BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: With 9 Days til Kickoff, Let's Look at the Revolution Nine that Happened at MSU When DeNarius McGhee Arrived
8/21/2018 2:53:00 PM | Football
Oscar Caballero was a smoooooooth pass-catcher for the Cats in the late '90s
August 21: 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.
#9
Jacob Hadley, BUCK: If you want to root for a player to have unusually good luck this season, Jacob Hadley would be a good selection. That's because his luck to this point of his career in the Blue & Gold has been fairly lousy. Hadley posted a strong redshirt season in 2016, and had captured a starting job in the spring of 2017 by the time he suffered a knee injury that ended his season. He rehabbed throughout the year and is again in position to have a major impact on the Bobcat defense. He has been locked in competition for starting honors at the Sam linebacker position, and regardless of who takes the first snap against Western Illinois Hadley will be a major factor for MSU.
Spotlight – Oscar Caballero: Cliff Hysell didn't like throwing the football, plain and simple. He never hid that conviction, no matter how outdated and silly it appeared. But he did like individual components of the passing game. He liked Rob Compson, a smart and tough quarterback who always played above his speed and arm strength. He liked receivers such as Chip Hobbs, who was an unmistakable weapon, and Tony Vallez, who was one tough dude. And he liked Oscar Caballero. The San Jose City College transfer caught 11 passes as a junior in 1996, and was off to a great start in 1997 when he suffered a season-ending injury. Given an extra year, Caballero capitalized. He caught 55 passes as a senior for 887 yards, fifth-most in school history to that point, and seven touchdowns, MSU's sixth-best mark at the time.
Chronology: Herschel Hurd (1927), Richard Bruner (1930), Fred Keenan (1930), James Flynn (1931), Bill Corey (1934), John Vollmer (1937), Joe Volek (1990-91), Mark Crews (1992-94), Jeff Tuss (1995), Oscar Caballero (1996-98), Jason Roberson (1999-00), Bryan Molen (2001-02), Andre Fuller (2003-06), Deon Toliver (2007-08), John Laidet (2009), Roger Trammell (2010-11), DeNarius McGhee (2010-13), Anthony Knight (2014), Tavon Dodd (2015-16), Jacob Hadley (2017-)
Other #9 Notes: Montana State's most beloved #9? Gotta be DeNarius McGhee, right? Even before he took a snap in a game for the Bobcats, there were tales that seemingly had to be apocryphal that the Bobcats' top defense was no match for a scout offense that led by McGhee and featuring running back Cody Kirk and Tanner Bleskin. Improbably, those three turned out to be among the best players at their position in MSU history. Kirk is second in Bobcat history in rushing, and Bleskin is the school's all-time receiving yards leader. But the straw that stirred the drink was McGhee, a two-time Big Sky MVP and one of only two men in school history to lead the Bobcats to three Big Sky Championships (with Dennis Erickson). He is MSU's all-time passing leader, and is presently Montana State's running backs coach.
#9
Jacob Hadley, BUCK: If you want to root for a player to have unusually good luck this season, Jacob Hadley would be a good selection. That's because his luck to this point of his career in the Blue & Gold has been fairly lousy. Hadley posted a strong redshirt season in 2016, and had captured a starting job in the spring of 2017 by the time he suffered a knee injury that ended his season. He rehabbed throughout the year and is again in position to have a major impact on the Bobcat defense. He has been locked in competition for starting honors at the Sam linebacker position, and regardless of who takes the first snap against Western Illinois Hadley will be a major factor for MSU.
Spotlight – Oscar Caballero: Cliff Hysell didn't like throwing the football, plain and simple. He never hid that conviction, no matter how outdated and silly it appeared. But he did like individual components of the passing game. He liked Rob Compson, a smart and tough quarterback who always played above his speed and arm strength. He liked receivers such as Chip Hobbs, who was an unmistakable weapon, and Tony Vallez, who was one tough dude. And he liked Oscar Caballero. The San Jose City College transfer caught 11 passes as a junior in 1996, and was off to a great start in 1997 when he suffered a season-ending injury. Given an extra year, Caballero capitalized. He caught 55 passes as a senior for 887 yards, fifth-most in school history to that point, and seven touchdowns, MSU's sixth-best mark at the time.
Chronology: Herschel Hurd (1927), Richard Bruner (1930), Fred Keenan (1930), James Flynn (1931), Bill Corey (1934), John Vollmer (1937), Joe Volek (1990-91), Mark Crews (1992-94), Jeff Tuss (1995), Oscar Caballero (1996-98), Jason Roberson (1999-00), Bryan Molen (2001-02), Andre Fuller (2003-06), Deon Toliver (2007-08), John Laidet (2009), Roger Trammell (2010-11), DeNarius McGhee (2010-13), Anthony Knight (2014), Tavon Dodd (2015-16), Jacob Hadley (2017-)
Other #9 Notes: Montana State's most beloved #9? Gotta be DeNarius McGhee, right? Even before he took a snap in a game for the Bobcats, there were tales that seemingly had to be apocryphal that the Bobcats' top defense was no match for a scout offense that led by McGhee and featuring running back Cody Kirk and Tanner Bleskin. Improbably, those three turned out to be among the best players at their position in MSU history. Kirk is second in Bobcat history in rushing, and Bleskin is the school's all-time receiving yards leader. But the straw that stirred the drink was McGhee, a two-time Big Sky MVP and one of only two men in school history to lead the Bobcats to three Big Sky Championships (with Dennis Erickson). He is MSU's all-time passing leader, and is presently Montana State's running backs coach.
Players Mentioned
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