Troy Andersen
Photo by: Garrett Becker
BOBCAT CALENDAR: Six Different Cat-Griz Games Have Fallen on November 17, Including the First Bobcat Win and The Miracle in Missoula
11/17/2020 9:00:00 AM | Football
A player named Williams scored the game-winning points for the College on a 90-yard punt return
A day-by-day look at Bobcat football history chronicles two of the finest moments the Blue and Gold ever enjoyed...
November 17
SPOTLIGHT: Today's date, November 17, has been circled on six different calendars since the College and the University began playing football against each other in 1897. That is the most the most Cat-Griz games played on any date (six).
The first Cat-Griz game played on November 17 occurred in 1899, the every first win for the Agricultural College in the ancient series. The most recent was The Miracle in Missoula, when the Bobcats overcame a massive 22-0 deficit to win 29-25.
Rather than capsulizing the first of two Montana State's 1899 wins against the University, let's just enjoy the Exponent's account of the first:
On Thursday morning, the State College football team took the train for Missoula, on a two days' notice asking them to meet the State University team on Friday, the 17th.
At Missoula, the team was met by an enthusiastic lot of students, and conducted to the Rankin Hotel. The afternoon was spent in signal practice, and in resting up for the game. Next morning, the boys were taken to the University, where a short assembly was held. Speeches suitable to the occasion were made by several members of the faculty, and heartily applauded by the students and visitors. After a tour of the buildings, the team returned to the hotel for a light lunch before the game.
In the game of the afternoon, the teams lined up as follows:
College - Elliott, center; Erwin, right guard; Thompson, left guard; Willson, right tackle; R. Flaherty, left tackle; W. Flaherty, right end; C. Flaherty, left end; Clarence Jeffers, quarterback; C. Parker, right half; Cliff Jeffers, left half; Williams, full back. University - Craig, center; Jones, right guard; Jameson, left guard; McDonald, right tackle; McAllister, left tackle; Marcy, right end; Sloan, left end; Hickler, quarterback; McCormick, right half; Heyfron, left half; Cross, full back.
Referee, Frank Higgins. Umpire, Chas. Clark. Linesman, Walter Hays. Timekeepers, Walter Hay, Mr. Day.
Bozeman kicked off to Missoula, and was caught by Hickler. Missoula gained ground slowly, the ball changing hands several times. Missoula finally made a long punt, which was caught by Williams (possibly Lee Williams), who made a 90-yard run for a touchdown, doing some clever dodging on the way. Jeffers kicked a fine goal.
In the second half, the ball never rested on College territory, though it was lost by both sides on downs. The College was within a few feet of another touch down when time was called with a final score of 6 to 0.
The team speak(s) highly of the courtesy of the Missoula players and other students. The College excelled in end work and interference, while the University had a shade the better in line bucking. It was a clean, hard, well-fought game, and a victory to be prized, the more as it is our first over the University.
BONUS: There's not a Bobcat fan anywhere who has wrung enough enjoyment out of the stunning and stirring 2018 victory in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, so here is a look back at that epic encounter, written in a Missoula coffee shop a couple hours after the game's end:
MISSOULA, Montana - Fifty years ago, on November 2, 1968, Montana State's Paul Schafer ran for 234 yards on temporary Dornblaser Field – much of it with a torn knee ligament – and Dennis Erickson threw for 238 yards, his career high. Montana State fans still talk about the Paul Schafer Game. The Cats won that one 29-24 in Missoula.
Saturday, on a beautiful day in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Bobcats trailed 22-0 when a trio of seniors (Grant Collins, Tucker Yates, Zach Wright) huddled together in the second quarter and decided this was a game they would not lose… when sophomore quarterback Troy Andersen imposed his will onto a game that seemed lost… when two of those fifth-year seniors combined on a thunderous hit with Montana about to score the winning touchdown with 10 seconds to play. Those forces, and so many others large and small, combined to give Montana State one of the most improbable wins in the 118 games played between these ancient rivals.
