BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 78 Days Until Kickoff Means We Look at Jan Stenerud's Brilliant Career
6/18/2021 2:00:00 PM | Football
A look at the No. 78 in Bobcat Football history
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 2021 football season at Wyoming on September 4.
#78
Retired for Jan Stenerud: Of all the players venerated by college football programs around the nation, Jan Stenerud's path may be the most unique. A Norwegian who came to Montana State as a ski jumper, Stenerud was discovered by basketball coach Roger Craft while goofing around on Gatton Field. Craft told Sweeney, Sweeney eventually took a look, and the rest is history. Stenerud became a legend at Montana State by booting longer field goals than anyone had ever seen. Students would show up early at Gatton Field to watch him boot the ball in warmups, and whenever the team approached the 50-yard line the cry would rise to 'Send in Stenerud.' That call was answered in 1965, when the affable Norwegian drilled a 'world record' 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies. That anecdote always draws a laugh from Stenerud. "So many people have told me they were there when that kick beat the Grizzlies," he says with a smile. "But it was in the first half, and we won 24-7."
Chronology: Don Delande (1956), Jan Stenerud (1966), Oyvind Torp (1968), Gary Beller (1970-71), Tom Frizzell (1972), Dick Lyman (1973), Pat Dunbar (1974-77), Randy Kearns (1978), Bob Kardoes (1979-82), Robert Doud (1983), Retired for Jan Stenerud
Bonus Note for #78: One season after Stenerud's famous field goal, another Bobcat hit the number 78 in a different way. Hank Urza booted a punt 78 yards in a 24-10 MSU win against Idaho at Gatton Field. That was the longest punt on record in Bobcat history to that point (although records only began about a decade earlier).
#78
Retired for Jan Stenerud: Of all the players venerated by college football programs around the nation, Jan Stenerud's path may be the most unique. A Norwegian who came to Montana State as a ski jumper, Stenerud was discovered by basketball coach Roger Craft while goofing around on Gatton Field. Craft told Sweeney, Sweeney eventually took a look, and the rest is history. Stenerud became a legend at Montana State by booting longer field goals than anyone had ever seen. Students would show up early at Gatton Field to watch him boot the ball in warmups, and whenever the team approached the 50-yard line the cry would rise to 'Send in Stenerud.' That call was answered in 1965, when the affable Norwegian drilled a 'world record' 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies. That anecdote always draws a laugh from Stenerud. "So many people have told me they were there when that kick beat the Grizzlies," he says with a smile. "But it was in the first half, and we won 24-7."
Chronology: Don Delande (1956), Jan Stenerud (1966), Oyvind Torp (1968), Gary Beller (1970-71), Tom Frizzell (1972), Dick Lyman (1973), Pat Dunbar (1974-77), Randy Kearns (1978), Bob Kardoes (1979-82), Robert Doud (1983), Retired for Jan Stenerud
Bonus Note for #78: One season after Stenerud's famous field goal, another Bobcat hit the number 78 in a different way. Hank Urza booted a punt 78 yards in a 24-10 MSU win against Idaho at Gatton Field. That was the longest punt on record in Bobcat history to that point (although records only began about a decade earlier).
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