Only once out in the last five seasons has the names Andersen, O’Reilly or Uluilakepa not appeared at one of the two starting inside linebacker spots for Montana State.
It’s a five-year stretch that has seen the Bobcats enjoy one of the most successful stretches in their history. Starting in 2019, when Troy Andersen and Callahan O’Reilly, who took over for Nolan Askelson, manned those positions and led MSU to the national semifinals and again in 2021, Andersen was lined up with O’Reilly as MSU finished as the national runner-up.
A year later it was O’Reilly and Danny Uluilakepa who got the Bobcats to the semifinals. In 2023, Uluilakepa was joined by Askelson only to exit the playoffs in the second round And last season, Uluilakepa was alongside McCade O’Reilly, Callahan’s younger brother, and another title game appearance was attained.
Askelson is the only other name to appear as a starter on an opening day roster as he started in 2019 before giving way to Callahan O’Reilly. Bryce Grebe and Neil Daily started games in 2025 after Uluilakepa was lost due to injury.
That kind of continuity is a rare plus for a defense and it led to vast improvement from 2022 to 2024.
“Whenever you have a true program, you always have guys that you’re grooming to take those next steps,” new linebackers coach Jody Owens, an All-American and 2012 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year for MSU during his playing days, said earlier this month. “When you lose two amazing leaders, you’re looking first and foremost at what you have on campus in order to replace them and I think we have some fine linebackers in Neil and Bryce in order to do that and we have some other guys that have really taken the next step.”
Should that trend continue in 2025, it’ll have to do so without one of the familiar names of Andersen, the O’Reilly’s and three-year starter Uluilakepa for the first time since 2019. This year Daily and Grebe are slated to fill those large shoes as the Bobcats look to win their third Big Sky title in four years, advance to the national title game for the third time in five years and the national semifinals for the fifth time in six seasons.
Both players saw considerable time last season when Uluilakepa suffered a career-ending injury against in the eighth game as they became part of a three-man rotation with McCade O’Reilly.
The Bobcats were among the top three defenses in the Big Sky Conference in 2019 and 2021 in every major statistical category. MSU graduated future NFL players Andersen and Daniel Hardy, along with defensive tackle Chase Benson, who many considered an NFL caliber player, who suffered a back injury late in the 2021 season.
MSU would stumble to sixth in scoring defense and sixth in total defense in 2022 but still managed to advance to the semifinals. They bounced back statistically on defense in 2023 and appeared primed for another deep playoff run when last-second misfortune in the form of a reversed touchdown catch, missed field goal and blocked extra point played huge roles in three of their four losses with the latter knocking them out of the playoffs.
Undaunted, MSU continued to work hard in the offseason and put together one of the best defenses in school history in 2024. MSU led the league in scoring defense and total defense and was second in pass defense efficiency and rushing yards per game. That improvement played a big role in the Bobcats advancing to a second national title game in four years.
Enter the new faces and a new look in 2025, including that of Owens, who has moved from coaching safeties in 2024 to his old playing position in this fall.
“(Owens has) got such a different angle on things from coach (Bobby) Daly,” Daily said. “He’s more of a feel linebacker where coach Daly was an intelligent linebacker, so it’s great to learn from both of them and learn from two different styles of linebacker. You can sense that passion every day. He’s excited to be here every day.”
Daily (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) and Grebe (6-2, 235) bring size and speed to the equation. A combination that the Bobcats haven’t seen out of both of their linebackers since Andersen (6-3, 235; 4.42 40) and Callahan O’Reilly (6-2, 230; 4.7 40) were there in 2021. Both players ran the 100-meter dash in the low 11s in high school. Daily, a junior, is in his fifth season in the MSU program, while Grebe, a sophomore, is in his third year. Uluilakepa was 6-1, 225 and McCade O’Reilly was 6-0, 220.
“Focus is on physicality,” Owens said. “I want a physical group and we gotta be competitive. I want to be able to have depth, so not just my first guys getting it done, but I need my third, fourth, fifth, sixth guys that can go in there and get the job done.
“We gotta be physical, we gotta set the tone first and foremost and from there just being competitive, kicking, scratching and clawing with our play and our effort. That’s how we’re gonna take this defense to the next level.”
Owens will lean on the acute Daily and the aggressiveness of Grebe to forge a path to success.
“The No. 1 challenge for him was to step in and be a leader,” Owens said of Daily. “He’s taken that baton and he’s pushed it forward in the way he communicates, the way he sets the standard for our group and really for our defense. I’m proud of where’s he’s at and we just have to continue to push him to be consistent and be that guy we can lean on. His nickname in that group is ‘Chat’ as in GPT and the guy is smart. He knows where everybody is supposed to be so with him having that confidence in himself and his understanding of the defense, we need that to spread throughout our team.”
Grebe and Daily were forced into action from the eighth game on last year and both flashed on the field with numerous big plays. Grebe saved a touchdown against UC Davis when he chased down speedy wide receiver Chaz Davis after he went 77 yards to the MSU 4-yard line.
“The experience he got last year really helped his confidence,” Owens said of Grebe, who got starts as a freshman after playing Class C 8-man. “He’s continuing to learn the game and I think he’s on the right track for sure. The guy’s big. He looks like a linebacker. He can run really well; he’s moves great side to side. He has all the tools we’re looking for.”
MSU also appears to be deeper at the position than it’s been in several years with Cole Taylor (6-3, 230), Ryan Krahe (6-2, 230) and Xavier Ahrens (6-2, 220; low 11s 100 meters) all in line to get playing time backing up Daily and Grebe. Zach Waible (6-2, 215) is also expected to figure into the rotation.
“When you come out to watch him, you see he’s all over the field making plays,” Owens said of Taylor, who played quarterback for Great Falls C.M. Russell in high school. “He’s in the right spot, so I think a lot of it is confidence and (casualness). Cole’s definitely taken the next step and he’s right there.”
The Bobcats are just a few days away from starting their season against two of the best teams from their respective divisions when they face No. 7 FBS Oregon in Eugene this Saturday before hosting No. 3 FCS South Dakota State the following Saturday in the annual Gold Rush game.