The end result was a 29-25 Bobcat victory (raising echoes of that 29-24 triumph in 1968). Call it heart-stopping. Call it hard to believe. "I still haven't processed this game," third-year Bobcat coach Jeff Choate said nearly an hour after its end.
Call it The Miracle in Missoula.
"I never felt that the game was out of hand," Andersen said, after rushing for 107 yards on 23 carries and throwing for another 158 (15-for-24). "We just kept our belief and kept fighting."
There is a lot to process in Saturday's heart-stopper. UM quarterback Dalton Sneed threw for 354 yards and rushed for 21 more, pushing his Grizzlies to a big lead. He performed brilliantly. "I just can't say enough good things about him," Choate said. Two Grizzly receivers (Keenan Curran, 111 yards, and Samuel Akem, 147) posted enormous days.
The game is most easily understood by dividing it into two segments. With 8:15 to play in the second quarter, Sneed found Akem on a 37-yard touchdown pass. Reid Miller snuck into the end zone on the conversion, and Montana led 22-0.
The Cats, though, had plenty of fight left, and plenty of time left, and the game's next, decisive segment began with 3:06 to play in the first half. After the teams traded punts, Andersen marched Montana State 72 yards in 10 plays. He carried four times for 31 yards on that possession, the last one a three-yard run that put MSU on the scoreboard. "I thought that drive right before halftime was large," Choate said. "It gave us some confidence."
The Bobcats held onto that momentum into the third quarter, even though the source was unlikely. Punter Jered Padmos boomed a 56-yarder on MSU's first possession to pin the Grizzlies at the two, then he nailed a 66-yarder that put UM at its three. Montana drove the ball on both those possessions, but not far enough to score.
Then, late in the third quarter, Montana State's offense stirred to life. Andersen completed passes of 17, 10 and 23, and ran for 20 yards, to give MSU a first-and-goal to begin the fourth quarter. The strapping sophomore from Dillon scored from one yard out, then burrowed into end zone on the conversion attempt. The Cats trailed 22-15, and the celebration in Washington-Grizzly Stadium took on an air of anxiety.
Montana temporarily allayed fears. Sneed marched his team down the field, and when Tim Semenza nailed a 34-yard field goal the Grizzlies' lead was again two scores.
Again, the Cats answered. Andersen found Travis Jonsen – who finished the day with a career-best 101 receiving yards – twice to push the team near mid-field, then after an incomplete pass found the brilliant quarterback-turned-receiver on a deep post that put MSU's offense in business at the Grizzly seven. Andersen ran for six, then bulled his way into the end zone. After the PAT, Montana State trailed 25-22.
Facing its biggest defensive possession of the year – to that point – the Cats responded. On first-and-10 from the UM 35, Bozeman High product Grant Collins stripped Sneed of the ball, and for good measure recovered it. "I felt it between my legs, and just reached down and cradled it," he said.
Operating from its best field position of the day, MSU's offense did not disappoint. Logan Jones carried for eight yards, then two plays later added four more. Isaiah Ifanse rushed for nine, then two. Then Andersen gained eight yards, and Jones did the rest. The junior from Kalispell took a pitch from Andersen and scampered 13 yards for a touchdown, and after an uphill slog of nearly 57 minutes the Bobcats led 29-25.
This game, which induced lumps in the throat of one fan base or the other for nearly four hours, was not going to end in routine fashion. Malik Flowers returned the kickoff to the 50, then Sneed marched the Grizzlies toward a historic win. On second-and-goal from the four, Adam Eastwood nearly reached paydirt. Collins and Michael Jobman made the stop at the one. Facing third-and-goal, Montana called time out. Then, with the teams lined up, Choate called time out. The play went off anyway, with officials racing to the line of scrimmage to blow it dead, and Eastwood's run across the goal line was not allowed.
