BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 84 Days til Kickoff
6/13/2020 3:00:00 PM | Football
Junior receiver Peyton Hanser has the opportunity to work his way into the receiver rotation this year
June 13: Bobcats by the Numbers takes a look at current and past Bobcats whose jersey numbers correspond to the number of days remaining before Montana State opens the 2020 football season against Long Island Post in Bobcat Stadium's annual Gold Rush game in September.
#84
Peyton Hanser, WR: Junior receiver Peyton Hanser has found plenty of ways to help the Bobcat football program even as he anticipates his first reception as a Bobcat. Hanser has seen increased scrimmage action while seeing time on kick teams, and he draws praise for his work in practice. He comes from excellent football bloodlines – his brother played football at Washington State, a sister played hoops at MSU-Billings, and his father Scott was a star on the gridiron during Wyoming's glory days in the late '80s. With the loss of two starting receivers Hanser's time to contribute as a pass-catcher may be near.
Spotlight: Make no mistake about it, Cliff Hysell did not like throwing the football. Montana State's coach from 1992-99 proudly told anyone who would listen – except potential quarterback and receiver recruits, presumably – that his goal was for the Bobcats to be able to play an entire game without throwing a forward pass. One of the players that made that impossible was Tony Vallez, a fantastic receiver who wore #84 in 1997. Touchdown Tony wasn't necessarily fast or flashy by the video-game standards of the Big Sky Conference in the 1990s, led by ahead-of-the-game offensive coordinator Jim McElwain the Bobcats were discovering the forward pass the way an awkward teenager might discover girls at a junior high dance. And even with sleek receiver Chip Hobbs on the scene, Vallez was the belle of the ball. His 974 receiving yards in 1997 stood as third-most in school history to that point, and he became the first Bobcat to log a 200-yard receiving game (doing so twice).
84 – Number of Big Sky games Montana State won from the league's inception in 1963 to 1991, against 90 losses. That period covers 29 seasons. In the 28 seasons from 1992 to 2019, the Bobcats compiled a record of 116-95.
Chronology: Del Layman (1956), Norman Phillips (1957), Ed Popik (1959), John Hahn (1960), Jim Ratcheye (1961-63), Gary Richards (1964-66), Bob Workman (1967, '69), Ray Schneider (1968), Phil O'Meara (1971), Randy Fought (1972-73), Mark Allison (1974), Bob Lubig (1975), Mark Mading (1976), Greg Adolph (1977), Eric Harlington (1979), Bruce McKean (1980), Kent Schaefer (1982), Shawn Bohannan (1984-85), Andy Holmlund (1986), Rob Tesch (1988-92), Erik Iverson (1993), Chad Farrington (1994-95), Matt Neumann (1996), Tony Vallez (1997), Cody Van Horne (1998), Phil Espinoza (1999), Corey Smith (2000-03), Brandon Bostick (2004-08), Brian Flotkoetter (2010-14), Cam Sutton (2015-16), Peyton Hanser (2017-)
#84
Peyton Hanser, WR: Junior receiver Peyton Hanser has found plenty of ways to help the Bobcat football program even as he anticipates his first reception as a Bobcat. Hanser has seen increased scrimmage action while seeing time on kick teams, and he draws praise for his work in practice. He comes from excellent football bloodlines – his brother played football at Washington State, a sister played hoops at MSU-Billings, and his father Scott was a star on the gridiron during Wyoming's glory days in the late '80s. With the loss of two starting receivers Hanser's time to contribute as a pass-catcher may be near.
Spotlight: Make no mistake about it, Cliff Hysell did not like throwing the football. Montana State's coach from 1992-99 proudly told anyone who would listen – except potential quarterback and receiver recruits, presumably – that his goal was for the Bobcats to be able to play an entire game without throwing a forward pass. One of the players that made that impossible was Tony Vallez, a fantastic receiver who wore #84 in 1997. Touchdown Tony wasn't necessarily fast or flashy by the video-game standards of the Big Sky Conference in the 1990s, led by ahead-of-the-game offensive coordinator Jim McElwain the Bobcats were discovering the forward pass the way an awkward teenager might discover girls at a junior high dance. And even with sleek receiver Chip Hobbs on the scene, Vallez was the belle of the ball. His 974 receiving yards in 1997 stood as third-most in school history to that point, and he became the first Bobcat to log a 200-yard receiving game (doing so twice).
84 – Number of Big Sky games Montana State won from the league's inception in 1963 to 1991, against 90 losses. That period covers 29 seasons. In the 28 seasons from 1992 to 2019, the Bobcats compiled a record of 116-95.
Chronology: Del Layman (1956), Norman Phillips (1957), Ed Popik (1959), John Hahn (1960), Jim Ratcheye (1961-63), Gary Richards (1964-66), Bob Workman (1967, '69), Ray Schneider (1968), Phil O'Meara (1971), Randy Fought (1972-73), Mark Allison (1974), Bob Lubig (1975), Mark Mading (1976), Greg Adolph (1977), Eric Harlington (1979), Bruce McKean (1980), Kent Schaefer (1982), Shawn Bohannan (1984-85), Andy Holmlund (1986), Rob Tesch (1988-92), Erik Iverson (1993), Chad Farrington (1994-95), Matt Neumann (1996), Tony Vallez (1997), Cody Van Horne (1998), Phil Espinoza (1999), Corey Smith (2000-03), Brandon Bostick (2004-08), Brian Flotkoetter (2010-14), Cam Sutton (2015-16), Peyton Hanser (2017-)
Players Mentioned
WR
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