BOBCATS 125 - TOP 50: Jon Borchardt
7/19/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
Montana State's run of success from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s featured dominant offensive tackles, and Jon Borchardt is high on the list
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.
Jon Borchardt, OT, 1975-78
ALL-TIME TEAM: 2000 Billings Gazette All-Time Team
HONORS: 1st Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1978, 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1977, 2nd Team All-Big Sky in 1976
A CLOSER LOOK: The staple of Montana State's offense in the 1960s and 1970s was ground and pound, a running game that brutalized opponents and led to seven Big Sky titles, two bowl games and a national championship over 16 years. Those offenses took on many different looks, but the one constant was top-shelf offensive linemen. And Jon Borchardt was at the top of that list.
Borchardt moved into MSU's starting lineup during the fifth game of his freshman season and never left. Along with Delmar Jones' transition to fullback, Borchardt slotting into the O-line was an in-season move that boosted Montana State's offense from good to championship-caliber.
The Bobcats rushed for 281.1 yards a game in 1976, averaging 24.6 points a game. In an era dominated by defense and the ground game, MSU rushed for more than 240 yards and scored more than 20 points a game in each of Borchardt's season as a starting MSU tackle. And the Cats won a lot of football games, as well, a 28-10 in games Borchardt started.
FROM TEAMMATE BUTCH DAMBERGER: "I lined up right next to Jon, so I know how great a player he was. We did a lot of double-teaming, and all I had to do was keep (the lineman) from spinning out the back side, he did most of it himself. He was so talented. Jon was an all-time great."
FROM LEGENDARY BOBCAT ATHLETIC TRAINER CHUCK KARNOP: "He was a really serious, unbelievably smart, student. According to (former Fresno State head coach) Jim Sweeney he should have had a master's degree in holding, but Borchardt was going to figure out how to get it done and his football intelligence as well as his academic intelligence were high, and he was a no nonsense guy.
"He studied molecular biology, he was going to be a doctor. He didn't want to talk about girls and cars and what was going on at the SUB. He was way above that. He wanted to talk about the academic stuff."
Jon Borchardt, OT, 1975-78
ALL-TIME TEAM: 2000 Billings Gazette All-Time Team
HONORS: 1st Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1978, 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1977, 2nd Team All-Big Sky in 1976
A CLOSER LOOK: The staple of Montana State's offense in the 1960s and 1970s was ground and pound, a running game that brutalized opponents and led to seven Big Sky titles, two bowl games and a national championship over 16 years. Those offenses took on many different looks, but the one constant was top-shelf offensive linemen. And Jon Borchardt was at the top of that list.
Borchardt moved into MSU's starting lineup during the fifth game of his freshman season and never left. Along with Delmar Jones' transition to fullback, Borchardt slotting into the O-line was an in-season move that boosted Montana State's offense from good to championship-caliber.
The Bobcats rushed for 281.1 yards a game in 1976, averaging 24.6 points a game. In an era dominated by defense and the ground game, MSU rushed for more than 240 yards and scored more than 20 points a game in each of Borchardt's season as a starting MSU tackle. And the Cats won a lot of football games, as well, a 28-10 in games Borchardt started.
FROM TEAMMATE BUTCH DAMBERGER: "I lined up right next to Jon, so I know how great a player he was. We did a lot of double-teaming, and all I had to do was keep (the lineman) from spinning out the back side, he did most of it himself. He was so talented. Jon was an all-time great."
FROM LEGENDARY BOBCAT ATHLETIC TRAINER CHUCK KARNOP: "He was a really serious, unbelievably smart, student. According to (former Fresno State head coach) Jim Sweeney he should have had a master's degree in holding, but Borchardt was going to figure out how to get it done and his football intelligence as well as his academic intelligence were high, and he was a no nonsense guy.
"He studied molecular biology, he was going to be a doctor. He didn't want to talk about girls and cars and what was going on at the SUB. He was way above that. He wanted to talk about the academic stuff."
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