ALL-TIME BOBCATS TOP 25: #21 Kelly Bradley
8/17/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
Montana State's all-time gunslinger led the Cats to immortality
Today we look at the quarterback who led Montana State to a 1984 National Championship and occupied the top of the program's passing records lists for two decades...
Kelly Bradley, QB, 1983-86
ALL-TIME TEAM: 2000 Billings Gazette All-Time Team
HONORS: Big Sky Offensive MVP in 1984, 3rd Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1984
A CLOSER LOOK: Kelly Bradley was something of an unknown outside the confines of the Bobcat football offices as the 1984 Big Sky football season approached, but there was a pretty good feeling inside the program.
That feeling was based on a strong freshman season, when he threw for 412 yards on 41-for-85 passing with two games started. It was based on the composure and demeanor he had shown in his initial season. And it was proved decisively correct.
After splitting a pair of non-conference games (Bradley threw for 399 yards in a loss to Eastern Washington), the sophomore from Zumbrota, Minnesota broke out with 349 yards and three touchdowns in a league win at Idaho. The Cats stumbled a week later against Idaho State at home, and passed the quarter pole averaging 430 yards, 21 points and five turnovers lost per game. September had been underwhelming.
But a sea change was coming, and Bradley was the eye of the hurricane.
The offense benefited from a spectacular special teams showing in Ogden, and then the Cats won one of those games that teams always seem to on its way to a great season. Bradley's 13-yard touchdown pass to David Pandt in the fourth overtime sealed a 44-41 home win over Nevada. Bradley threw for 342 yards in the truly amazing win.
That victory opened the floodgates. The Bobcats whipped Portland State in a non-league home game, then nipped Boise State at home. With wins over Nevada and BSU the Bobcats had signature victories in their hip pocket. They also had wins over the teams that would finish second and tied for third. All of a sudden, the path to the Big Sky Championship was visible.
That's what made the next game all the more special. Bradley and the Bobcats marched into Dornblaser Stadium and whipped the Grizzlies 34-24. The sophomore gunslinger threw for 379 yards (an incredible mathematical achievement given that he also threw five interceptions), and MSU punted only twice. Joe Bignell caught 13 passes for 179 yards, and the Cats outscored UM 22-0 in the second half to turn a potential upset into a runaway.
The regular season ended in Fresno, California, against a Bulldogs team led by former Bobcat head coach Jim Sweeney and future head coach, then FSU's defensive coordinator, Cliff Hysell. Fresno State led 24-7 late in the third quarter. and Bradley had thrown for 194 yards when he and the MSU offense jogged onto the field with 16 minutes and six seconds remaining. And then...
Bradley led a 60-yard scoring drive, the defense got a three-and-out, and Bradley found Pandt for a short touchdown. MSU trailed 24-21, and even after the Bulldogs answered with a touchdown the game was still within reach. Bradley completed seven of eight passes and drew two pass interference calls, Jesse Jones plunged in from one yard out, and again MSU was within three, 31-28.
The teams traded punts, and then Bradley took over with 66 seconds and 73 yards in front of him. The drive started with a 23-yard completion, then on third-and-10 a 19-yard toss to Tommy White. Brent Bateman caught a pass at the 20, and with 33 seconds remaining Bradley found Bignell over the middle, and the All-America tight end carried tacklers with him across the goal line. Montana State led, and the Bobcats would win the game to push them into a playoff by and prime position for a national championship run.
The playoff run was magical, and Bradley was brilliant. In three games he threw for 969 yards, tossed touchdowns (against six interceptions), and completed 55% of his passes. He threw two touchdown passes and led the team to two field goals before Louisiana Tech found the end zone in the game's final minute of the national championship win. The 19-6 win was thorough. The defense dominated, the offense was efficient, and Montana State won its third national crown.
Bradley logged a season for the ages. The school's first Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year threw for 4,477 yards and 38 touchdowns over the course of the regular season and playoffs. He broke or tied 25 school, eight Big Sky and three NCAA Division I-AA playoff records.
