BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 78 Days Before Kickoff We Look at Jan Stenerud's Most Famous Day as a Bobcat
6/14/2019 2:00:00 PM | Football
Montana State ran 78 plays in one of Cliff Hysell's most memorable wins as MSU's head coach
June 14: 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.
#78
Retired for Jan Stenerud: Of all the players venerated by college football programs around the nation, Jan Stenerud's path may be the most unique. A Norwegian who came to Montana State as a ski jumper, Stenerud was discovered by basketball coach Roger Craft while goofing around on Gatton Field. Craft told Sweeney, Sweeney eventually took a look, and the rest is history. Stenerud became a legend at Montana State by booting longer field goals than anyone had ever seen. Students would show up early at Gatton Field to watch him boot the ball in warmups, and whenever the team approached the 50-yard line the cry would rise to 'Send in Stenerud.' That call was answered in 1965, when the affable Norwegian drilled a 'world record' 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies. That anecdote always draws a laugh from Stenerud. "So many people have told me they were there when that kick beat the Grizzlies," he says with a smile. "But it was in the first half (the first two minutes, actually), and we won 24-7."
78 – Offensive plays run by the Bobcats in their only win ever at Boise State.
The way things can get going and momentum can build in football, Montana State got things rolling downhill in the October of 1993. In consecutive weeks the Bobcats pulled off a miracle win at Idaho State, upended first-ranked Idaho, and headed to Boise looking for a hat trick against the Idaho schools. The Cats kicked off at noon in Boise on October 30, 1993, arrived home on a charter flight in time for dinner, and in between handed the Broncos their only defeat in the series in Bronco Stadium. Brock Spencer caught a touchdown pass and threw three others, Clint Morton rushed for 132 yards, and the Bobcats led 35-0 before coasting to the victory. The Bobcats rushed the ball 46 times that day, and threw it 32.
Chronology: Don Delande (1956), Jan Stenerud (1966), Oyvind Torp (1968), Gary Beller (1970-71), Tom Frizzell (1972), Dick Lyman (1973), Pat Dunbar (1974-77), Randy Kearns (1978), Bob Kardoes (1979-82), Robert Doud (1983), Retired for Jan Stenerud
Notes for #78: In '78, Montana State's Lee Washburn was Mr. Irrelevant, the last selection in the NFL Draft… One season after Stenerud's famous field goal, another Bobcat hit the number 78 in a different way. Hank Urza booted a punt 78 yards in a 24-10 MSU win against Idaho at Gatton Field. That was the longest punt on record in Bobcat history to that point (although records only began about a decade earlier).
#78
Retired for Jan Stenerud: Of all the players venerated by college football programs around the nation, Jan Stenerud's path may be the most unique. A Norwegian who came to Montana State as a ski jumper, Stenerud was discovered by basketball coach Roger Craft while goofing around on Gatton Field. Craft told Sweeney, Sweeney eventually took a look, and the rest is history. Stenerud became a legend at Montana State by booting longer field goals than anyone had ever seen. Students would show up early at Gatton Field to watch him boot the ball in warmups, and whenever the team approached the 50-yard line the cry would rise to 'Send in Stenerud.' That call was answered in 1965, when the affable Norwegian drilled a 'world record' 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies. That anecdote always draws a laugh from Stenerud. "So many people have told me they were there when that kick beat the Grizzlies," he says with a smile. "But it was in the first half (the first two minutes, actually), and we won 24-7."
78 – Offensive plays run by the Bobcats in their only win ever at Boise State.
The way things can get going and momentum can build in football, Montana State got things rolling downhill in the October of 1993. In consecutive weeks the Bobcats pulled off a miracle win at Idaho State, upended first-ranked Idaho, and headed to Boise looking for a hat trick against the Idaho schools. The Cats kicked off at noon in Boise on October 30, 1993, arrived home on a charter flight in time for dinner, and in between handed the Broncos their only defeat in the series in Bronco Stadium. Brock Spencer caught a touchdown pass and threw three others, Clint Morton rushed for 132 yards, and the Bobcats led 35-0 before coasting to the victory. The Bobcats rushed the ball 46 times that day, and threw it 32.
Chronology: Don Delande (1956), Jan Stenerud (1966), Oyvind Torp (1968), Gary Beller (1970-71), Tom Frizzell (1972), Dick Lyman (1973), Pat Dunbar (1974-77), Randy Kearns (1978), Bob Kardoes (1979-82), Robert Doud (1983), Retired for Jan Stenerud
Notes for #78: In '78, Montana State's Lee Washburn was Mr. Irrelevant, the last selection in the NFL Draft… One season after Stenerud's famous field goal, another Bobcat hit the number 78 in a different way. Hank Urza booted a punt 78 yards in a 24-10 MSU win against Idaho at Gatton Field. That was the longest punt on record in Bobcat history to that point (although records only began about a decade earlier).
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