Facing, again, the most important play of the year, Montana State's defense stood strong. Sneed handed to Eastwood. Sophomore tackle Chase Benson from Helena and blew up the interior of the Grizzly line, and senior nose tackle Tucker Yates from Colstrip crashed into the void. Collins knifed in to make the hit, and combined with Yates to knock the ball out. Derek Marks from Belgrade recovered, and the Miracle in Missoula was complete.
Like every great game in this series, this one reaches through the decades. In the amazing 1968 win, Terry Brown tripped Grizzly quarterback Ron Baines at around the MSU 10 as the game ended to preserve MSU's win and Schafer's super-human effort. In 1929, Max Worthington made a tackle inside the Bobcat five-yard line as the gun sounded to snap a 21-year Montana State winless streak.
And in 2018, sophomore Troy Andersen from Dillon, Montana, refused to lose, and seniors Tucker Yates from Colstrip, Montana, and Grant Collins, from Bozeman, Montana, came up with the biggest defensive plays of their lives. Legend emerged from Washington-Grizzly Stadium's south end zone that will tower over Bobcat football forever.
And the Bobcats (7-4, 5-3) beat the Grizzlies (6-5, 4-4), 29-25.
GAMES PLAYED ON TODAY'S DATE
2018 - MSU 29, at UM 25
2012 - MSU 16, at UM 7
2007 - UM 41, MSU 20
2001 - UM 38, MSU 27
1990 - at Tulsa 20, MSU 2
1973 - at Santa Clara 10, MSU 6
1956 - MSU 54, Whitworth 0
1935 - at Colo Coll 14, MSU 0
1928 - at Utah St 15, MSU 7
1923 - UM 24, MSU 13 HC
1899 - MSU 5, at UM 0
FINIS: The six games played between Montana State and Montana on November 17 have been split evenly, three wins for each. Strangely, Montana State won all three played in Missoula, and UM won all three played in Bozeman.
ONE MORE THOUGHT: The 1923 Cat-Griz clash, the last played in Bozeman before the series moved to Butte in 1926, also stands as the first recorded Homecoming game in Montana State history. It remains the only recorded instance of MSU hosting its arch-rivals for Homecoming.
November 17
SPOTLIGHT: Today's date, November 17, has been circled on six different calendars since the College and the University began playing football against each other in 1897. That is the most the most Cat-Griz games played on any date (six).
The first Cat-Griz game played on November 17 occurred in 1899, the every first win for the Agricultural College in the ancient series. The most recent was The Miracle in Missoula, when the Bobcats overcame a massive 22-0 deficit to win 29-25.
Rather than capsulizing the first of two Montana State's 1899 wins against the University, let's just enjoy the Exponent's account of the first:
On Thursday morning, the State College football team took the train for Missoula, on a two days' notice asking them to meet the State University team on Friday, the 17th.
At Missoula, the team was met by an enthusiastic lot of students, and conducted to the Rankin Hotel. The afternoon was spent in signal practice, and in resting up for the game. Next morning, the boys were taken to the University, where a short assembly was held. Speeches suitable to the occasion were made by several members of the faculty, and heartily applauded by the students and visitors. After a tour of the buildings, the team returned to the hotel for a light lunch before the game.
In the game of the afternoon, the teams lined up as follows:
College - Elliott, center; Erwin, right guard; Thompson, left guard; Willson, right tackle; R. Flaherty, left tackle; W. Flaherty, right end; C. Flaherty, left end; Clarence Jeffers, quarterback; C. Parker, right half; Cliff Jeffers, left half; Williams, full back. University - Craig, center; Jones, right guard; Jameson, left guard; McDonald, right tackle; McAllister, left tackle; Marcy, right end; Sloan, left end; Hickler, quarterback; McCormick, right half; Heyfron, left half; Cross, full back.
Referee, Frank Higgins. Umpire, Chas. Clark. Linesman, Walter Hays. Timekeepers, Walter Hay, Mr. Day.
