BOBCATS 125: Tom Kostrba
6/30/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
Tom Kostrba's time at MSU was brief, but his brilliance helped the Bobcats win a national title
Leading to the 2022 season, the 125th anniversary of Montana State's first football team, we will look at 125 of the greatest Bobcats. You can find details here and a directory here.
Tom Kostrba, TB, 1976
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1976
A CLOSER LOOK: Tom Kostrba's name wasn't in Montana State's 1976 football media guide, and by 1977 he'd left the program. But his fingerprints are all over the team's 1976 National Championship.
The junior from Troutdale, Oregon, earned playing time as the season went. He led the team with 1,083 rushing yards and 203 carries during the regular season, forming a two-headed tailback rotation with Don Ueland and helping fuel a ground game out of the team's option I attack with quarterback Paul Dennehy and fullback Delmar Jones.
It was the post-season, however, when Kostrba really kicked it into high gear. He rushed for 115 yards and one touchdown against New Hampshire, then gained 106 yards on 32 carries in frozen Fargo. Against Akron in the National Championship game, Kostrba plowed for 75 yards. His 32 carries against the Bison, and his 102.0 rushing average in three games remains a career record at MSU.
And then, just like that, he was gone. He left the Bobcat program before and finished his career at Western Montana College (now UM Western). He eventually returned to Bozeman and was a legendary middle school gym teacher for many years.
FROM TEAMMATE BUTCH DAMBERGER: "He ran with such wrecklessness. There was no fear with Tom, it was full speed all the time, and he didn't back down from anything. And he obviously had the talent to go with that. He had good speed, but he was a north-south guy. He could spin, keep his balance, didn't go down. He just refused to be tackled."
Tom Kostrba, TB, 1976
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1976
A CLOSER LOOK: Tom Kostrba's name wasn't in Montana State's 1976 football media guide, and by 1977 he'd left the program. But his fingerprints are all over the team's 1976 National Championship.
The junior from Troutdale, Oregon, earned playing time as the season went. He led the team with 1,083 rushing yards and 203 carries during the regular season, forming a two-headed tailback rotation with Don Ueland and helping fuel a ground game out of the team's option I attack with quarterback Paul Dennehy and fullback Delmar Jones.
It was the post-season, however, when Kostrba really kicked it into high gear. He rushed for 115 yards and one touchdown against New Hampshire, then gained 106 yards on 32 carries in frozen Fargo. Against Akron in the National Championship game, Kostrba plowed for 75 yards. His 32 carries against the Bison, and his 102.0 rushing average in three games remains a career record at MSU.
And then, just like that, he was gone. He left the Bobcat program before and finished his career at Western Montana College (now UM Western). He eventually returned to Bozeman and was a legendary middle school gym teacher for many years.
FROM TEAMMATE BUTCH DAMBERGER: "He ran with such wrecklessness. There was no fear with Tom, it was full speed all the time, and he didn't back down from anything. And he obviously had the talent to go with that. He had good speed, but he was a north-south guy. He could spin, keep his balance, didn't go down. He just refused to be tackled."
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