Bobcat Press Box
Official Blog of the Bobcats
Rob Ash Has a Special (Teams) Feeling
August 23, 2012 – Brad Daly fidgeted anxiously, undoubtedly belying some nervousness. Then while the rest of the Bobcat football team hooted and hollered during a kicking competition between the MSU kickers vying to handle placements during the team's season opener on August 30, Daly took his approach and swung his leg.
The ball boomed off his leg. With hoots of approval from Brian Bignell and Cody Kirk, it sailed in a generaly northward direction, and split the Bobcat Stadium uprights.
From 55 yards out.
And to prove that it wasn't a fluke, he made another long kick to cap the competition, to chants of "Da-lee, Da-lee" from his teammates.
"His operation time was terrible," Bobcat coach Rob Ash said, accurately but with tongue-in-cheek, when asked about his star defensive end's future kicking the swineskin instead of chasing it. Daly may have had a hitch in his approach and may not have looked as smooth as those for whom kicking is their livelihood, but he was booming the ball.
Daly didn't kick in high school. "I played soccer until I was 12," he said in trying to explain the phenomena of his kicking, clearly failing to acknowledge the fact that many, many people who can't kick a football 50 yards play soccer until they're 12.
Everyone who watched Daly's exhibition nodded knowingly to themselves, and said in hushed tones, "Zach Minter." A couple of years back, in 2009, a flu epidemic swept through the Bobcat team, wiping out - among other things - MSU's kicking game. Minter, now an All-America defensive lineman for the Cats, was forced into action as the kickoff man for a time that day. At the very least, Daly's presence as a kicker would allow the Bobcats to avoid a repeat viewing of that.
Bobcat First Take: Balanced League, Unbalanced Schedule
July 18, 2012 – The rush from college football's first wave - conference media days, preseason polls, early-look All-America teams - is undeniable. Fans of the college gridirion wait patiently from the last days of spring drills to the sweltering days of fall camp, any news coming as a welcome respite from the long off-season.
So the Big Sky's preseason poll generated plenty of fodder newspaper columns and message board posts... but what does it all mean? Or more to the point, how does one begin to make sense of a 13-team league in which every school misses four other league entries every season.
Here is one simplistic, un-scientific way to look at things: a strength of schedule ranking based on preseason predicitions. The methodology will undoubtedly make people of science cringe, but it will serve our purposes. Assign each opponent on a team's schedule the ranking gained in the Big Sky preseason media poll, add those up, and divide by eight (the number of league opponents for each team. Rank the schools based on the number, with the lowest numbers indicating the most difficult schedule.
This exercise delivers a couple of surprises. Using this process, Southern Utah faces the most difficult conference schedule in 2012, with Northern Colorado close behind. The Bobcats' schedule is right in the middle of the pack (just ahead of UM), while Weber State and Cal Poly claim - by this method - the league's easiest conference schedules.
Here is how it looks, hardest to easiest...
1. SUU, 5.25
2. UNC, 5.88
3. EWU, 6.25
3. UCD, 6.25
5. UND, 6.38
6. SAC, 6.90
7. MSU, 7.13
8. UM, 7.38
9. PSU, 7.63
10. NAU, 7.75
10. ISU, 7.75
12. WSU, 8.00
13. CP, 9.25
A few random thoughts...
* North Dakota faces each of the top three schools in the preseason poll, hosting Montana and visiting MSU and Eastern Washington
* Southern Utah goes UND one better, facing each of the top four schools in the preseason poll - the Thunderbirds host MSU and Eastern Washington, visiting Montana and Portland State
* Weber State faces the four schools picked at the bottom of the league standings, but three of those games are on the road (at Sac State, UC Davis, and Idaho State)
* Cal Poly doesn't play any of the preseason poll's top three teams (MSU, EWU, UM), and hosts Portland State (fourth)
* In the Big Sky's new "two-rival" system, Montana State doesn't face either Weber State (a fellow Big Sky charter member) or Idaho State (which the Bobcats have faced every year since World War II)
* Weber State's most difficult conference road game, per the preseason poll, is at Southern Utah (which was selected eighth), while Cal Poly's most difficult league road game is against North Dakota, picked one spot ahead of SUU
* This year's Big Sky schedule features three games in which two league foes play non-conference games: Cal Poly at Eastern Washington, Portland State at North Dakota, and Northern Colorado at Sacramento State.
