Head coach Dave Arnold and the 1984 National Champions
BOBCAT CALENDAR: Today in 1984, Joe Roberts Returned an interception that changed Bobcat football history
12/8/2020 10:07:00 AM | Football
The Bobcats stunned Rhode Island, turning an impending loss into a thrilling win in the last four minutes of a home playoff win
A day-by-day look in Bobcat football history...
December 8
SPOTLIGHT: It's a moment that, for so many reasons, will live forever in Bobcat football history.
A few minutes before 2 pm on December 8, 1984, with the shadows beginning to engulf Reno H. Sales Stadium, Bobcat football history veered in an unlikely direction. For the better. Forever.
Holding a 20-18 lead in a Division I-AA Playoffs semifinal game, Rhode Island quarterback Tom Ehrhardt - still considered the best quarterback in URI history - led his team to the line of scrimmage. Facing a third-and-eight from the Bobcat 13, it was obvious to every one of the of 13,000 souls in the stadium on an unseasonably warm day knew that a Rams field goal would make MSU's task a little harder, and that a touchdown would make the final four minutes and one second of the game a seriously uphill battle for the home team.
From the right hash, moving toward the north end zone, Ehrhardt took a three-step drop and fired a pass across the field into double coverage. Safety Joe Roberts stepped in front of the pass and began a 97-yard journey to immortality. Roberts angled toward the visiting sideline into the shadows, weaved through some traffic, was either held upright or nearly knocked down (depending on whose story you're listening to) by Tex Sikora, and then broke into the open. Legendary Kansas City Royals broadcaster Fred White, on the call that day with Hall of Fame coach Eddie Robinson, caught a glimpse of the frenzied crowd as Roberts crossed the south goal line. Bobcat fans erupted as his joyous teammates mobbed Roberts on top of the snowbank pushed up against the old fence at that end of the playing field. It was the kind of unexpected, unhinged, instantaneous joy that seemingly only sports can inspire.Mark Carter's extra point gave MSU a 25-20 lead.
If there was any doubt that the Cats were working their way through a charmed season, it disapeared moments later. Carter's bounding kickoff took a right turnaway from a couple of Rams players waiting on it, and stayed free long enough for the Bobcats to cover it. If the crowd was energized by the touchdown, it was now atomic. On third-and-eight, of the ensuing possession, Bradley audibled from a pass play - as he told Colter Nuanez in Skyline Sports' brilliant oral history of the season - and handed to Eric Miller on a draw. After bursting through the line and breaking two initial tackles the junior was all alone in the open field. He raced into the end zone, and the game was over. In the span of five scrimmage plays and one gigantic special teams game-changer, just over one minute of game time and less than 10 minutes of real time, the Bobcats resuscitated their season and charted the course directly into Montana State University history.
It was a game for the ages. The only two-possession lead all day came on Miller's scored. Roberts' pick-six gave each team three turnovers on the afternoon, and his return tilted everything toward the Cats. Bradley threw for 322 yards, Ehrhardt for 301. Kirk Timmer logged 14 tackles and Gregg Wilks 13. Lonnie Burt registered two sacks. But more than the statistics, that legendary semifinal win - and the long interception return that defined it - remain magical memories because of the joy and determination of a team that rose from the ashes of a 1-10 1983 season displayed throughout a sometimes rocky but always enjoyable season.
BOBCATFOOTBALL TODAY IN HISTORY
2010 - Mike Person, Jason Cunningham earn All-America honors
1984 - MSU 32, Rhode Island 20 in Division I-AA Playoffs semifinals
FINIS: Ponder for a moment the amazing senior season of Mike Person, who (along with kicker Jason Cunningham) was named All-America today in 2010. Person's final campaign in the Blue and Gold began with a transition to redshirt freshman quarterback DeNarius McGhee, and ended with the team's first win in Missoula since 2002 and a Big Sky Championship. Through it all, Person was among the central leaders on the team, the heartbeat of an offensive line that allowed McGhee to operate at an All-America level and paved the way for a 1,000-yard rushing season from Orenzo Davis. Person's relentless will to win helped push the Bobcat program to great heights in 2010, a trajectory it would hold for for the two seasons to follow.
And if there's a tendency to dismiss it, remember what followed. On the same day he received Montana's Little Sullivan Award - presented by the state's AAU to its top amateur athlete, a rare honor for a football player - he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. Once a promising, thin offensive lineman from Glendive but with strong roots in Butte, Person stayed with that organization until hooking on with the Seahawks in 2012-13. In 2014 he played in all 16 games for the Rams, in 2015 became a starter with the Falcons, jumped to Indianapolis in 2017, and in 2018 began two seasons as a starting guard with his original organization, the Niners.
