BOBCAT CALENDAR: Unlikely Hero Phil Schneider Scores Four Points in 10-9 Bobcat Win Over Grizzlies
11/11/2020 9:00:00 AM | Football
Today in 1961, the University of Montana's Student Body President disrobed at Gatton Field
Bobcat football history, day-by-day...
November 11
SPOTLIGHT: Montana State faced an unusual situation in 1961. After years of tail-ending in the rivalry series, the Bobcats turned the tables in 1956 and won four straight games, but just when MSU was getting used to the catbird seat the Grizzlies won 10-6 in 1960. That flipping of the script brought an air of urgency to the Bozeman campus on November 11, 1961.
Unusual times call for unusual heroes. Enter Phil Schneider.
Now a long-time Bozeman businessman and local icon, it's hard to imagine Bobcat football without Schneider's involvement. Then, he was a reserve offensive lineman who struggled to make the three-deep.
But then as now, Phil Schneider found a niche. He was Montana State's kicker, and was as proficient as could be expected from an offensive guard kicking conventionally in small college football in the 1960s. As a junior he made four field goals and seven PATs, while making three field goals and five PATs as a senior. He was the only man to attempt a place kick in either of those seasons.
Listed (perhaps generously) at 5-8 in Montana State's 1961 media guide, he was described by the school's legendary SID Ken Nicholson as a "squad linebacker" who "makes up for his lack of stature with an abundance of desire."
Facing the final game of his career on a crisp autumn day, Schneider was no stranger to kicking in pressure situations. His 25-yard field goal gave the Cats a last-second 22-20 win over Fresno State in 1960. But he was also no stranger to the school's excellent Athletic Trainer Marshall Cook. Schneider had battled knee issues for a couple of years, and on the day before the 1961 Cat-Griz game the Exponent reported that "Halfback Gary Alley and kicking star Phil Schneider are the only serious injuries but both are expected to see action against the Grizzlies."
UM scored in the first quarter, and held that lead until the final stanza. The Bobcats countered UM's nine-man front by taking to the airwaves in the second half, completing 13 of the 23 pass attempts after the intermission.
Trailing 9-0 as the fourth quarter dawned, Two minutes into that period, Schneider kicked a 15-yard field goal to spark the team. Later in the quarter, quarterback Bill Mulcahey found end Gordon Schlabs on the Grizzlies' 22-yard line. Mark Dasinger picked up 13 yards on two carries to give the Bobcats a goal-to-go situation, and on fourth down Mulcahey found end Bill Cords - both players were juniors from Butte - in the end zone to tie the score. Out trotted Schneider to convert the extra point, and Montana State finished the scoring by grabbing the lead.
The narrow margin of victory didn't reflect Montana State's dominance. The Bobcats rolled up 17 first downs and 338 total yards, to UM's 10 first downs and 190 yards. Each team turned the ball over five times on a slightly muddy field. When it was over, the Bobcats had their fifth win in the previous six outings against the Grizzlies. And an unconventional hero, an offensive lineman who scored four of Montana State's points, had the appreciation of everyone wearing Blue and Gold.
BONUS: In a game characterized more by the playing field itself than the action on it, Montana State cashed in a blocked punt by Earl Semingsen that Arthur Olson recovered in the end zone for a touchdown to beat Wyoming 6-0 in Sheridan, Wyoming. Played on an extremely muddy field, the game featured 23 punts.
Rocky Mountain Conference rivals for around two decades, the Montana State-Wyoming series during that time was competitive and collegial, and apparently appreciated by both schools.
It was also mobile. In the years when Wyoming and Montana State occupied the same general space in the college athletics universe, from 1919 through 1936, the teams met on the gridiron 14 times... and those games occurred in five different locations. In the first ever meeting between the Cowboys and Bobcats in 1919, the schools met in Casper. Montana State had entered the Rocky Mountain Conference on a provisional basis, and didn't score a point against three league foes (MSC lost to Utah State 19-0, Utah 66-0, and Wyoming 6-0). In 1924 the schools resumed their series, and from the beginning of that season until the end of 1936 Wyoming was the only team the Bobcats played in every season (the Cats and Griz didn't meet in 1924).
In 1924, the Bobcats lost 18-17 in Laramie, and the next year Wyoming triumphed 7-0 in Laramie. The 1926 season brought a tide shift. Montana State won 10-0 in Casper, and in the 1927 mudbath in Sheridan won 6-0. The teams picked a new location for the 1928 renewal, meeting in Billings (the Cats won 14-7), and in 1929 returned to the Equality State for a 13-0 Bobcat win in Sheridan.
To recap the series to that point, MSC and UW had met seven times in five different communities.