Bozeman kicked off to Missoula, and was caught by Hickler. Missoula gained ground slowly, the ball changing hands several times. Missoula finally made a long punt, which was caught by Williams (possibly Lee Williams), who made a 90-yard run for a touchdown, doing some clever dodging on the way. Jeffers kicked a fine goal.
In the second half, the ball never rested on College territory, though it was lost by both sides on downs. The College was within a few feet of another touch down when time was called with a final score of 6 to 0.
The team speak(s) highly of the courtesy of the Missoula players and other students. The College excelled in end work and interference, while the University had a shade the better in line bucking. It was a clean, hard, well-fought game, and a victory to be prized, the more as it is our first over the University.
BONUS: There's not a Bobcat fan anywhere who has wrung enough enjoyment out of the stunning and stirring 2018 victory in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, so here is a look back at that epic encounter, written in a Missoula coffee shop a couple hours after the game's end:
MISSOULA, Montana - Fifty years ago, on November 2, 1968, Montana State's Paul Schafer ran for 234 yards on temporary Dornblaser Field – much of it with a torn knee ligament – and Dennis Erickson threw for 238 yards, his career high. Montana State fans still talk about the Paul Schafer Game. The Cats won that one 29-24 in Missoula.
Saturday, on a beautiful day in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Bobcats trailed 22-0 when a trio of seniors (Grant Collins, Tucker Yates, Zach Wright) huddled together in the second quarter and decided this was a game they would not lose… when sophomore quarterback Troy Andersen imposed his will onto a game that seemed lost… when two of those fifth-year seniors combined on a thunderous hit with Montana about to score the winning touchdown with 10 seconds to play. Those forces, and so many others large and small, combined to give Montana State one of the most improbable wins in the 118 games played between these ancient rivals.
The end result was a 29-25 Bobcat victory (raising echoes of that 29-24 triumph in 1968). Call it heart-stopping. Call it hard to believe. "I still haven't processed this game," third-year Bobcat coach Jeff Choate said nearly an hour after its end.
Call it The Miracle in Missoula.
"I never felt that the game was out of hand," Andersen said, after rushing for 107 yards on 23 carries and throwing for another 158 (15-for-24). "We just kept our belief and kept fighting."
There is a lot to process in Saturday's heart-stopper. UM quarterback Dalton Sneed threw for 354 yards and rushed for 21 more, pushing his Grizzlies to a big lead. He performed brilliantly. "I just can't say enough good things about him," Choate said. Two Grizzly receivers (Keenan Curran, 111 yards, and Samuel Akem, 147) posted enormous days.
The game is most easily understood by dividing it into two segments. With 8:15 to play in the second quarter, Sneed found Akem on a 37-yard touchdown pass. Reid Miller snuck into the end zone on the conversion, and Montana led 22-0.
The Cats, though, had plenty of fight left, and plenty of time left, and the game's next, decisive segment began with 3:06 to play in the first half. After the teams traded punts, Andersen marched Montana State 72 yards in 10 plays. He carried four times for 31 yards on that possession, the last one a three-yard run that put MSU on the scoreboard. "I thought that drive right before halftime was large," Choate said. "It gave us some confidence."
The Bobcats held onto that momentum into the third quarter, even though the source was unlikely. Punter Jered Padmos boomed a 56-yarder on MSU's first possession to pin the Grizzlies at the two, then he nailed a 66-yarder that put UM at its three. Montana drove the ball on both those possessions, but not far enough to score.
Then, late in the third quarter, Montana State's offense stirred to life. Andersen completed passes of 17, 10 and 23, and ran for 20 yards, to give MSU a first-and-goal to begin the fourth quarter. The strapping sophomore from Dillon scored from one yard out, then burrowed into end zone on the conversion attempt. The Cats trailed 22-15, and the celebration in Washington-Grizzly Stadium took on an air of anxiety.
Montana temporarily allayed fears. Sneed marched his team down the field, and when Tim Semenza nailed a 34-yard field goal the Grizzlies' lead was again two scores.
