BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 92 Days To Kickoff!
5/31/2019 2:00:00 PM | Football
Today we look at a 92-point stretch that sent the Bobcat football program in a positive direction
May 31: In addition to a quick look at players wearing the jersey number corresponding to the number of days remaining until Montana State's season opener at Texas Tech on August 31, Bobcats by the Numbers brings you another tidbit or two aligning with that number.
#92
Blake Schmidt, DT: Montana State has had pretty good luck with interior defensive linemen who bring strong wrestling backgrounds to the Bobcat football program. Dan Ogden and Tucker Yates jump immediately to mind, two of the most productive interior linemen in the Big Sky's last decade. Bobcat coaches hope Blake Schmidt, a wrestling standout as well as earning Conference Defensive Player of the Year for his play as a defensive lineman. Schmidt's versatility – he could contribute immediately, possibly at end – is likely to make him a valuable piece of the equation this season.
92 – That is the number of points scored in Montana State's first four games of the team's 1923 season. Ott Romney's first season as the school's director of athletics and head of physical education, a role at most mid-sized or small schools of that era that included head football and basketball coach, in 1922 produced a 4-4 season, but the Cats didn't win an out-of-state game that season. In fact, the team only played one game against a fellow Rocky Mountain Conference opponent. The 1923 campaign opened with MSC (as it was then known) spending a full week at the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City. The team sandwiched a narrow 16-15 loss at BYU on September 29 and an October 6 loss at Idaho State with training at several athletic fields and gymnasiums in Utah's capital that were made available to Romney, a favored son. (Remember, Montana State was on the quarter system at that time so classes were not quite underway.) The Bobcats smashed Idaho Southern Branch (now Idaho State) 41-0, and returned home to beat Montana Wesleyan 30-3. That season-opening stretch of four game in 20 days closed with another narrow conference loss, this a 7-6 home decision against Denver. After finishing 1922 4-4, the Bobcats compiled a superficially similar 5-4 mark in 1923. In hindsight, the difference between the two campaigns was significant. Romney's second season saw the Bobcats beat Carroll, Northern Colorado and New Mexico, while losing its fourth straight to UM, along with a 7-2 loss to Montana Tech. Braced by the modest gains of 1923 the Cats rolled up a 19-12-2 mark in the next four seasons, Romney's final seasons in Bozeman. And while MSC's next win against the Grizzlies didn't come until 1929, the Bobcats became competitive in the nationally-prominent Rocky Mountain Conference for the first time. From the time of those one-point losses to open 1923 until his departure, Romney's teams were 3-0 against Northern Colorado, 2-1 against BYU, 2-2 vs. Wyoming, 0-0-1 against Denver, 2-1 against Colorado (that's not a typo), and 1-1 against Utah State. The 1926 Bobcats won all four of its games against RMC foes, but Utah's five such victories gave the Utes the league title. Among the factors in the revival of Bobcat football was the completion of the MSC Gymnasium, now Romney Gym. As Romney put it in an open letter to the student body in 1923, "A magnificent new gymnasium – a home for physical education and play activity which leaves little to be desired – enables the department of physical welfare to assure you the golden opportunity for happy, wholesome, healthful and carefully directed recreation." Later, Romney referred to the gym that decades later would bear his name as a "health factory" that he hoped would make physical activity "habit-forming." Regardless of whether the building served that purpose, it certainly benefited Bobcat Athletics for generations to come, including attracting quality student-athletes that would lead Montana State to athletics glory throughout the 1920s.