And showing that he has a knack for making a dramatic exit, the last football game Person will every play in was Super Bowl LIV. He had a tremendous NFL career, but will always be revered in Bozeman for his All-America career and his role leading Montana State back to the top of the Big Sky Conference.
December 8
SPOTLIGHT: It's a moment that, for so many reasons, will live forever in Bobcat football history.
A few minutes before 2 pm on December 8, 1984, with the shadows beginning to engulf Reno H. Sales Stadium, Bobcat football history veered in an unlikely direction. For the better. Forever.
Holding a 20-18 lead in a Division I-AA Playoffs semifinal game, Rhode Island quarterback Tom Ehrhardt - still considered the best quarterback in URI history - led his team to the line of scrimmage. Facing a third-and-eight from the Bobcat 13, it was obvious to every one of the of 13,000 souls in the stadium on an unseasonably warm day knew that a Rams field goal would make MSU's task a little harder, and that a touchdown would make the final four minutes and one second of the game a seriously uphill battle for the home team.
From the right hash, moving toward the north end zone, Ehrhardt took a three-step drop and fired a pass across the field into double coverage. Safety Joe Roberts stepped in front of the pass and began a 97-yard journey to immortality. Roberts angled toward the visiting sideline into the shadows, weaved through some traffic, was either held upright or nearly knocked down (depending on whose story you're listening to) by Tex Sikora, and then broke into the open. Legendary Kansas City Royals broadcaster Fred White, on the call that day with Hall of Fame coach Eddie Robinson, caught a glimpse of the frenzied crowd as Roberts crossed the south goal line. Bobcat fans erupted as his joyous teammates mobbed Roberts on top of the snowbank pushed up against the old fence at that end of the playing field. It was the kind of unexpected, unhinged, instantaneous joy that seemingly only sports can inspire.Mark Carter's extra point gave MSU a 25-20 lead.
If there was any doubt that the Cats were working their way through a charmed season, it disapeared moments later. Carter's bounding kickoff took a right turnaway from a couple of Rams players waiting on it, and stayed free long enough for the Bobcats to cover it. If the crowd was energized by the touchdown, it was now atomic. On third-and-eight, of the ensuing possession, Bradley audibled from a pass play - as he told Colter Nuanez in Skyline Sports' brilliant oral history of the season - and handed to Eric Miller on a draw. After bursting through the line and breaking two initial tackles the junior was all alone in the open field. He raced into the end zone, and the game was over. In the span of five scrimmage plays and one gigantic special teams game-changer, just over one minute of game time and less than 10 minutes of real time, the Bobcats resuscitated their season and charted the course directly into Montana State University history.
It was a game for the ages. The only two-possession lead all day came on Miller's scored. Roberts' pick-six gave each team three turnovers on the afternoon, and his return tilted everything toward the Cats. Bradley threw for 322 yards, Ehrhardt for 301. Kirk Timmer logged 14 tackles and Gregg Wilks 13. Lonnie Burt registered two sacks. But more than the statistics, that legendary semifinal win - and the long interception return that defined it - remain magical memories because of the joy and determination of a team that rose from the ashes of a 1-10 1983 season displayed throughout a sometimes rocky but always enjoyable season.
BOBCATFOOTBALL TODAY IN HISTORY
2010 - Mike Person, Jason Cunningham earn All-America honors
1984 - MSU 32, Rhode Island 20 in Division I-AA Playoffs semifinals
FINIS: Ponder for a moment the amazing senior season of Mike Person, who (along with kicker Jason Cunningham) was named All-America today in 2010. Person's final campaign in the Blue and Gold began with a transition to redshirt freshman quarterback DeNarius McGhee, and ended with the team's first win in Missoula since 2002 and a Big Sky Championship. Through it all, Person was among the central leaders on the team, the heartbeat of an offensive line that allowed McGhee to operate at an All-America level and paved the way for a 1,000-yard rushing season from Orenzo Davis. Person's relentless will to win helped push the Bobcat program to great heights in 2010, a trajectory it would hold for for the two seasons to follow.
And if there's a tendency to dismiss it, remember what followed. On the same day he received Montana's Little Sullivan Award - presented by the state's AAU to its top amateur athlete, a rare honor for a football player - he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. Once a promising, thin offensive lineman from Glendive but with strong roots in Butte, Person stayed with that organization until hooking on with the Seahawks in 2012-13. In 2014 he played in all 16 games for the Rams, in 2015 became a starter with the Falcons, jumped to Indianapolis in 2017, and in 2018 began two seasons as a starting guard with his original organization, the Niners.
And showing that he has a knack for making a dramatic exit, the last football game Person will every play in was Super Bowl LIV. He had a tremendous NFL career, but will always be revered in Bozeman for his All-America career and his role leading Montana State back to the top of the Big Sky Conference.
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