Bobcat First Take: Balanced League, Unbalanced Schedule
July 18, 2012 – The rush from college football's first wave - conference media days, preseason polls, early-look All-America teams - is undeniable. Fans of the college gridirion wait patiently from the last days of spring drills to the sweltering days of fall camp, any news coming as a welcome respite from the long off-season.
So the Big Sky's preseason poll generated plenty of fodder newspaper columns and message board posts... but what does it all mean? Or more to the point, how does one begin to make sense of a 13-team league in which every school misses four other league entries every season.
Here is one simplistic, un-scientific way to look at things: a strength of schedule ranking based on preseason predicitions. The methodology will undoubtedly make people of science cringe, but it will serve our purposes. Assign each opponent on a team's schedule the ranking gained in the Big Sky preseason media poll, add those up, and divide by eight (the number of league opponents for each team. Rank the schools based on the number, with the lowest numbers indicating the most difficult schedule.
This exercise delivers a couple of surprises. Using this process, Southern Utah faces the most difficult conference schedule in 2012, with Northern Colorado close behind. The Bobcats' schedule is right in the middle of the pack (just ahead of UM), while Weber State and Cal Poly claim - by this method - the league's easiest conference schedules.
Here is how it looks, hardest to easiest...
1. SUU, 5.25
2. UNC, 5.88
3. EWU, 6.25
3. UCD, 6.25
5. UND, 6.38
6. SAC, 6.90
7. MSU, 7.13
8. UM, 7.38
9. PSU, 7.63
10. NAU, 7.75
10. ISU, 7.75
12. WSU, 8.00
13. CP, 9.25
A few random thoughts...
* North Dakota faces each of the top three schools in the preseason poll, hosting Montana and visiting MSU and Eastern Washington
* Southern Utah goes UND one better, facing each of the top four schools in the preseason poll - the Thunderbirds host MSU and Eastern Washington, visiting Montana and Portland State
* Weber State faces the four schools picked at the bottom of the league standings, but three of those games are on the road (at Sac State, UC Davis, and Idaho State)
* Cal Poly doesn't play any of the preseason poll's top three teams (MSU, EWU, UM), and hosts Portland State (fourth)
* In the Big Sky's new "two-rival" system, Montana State doesn't face either Weber State (a fellow Big Sky charter member) or Idaho State (which the Bobcats have faced every year since World War II)
* Weber State's most difficult conference road game, per the preseason poll, is at Southern Utah (which was selected eighth), while Cal Poly's most difficult league road game is against North Dakota, picked one spot ahead of SUU
* This year's Big Sky schedule features three games in which two league foes play non-conference games: Cal Poly at Eastern Washington, Portland State at North Dakota, and Northern Colorado at Sacramento State.
August 23, 2012 – Brad Daly fidgeted anxiously, undoubtedly belying some nervousness. Then while the rest of the Bobcat football team hooted and hollered during a kicking competition between the MSU kickers vying to handle placements during the team's season opener on August 30, Daly took his approach and swung his leg.
The ball boomed off his leg. With hoots of approval from Brian Bignell and Cody Kirk, it sailed in a generaly northward direction, and split the Bobcat Stadium uprights.From 55 yards out.
And to prove that it wasn't a fluke, he made another long kick to cap the competition, to chants of "Da-lee, Da-lee" from his teammates.
"His operation time was terrible," Bobcat coach Rob Ash said, accurately but with tongue-in-cheek, when asked about his star defensive end's future kicking the swineskin instead of chasing it. Daly may have had a hitch in his approach and may not have looked as smooth as those for whom kicking is their livelihood, but he was booming the ball.
Daly didn't kick in high school. "I played soccer until I was 12," he said in trying to explain the phenomena of his kicking, clearly failing to acknowledge the fact that many, many people who can't kick a football 50 yards play soccer until they're 12.
Everyone who watched Daly's exhibition nodded knowingly to themselves, and said in hushed tones, "Zach Minter." A couple of years back, in 2009, a flu epidemic swept through the Bobcat team, wiping out - among other things - MSU's kicking game. Minter, now an All-America defensive lineman for the Cats, was forced into action as the kickoff man for a time that day. At the very least, Daly's presence as a kicker would allow the Bobcats to avoid a repeat viewing of that.
Bobcat First Take: Balanced League, Unbalanced Schedule
July 18, 2012 – The rush from college football's first wave - conference media days, preseason polls, early-look All-America teams - is undeniable. Fans of the college gridirion wait patiently from the last days of spring drills to the sweltering days of fall camp, any news coming as a welcome respite from the long off-season.
