ALL-TIME BOBCATS TOP 25: #22 Caleb Schreibeis
8/15/2022 5:14:00 PM | Football
Caleb Schreibeis played defensive end *and* closer for the Cats in 2012
Today we look at Caleb Schreibeis, who tied for 22nd on the list of all-time Bobcats as voted on by nearly 500 MSU fans. His senior season of 2012 was entirely dominant, although he doesn't get quite as much credit as he should for his outstanding play earlier in his career because of his surrounding cast.
Caleb Schreibeis, DE, 2009-12
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 2012 Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the FCS, Consensus 1st Team All-America and unanimous 1st Team All-Big Sky in 2012... Big Sky Player of the Week vs. UM
A CLOSER LOOK: Early in Montana State's 2009 game against South Dakota, after a touchdown pass from Cody Kempt to Everett Gilbert, Jason Cunningham kicked off to the Coyotes. On the return, team captain Joe Schreibeis, a senior tight end who also thrived on special teams, raced down the field to make the tackle. On the way to the ground, though, Schreibeis pulled the ball loose. And Schreibeis recovered it.
A different Schreibeis. Caleb Schreibeis.
Seven plays later, the Bobcats scored a touchdown to double the 7-0 lead. MSU eventually won a hard-fought game 31-24 in overtime.
That play stands even today as a brilliant microcosm of the careers of both men. From beginning to end they stayed humble, they played hard, and they made plays. Joe started for the Cats as a senior, catching 22 passes and earning the respect and admiration of everyone associated with MSU football.
Caleb became a Bobcat legend.
The headline highlight is that, after a stunning senior season in 2012, Caleb Schreibeis became the first Bobcat to win the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the FCS. He earned consensus 1st Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky honors, and also earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors following Montana State's win in Missoula for logging 16 tackles, registering a late-game sack that clinched the win, and recovering a fumble at the goal line to stop a Grizzly drive. One game later, in MSU's playoff win against Stony Brook, he closed the game and sealed the win with a sack.
Schreibeis had accomplished plenty as his historic senior season dawned, with 108 tackles, 17.5 for a loss, and 10.5 sacks in his sophomore and junior seasons combined. Yet, he had the misfortune - or great fortune - to play alongside some of the program's all-time great players in his first three seasons. His teammates included All-America defensive linemen Dane Fletcher, Dan Ogden, Zach Minter, and future All-America and Buchanan Award winner Brad Daly.
When Schreibeis busted out of the shadows as a senior, he really busted out. He logged six tackles and a half-sack against Chadron State, then recorded 1.5 tackles-for-loss, one sack, and a forced fumble in the road win at Drake. He recorded another sack and another forced fumble in week three against Stephen F. Austin, and in fact had at least part of one sack and tackle-for-loss in every game except the playoff loss to Sam Houston State. His eight forced fumbles was a school record not only for a season, but for a career.
But here's the capper: he was an amazing closer. His strip sacks against Stephen F. Austin and Stony Brook came on the final offensive plays of one-score games. He recorded a strip-sack on Southern Utah's second-to-last offensive play (SUU recovered, but Steven Bethley's pick on the next play ended the game), on UM's final drive, and against Sacramento State early in the fourth quarter.
It was a stunning run of dominance by a quiet kid who was a well-rounded person and brilliant student. And it ended at a banquet in Philadelphia when Schreibeis, the one-time walk-on, was named the best defensive player in the FCS.
FROM TEAMMATE DeNARIUS McGHEE: "Caleb was articulate in everything he did, as a speaker and as a player. His detail showed up in the weight room. There would be instances where I would see Caleb take one step and extend his hands in the weight room. He would do it over and over and over and over again. He was working on getting off the ball and extending his hands to set the edge in the run game. He would take that step over and over and over again, and that's why he had a Buck Buchanan Award season.
FROM FORMER BOBCAT ASSISTANT COACH KANE IOANE: "No one would have picked Caleb out of his recruiting class and said, 'This is going to be the best player in this recruiting class,' and however many years later he's one of the best players to ever play in the Big Sky Conference at his position. He is a tremendous person, had a tremendous work ethic on and off the field, and was a guy that got everything out of himself and because of that helped lead and grow this program. That's why in his time this program saw so much success, because of guys like Caleb and the mentality that he brought, the passion that he brought, and his ability to get everything out of himself and everything out of everyone around him."
FROM SKYLINE SPORTS MANAGING EDITOR AND ESPN MONTANA HOST COLTER NUANEZ: "Coming into fall camp in 2011, I remember hearing a story about the big, stiff kid from Billings West who was one of the guys who was fighting for his roster spot coming into spring, but who had made great strides coming into that fall.
"In the fall of 2011, Schreibeis looked every bit the part of a Big Sky player. It seemed crazy that he was told he should explore his Frontier Conference options the off-season before. But he also was just an above average defensive end at this level, nothing unforgettable....yet.
"Whatever Schreibeis figured out to give him more hip and waist bend helped accelerate his explosiveness and flexibility at an insane level. He want from fighting for a roster spot to full-time starter to, during his senior year in 2012, a one-man wrecking crew.
"Aside from Lance McCutcheon in 2021, Caleb Schreibeis had one of the most extraordinary, unpredictable senior seasons of any player I've covered and I"ve been covering the league since 2006. Schreibeis became the Big Sky's version of Robert Mathis, a strip sack aficionado who not only got home but also punched the ball out with great frequency.
