ALL-TIME BOBCATS: Austin DeFrate
6/11/2019 3:00:00 PM | Football
A brilliant performer for the Bobcats in the late 1920s
JUNE 11: Each day until Montana State's 2019 season opener the staff of Bobcats By The Numbers will offer a look at one of the players to make one of the school's all-time teams, in alphabetical order. On November 21, 1933, The Exponent announced 37 players selected by a panel of former players and coaches, divided into three teams that comprised Montana State's "mythical" all-time team. In 1969, the Billings Gazette's Norm Clarke conducted a poll to select the school's all-time team, and again in 2000 Bobcat Athletics and the Billings Gazette selected a third all-time team. The BBTN staff added players from the 21st century.
Austin DeFrate, HB, 1928-30
ALL-TIME TEAM: 1933 Exponent 2nd Team
HONORS: All-Rocky Mountain Conference 1929, 1st Team All-State 1929/30.
A CLOSER LOOK: Austin O. DeFrate gained a fair bit of national acclaim as Montana State's quarterback, leading the Cats during their most successful pre-World War II era. His team was 16-6-1 with a famous 1929 win over the Grizzlies in Butte. He threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Max Worthington and engineered another scoring drive as the Bobcats beat the Grizzlies for the first time since 1908. DeFrate's moment of fame came in 1928, when he returned an interception 88 yards for a touchdown against Nebraska. The four-time track letterman was truly a big man on campus during one of Montana State's golden eras of athletics, walking among all-time greats such as Max Worthington and Brick Breeden and the Ward brothers. "Phat" DeFrate, who gained acclaim north of the border as a professional rugby player in Canada after leaving Bozeman. He was inducted into the Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991.
FROM THE EXPONENT: "Chosen as the halfback on the second All-Montana State team, DeFrate was one of the rather limited number of backs to play under the blue and gold who had both speed and weight. He was a triple threat man of the first order being able to block, pack the pigskin, and get off better than average punts. His senior year he became famous as a "mud horse" getting off several times that year for sensational dashes over sloppy fields through strong opposing teams. Besides receiving All-Conferencee honors he was recognized on all state selections. In 1931 he turned in a brilliant game at a meeting between two picked collegiate teams, one from the East and one from the West. After graduating from Montana State College DeFrate took up rogby football in Canada where he has become a favorite star."
Austin DeFrate, HB, 1928-30
ALL-TIME TEAM: 1933 Exponent 2nd Team
HONORS: All-Rocky Mountain Conference 1929, 1st Team All-State 1929/30.
A CLOSER LOOK: Austin O. DeFrate gained a fair bit of national acclaim as Montana State's quarterback, leading the Cats during their most successful pre-World War II era. His team was 16-6-1 with a famous 1929 win over the Grizzlies in Butte. He threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Max Worthington and engineered another scoring drive as the Bobcats beat the Grizzlies for the first time since 1908. DeFrate's moment of fame came in 1928, when he returned an interception 88 yards for a touchdown against Nebraska. The four-time track letterman was truly a big man on campus during one of Montana State's golden eras of athletics, walking among all-time greats such as Max Worthington and Brick Breeden and the Ward brothers. "Phat" DeFrate, who gained acclaim north of the border as a professional rugby player in Canada after leaving Bozeman. He was inducted into the Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991.
FROM THE EXPONENT: "Chosen as the halfback on the second All-Montana State team, DeFrate was one of the rather limited number of backs to play under the blue and gold who had both speed and weight. He was a triple threat man of the first order being able to block, pack the pigskin, and get off better than average punts. His senior year he became famous as a "mud horse" getting off several times that year for sensational dashes over sloppy fields through strong opposing teams. Besides receiving All-Conferencee honors he was recognized on all state selections. In 1931 he turned in a brilliant game at a meeting between two picked collegiate teams, one from the East and one from the West. After graduating from Montana State College DeFrate took up rogby football in Canada where he has become a favorite star."
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