So the Big Sky's preseason poll generated plenty of fodder newspaper columns and message board posts... but what does it all mean? Or more to the point, how does one begin to make sense of a 13-team league in which every school misses four other league entries every season.
Here is one simplistic, un-scientific way to look at things: a strength of schedule ranking based on preseason predicitions. The methodology will undoubtedly make people of science cringe, but it will serve our purposes. Assign each opponent on a team's schedule the ranking gained in the Big Sky preseason media poll, add those up, and divide by eight (the number of league opponents for each team. Rank the schools based on the number, with the lowest numbers indicating the most difficult schedule.
This exercise delivers a couple of surprises. Using this process, Southern Utah faces the most difficult conference schedule in 2012, with Northern Colorado close behind. The Bobcats' schedule is right in the middle of the pack (just ahead of UM), while Weber State and Cal Poly claim - by this method - the league's easiest conference schedules.
Here is how it looks, hardest to easiest...
1. SUU, 5.25
2. UNC, 5.88
3. EWU, 6.25
3. UCD, 6.25
5. UND, 6.38
6. SAC, 6.90
7. MSU, 7.13
8. UM, 7.38
9. PSU, 7.63
10. NAU, 7.75
10. ISU, 7.75
12. WSU, 8.00
13. CP, 9.25
A few random thoughts...
* North Dakota faces each of the top three schools in the preseason poll, hosting Montana and visiting MSU and Eastern Washington
* Southern Utah goes UND one better, facing each of the top four schools in the preseason poll - the Thunderbirds host MSU and Eastern Washington, visiting Montana and Portland State
* Weber State faces the four schools picked at the bottom of the league standings, but three of those games are on the road (at Sac State, UC Davis, and Idaho State)
* Cal Poly doesn't play any of the preseason poll's top three teams (MSU, EWU, UM), and hosts Portland State (fourth)
* In the Big Sky's new "two-rival" system, Montana State doesn't face either Weber State (a fellow Big Sky charter member) or Idaho State (which the Bobcats have faced every year since World War II)
* Weber State's most difficult conference road game, per the preseason poll, is at Southern Utah (which was selected eighth), while Cal Poly's most difficult league road game is against North Dakota, picked one spot ahead of SUU
* This year's Big Sky schedule features three games in which two league foes play non-conference games: Cal Poly at Eastern Washington, Portland State at North Dakota, and Northern Colorado at Sacramento State.
Bobcat First Take: Balanced League, Unbalanced Schedule
July 18, 2012 – The rush from college football's first wave - conference media days, preseason polls, early-look All-America teams - is undeniable. Fans of the college gridirion wait patiently from the last days of spring drills to the sweltering days of fall camp, any news coming as a welcome respite from the long off-season.
So the Big Sky's preseason poll generated plenty of fodder newspaper columns and message board posts... but what does it all mean? Or more to the point, how does one begin to make sense of a 13-team league in which every school misses four other league entries every season.
Here is one simplistic, un-scientific way to look at things: a strength of schedule ranking based on preseason predicitions. The methodology will undoubtedly make people of science cringe, but it will serve our purposes. Assign each opponent on a team's schedule the ranking gained in the Big Sky preseason media poll, add those up, and divide by eight (the number of league opponents for each team. Rank the schools based on the number, with the lowest numbers indicating the most difficult schedule.
This exercise delivers a couple of surprises. Using this process, Southern Utah faces the most difficult conference schedule in 2012, with Northern Colorado close behind. The Bobcats' schedule is right in the middle of the pack (just ahead of UM), while Weber State and Cal Poly claim - by this method - the league's easiest conference schedules.
Here is how it looks, hardest to easiest...
1. SUU, 5.25
2. UNC, 5.88
3. EWU, 6.25
3. UCD, 6.25
5. UND, 6.38
6. SAC, 6.90
7. MSU, 7.13
8. UM, 7.38
9. PSU, 7.63
10. NAU, 7.75
10. ISU, 7.75
12. WSU, 8.00
13. CP, 9.25
A few random thoughts...