The series became anchored on the schools' campuses beginnign in 1930, when the Cats edged Wyoming 20-19 at Corbett Field in Laramie. The 1931 game was a 32-13 Wyoming win at Gatton Field in Bozeman, and Wyoming won 13-7 in Laramie in 1932. The 1933 game was a 7-0 Bobcat win in Laramie - the first time the schools had met in the same community two years in a row - and in 1934 the Cowboys traveled to Billings to beat Montana State 25-6. After a 6-2 Wyoming win in its last-ever trip to Bozeman in 1935, UW won the next year in Laramie (19-6). That marked Wyoming's final season in the Rocky Mountain Conference, as the Cowboys helped several of its traditional rivals (Utah, Utah State, BYU, Colorado State) form the Skyline Conference.
The Punchers and Bobcats met in Billings in 1948 and 1949, Wyoming winning each time, and Wyoming's best team ever to that point whipped the Bobcats 61-13 in 1950. That marked Wyoming's factual departure for big-time college football, as the team was selected for the Gator Bowl under Coach Bowden Wyatt and embarked on a fairly regular path to at least a measure of national success (Wyoming played in at least one bowl game in every decade going forward). The teams didn't meet again until in 1998 and 2003 (both UW wins in Laramie).
GAMES ON TODAY'S DATE
2017 - #24 Northern Arizona 37, MSU 36
2000 - at Idaho State 29, MSU 13
1995 - at Boise State 35, MSU 7
1989 - at Northern Arizona 35, MSU 31
1978 - MSU 35, at Fresno State 14
1972 - MSU 35, at Simon Fraser 14
1961 - MSU 10, UM 9
1950 - Idaho State 39, MSU 13
1941 - MSU 13, at Idaho State 13
1940 - MSU 15, at Idaho State 7
1939 - North Dakota State 16, MSU 14
1937 - MSU 74, at Carroll 0
1936 - MSU 32, at Idaho State 19
1935 - MSU 7, at Idaho State 7
1933 - at Idaho State 13, MSU 6
1932 - MSU 13, Carroll 7 HC
1931 - at Carroll 6, MSU 0
1927 - MSU 6, Wyoming 0 Sheridan
1925 - Utah State 10, MSU 7
1922 - at UM 7, MSU 6
1917 - UM 9, MSU 7
1916 - Gonzaga 8, MSU 6
FINIS: One of the great lost traditions of the Cat-Griz rivalry didn't involve the players, or even the fans. It involved the student body president of each school. At some point in the years following World War II the top elected student on each campus participated in a wager - the president of the losing student body would march onto the field following the game and present the winning student body president his pants.
Every year, a photo of the ceremony graced the Exponent and the Montanan, and regardless the score fans seemed to remain to witness the spectacle.
The following tidbit is found in the November 10, 1961 Exponent, the day before that year's Cat-Griz game: "STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT Tom Richardson is confident that the Cats are going to beat the Grizzlies? He's not even going to wear underwear to the game!" Richardson was safely clothed throughout the day.
November 11
SPOTLIGHT: Montana State faced an unusual situation in 1961. After years of tail-ending in the rivalry series, the Bobcats turned the tables in 1956 and won four straight games, but just when MSU was getting used to the catbird seat the Grizzlies won 10-6 in 1960. That flipping of the script brought an air of urgency to the Bozeman campus on November 11, 1961.
Unusual times call for unusual heroes. Enter Phil Schneider.
Now a long-time Bozeman businessman and local icon, it's hard to imagine Bobcat football without Schneider's involvement. Then, he was a reserve offensive lineman who struggled to make the three-deep.
But then as now, Phil Schneider found a niche. He was Montana State's kicker, and was as proficient as could be expected from an offensive guard kicking conventionally in small college football in the 1960s. As a junior he made four field goals and seven PATs, while making three field goals and five PATs as a senior. He was the only man to attempt a place kick in either of those seasons.
Listed (perhaps generously) at 5-8 in Montana State's 1961 media guide, he was described by the school's legendary SID Ken Nicholson as a "squad linebacker" who "makes up for his lack of stature with an abundance of desire."
Facing the final game of his career on a crisp autumn day, Schneider was no stranger to kicking in pressure situations. His 25-yard field goal gave the Cats a last-second 22-20 win over Fresno State in 1960. But he was also no stranger to the school's excellent Athletic Trainer Marshall Cook. Schneider had battled knee issues for a couple of years, and on the day before the 1961 Cat-Griz game the Exponent reported that "Halfback Gary Alley and kicking star Phil Schneider are the only serious injuries but both are expected to see action against the Grizzlies."
UM scored in the first quarter, and held that lead until the final stanza. The Bobcats countered UM's nine-man front by taking to the airwaves in the second half, completing 13 of the 23 pass attempts after the intermission.
Trailing 9-0 as the fourth quarter dawned, Two minutes into that period, Schneider kicked a 15-yard field goal to spark the team. Later in the quarter, quarterback Bill Mulcahey found end Gordon Schlabs on the Grizzlies' 22-yard line. Mark Dasinger picked up 13 yards on two carries to give the Bobcats a goal-to-go situation, and on fourth down Mulcahey found end Bill Cords - both players were juniors from Butte - in the end zone to tie the score. Out trotted Schneider to convert the extra point, and Montana State finished the scoring by grabbing the lead.
