Luke Daly had all but reconciled himself to the fact that kicking field goals just was not part of the plan for the Montana State Bobcats this season.
The sophomore kicker and kickoff specialist from Billings hit 13-of-19 field goals during a standout freshman season last fall. His 90 points were the sixth-highest total in a single season by a Bocbat. But Daly earned just two attempts during MSU’s final four games of the season.
During the fall, Daly kicked one field goal each against Fort Lewis, Eastern Washington and Cal Poly. He did not hear his number called again for the next month. When the Montana State coaches sent him out for a 39-yard field goal attempt in a 63-7 blowout over FCS Independent East Tennessee State, Daly shanked the kick.
MSU kicker Luke Daly practice with holder Mitch Griebel (wide receiver)
“It was super frustrating,” Daly said following Montana State’s 44-20 win over Idaho State. “I think it was against East Tennessee where I was like, ‘All right, I guess we just aren’t going to kick field goals anymore.’ I remember going out for a 39-yarder and I completely shanked it. It’s so mental. It just goes to show you you have to be ready. You never know when they call you out there for a kick.”
Daly managed a 24-yarder in a 44-38 loss at North Dakota and a 32-yarder in a 34-23 loss to Southern Utah. But when Montana State has had a chance to go for it on fourth down this season, the Bobcats have elected to do so more often than not. MSU has gone for it on fourth down 35 times this season, tied for the second-most in the league with Montana behind Cal Poly’s 46 fourth down tries. MSU has converted 24 times, seven more times than the Griz.
“We usually just go for it so I figured I’d just kick a lot of PATs and kickoffs,” Daly said of his mindset coming into the Idaho State game.
In Holt Arena, Montana State’s first possession stalled out at the Idaho State 40-yard line. MSU faced a fourth down and 10 to go. It seemed too close to punt but the yardage needed for a first down was too great.
MSU head coach Rob Ash elected to call on his strong-legged kicker. Daly promptly booted a 57-yard field goal that would’ve been good from more than 60 yards. The kick was the second-longest in Montana State history, behind only the 59-yarder kicked by NFL Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud in a Cat-Griz win 50 years ago. The kick was also the longest by an opponent in Holt Arena history and the longest kick in the Big Sky this season.
“I was definitely pretty nervous,” Daly said. “I tried to think of it just as practice. We do that stuff all the time in practice. I knew I was out there with my brothers and I trust the line to protect me and get the ball down.”
MSU kicker Luke Daly vs. EWU
Montana State used the long kick as the spark it needed to earn its first road win of the season. MSU quarterback Dakota Prukop threw touchdowns to Mitch Griebel and Beau Sandland as the MSU lead swelled to 17-0 before the first quarter ended and 34-0 before the Bengals got on the scoreboard.
“When you can go down there and you want to get in the end-zone every time, but when you don’t get in and Luke can crush a 57-yarder, that’s a big lift,” said Prukop, who accounted for five total touchdowns in the victory.
Later in the first half with Montana State already out to a 24-0 lead, the Bobcats reached the ISU 36 with 11 seconds to play. Idaho State head coach Mike Kramer used two timeouts to try to freeze Daly before a 53-yard attempt but the Billings Central product would not be deterred. He stepped up and stroked a second kick that would have been good from 55 yards or more. He added a 29-yard field goal and hit all five of his PAT attempts.
“The first one, it was 0-0 and we wanted to draw first blood,” Ash said following his team’s fifth win of the season. “We didn’t want to get stalled out. It was fourth and long. It was too long to go for it and too short to punt and just long enough for us to kick it. We gave it a try. The other one was a similar situation. It was too far to go for it.”
For his efforts, Daly was named the Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday. It is the second time Daly has earned the award. Daly also earned FCS STATS National Player of the Week, being recognized for his long field goals and work in the kickoff game. It is the first time this season a Montana State player has been recognized for a national award.
MSU kicker Luke Daly lines up his second field goal of 53-yards against ISU
Daly’s nine kickoffs produced four that pinned the Idaho State inside the 20-yard line (including one at the ISU five) and five touchbacks. ISU’s starting field position after kickoffs was its own 21-yard line.
“He could’ve kicked a touchback every single time here and we asked him not to do him,” Ash said. “We asked him to kick high, hanging balls that landed on the one-yard line that would force them to bring it out. We got pins on those a lot of the time and that was a good strategy because it was a momentum play for our team. It’s another eight or 10 yards in field position. Luke really executed today.”
This season, Daly is 8-of-9 kicking field goals, including 3-of-3 from beyond 40 yards and both his kicks from beyond 50. He is also 50-for-50 on PAT attempts. His 74 points are fourth in the league, six behind Portland State’s Jonathan Gonzalez for the Big Sky lead. Daly how has 164 points in his career, the 11th-best total in Bobcat history.
With one game left against rival Montana, Daly hopes he gets one more chance to add to the numbers.
“I felt like I was striking the ball pretty well today,” Daly said. “It was a good day. Hopefully I can keep it going. When you go out there and have fun, it’s easy.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