* North Dakota faces each of the top three schools in the preseason poll, hosting Montana and visiting MSU and Eastern Washington
* Southern Utah goes UND one better, facing each of the top four schools in the preseason poll - the Thunderbirds host MSU and Eastern Washington, visiting Montana and Portland State
* Weber State faces the four schools picked at the bottom of the league standings, but three of those games are on the road (at Sac State, UC Davis, and Idaho State)
* Cal Poly doesn't play any of the preseason poll's top three teams (MSU, EWU, UM), and hosts Portland State (fourth)
* In the Big Sky's new "two-rival" system, Montana State doesn't face either Weber State (a fellow Big Sky charter member) or Idaho State (which the Bobcats have faced every year since World War II)
* Weber State's most difficult conference road game, per the preseason poll, is at Southern Utah (which was selected eighth), while Cal Poly's most difficult league road game is against North Dakota, picked one spot ahead of SUU
* This year's Big Sky schedule features three games in which two league foes play non-conference games: Cal Poly at Eastern Washington, Portland State at North Dakota, and Northern Colorado at Sacramento State.
April 3, 2012 – The starting point in Montana State’s 2012 spring football session is obvious. DeNarius McGhee is firmly entrenched as the offense’s focal point.
The Bobcats’ starting signal caller has already thrown for nearly 6,000 yards as a Bobcat before his junior season has begun. His widely-varied skill set is widely known and thoroughly understood. He is the alpha.
But the end game for MSU’s offense in this spring session is equally interesting, possibly more so. New offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven inherits a bruising ground game, with Cody Kirk and Tray Robinson and their combined 1,900-plus returning rushing yards. Just for fun, he gets to add Orenzo Davis, who gained over 1,100 yards on his own in 2010 before missing last season.
McGiven loses one of the Bobcats’ all-time great receivers, Elvis Akpla, but in his wake has an intriguing group of returners. Tanner Bleskin brings nearly 1,000 career receiving yards to his junior season, and is about as reliable a pass-catcher as any Bobcat passer has ever thrown to. But McGhee also has Everett Gilbert once he returns to health, who has over 1,200 career receiving yards. John Ellis and Kruiz Siewing, contrasting talents, have each had brilliant moments in reserve roles. One can easily envision either being major contributors in less-established FCS programs.
As McGiven watches a returning tight end starter – Steven Foster – move three feet inside to tackle, he also experiments with Lee Perkins and Tiai Salanoa, two talented and experienced tight ends. Each are capable of contributing as run blockers and pass catchers.
But here’s where things get interesting – the Bobcats have a couple of athletes that might be most accurately described as ‘utility players’, but who are electric when the ball is in their hands. Shawn Johnson proved an easy fit for that label in Saturday’s scrimmage, turning a short pass into a 55-yard gain with an eye-popping explosion of speed. Last fall, Johnson returned three punts for touchdowns – all negated by penalties. Still, the explosiveness is impossible to ignore.
The most aptly-named player on the team, David Dash, also falls into that utility role. Recruited as a running back, he played sparingly as a freshman in 2010, then redshirted last fall. But this year, as a slot receiver, Dash has shown attributes similar to Everett Gilbert, one of MSU’s all-time most productive all-purpose players who this spring has lined up outside at the Z position.
Many miles remain before the season opener next fall, but the continued evolution of the Bobcat offense remains an intriguing follow in April and August.
Bobcat First Take
March 27 - One of the Treasure State’s most prolific and gifted sportswriters was, for the time being, silenced on Tuesday. Bruce Sayler, the sports editor at the Montana Standard and a staple of the Mining City’s sports scene for 33 years, was informed by the newspaper corporation that owns the Standard that his position has been eliminated.
While the situation is a commentary on many things, Bruce’s talent and class should be celebrated. His relentless recovery from serious health issues remains inspiring, and everyone can learn from the class and grace he showed in the often-contentious contemporary sports scene.
Here’s hoping that Bruce’s keyboard isn’t quiet for long.
*****
With the formalities of non-padded practices out of the way, the pad-popping every other day at Bobcat Stadium ushers in the most serious phase of MSU’s spring football practice. The Bobcats are actively installing Kevin McGiven’s new offense, which, to most untrained observers, looks largely similar to those in the recent past.
Storylines abound: the team’s youthful offensive line rolls up its sleeves and battles perhaps the best defensive line in the FCS every day, a receiving corps looks to make incremental improvements across the board to replace departing star Elvis Akpla, one returning linebacker – Aleksei Grosulak – looks strong in recovering from injury, while another – Jody Owens – continues to rehab a knee. Orenzo Davis appears not to have missed a beat from his 1,000-yard 2010 season.
But subtle trends also pique interest. Backup quarterback Jake Bleskin has looked sharp, a positive development in light of Grayson Galloway’s departure. With returning starter Steven Foster’s moved three feet in to tackle, the tight end position all of a sudden features less-experienced Lee Perkins and Tiai Salanoa, two players that have impressed early. And so on…
Bobcat practices continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 pm, and the team’s first limited scrimmage takes place Saturday (time TBA) in Bobcat Stadium.
