Members of the Bobcat football team led the school's rodeo squad into the arena on Thursday...
Photo by: Taylor Allen
PAYBACK 'SUCH A RUSH': Bobcat Football Team Leads Rodeo Squad into Worthington Arena
4/11/2022 3:55:00 PM | Football, Men's Rodeo, Women's Rodeo
Seven Bobcat football players were thrilled to return a favor, and MSU's rodeo team was ecstatic that they did
BOZEMAN, Montana – Ty Okada has made the pregame sprint onto the Bobcat Stadium playing field 16 times as part of Montana State's varsity football team. Most of them came with members of the school's rodeo team leading the way.
Last Thursday, he returned the favor.
"It was such a rush," Okada said after he and six teammates carried flags spelling "BOBCATS" into Worthington Arena ahead of the MSU rodeo team to open the Montana State Spring Rodeo last Thursday night. "Oh man. That was cool."
For Caleb Berquist, a senior on the rodeo team who led the football team into Bobcat Stadium on horseback twice in the fall of 2021, following football players into his team's home arena "brought back a lot of memories. It was a cool thing to have them run in front of us, for sure, it was a special moment for us."
Berquist said the ride into Bobcat Stadium jammed with 20,000 fans is an indescribable experience. "When we get to do it for (the football team), my adrenaline was going (during Thursday's rodeo), but it sure gets going when we run into the stadium in front of them."
One of the first things Bobcat football coach Brent Vigen heard about his new school's game-day experience was the members of the championship rodeo program leading the team onto the field. He embraced the opportunity to return the favor.
"Coach Whitaker, we were at the rodeo banquet about a month ago, he didn't know what I'd say but he told me it would really mean a lot to the rodeo team if the football team would come out and kind of flip the script a little bit," Vigen said of MSU's rodeo coach.
Vigen said the rodeo team's runout "means a lot to our guys, and I think (participating in Thursday's rodeo) gave them appreciation for how much it means both ways. Of the seven guys that ran out, it was an easy ask for them and a lot of our experienced guys jumped on the opportunity to repay the rodeo team for what we feel is as good an entrance as there is in college football."
Some of MSU's most visible football players helped open this year's MSU Spring Rodeo. Linebacker Nolan Askelson led a group that also included fullback RJ Fitzgerald, defensive end Brody Grebe, safety Jeffrey Manning, Jr., quarterback Tommy Mellott, Okada, and tight end Treyton Pickering in carrying the flags in a short lap through Worthington Arena.
Entering behind a football squad that advanced to the NCAA FCS Championship Game three months ago was not lost on junior Paige Rasmussen, the reigning women's all-around national champion. "That was awesome, that was so cool," she said. "I love how they support us, and how all the Bobcat teams come together to support each other."
Berquist said the rodeo cowboys and cowgirls aren't the only one who feel the thrill of entering a jam-packed Bobcat Stadium. "When we're on horses riding into the stadium, those horses that have done it before feel the intensity and they're ready to go, they're ready to fire. It's a really cool experience."
Whitaker said he learned early on how much the runout into Bobcat Stadium meant to his squad. "It's a great tradition," he said. "It means a lot to our kids."
Just how much it means became clear last September, when Montana State played its first home football game in over 600 days, Paige and Shelby Rasmussen, Lindsey Pulsipher and Tayla Moeykins drove four hours with their horses from Cody, Wyoming – where the team was competing in the season's first rodeo – to Bozeman solely to participate in the runout before the Gold Rush game against Drake. She said that was a thrill, but that watching the football players run into the arena carrying flags to open the first MSU Spring Rodeo in Worthington Arena since 2019 was also amazing.
"It gave me goose bumps."
#GoCatsGo
Last Thursday, he returned the favor.
"It was such a rush," Okada said after he and six teammates carried flags spelling "BOBCATS" into Worthington Arena ahead of the MSU rodeo team to open the Montana State Spring Rodeo last Thursday night. "Oh man. That was cool."
For Caleb Berquist, a senior on the rodeo team who led the football team into Bobcat Stadium on horseback twice in the fall of 2021, following football players into his team's home arena "brought back a lot of memories. It was a cool thing to have them run in front of us, for sure, it was a special moment for us."
Berquist said the ride into Bobcat Stadium jammed with 20,000 fans is an indescribable experience. "When we get to do it for (the football team), my adrenaline was going (during Thursday's rodeo), but it sure gets going when we run into the stadium in front of them."
One of the first things Bobcat football coach Brent Vigen heard about his new school's game-day experience was the members of the championship rodeo program leading the team onto the field. He embraced the opportunity to return the favor.
"Coach Whitaker, we were at the rodeo banquet about a month ago, he didn't know what I'd say but he told me it would really mean a lot to the rodeo team if the football team would come out and kind of flip the script a little bit," Vigen said of MSU's rodeo coach.
Vigen said the rodeo team's runout "means a lot to our guys, and I think (participating in Thursday's rodeo) gave them appreciation for how much it means both ways. Of the seven guys that ran out, it was an easy ask for them and a lot of our experienced guys jumped on the opportunity to repay the rodeo team for what we feel is as good an entrance as there is in college football."
Some of MSU's most visible football players helped open this year's MSU Spring Rodeo. Linebacker Nolan Askelson led a group that also included fullback RJ Fitzgerald, defensive end Brody Grebe, safety Jeffrey Manning, Jr., quarterback Tommy Mellott, Okada, and tight end Treyton Pickering in carrying the flags in a short lap through Worthington Arena.
Entering behind a football squad that advanced to the NCAA FCS Championship Game three months ago was not lost on junior Paige Rasmussen, the reigning women's all-around national champion. "That was awesome, that was so cool," she said. "I love how they support us, and how all the Bobcat teams come together to support each other."
Berquist said the rodeo cowboys and cowgirls aren't the only one who feel the thrill of entering a jam-packed Bobcat Stadium. "When we're on horses riding into the stadium, those horses that have done it before feel the intensity and they're ready to go, they're ready to fire. It's a really cool experience."
Whitaker said he learned early on how much the runout into Bobcat Stadium meant to his squad. "It's a great tradition," he said. "It means a lot to our kids."
Just how much it means became clear last September, when Montana State played its first home football game in over 600 days, Paige and Shelby Rasmussen, Lindsey Pulsipher and Tayla Moeykins drove four hours with their horses from Cody, Wyoming – where the team was competing in the season's first rodeo – to Bozeman solely to participate in the runout before the Gold Rush game against Drake. She said that was a thrill, but that watching the football players run into the arena carrying flags to open the first MSU Spring Rodeo in Worthington Arena since 2019 was also amazing.
"It gave me goose bumps."
#GoCatsGo
Players Mentioned
LB
/ Football
/ Men's Rodeo
DE
/ Football
QB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
/ Women's Rodeo
/ Women's Rodeo
WBB - Montana State vs Portland - Behind the Mic
Friday, March 27
Spring Football Preview Press Conference
Friday, March 13
WBB - #2 Montana State vs #1 Idaho - Behind the Mic
Thursday, March 12
2026 Rodeo Teaser
Wednesday, March 11
