylie (1953-55), Jack Rada (1956), Marv Smith (1967), Dick Thompson (1970), Bo Applegate (1971), Keith Swenson (1973-76), Doug Robinson (1977), Dave Moreland (1978), Barry Sullivan (1979-82), Terry Thelen (1983-84), Lee Peterson (1985), Rob Stoltz (1986-90), Ryan Grovom (1991-95), Dylan Tripp (1996-97), Chris Williams (1998), Fontez Jefferson (1998), Kane Ioane (2000-03), Tyler Lulay (2004-08), Kruiz Siewing (2010-12), Odin Coe (2013-14), Bryson McCabe (2015-17), Travis Jonsen (2018-)
Other #10 Notes: It was about a couple of weeks into the 2000 season when Mike Kramer uttered the first cut on his Greatest Hits album: "It was about two weeks into fall camp before I knew his first name wasn't Goodjob, because all I ever heard from the defensive coaches was, 'Good job Kane Ioane!'" He was right, of course, as Ioane went on to log one of the finest careers in Montana State history… three individuals – Brick Breeden, Harvey Wylie and Kane Ioane – wore #10 during their Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame careers.
#10
Travis Jonsen: An elusive, athletic quarterback whose career began at Oregon, Travis Jonsen has struggled with a foot injury nearly since arriving at Montana State, but when healthy he's proven to be a playmaker. His straight-line speed is eye-popping, but he is also elusive and much stronger than you'd think. His presence is allowing the Bobcat coaching staff to be plenty creative when it comes to building the athletic ability of him and Troy Andersen into the offensive scheme. Regardless of who lines up where, you're likely to see both on the field at once on many occasions.
Dante Sparaco, DE: Regardless of what happens in the rest of his football career, Dante Sparaco will always be only the third freshman at Colorado to register a sack in his first collegiate game, which occurred just a season ago. In the offseason Sparaco transferred to Montana State, where his father Dino played (1990-92). He is an athletic, physical defensive end who has opened eyes during the spring and in August, and bolsters the Bobcat front seven in 2018.
Spotlight – Harvey Wylie: The ascent of the Harvey Wylie almost perfectly matched that of the Bobcat football program in the early '50s. During Tony Storti's first season as coach in 1952 Wylie was a reserve quarterback, but switching to halfback the next year he emerged as The Calgary Comet. He also served as Montana State's primary place-kicker, and was a driving force behind the Bobcats' sterling 8-1 season in 1954, when he was a junior. Wylie returned to Calgary after his days in Bozeman and enjoyed a CFL Hall of Fame career, starring for his hometown Stampeders. The two-time All-Canadian All-Star also played baseball for the Bobcats, and in addition to the Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame and the CFL Hall of Fame, he was also inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. The MSC engineering grad later served as President of Beaufort-Delta Oil Project Limited.
Chronology: Brick Breeden (1927), Earl Johnson (1930), James Gennaray (1931), John Dunckel (1934), John Holmquist (1937), John Phelan (1940), Ned Davis (1941), Leonard Seelinger (1946), Adam Marshall (1947-49), Harvey Wylie (1953-55), Jack Rada (1956), Marv Smith (1967), Dick Thompson (1970), Bo Applegate (1971), Keith Swenson (1973-76), Doug Robinson (1977), Dave Moreland (1978), Barry Sullivan (1979-82), Terry Thelen (1983-84), Lee Peterson (1985), Rob Stoltz (1986-90), Ryan Grovom (1991-95), Dylan Tripp (1996-97), Chris Williams (1998), Fontez Jefferson (1998), Kane Ioane (2000-03), Tyler Lulay (2004-08), Kruiz Siewing (2010-12), Odin Coe (2013-14), Bryson McCabe (2015-17), Travis Jonsen (2018-)
Other #10 Notes: It was about a couple of weeks into the 2000 season when Mike Kramer uttered the first cut on his Greatest Hits album: "It was about two weeks into fall camp before I knew his first name wasn't Goodjob, because all I ever heard from the defensive coaches was, 'Good job Kane Ioane!'" He was right, of course, as Ioane went on to log one of the finest careers in Montana State history… three individuals – Brick Breeden, Harvey Wylie and Kane Ioane – wore #10 during their Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame careers.
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