Chronology: Mark Stromberg (1982), Tate Kopp (1983), Shane Quilling (1984), Shane Powell (1985-86), Ken Buss (1987), Scott Eaton (1988), Tim Hanson (1989-90), Terry Phelan (1991), Devlan Geddes (1992-96), Aaron Nava (1997), Nathan Schmidt (1999), Adam Cordeiro (2000-03), Daryl Rogers (2004-05), Kody Swartz (2006), Brad Smith (2007-10), Nate Bignell (2012-13), Tucker Yates (2014-18), Blake Schmidt (2019-)
#92
Blake Schmidt, DT: Montana State has had pretty good luck with interior defensive linemen who bring strong wrestling backgrounds to the Bobcat football program. Dan Ogden and Tucker Yates jump immediately to mind, two of the most productive interior linemen in the Big Sky's last decade. Bobcat coaches hope Blake Schmidt, a wrestling standout as well as earning Conference Defensive Player of the Year for his play as a defensive lineman. Schmidt's versatility – he could contribute immediately, possibly at end – is likely to make him a valuable piece of the equation this season.
92 – That is the number of points scored in Montana State's first four games of the team's 1923 season. Ott Romney's first season as the school's director of athletics and head of physical education, a role at most mid-sized or small schools of that era that included head football and basketball coach, in 1922 produced a 4-4 season, but the Cats didn't win an out-of-state game that season. In fact, the team only played one game against a fellow Rocky Mountain Conference opponent. The 1923 campaign opened with MSC (as it was then known) spending a full week at the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City. The team sandwiched a narrow 16-15 loss at BYU on September 29 and an October 6 loss at Idaho State with training at several athletic fields and gymnasiums in Utah's capital that were made available to Romney, a favored son. (Remember, Montana State was on the quarter system at that time so classes were not quite underway.) The Bobcats smashed Idaho Southern Branch (now Idaho State) 41-0, and returned home to beat Montana Wesleyan 30-3. That season-opening stretch of four game in 20 days closed with another narrow conference loss, this a 7-6 home decision against Denver. After finishing 1922 4-4, the Bobcats compiled a superficially similar 5-4 mark in 1923. In hindsight, the difference between the two campaigns was significant. Romney's second season saw the Bobcats beat Carroll, Northern Colorado and New Mexico, while losing its fourth straight to UM, along with a 7-2 loss to Montana Tech. Braced by the modest gains of 1923 the Cats rolled up a 19-12-2 mark in the next four seasons, Romney's final seasons in Bozeman. And while MSC's next win against the Grizzlies didn't come until 1929, the Bobcats became competitive in the nationally-prominent Rocky Mountain Conference for the first time. From the time of those one-point losses to open 1923 until his departure, Romney's teams were 3-0 against Northern Colorado, 2-1 against BYU, 2-2 vs. Wyoming, 0-0-1 against Denver, 2-1 against Colorado (that's not a typo), and 1-1 against Utah State. The 1926 Bobcats won all four of its games against RMC foes, but Utah's five such victories gave the Utes the league title. Among the factors in the revival of Bobcat football was the completion of the MSC Gymnasium, now Romney Gym. As Romney put it in an open letter to the student body in 1923, "A magnificent new gymnasium – a home for physical education and play activity which leaves little to be desired – enables the department of physical welfare to assure you the golden opportunity for happy, wholesome, healthful and carefully directed recreation." Later, Romney referred to the gym that decades later would bear his name as a "health factory" that he hoped would make physical activity "habit-forming." Regardless of whether the building served that purpose, it certainly benefited Bobcat Athletics for generations to come, including attracting quality student-athletes that would lead Montana State to athletics glory throughout the 1920s.
Chronology: Mark Stromberg (1982), Tate Kopp (1983), Shane Quilling (1984), Shane Powell (1985-86), Ken Buss (1987), Scott Eaton (1988), Tim Hanson (1989-90), Terry Phelan (1991), Devlan Geddes (1992-96), Aaron Nava (1997), Nathan Schmidt (1999), Adam Cordeiro (2000-03), Daryl Rogers (2004-05), Kody Swartz (2006), Brad Smith (2007-10), Nate Bignell (2012-13), Tucker Yates (2014-18), Blake Schmidt (2019-)
Players Mentioned
DT
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