BOBCATS 125 - TOP 50: Elvis Akpla
7/15/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
In his only three seasons of Division I football, Elvis Akpla became Montana State's all-time leading receiver
We look at the 25 players that Bobcat fans and a blue ribbon panel of long-time MSU football observers ranked between 26th and 50th in the quest to determine the program's all-time players. In this segment of the countdown, players are listed alphabetically. You can find details here and a directory here.
Elvis Akpla, WR, 2009-11
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 3rd Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky in 2011
A CLOSER LOOK: Elvis Akpla came to Montana State with a dreaded, dreadful tag.
Track guy.
He left as the Bobcats' all-time leading receiving yards leader, with the second-most yards in a season in school history, and with one of the greatest catches anyone had ever seen. He channeled his considerable and endearing swagger into the team, and developed an admirable toughness. It's appropriate that Elvis Akpla kicks off the Top 50 portion of the Bobcats 125 countdown, because even with his considerable talent he made himself into an all-time MSU great.
A University of Oregon jumper in 2008 who desparately wanted the opportunity to play football, Akpla transferred to Montana State one season one season after his friend and former Ducks teammate Cody Kempt. Akpla had a very good first season at MSU, finishing third on the team with 27 catches and 380 yards. His three touchdown catches was tied for second on the squad. A drastic improvement in his second season playing college football - 43 catches, 682 yards, four touchdowns - caught no one by surprise, but it didn't even hint at his explosion as a senior.
Playing for a team that spent much of the season near the top of the FCS polls and produced a bushel basket full of honors in 2011, Akpla amazed. He caught 63 passes for 1,145 yards and 11 touchdowns. The receiving yards total remains second in Bobcat history, and he posted five 100-yard receiving games.
Akpla capped his Bobcat career in style, logging 100-yard receiving games in his final three games in the Blue and Gold (113 vs. UM, 105 in the home playoff win against New Hampshire, and 100 at Sam Houston State). It was that Sam Houston State game that pushed Akpla, however briefly, into the glaring lights of the national spotlight. On a second-and-nine early in the second quarter, quarterback DeNarius McGhee lofted a pass toward the Bobcat sideline. Akpla squared his shoulders to the ball and reached over and behind Bearkats' defensive back Dax Swanson. He raised the ball with both hands, but in an attempt to secure it pinned it with his right hand against his helmet, then maneuvered it behind his back with one hand as Swanson completed the tackle. Through the whole process he maintained possession of the ball, and kept it from touching SHSU's artificial turf field. The 40-yard catch landed Akpla No. 3 on that day's ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 Plays list.
Akpla finished his career as Montana State's all-time receiving yards leader (he was since passed by teammate Tanner Bleskin). He spent a short time in the NFL, worked as a successful high school football coach for several years, then entered private business.
It was a hell of a career in football, even if Elvis Akpla was once considered a 'track guy.'
FROM COLTER NUANEZ, SKYLINE SPORTS MT: ""My first full season covering Montana State football for the Bozeman Chronicle was Akpla's senior season in 2011. I remember watching him the entire summer leading up to that season and could not help but notice his desire to be great, but more importantly, his self-awareness and drive to recognize and cultivate that in himself. Not only was Akpla a supremely gifted athlete - the best combination of speed and explosiveness MSU has had at wide receiver over the last decade-plus — but he was also one of the most thoughtful, brilliant students that has been a part of Bobcat football in my time covering the program."
FROM TEAMMATE DeNARIUS McGHEE: "A highly intelligent and detailed individual that was explosive on the playing field. Elvis was a guy that was a decision-maker on the field, so you could give him two or three options on a given concept and he would make the right decision according to the quarterback's read."
Elvis Akpla, WR, 2009-11
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 3rd Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky in 2011
A CLOSER LOOK: Elvis Akpla came to Montana State with a dreaded, dreadful tag.
Track guy.
He left as the Bobcats' all-time leading receiving yards leader, with the second-most yards in a season in school history, and with one of the greatest catches anyone had ever seen. He channeled his considerable and endearing swagger into the team, and developed an admirable toughness. It's appropriate that Elvis Akpla kicks off the Top 50 portion of the Bobcats 125 countdown, because even with his considerable talent he made himself into an all-time MSU great.
A University of Oregon jumper in 2008 who desparately wanted the opportunity to play football, Akpla transferred to Montana State one season one season after his friend and former Ducks teammate Cody Kempt. Akpla had a very good first season at MSU, finishing third on the team with 27 catches and 380 yards. His three touchdown catches was tied for second on the squad. A drastic improvement in his second season playing college football - 43 catches, 682 yards, four touchdowns - caught no one by surprise, but it didn't even hint at his explosion as a senior.
Playing for a team that spent much of the season near the top of the FCS polls and produced a bushel basket full of honors in 2011, Akpla amazed. He caught 63 passes for 1,145 yards and 11 touchdowns. The receiving yards total remains second in Bobcat history, and he posted five 100-yard receiving games.
Akpla capped his Bobcat career in style, logging 100-yard receiving games in his final three games in the Blue and Gold (113 vs. UM, 105 in the home playoff win against New Hampshire, and 100 at Sam Houston State). It was that Sam Houston State game that pushed Akpla, however briefly, into the glaring lights of the national spotlight. On a second-and-nine early in the second quarter, quarterback DeNarius McGhee lofted a pass toward the Bobcat sideline. Akpla squared his shoulders to the ball and reached over and behind Bearkats' defensive back Dax Swanson. He raised the ball with both hands, but in an attempt to secure it pinned it with his right hand against his helmet, then maneuvered it behind his back with one hand as Swanson completed the tackle. Through the whole process he maintained possession of the ball, and kept it from touching SHSU's artificial turf field. The 40-yard catch landed Akpla No. 3 on that day's ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 Plays list.
Akpla finished his career as Montana State's all-time receiving yards leader (he was since passed by teammate Tanner Bleskin). He spent a short time in the NFL, worked as a successful high school football coach for several years, then entered private business.
It was a hell of a career in football, even if Elvis Akpla was once considered a 'track guy.'
FROM COLTER NUANEZ, SKYLINE SPORTS MT: ""My first full season covering Montana State football for the Bozeman Chronicle was Akpla's senior season in 2011. I remember watching him the entire summer leading up to that season and could not help but notice his desire to be great, but more importantly, his self-awareness and drive to recognize and cultivate that in himself. Not only was Akpla a supremely gifted athlete - the best combination of speed and explosiveness MSU has had at wide receiver over the last decade-plus — but he was also one of the most thoughtful, brilliant students that has been a part of Bobcat football in my time covering the program."
FROM TEAMMATE DeNARIUS McGHEE: "A highly intelligent and detailed individual that was explosive on the playing field. Elvis was a guy that was a decision-maker on the field, so you could give him two or three options on a given concept and he would make the right decision according to the quarterback's read."
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