BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: Montana State Opens the 2021 Season in 46 Days
7/20/2021 2:12:00 PM | Football
A look at No. 46 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.
#46
Sal Aguilar, LB: An unknown commodity when he arrived in Bozeman, Sal Aguilar's steady improvement and productivity have entrenched him as a special teams standout in competition for playing time at linebacker. He is a smart, tough player who lends a physical presence whenever he's on the field.
Spotlight – Morgan Ryan: There are athletic achievements that, in the moment, seem larger than life. There are those that seem impressive in a contemporary sense before fading into the memory. And there are those, like Morgan Ryan's Bobcat career, that seem important when they occur but, as time passes, become even more impressive. A safety from Hudson, Wisconsin, Ryan intercepted his 17th career pass at UNLV in the final game of his junior season, the most interceptions by any Bobcat in history. He added five more as a senior, and his career mark of 22 picks has never been seriously challenged since. In fact, in a day and age when the forward pass is the most-used offensive weapon, only future NFL cornerback Joey Thomas (11 from 2000-03) and Ryan's one-time secondary-mate Mark Grimmer (also 11, 1992-95) have even cracked MSU's career top 10. Some measure of that can be chalked up to the role of pressuring quarterbacks in the contemporary game, but much can be attributed to Ryan's brilliance. By no means was he a cherry-picker who avoided contact – he was a physical presence who was among the team's tackles leaders for three straight years. More accurately, he had an acute sense for the football and was sure-handed once the ball arrived. Morgan Ryan remains Montana State's all-time record-holder in interceptions, and was First Team All-Big Sky twice and Honorable Mention All-America in 1991.
Chronology: Ivar Twilde (1926), Ott Gardner (1927), Harry Bowman (1930), Lloyd Amundson (1930), Corey Dogterom (1940), William Clawson (1946), Carl McManis (1948), Ed Rech (1949), Ed Rech (1950), Darrell Truett (1953), Bernard Brown (1954-55), Fred Merrick (1971), Bill Crowley (1972-75), Calvin Oliver (1976), Ron Juhnke (1977), Jim Anderson (1978-82), Don Schauber (1983), Kevin Kirwin (1984-88), Morgan Ryan (1989-93), Brent Millard (1994-99), James Schlatter (1999), Kevin Fabatz (2000), Jess Dawson (2001), Blake Ghavami (2002), Doc Farley (2003), Jacques Boiteau (2004), Jeff Hastings (2005-06), Dayton Jackson (2007), Ryan D'Agostino (2008-09), Hayden Vick (2011-13), Woody Brandom (2015-16), Sal Aguilar (2017-)
Bonus #46 – Ott Gardner: Sometimes when you're pouring over old football rosters, one of the weird things to stay with you is names. For instance, what do you suppose it felt like to be the second-most famous 'Ott' on the Montana State campus in the late 1920s? In his own right, Otto "Ott" Gardner was a star in a golden age of Bobcat Athletics. He transferred to Montana State from Santa Ana Junior College in his native California and starred as a quarterback on the football team and as a guard on the Golden Bobcat basketball squad. He became a pilot after leaving Bozeman and flew for Pan American Grace Airways and lived for a time in Panama's Canal Zone. Gardner returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown against Utah State in Ogden in 1927.
Bonus #46 – Ivar Twilde: A native Norwegian who grew up in Glendive, Ivar Twilde was involved in one of Montana State's greatest football moments. At Butte's Clark Park in 1929, Max Worthington scored two touchdowns and Twilde nailed the extra points to give the Bobcats a 14-12 win over the Grizzlies. That snapped a "20 year jinx" against UM.
#46
Sal Aguilar, LB: An unknown commodity when he arrived in Bozeman, Sal Aguilar's steady improvement and productivity have entrenched him as a special teams standout in competition for playing time at linebacker. He is a smart, tough player who lends a physical presence whenever he's on the field.
Spotlight – Morgan Ryan: There are athletic achievements that, in the moment, seem larger than life. There are those that seem impressive in a contemporary sense before fading into the memory. And there are those, like Morgan Ryan's Bobcat career, that seem important when they occur but, as time passes, become even more impressive. A safety from Hudson, Wisconsin, Ryan intercepted his 17th career pass at UNLV in the final game of his junior season, the most interceptions by any Bobcat in history. He added five more as a senior, and his career mark of 22 picks has never been seriously challenged since. In fact, in a day and age when the forward pass is the most-used offensive weapon, only future NFL cornerback Joey Thomas (11 from 2000-03) and Ryan's one-time secondary-mate Mark Grimmer (also 11, 1992-95) have even cracked MSU's career top 10. Some measure of that can be chalked up to the role of pressuring quarterbacks in the contemporary game, but much can be attributed to Ryan's brilliance. By no means was he a cherry-picker who avoided contact – he was a physical presence who was among the team's tackles leaders for three straight years. More accurately, he had an acute sense for the football and was sure-handed once the ball arrived. Morgan Ryan remains Montana State's all-time record-holder in interceptions, and was First Team All-Big Sky twice and Honorable Mention All-America in 1991.
Chronology: Ivar Twilde (1926), Ott Gardner (1927), Harry Bowman (1930), Lloyd Amundson (1930), Corey Dogterom (1940), William Clawson (1946), Carl McManis (1948), Ed Rech (1949), Ed Rech (1950), Darrell Truett (1953), Bernard Brown (1954-55), Fred Merrick (1971), Bill Crowley (1972-75), Calvin Oliver (1976), Ron Juhnke (1977), Jim Anderson (1978-82), Don Schauber (1983), Kevin Kirwin (1984-88), Morgan Ryan (1989-93), Brent Millard (1994-99), James Schlatter (1999), Kevin Fabatz (2000), Jess Dawson (2001), Blake Ghavami (2002), Doc Farley (2003), Jacques Boiteau (2004), Jeff Hastings (2005-06), Dayton Jackson (2007), Ryan D'Agostino (2008-09), Hayden Vick (2011-13), Woody Brandom (2015-16), Sal Aguilar (2017-)
Bonus #46 – Ott Gardner: Sometimes when you're pouring over old football rosters, one of the weird things to stay with you is names. For instance, what do you suppose it felt like to be the second-most famous 'Ott' on the Montana State campus in the late 1920s? In his own right, Otto "Ott" Gardner was a star in a golden age of Bobcat Athletics. He transferred to Montana State from Santa Ana Junior College in his native California and starred as a quarterback on the football team and as a guard on the Golden Bobcat basketball squad. He became a pilot after leaving Bozeman and flew for Pan American Grace Airways and lived for a time in Panama's Canal Zone. Gardner returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown against Utah State in Ogden in 1927.
Bonus #46 – Ivar Twilde: A native Norwegian who grew up in Glendive, Ivar Twilde was involved in one of Montana State's greatest football moments. At Butte's Clark Park in 1929, Max Worthington scored two touchdowns and Twilde nailed the extra points to give the Bobcats a 14-12 win over the Grizzlies. That snapped a "20 year jinx" against UM.
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