"Not only did Schreibies have a knack for rushing the passer, his timing in making big plays was second to none. He had multiple sacks that turned into forced fumbles in the fourth quarter of games. He became MSU's Trevor Hoffman, a closer with no peer who helped seal a whole string of tight victories and capped his career with a third straight Big Sky title to go with the first Buck Buchanan Award in school history."
Caleb Schreibeis, DE, 2009-12
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 2012 Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the FCS, Consensus 1st Team All-America and unanimous 1st Team All-Big Sky in 2012... Big Sky Player of the Week vs. UM
A CLOSER LOOK: Early in Montana State's 2009 game against South Dakota, after a touchdown pass from Cody Kempt to Everett Gilbert, Jason Cunningham kicked off to the Coyotes. On the return, team captain Joe Schreibeis, a senior tight end who also thrived on special teams, raced down the field to make the tackle. On the way to the ground, though, Schreibeis pulled the ball loose. And Schreibeis recovered it.
A different Schreibeis. Caleb Schreibeis.
Seven plays later, the Bobcats scored a touchdown to double the 7-0 lead. MSU eventually won a hard-fought game 31-24 in overtime.
That play stands even today as a brilliant microcosm of the careers of both men. From beginning to end they stayed humble, they played hard, and they made plays. Joe started for the Cats as a senior, catching 22 passes and earning the respect and admiration of everyone associated with MSU football.
Caleb became a Bobcat legend.
The headline highlight is that, after a stunning senior season in 2012, Caleb Schreibeis became the first Bobcat to win the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the FCS. He earned consensus 1st Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky honors, and also earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors following Montana State's win in Missoula for logging 16 tackles, registering a late-game sack that clinched the win, and recovering a fumble at the goal line to stop a Grizzly drive. One game later, in MSU's playoff win against Stony Brook, he closed the game and sealed the win with a sack.
Schreibeis had accomplished plenty as his historic senior season dawned, with 108 tackles, 17.5 for a loss, and 10.5 sacks in his sophomore and junior seasons combined. Yet, he had the misfortune - or great fortune - to play alongside some of the program's all-time great players in his first three seasons. His teammates included All-America defensive linemen Dane Fletcher, Dan Ogden, Zach Minter, and future All-America and Buchanan Award winner Brad Daly.
When Schreibeis busted out of the shadows as a senior, he really busted out. He logged six tackles and a half-sack against Chadron State, then recorded 1.5 tackles-for-loss, one sack, and a forced fumble in the road win at Drake. He recorded another sack and another forced fumble in week three against Stephen F. Austin, and in fact had at least part of one sack and tackle-for-loss in every game except the playoff loss to Sam Houston State. His eight forced fumbles was a school record not only for a season, but for a career.
But here's the capper: he was an amazing closer. His strip sacks against Stephen F. Austin and Stony Brook came on the final offensive plays of one-score games. He recorded a strip-sack on Southern Utah's second-to-last offensive play (SUU recovered, but Steven Bethley's pick on the next play ended the game), on UM's final drive, and against Sacramento State early in the fourth quarter.
It was a stunning run of dominance by a quiet kid who was a well-rounded person and brilliant student. And it ended at a banquet in Philadelphia when Schreibeis, the one-time walk-on, was named the best defensive player in the FCS.
FROM TEAMMATE DeNARIUS McGHEE: "Caleb was articulate in everything he did, as a speaker and as a player. His detail showed up in the weight room. There would be instances where I would see Caleb take one step and extend his hands in the weight room. He would do it over and over and over and over again. He was working on getting off the ball and extending his hands to set the edge in the run game. He would take that step over and over and over again, and that's why he had a Buck Buchanan Award season.
FROM FORMER BOBCAT ASSISTANT COACH KANE IOANE: "No one would have picked Caleb out of his recruiting class and said, 'This is going to be the best player in this recruiting class,' and however many years later he's one of the best players to ever play in the Big Sky Conference at his position. He is a tremendous person, had a tremendous work ethic on and off the field, and was a guy that got everything out of himself and because of that helped lead and grow this program. That's why in his time this program saw so much success, because of guys like Caleb and the mentality that he brought, the passion that he brought, and his ability to get everything out of himself and everything out of everyone around him."
FROM SKYLINE SPORTS MANAGING EDITOR AND ESPN MONTANA HOST COLTER NUANEZ: "Coming into fall camp in 2011, I remember hearing a story about the big, stiff kid from Billings West who was one of the guys who was fighting for his roster spot coming into spring, but who had made great strides coming into that fall.
"In the fall of 2011, Schreibeis looked every bit the part of a Big Sky player. It seemed crazy that he was told he should explore his Frontier Conference options the off-season before. But he also was just an above average defensive end at this level, nothing unforgettable....yet.
"Whatever Schreibeis figured out to give him more hip and waist bend helped accelerate his explosiveness and flexibility at an insane level. He want from fighting for a roster spot to full-time starter to, during his senior year in 2012, a one-man wrecking crew.
"Aside from Lance McCutcheon in 2021, Caleb Schreibeis had one of the most extraordinary, unpredictable senior seasons of any player I've covered and I"ve been covering the league since 2006. Schreibeis became the Big Sky's version of Robert Mathis, a strip sack aficionado who not only got home but also punched the ball out with great frequency.
"Not only did Schreibies have a knack for rushing the passer, his timing in making big plays was second to none. He had multiple sacks that turned into forced fumbles in the fourth quarter of games. He became MSU's Trevor Hoffman, a closer with no peer who helped seal a whole string of tight victories and capped his career with a third straight Big Sky title to go with the first Buck Buchanan Award in school history."
Players Mentioned
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