In the sixth game of the 1985 season, when Bradley was a junior, he injured his elbow. The team had lost four of its five games to that point, and the team's only win the rest of the way was a 41-18 thrashing of the Grizzlies in Bozeman. Bradley returned for his senior season, but things never clicked quite the same. He threw for 2,431 yards on 222-for-382 passing, with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. In his amazing career he threw for 8,152 regular season yards and 60 touchdowns (969 more yards and eight more touchdowns in the playoffs, which the NCAA didn't recognize in a player's official stats at the time). His 1984 season remains the greatest in school history both by passing statistics and by sheer accomplishment.
To a generation of Bobcat fans Kelly Bradley will always be the gold standard of MSU quarterbacks, and he will remain a Montana State legend for as long as football is played in Bozeman.
FROM FORMER BOBCAT ASSISTANT COACH DAN DAVIES: "Kelly was a fierce competitor and a great leader. He made his teammates better. He loved the big moments and was one of the best two-minute quarterbacks I've been around. He had a great arm, but except for an unfortunate injury his junior year he might have had a legitimate shot at a post-college opportunity if he'd been totally healthy."
FROM FORMER BOBCAT ASSISTANT AND HEAD COACH MIKE KRAMER: "A national champion, record-setting quarterback at a time in the Big Sky when every team had a great one. He beat the Grizzlies three times and would have flourished mightily in today's uptempo, go-fast offenses. He was brainy, and like all great ones he was humble, confident, grotesquely competitive, cool under pressure. He probably has more come-from-behind wins than any bobcat quarterback. He's from small-town Minnesota and was an all-around athlete who was lightly recruited. He had a classic over-the-top throwing motion and was very accurate, precise. He played behind some truly dreadful offensive lines and played hurt on occasion. He had a methodical, quick release, stayed within the context of the play, rose above the tumult of '83 to become one of the nation's elite quarterbacks in 1984. He was great academically, is a successful businessman, son, father, husband, and loyal Bobcat!"
FROM FORMER VOICE OF THE CATS DEAN ALEXANDER: "Cool, confident... he was great under pressure, had a big league arm and all the qualities of a winner. He never wavered under fire.
Kelly was a solid leader who would best be described as :money." He was "big time" all the time."
Kelly Bradley, QB, 1983-86
ALL-TIME TEAM: 2000 Billings Gazette All-Time Team
HONORS: Big Sky Offensive MVP in 1984, 3rd Team All-America and 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1984
A CLOSER LOOK: Kelly Bradley was something of an unknown outside the confines of the Bobcat football offices as the 1984 Big Sky football season approached, but there was a pretty good feeling inside the program.
That feeling was based on a strong freshman season, when he threw for 412 yards on 41-for-85 passing with two games started. It was based on the composure and demeanor he had shown in his initial season. And it was proved decisively correct.
After splitting a pair of non-conference games (Bradley threw for 399 yards in a loss to Eastern Washington), the sophomore from Zumbrota, Minnesota broke out with 349 yards and three touchdowns in a league win at Idaho. The Cats stumbled a week later against Idaho State at home, and passed the quarter pole averaging 430 yards, 21 points and five turnovers lost per game. September had been underwhelming.
But a sea change was coming, and Bradley was the eye of the hurricane.
The offense benefited from a spectacular special teams showing in Ogden, and then the Cats won one of those games that teams always seem to on its way to a great season. Bradley's 13-yard touchdown pass to David Pandt in the fourth overtime sealed a 44-41 home win over Nevada. Bradley threw for 342 yards in the truly amazing win.
That victory opened the floodgates. The Bobcats whipped Portland State in a non-league home game, then nipped Boise State at home. With wins over Nevada and BSU the Bobcats had signature victories in their hip pocket. They also had wins over the teams that would finish second and tied for third. All of a sudden, the path to the Big Sky Championship was visible.
That's what made the next game all the more special. Bradley and the Bobcats marched into Dornblaser Stadium and whipped the Grizzlies 34-24. The sophomore gunslinger threw for 379 yards (an incredible mathematical achievement given that he also threw five interceptions), and MSU punted only twice. Joe Bignell caught 13 passes for 179 yards, and the Cats outscored UM 22-0 in the second half to turn a potential upset into a runaway.
