BOBCAT FOOTBALL IN THE 2010s: The Offensive Line

Montana State's offensive line was tremendous during the decade just past

12/26/2019 12:57:00 PM | Football

A look at Montana State football in the decade just past, going position group by position group

By: Bill Lamberty

Rather than ranking the top Bobcat football players, games, and other people and moments from the decade that's coming to a close, let's take a look back position group by position group, and all that the 2010s brought Bobcat fans. It was quite a decade!

OFFENSIVE LINE
It all starts up front, so let's start this there – in the offensive line. For a college football program, the continuity here is almost ridiculous. Three of the top nine players on MSU's all-time starts list played offensive line this decade (Mitch Brott, whose 50 starts just slips past John Weidenaar's 49, while JP Flynn logged 43 career starts), and every position on the offensive front had at least three players who started for multiple seasons.

And it wasn't just the ability to remain in the starting lineup that marked Montana State's offensive line play this decade. It was excellence. Seven different Bobcat offensive linemen earned First Team All-America honors during the decade just past, and each of them also earned All-America honors of some sort. Jason McEndoo's incredible run as this unit's coache ended after a dozen seasons in 2014, but Jason Eck (for one season) and then Joshua Taufalele and Brian Armstrong took extended and improved on Montana State's great offensive line tradition.

Mitch Brott's career is a brilliant summary of MSU's offensive line play in the 2010s. He was thrust into the lineup at right tackle as a freshman, taking over technically from Alex Eekhoff but in a more symbolic way for Weidenaar, who during Brott's redshirt season had finished his brilliant All-America career. Like Weidenaar and JP Flynn before him, Brott just kept going. He showed up for practice every day, for every game, day in and day out, and by the time it was over he was another great, durable, All-America offensive lineman.

Here is a look at Montana State's offensive linemen during the 2010s…

PRIMARY STARTERS (Those who started the most games at a position for each season from 2010-19)
LEFT TACKLE: Mike Person (2010), Conrad Burbank (2011), John Weidenaar (2012-15), Dylan Mahoney (2016-17), Mitch Brott (2018-19)
LEFT GUARD: Conrad Burbank (2010), Casey Dennehy (2010-11), Quinn Catalano (2012), JP Flynn (2013-16), Caleb Gillis/Lewis Kidd (2017), Taylor Tuiasosopo (2018-19)
CENTER: Shaun Sampson (2010-12), Matt Devereaux (2013), Joel Horn (2014-15), Alex Neale (2016-18), Zach Redd (2019)
RIGHT GUARD: Alex Terrien (2010-11), Kyle Godecke (2012-13, '15), Quinn Catalano (2014), Monte Folsom (2016), Taylor Tuiasosopo (2017), Lewis Kidd (2018-19)
RIGHT TACKLE: Leo Davis (2010-11), Steve Foster (2012), Quinn Catalano (2013), Alex Eekhoff (2014-15), Mitch Brott (2016-17), Connor Wood (2018-19)

ALL-AMERICA: Mike Person (1^st Team, 2010), Conrad Burbank (3^rd Team, 2011), Alex Terrien (4^th Team, 2011), Shaun Sampson (4^th Team, 2012), John Weidenaar (3^rd Team, 2015), JP Flynn (3^rd Team, 2016), Mitch Brott (2^nd Team, 2019)
FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG SKY: Mike Person (2010), Alex Terrien (2011), Conrad Burbank (2011), Shaun Sampson (2012), JP Flynn (2014, '16), John Weidenaar (2015), Mitch Brott (2019).
OFFENSIVE LINE COACHES: Jason McEndoo (2003-14), Jason Eck (2015), Brian Armstrong (2016, '19), Joshua Taufalele (2017-18)