The narrow margin of victory didn't reflect Montana State's dominance. The Bobcats rolled up 17 first downs and 338 total yards, to UM's 10 first downs and 190 yards. Each team turned the ball over five times on a slightly muddy field. When it was over, the Bobcats had their fifth win in the previous six outings against the Grizzlies. And an unconventional hero, an offensive lineman who scored four of Montana State's points, had the appreciation of everyone wearing Blue and Gold.
BONUS: In a game characterized more by the playing field itself than the action on it, Montana State cashed in a blocked punt by Earl Semingsen that Arthur Olson recovered in the end zone for a touchdown to beat Wyoming 6-0 in Sheridan, Wyoming. Played on an extremely muddy field, the game featured 23 punts.
Rocky Mountain Conference rivals for around two decades, the Montana State-Wyoming series during that time was competitive and collegial, and apparently appreciated by both schools.
It was also mobile. In the years when Wyoming and Montana State occupied the same general space in the college athletics universe, from 1919 through 1936, the teams met on the gridiron 14 times... and those games occurred in five different locations. In the first ever meeting between the Cowboys and Bobcats in 1919, the schools met in Casper. Montana State had entered the Rocky Mountain Conference on a provisional basis, and didn't score a point against three league foes (MSC lost to Utah State 19-0, Utah 66-0, and Wyoming 6-0). In 1924 the schools resumed their series, and from the beginning of that season until the end of 1936 Wyoming was the only team the Bobcats played in every season (the Cats and Griz didn't meet in 1924).
In 1924, the Bobcats lost 18-17 in Laramie, and the next year Wyoming triumphed 7-0 in Laramie. The 1926 season brought a tide shift. Montana State won 10-0 in Casper, and in the 1927 mudbath in Sheridan won 6-0. The teams picked a new location for the 1928 renewal, meeting in Billings (the Cats won 14-7), and in 1929 returned to the Equality State for a 13-0 Bobcat win in Sheridan.
To recap the series to that point, MSC and UW had met seven times in five different communities.
The series became anchored on the schools' campuses beginnign in 1930, when the Cats edged Wyoming 20-19 at Corbett Field in Laramie. The 1931 game was a 32-13 Wyoming win at Gatton Field in Bozeman, and Wyoming won 13-7 in Laramie in 1932. The 1933 game was a 7-0 Bobcat win in Laramie - the first time the schools had met in the same community two years in a row - and in 1934 the Cowboys traveled to Billings to beat Montana State 25-6. After a 6-2 Wyoming win in its last-ever trip to Bozeman in 1935, UW won the next year in Laramie (19-6). That marked Wyoming's final season in the Rocky Mountain Conference, as the Cowboys helped several of its traditional rivals (Utah, Utah State, BYU, Colorado State) form the Skyline Conference.
The Punchers and Bobcats met in Billings in 1948 and 1949, Wyoming winning each time, and Wyoming's best team ever to that point whipped the Bobcats 61-13 in 1950. That marked Wyoming's factual departure for big-time college football, as the team was selected for the Gator Bowl under Coach Bowden Wyatt and embarked on a fairly regular path to at least a measure of national success (Wyoming played in at least one bowl game in every decade going forward). The teams didn't meet again until in 1998 and 2003 (both UW wins in Laramie).
GAMES ON TODAY'S DATE
2017 - #24 Northern Arizona 37, MSU 36
2000 - at Idaho State 29, MSU 13
1995 - at Boise State 35, MSU 7
1989 - at Northern Arizona 35, MSU 31
1978 - MSU 35, at Fresno State 14
1972 - MSU 35, at Simon Fraser 14
1961 - MSU 10, UM 9
1950 - Idaho State 39, MSU 13
1941 - MSU 13, at Idaho State 13
1940 - MSU 15, at Idaho State 7
1939 - North Dakota State 16, MSU 14
1937 - MSU 74, at Carroll 0
1936 - MSU 32, at Idaho State 19
1935 - MSU 7, at Idaho State 7
1933 - at Idaho State 13, MSU 6
1932 - MSU 13, Carroll 7 HC
1931 - at Carroll 6, MSU 0
1927 - MSU 6, Wyoming 0 Sheridan
1925 - Utah State 10, MSU 7
1922 - at UM 7, MSU 6
1917 - UM 9, MSU 7
1916 - Gonzaga 8, MSU 6
FINIS: One of the great lost traditions of the Cat-Griz rivalry didn't involve the players, or even the fans. It involved the student body president of each school. At some point in the years following World War II the top elected student on each campus participated in a wager - the president of the losing student body would march onto the field following the game and present the winning student body president his pants.
Every year, a photo of the ceremony graced the Exponent and the Montanan, and regardless the score fans seemed to remain to witness the spectacle.
The following tidbit is found in the November 10, 1961 Exponent, the day before that year's Cat-Griz game: "STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT Tom Richardson is confident that the Cats are going to beat the Grizzlies? He's not even going to wear underwear to the game!" Richardson was safely clothed throughout the day.
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