The regular season ended in Fresno, California, against a Bulldogs team led by former Bobcat head coach Jim Sweeney and future head coach, then FSU's defensive coordinator, Cliff Hysell. Fresno State led 24-7 late in the third quarter. and Bradley had thrown for 194 yards when he and the MSU offense jogged onto the field with 16 minutes and six seconds remaining. And then...
Bradley led a 60-yard scoring drive, the defense got a three-and-out, and Bradley found Pandt for a short touchdown. MSU trailed 24-21, and even after the Bulldogs answered with a touchdown the game was still within reach. Bradley completed seven of eight passes and drew two pass interference calls, Jesse Jones plunged in from one yard out, and again MSU was within three, 31-28.
The teams traded punts, and then Bradley took over with 66 seconds and 73 yards in front of him. The drive started with a 23-yard completion, then on third-and-10 a 19-yard toss to Tommy White. Brent Bateman caught a pass at the 20, and with 33 seconds remaining Bradley found Bignell over the middle, and the All-America tight end carried tacklers with him across the goal line. Montana State led, and the Bobcats would win the game to push them into a playoff by and prime position for a national championship run.
The playoff run was magical, and Bradley was brilliant. In three games he threw for 969 yards, tossed touchdowns (against six interceptions), and completed 55% of his passes. He threw two touchdown passes and led the team to two field goals before Louisiana Tech found the end zone in the game's final minute of the national championship win. The 19-6 win was thorough. The defense dominated, the offense was efficient, and Montana State won its third national crown.
Bradley logged a season for the ages. The school's first Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year threw for 4,477 yards and 38 touchdowns over the course of the regular season and playoffs. He broke or tied 25 school, eight Big Sky and three NCAA Division I-AA playoff records.
In the sixth game of the 1985 season, when Bradley was a junior, he injured his elbow. The team had lost four of its five games to that point, and the team's only win the rest of the way was a 41-18 thrashing of the Grizzlies in Bozeman. Bradley returned for his senior season, but things never clicked quite the same. He threw for 2,431 yards on 222-for-382 passing, with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. In his amazing career he threw for 8,152 regular season yards and 60 touchdowns (969 more yards and eight more touchdowns in the playoffs, which the NCAA didn't recognize in a player's official stats at the time). His 1984 season remains the greatest in school history both by passing statistics and by sheer accomplishment.
To a generation of Bobcat fans Kelly Bradley will always be the gold standard of MSU quarterbacks, and he will remain a Montana State legend for as long as football is played in Bozeman.
FROM FORMER BOBCAT ASSISTANT COACH DAN DAVIES: "Kelly was a fierce competitor and a great leader. He made his teammates better. He loved the big moments and was one of the best two-minute quarterbacks I've been around. He had a great arm, but except for an unfortunate injury his junior year he might have had a legitimate shot at a post-college opportunity if he'd been totally healthy."
FROM FORMER BOBCAT ASSISTANT AND HEAD COACH MIKE KRAMER: "A national champion, record-setting quarterback at a time in the Big Sky when every team had a great one. He beat the Grizzlies three times and would have flourished mightily in today's uptempo, go-fast offenses. He was brainy, and like all great ones he was humble, confident, grotesquely competitive, cool under pressure. He probably has more come-from-behind wins than any bobcat quarterback. He's from small-town Minnesota and was an all-around athlete who was lightly recruited. He had a classic over-the-top throwing motion and was very accurate, precise. He played behind some truly dreadful offensive lines and played hurt on occasion. He had a methodical, quick release, stayed within the context of the play, rose above the tumult of '83 to become one of the nation's elite quarterbacks in 1984. He was great academically, is a successful businessman, son, father, husband, and loyal Bobcat!"
FROM FORMER VOICE OF THE CATS DEAN ALEXANDER: "Cool, confident... he was great under pressure, had a big league arm and all the qualities of a winner. He never wavered under fire.
Kelly was a solid leader who would best be described as :money." He was "big time" all the time."
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