Again, the Cats answered. Andersen found Travis Jonsen – who finished the day with a career-best 101 receiving yards – twice to push the team near mid-field, then after an incomplete pass found the brilliant quarterback-turned-receiver on a deep post that put MSU's offense in business at the Grizzly seven. Andersen ran for six, then bulled his way into the end zone. After the PAT, Montana State trailed 25-22.
Facing its biggest defensive possession of the year – to that point – the Cats responded. On first-and-10 from the UM 35, Bozeman High product Grant Collins stripped Sneed of the ball, and for good measure recovered it. "I felt it between my legs, and just reached down and cradled it," he said.
Operating from its best field position of the day, MSU's offense did not disappoint. Logan Jones carried for eight yards, then two plays later added four more. Isaiah Ifanse rushed for nine, then two. Then Andersen gained eight yards, and Jones did the rest. The junior from Kalispell took a pitch from Andersen and scampered 13 yards for a touchdown, and after an uphill slog of nearly 57 minutes the Bobcats led 29-25.
This game, which induced lumps in the throat of one fan base or the other for nearly four hours, was not going to end in routine fashion. Malik Flowers returned the kickoff to the 50, then Sneed marched the Grizzlies toward a historic win. On second-and-goal from the four, Adam Eastwood nearly reached paydirt. Collins and Michael Jobman made the stop at the one. Facing third-and-goal, Montana called time out. Then, with the teams lined up, Choate called time out. The play went off anyway, with officials racing to the line of scrimmage to blow it dead, and Eastwood's run across the goal line was not allowed.
Facing, again, the most important play of the year, Montana State's defense stood strong. Sneed handed to Eastwood. Sophomore tackle Chase Benson from Helena and blew up the interior of the Grizzly line, and senior nose tackle Tucker Yates from Colstrip crashed into the void. Collins knifed in to make the hit, and combined with Yates to knock the ball out. Derek Marks from Belgrade recovered, and the Miracle in Missoula was complete.
Like every great game in this series, this one reaches through the decades. In the amazing 1968 win, Terry Brown tripped Grizzly quarterback Ron Baines at around the MSU 10 as the game ended to preserve MSU's win and Schafer's super-human effort. In 1929, Max Worthington made a tackle inside the Bobcat five-yard line as the gun sounded to snap a 21-year Montana State winless streak.
And in 2018, sophomore Troy Andersen from Dillon, Montana, refused to lose, and seniors Tucker Yates from Colstrip, Montana, and Grant Collins, from Bozeman, Montana, came up with the biggest defensive plays of their lives. Legend emerged from Washington-Grizzly Stadium's south end zone that will tower over Bobcat football forever.
And the Bobcats (7-4, 5-3) beat the Grizzlies (6-5, 4-4), 29-25.
GAMES PLAYED ON TODAY'S DATE
2018 - MSU 29, at UM 25
2012 - MSU 16, at UM 7
2007 - UM 41, MSU 20
2001 - UM 38, MSU 27
1990 - at Tulsa 20, MSU 2
1973 - at Santa Clara 10, MSU 6
1956 - MSU 54, Whitworth 0
1935 - at Colo Coll 14, MSU 0
1928 - at Utah St 15, MSU 7
1923 - UM 24, MSU 13 HC
1899 - MSU 5, at UM 0
FINIS: The six games played between Montana State and Montana on November 17 have been split evenly, three wins for each. Strangely, Montana State won all three played in Missoula, and UM won all three played in Bozeman.
ONE MORE THOUGHT: The 1923 Cat-Griz clash, the last played in Bozeman before the series moved to Butte in 1926, also stands as the first recorded Homecoming game in Montana State history. It remains the only recorded instance of MSU hosting its arch-rivals for Homecoming.
Players Mentioned
OLB
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ILB
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RB
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WR
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DL
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P
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DL
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DT
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