Eyes Trained on Present, Bobcats Get Back to Work
Feb. 3, 2012 - If Wednesday was about the future of Montana State football, Thursday morning the focus was back to the present.
Or at least the more immediate future.
At 6 am on Thursday, Bobcat linemen gathered in Worthington Arena to endure strength coach Alex Willcox's strenuous off-season conditioning program. Around 6:45 am, skill position athletes transitioned in, and the big heavies moved out into the soft Bozeman snow.
Inside Worthington Arena, the work was intense. "It's been good," MSU coach Rob Ash said of the team's off-season workouts to this point. "(Willcox) has some unique ideas and it's really been effective."
In addition to the usual conditioning and agility workouts - sprints around cones, some plyometric-type strength drills - Willcox and his staff have sprinkled in full-body strength workouts called general physical preparedness which develop functional strength. Willcox says the notion is common but effective.
"The kids like breaking up the routine" of conventional conditioning and strength training, Willcox said. The first-year Bobcat strength coach, who arrived late in the 2011 football season, added that he is impressed with the raw materials in the Bobcat program.
"It's a good bunch to work with," he said."
Of the 22 players on Montana State's defensive depth chart last fall, 20 return for the 2012 season, including nine starters. While the offense doesn't quite boast that embarrassment of riches, five starters and seven other members of the two-deep plan to be around come fall camp next August.
That experience builds a workmanlike approach, Ash said. "There isn't any complaining or belly-aching," he said. "Kids are there to get their work done, and they work hard. It's a great atmosphere."
On Rob Ash, Missed Kicks, and Standing by Your Guys
Jan. 24, 2012 - Montana State head football coach Rob Ash was pulling like crazy for Dane Fletcher Sunday, and undoubtedly Mike Person occupied a special place in his thoughts.
But when the action ended after an intense day of football in the conference championship games, Ash's thoughts rested with a former kicker. Billy Cundiff, a four-year starter for Ash at Drake, missed a chip shot field goal near the end of regulation that likely would have forced overtime in the AFC Championship game. Instead, Cundiff's Ravens fell on the road to the Patriots and Fletcher, a former Bobcat All-America under Ash.
Ash's reaction was immediate and violent. "I felt sick," he said, knowing what his former kicker would endure in the hours, weeks and years to come. "I just felt terrible for him."
It didn't take long for Ash's thoughts to turn to Fletcher, and he takes considerable pride in the contributions of Bozeman's native son to New England's latest Super Bowl run and in the presence of Mike Person on the San Francisco 49ers roster - even though the Glendive native and former Bobcat All-America didn't make it into a game for San Francisco this year.
But Ash's thoughts - well chronicled in this New York Times piece - remain with Cundiff. "He's a strong person and I know he'll get through it," Ash said.
Big Sky Horizons Expand
Jan. 19, 2012 -
If you're a fan of a Big Sky Conference football team living near your school, your television viewing experience next fall will be much the same after the league signed a deal with Root Sports Northwest to televise up to 18 games a year.
But if, under the same circumstances, you live within the Big Sky's current outline but away from your school's local television market, things are about to get much better.
I'm looking at you, Bobcat fans in Seattle or Denver or elsewhere in the Northwest.
If you want some in-depth answers, check out Jon Kasper's well-written explanation here. But here's a condensed version: Root Sports, this March, will select the games they wish to televise. The games that aren't chosen go back to the Big Sky Conference office, and are distributed the same as ever. Those that are chosen will likely be scheduled for 1:30 pm on Saturday afternoons - that's an important point - although the possibility of playing at 5 pm exists for those schools with lights (hello, Bobcat Stadium!).
so if a game isn't on Root Sports, and in years past it would have been on a local carrier such as Max Media in Montana or SWX in Spokane, it is likely to appear there in the future. The rules in such circumstances don't change, and neither does the probablity of a game hitting the airwaves.
There is considerable speculation as to how this benfits fans of any given school. And yes, those who cheer for the Cats and Griz stand to benefit considerably. A best guess is that three or four games involving each school airs each fall. That includes, of course, the Cat-Griz game, which means the Treasure State's most high-profile sporting event gains the national platform it needs and, frankly, deserves.
There is, of course, a caveat. Fans inside the state of Montana who watch their favorite college team over-the-air (not on cable or a satellite dish) may be out of luck. Those fans may have to purchase cable television or a dish. Progress isn't always fair, and it's a bad deal for those folks.
