BOBCATS 125: Pat Bolton
7/5/2022 2:27:00 PM | Football
Pat Bolton remains one of the best in a long line of Bobcat kickers
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.
Pat Bolton, K, 1972-75
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1974 and 1975
A CLOSER LOOK: Montana State has enjoyed a fair number of excellent kickers, including the only Pro Football Hall of the Famer ever to call the Big Sky Conference home. Pat Bolton was among the very best. He converted 57% of his field goals, the best rate in MSU history through the end of his career in 1975, and his 44 kicks made was also a school record then. He made three of longer than 50 yards, an impressive feat in any era and still second-most in school history, and at one point in 1975 he made six straight. A conventional-style kicker, Bolton scored 234 points for the Bobcats, a record that that stood until 2011 and which remains third in Bobcat annals, second among kickers. He scored 79 points in 1973, second in the nation among kickers, and in the first game in Reno H. Sales (now Bobcat) Stadium history that fall he made all four of his field goal tries and all five of his PATs.
FROM TEAMMATE JOE JOHNSON: "Pat was a very accurate kicker. It was nice to have him on our team because when we got close to the end zone we knew we would get points. I enjoyed playing with him as our kicker very much because after every short snap back to Bryan Flaig, who was our holder while I was the (long snapper), he would always say thank you for the good snap."
Pat Bolton, K, 1972-75
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1974 and 1975
A CLOSER LOOK: Montana State has enjoyed a fair number of excellent kickers, including the only Pro Football Hall of the Famer ever to call the Big Sky Conference home. Pat Bolton was among the very best. He converted 57% of his field goals, the best rate in MSU history through the end of his career in 1975, and his 44 kicks made was also a school record then. He made three of longer than 50 yards, an impressive feat in any era and still second-most in school history, and at one point in 1975 he made six straight. A conventional-style kicker, Bolton scored 234 points for the Bobcats, a record that that stood until 2011 and which remains third in Bobcat annals, second among kickers. He scored 79 points in 1973, second in the nation among kickers, and in the first game in Reno H. Sales (now Bobcat) Stadium history that fall he made all four of his field goal tries and all five of his PATs.
FROM TEAMMATE JOE JOHNSON: "Pat was a very accurate kicker. It was nice to have him on our team because when we got close to the end zone we knew we would get points. I enjoyed playing with him as our kicker very much because after every short snap back to Bryan Flaig, who was our holder while I was the (long snapper), he would always say thank you for the good snap."
Leon Costello Press Conference: Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center
Thursday, July 31
A Conversation with President Dr. Waded Cruzado | Montana State Athletics
Monday, May 19
Big Cats, Little Trucks - Willie Patterson
Wednesday, May 03
Matt Houk Introductory Press Conference
Wednesday, May 03
