BOBCAT CALENDAR: Powered by a Dazzling Punt Return, the Bobcats Beat Southwest Texas State Today in 1995
9/23/2020 2:00:00 PM | General
Kenyatte Morgan showed the endurance for a 72-yard touchdown return, but Cliff Hysell showed a pretty good burst
September 23
SPOTLIGHT: Any fan who has followed any sports team for a period of time has visions burned into their memory. For Bobcat fans of a certain age, a scene that played out in Bobcat Stadium during the team's satisfying 45-24 win over Southwest Texas State on September 23, 1995, will be forever remembered.
MSU led 21-10 late in the second quarter against their fellow Bobcats when Kenyatte Morgan, an electrifying return man who was developing into an excellent all-around football player, scooted back to his to the neighborhood of his own 25-yard line to await a punt. He fielded it at the 28-yard line, explored the middle of the field, then dashed toward the MSU sideline. As he found an alley and sprinted toward paydirt he was escorted by a handful of blockers inside the lines and by one notable ally on the Bobcat sideline. Head coach Cliff Hysell picked up Morgan somewhere near midfield and running seemingly side-by-side for a few yards exhorted him toward the end zone.
Morgan finished the play, a 72-yarder, and that play all but sealed Montana State's victory. The home-standing Bobcats rushed for 200 yards and finished +1 in turnovers on the day, both program staples, and MSU cruised to an easy, enjoyable win.
BONUS: By 1940, Montana State College had reached a defining stage in its history, achieving a level of maturity after four-plus decades and a strong period of growth while maintaining strong links to its origins. James M. Hamilton, who passed away on September 23, 1940, was one such link. The Illinois native was Missoula's superintendent of schools in 1893, when he joined the State Board of Education and as such helped choose locations for the Montana's institutions of higher education. He became a history professor at the University of Montana, the younger of the state's two flagship institutions, in 1901 and shortly thereafter became a vice president. In 1904, the board selected Hamilton as President of Montana State Agricultural College in Bozeman, and he served in that capacity for a decade-and-a-half. At that point, at his request, the school's beloved executive gave up the presidency to become Dean of Men. He held that post until his death, a rock on which the institution was built and an educator that the 1941 Montanan said "clung to his ideals and was never led astray by wealth, position or passing reward for his work." One of his successors as President, Dr. A.L. Strand, said, "To few men is there given life so full, so complete, or I believe, so happy."
GAMES ON TODAY'S DATE
2017 - MSU 49, #17 North Dakota 21 - Jeff Choate's first win over ranked opponent
2006 - EWU 19, MSU 10
2000 - Cal Poly 35, MSU 13
1995 - MSU 45, SW Texas 24
1989 - MSU 51, NM Highlands 12
1978 - MSU 42, Texas A&I 21
1972 - at Cal Poly 34, MSU 7
1967 - MSU 52, Portland St 7
1961 - Fresno St 16, MSU 13 at GF
1950 - Western St 26, MSU 13
1938 - at NMSU 27, MSU 7
1933 - at Utah 61, MSU 0
1932 - BYU 6, MSU 0 at Ogden
SPOTLIGHT: Any fan who has followed any sports team for a period of time has visions burned into their memory. For Bobcat fans of a certain age, a scene that played out in Bobcat Stadium during the team's satisfying 45-24 win over Southwest Texas State on September 23, 1995, will be forever remembered.
MSU led 21-10 late in the second quarter against their fellow Bobcats when Kenyatte Morgan, an electrifying return man who was developing into an excellent all-around football player, scooted back to his to the neighborhood of his own 25-yard line to await a punt. He fielded it at the 28-yard line, explored the middle of the field, then dashed toward the MSU sideline. As he found an alley and sprinted toward paydirt he was escorted by a handful of blockers inside the lines and by one notable ally on the Bobcat sideline. Head coach Cliff Hysell picked up Morgan somewhere near midfield and running seemingly side-by-side for a few yards exhorted him toward the end zone.
Morgan finished the play, a 72-yarder, and that play all but sealed Montana State's victory. The home-standing Bobcats rushed for 200 yards and finished +1 in turnovers on the day, both program staples, and MSU cruised to an easy, enjoyable win.
BONUS: By 1940, Montana State College had reached a defining stage in its history, achieving a level of maturity after four-plus decades and a strong period of growth while maintaining strong links to its origins. James M. Hamilton, who passed away on September 23, 1940, was one such link. The Illinois native was Missoula's superintendent of schools in 1893, when he joined the State Board of Education and as such helped choose locations for the Montana's institutions of higher education. He became a history professor at the University of Montana, the younger of the state's two flagship institutions, in 1901 and shortly thereafter became a vice president. In 1904, the board selected Hamilton as President of Montana State Agricultural College in Bozeman, and he served in that capacity for a decade-and-a-half. At that point, at his request, the school's beloved executive gave up the presidency to become Dean of Men. He held that post until his death, a rock on which the institution was built and an educator that the 1941 Montanan said "clung to his ideals and was never led astray by wealth, position or passing reward for his work." One of his successors as President, Dr. A.L. Strand, said, "To few men is there given life so full, so complete, or I believe, so happy."
GAMES ON TODAY'S DATE
2017 - MSU 49, #17 North Dakota 21 - Jeff Choate's first win over ranked opponent
2006 - EWU 19, MSU 10
2000 - Cal Poly 35, MSU 13
1995 - MSU 45, SW Texas 24
1989 - MSU 51, NM Highlands 12
1978 - MSU 42, Texas A&I 21
1972 - at Cal Poly 34, MSU 7
1967 - MSU 52, Portland St 7
1961 - Fresno St 16, MSU 13 at GF
1950 - Western St 26, MSU 13
1938 - at NMSU 27, MSU 7
1933 - at Utah 61, MSU 0
1932 - BYU 6, MSU 0 at Ogden
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