But for the tens of thousands that live in Root's footprint outside of Montana, the chance to watch the Bobcats and Grizzlies play in the comfort of their own homes has to be exciting. For them, progress is a darn good thing.
Akpla Pursues Goal
Amidst Familiar Faces
Jan. 12, 2012 -
Elvis Akpla, Montana State’s All-America senior receiver, thought he might see University of Montana cornerback Trumaine Johnson again. But he didn’t think it would be this soon.
When Akpla trudged off the Bobcat Stadium turf last November 19 after the Grizzlies had beaten MSU, it was widely assumed that Johnson would be headed to the NFL. For Akpla, who has designs on medical school when his playing career is over, things seemed less certain but there was hope.
This week in Orlando, Fla., the Treasure State rivals reunited under the watchful eye of trainer Tom Shaw, who aids NFL prospects train for the draft. Shaw helped found Nike’s SPARQ training system, and, says
As if training with his college rival Johnson isn’t enough, Akpla’s roommate is Eastern Washington safety Matt Johnson, and Portland State’s Myles Wade is also working out. So too are many prospective NFL players from the usual suspects in the southeast, Florida and Florida State and Miami and South Florida and the like.
Akpla’s story is well-documented, but worth repeating. He moved to the United States from Senegal with his mother in elementary school. He came to the sport of football in high school, but was a nationally-renowned track and field athlete, eventually landing at Oregon as a long jumper. He was allowed to walk-on to the football team, but had he played in a game he would have counted against that sport’s scholarship total.
While his opportunity in track and field was present, the sport of football had a hold of his heart, so he began looking for other opportunities. And while Oregon assistant coach Robin Pflugrad, now the head coach at Montana, suggested Akpla join the Grizzlies. But Akpla knew no one in Missoula, and his Duck teammates Cody Kempt and John Laidet found a home at Montana State.
So Akpla took the leap, followed his teammates, and headed east to the Gallatin Valley. The transition to playing football was fairly easy for Akpla because of his natural ability, but becoming a Division I football player away from the familiar green-and-gold of Oregon was not without its challenges. He held on to his love for Oregon, but over the course of time poured himself into the Bobcat program. He dedicated himself in absolute terms to the sport of football, more and more living with the physical toll that sport places on a body.
Akpla’s career at Montana State is laced with irony. Stuck with the dreaded ‘track guy’ label early on, Akpla became one of the toughest Bobcats. While filling highlight reels with his catches, he quietly became an astoundingly effective blocker. Every week, Bobcat running backs lauded Akpla and his running mate Tanner Bleskin for their role in springing big rushes. Again working against the prototype of the rural, small-school walk-on as special teams ace, Akpla became perhaps MSU’s best special teams player, or certainly a staple of the coverage and return units.
But Akpla points out perhaps the irony that hits closest to home for Bobcat fans. If not for a quirk of timing, he may have ended up in Missoula. Had Pflugrad joined the Grizzly coaching staff from Oregon a few months earlier, or had Akpla’s former Oregon teammate Justin Roper transferred to UM before Kempt came to Bozeman, one of the most electric weapons in the FCS may have donned maroon and silver.
But they didn’t. And he didn’t. And forever he will be remembered as perhaps Montana State’s best pass-catcher ever. In three years he compiled more receiving yards than any Bobcat in history, and leaves the program as among the top Cats in terms of catches and touchdowns in both a career and single season. And if he gets the chance, he’ll represent Montana State in the NFL the way he did on grid
Akpla’s transformation to superstar college receiver was noteworthy, but his slow and steady growth as a person was even more fun to watch. He became a leader in the Bobcat program in spite of playing a position that often produces players given more to ‘me’ than ‘we’. His steely resolve and quiet passion belied the fun-loving, trash-talking veneer. He didn’t serve as a captain as a senior, but those close to MSU football will always remember and respect Akpla’s role in leading and shaping the school’s 2010 and 2011 Big Sky Conference championship teams.
For the record, Akpla – if he chooses – may have the last word among his workout buddies in Florida. He caught three passes for 41 yards and a touchdown against Eastern Washington and four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown in Bobcat road wins this year, and in spite of MSU losing to the Grizzlies this fall Akpla will forever hold bragging rights over Johnson. Against a player touted as a possible first-round draft pick and a consensus All-America, Akpla caught six passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.
After graduating from MSU in December, Akpla will continue to study for the medical school entrance examination next summer. Until then, though, he will chase his NFL dream. And he’ll do so alongside some familiar faces.
