BOBCATS 150 - TOP 50: Steve Kracher
7/30/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
Steve Kracher was hard to tackle, and his record rushing numbers vouched for that
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.
Steve Kracher, RB, 1972-75
ALL-TIME TEAM: 2000 Billings Gazette All-Time Team
HONORS: 1st Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1975, 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1974
A CLOSER LOOK: There are a lot of things that are knowable about Steve Kracher's career at Montana State.
He rushed for 2,979 yards in the Blue and Gold, the most in Bobcat history until 2002 and remains the third-most in school history. He did that with the ninth-mst carries in school history and without having a top 10 single-season total in MSU annals. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry in his career, second-most by any Bobcat.
But there's one thing that's hard to understand from a contemporary perspective: Kracher's famed dead-leg.
"When you'd try to tackle him he'd give you the dead leg," so many teammates and observers say about his running style. And it's hard to understand what that means, so here's how teammate Rick Vancleeve - a scout team member as a freshman during Kracher's senior season - describes it. "You go to tackle him and that leg is there, then when you hit him it's like it's not."
Known for a combination of speed and balance early in his career, Kracher overcame some obstacles early in his days as a Bobcat. For one thing, fumbles. "Cliff Hysell was a defensive coach, but he pulled me aside and showed me (the proper ball-carrying technique). And I never had a problem again," Kracher once said. Opportunity posed another problem, as Wayne Edwards (839 yards in 1972) and Don Bagley (498 yards) each entered the 1973 season, Kracher's sophomore campaign, entrenched as tailback mainstays. In 1973, Montana State's best offensive season in history to that point, all three tailbacks played tremendous football. Edwards gained 894 yards, Bagley 591, and Kracher 468. As a junior in 1974, though, Kracher broke out. He gained 1,034 yards, while seniors Edwards (422) and Bagley (216) also chipped in.
As a senior, Kracher was even better. He gained 1,387 yards in 10 games still fourth-most in MSU history). In spite of Kracher's amazing work, the Cats struggled to a 5-5 season in 1975. He finished his career that fall with 2,979 career yards, a Bobcat record that stood for nearly two decades.
FROM LEGENDARY ATHLETIC TRAINER CHUCK KARNOP: "You'd go to hit him and there's nothing there, never any weight on that leg. He just never, ever, got hit very hard. And for his ability to run it (inside), Steve Kracher was the opposite of (some other running backs). He knew where the ground was. There were a million guys going to jump around, and not Steve. He knew when to get down. He was so fluid. Like so many running backs could make a ton of moves, but he seldom put his shoulder down. If he saw a linebacker he would move away from him, whereas other guys would seek the contact."
FROM TEAMMATE JOE JOHNSON: "Steve Kracher was a remarkable player, and I just loved being out on the field and being an offensive lineman when Steve was playing running back. If he got a little bit of a hole, he was through it. I can't ever remember just one person tackling him. He'd give somebody the dead leg and they'd slide right down it. He was so hard to tackle."
FROM TEAMMATE RICK VANCLEEVE: "He was one of the toughest guys in the world, and one of the nicest guys in the world. I remember Coach Holland one day said, 'We've never done this before but you notice that Steve's not in meetings today. We're not going to hit Kracher in practice any more.' Everything was pretty much live in practice then, and there was no (pushback) or anything. There was so much respect for him, he went so hard and he was always beat up, so that's the way it was going to be."
Steve Kracher, RB, 1972-75
ALL-TIME TEAM: 2000 Billings Gazette All-Time Team
HONORS: 1st Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1975, 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1974
A CLOSER LOOK: There are a lot of things that are knowable about Steve Kracher's career at Montana State.
He rushed for 2,979 yards in the Blue and Gold, the most in Bobcat history until 2002 and remains the third-most in school history. He did that with the ninth-mst carries in school history and without having a top 10 single-season total in MSU annals. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry in his career, second-most by any Bobcat.
But there's one thing that's hard to understand from a contemporary perspective: Kracher's famed dead-leg.
"When you'd try to tackle him he'd give you the dead leg," so many teammates and observers say about his running style. And it's hard to understand what that means, so here's how teammate Rick Vancleeve - a scout team member as a freshman during Kracher's senior season - describes it. "You go to tackle him and that leg is there, then when you hit him it's like it's not."
Known for a combination of speed and balance early in his career, Kracher overcame some obstacles early in his days as a Bobcat. For one thing, fumbles. "Cliff Hysell was a defensive coach, but he pulled me aside and showed me (the proper ball-carrying technique). And I never had a problem again," Kracher once said. Opportunity posed another problem, as Wayne Edwards (839 yards in 1972) and Don Bagley (498 yards) each entered the 1973 season, Kracher's sophomore campaign, entrenched as tailback mainstays. In 1973, Montana State's best offensive season in history to that point, all three tailbacks played tremendous football. Edwards gained 894 yards, Bagley 591, and Kracher 468. As a junior in 1974, though, Kracher broke out. He gained 1,034 yards, while seniors Edwards (422) and Bagley (216) also chipped in.
As a senior, Kracher was even better. He gained 1,387 yards in 10 games still fourth-most in MSU history). In spite of Kracher's amazing work, the Cats struggled to a 5-5 season in 1975. He finished his career that fall with 2,979 career yards, a Bobcat record that stood for nearly two decades.
FROM LEGENDARY ATHLETIC TRAINER CHUCK KARNOP: "You'd go to hit him and there's nothing there, never any weight on that leg. He just never, ever, got hit very hard. And for his ability to run it (inside), Steve Kracher was the opposite of (some other running backs). He knew where the ground was. There were a million guys going to jump around, and not Steve. He knew when to get down. He was so fluid. Like so many running backs could make a ton of moves, but he seldom put his shoulder down. If he saw a linebacker he would move away from him, whereas other guys would seek the contact."
FROM TEAMMATE JOE JOHNSON: "Steve Kracher was a remarkable player, and I just loved being out on the field and being an offensive lineman when Steve was playing running back. If he got a little bit of a hole, he was through it. I can't ever remember just one person tackling him. He'd give somebody the dead leg and they'd slide right down it. He was so hard to tackle."
FROM TEAMMATE RICK VANCLEEVE: "He was one of the toughest guys in the world, and one of the nicest guys in the world. I remember Coach Holland one day said, 'We've never done this before but you notice that Steve's not in meetings today. We're not going to hit Kracher in practice any more.' Everything was pretty much live in practice then, and there was no (pushback) or anything. There was so much respect for him, he went so hard and he was always beat up, so that's the way it was going to be."
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