Even if you’re not a walk-on, you like walk-ons.
The Montana State University football team proved that last week when its players voted for seniors Ty Okada (nickelback), RJ Fitzgerald (fullback) and Callahan O’Reilly (linebacker) as three of the four captains – sophomore quarterback Tommy Mellott being the other — of the 2022 version of the Bobcats.
Sure, that senior trio probably has a lot more on its collective resume than just being walk-ons, but fans, coaches, players and the media rarely miss a chance to point out that a college athlete is walk-on. The title automatically puts the player in a loveable underdog, me-against-the-world role.
“I think all four were deserving,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “We lost a lot of quality leaders last year but going back to January I felt good about the leadership potential of this group and I think they’ve shown that to this point.
“I feel really good about that group of four and we have a bigger group of 14 that is our Cats Council that lead us as well, but these four take a bigger responsibility.”
Okada is probably the longest of the long shots. Certainly, the Minnesotan came the longest distance just to walk on to the MSU football program. He hails from Woodbury, a suburb of St. Paul in the Twin Cities metroplex, and attended East Ridge High School where he was a three-sport (football, baseball, wrestling) star.
Previous MSU head coach Jeff Choate had a strong penchant for recruiting quarterbacks and then moving them to different positions, a strategy served him and the team very well. Okada, who was a district offensive player of the year at the position in high school, was one such player.
Choate, however, didn’t make the first move. Okada found MSU first and then had a high school coach with connections to the Bobcat’ coaches reach out to the staff. Ty Gregorak, Montana State’s defensive coordinator at the time and its primary recruiter in the Twin Cities, helped recruit Okada.
From that humble beginning, Okada has become a fan favorite both on and off the field for his play and his analytical detail when being interviewed.
Okada burst onto the scene when, after missing the first eight games of the 2019 season recovering from a knee injury, he stuck Montana receiver Jerry Louie-McGee on fourth down in MSU territory early in the second quarter to stunt a drive that could’ve gotten UM back in the game. The Bobcats led 17-0 at the time and went on to win 48-14 that day. From there Okada would go on to be named second team All-Big Sky as a defensive back in 2021.
Fitzgerald came to MSU from one of the biggest hotbeds of prep football in Montana – Dillon’s Beaverhead High School. Despite the high nomenclature of the school’s football program, there has been no Bobcat that is more of a blue-collar, lunch bucket guy than Fitzgerald. He is a fullback, which is a subset of the running back position, but he isn’t on the field to run (he has just two career carries) the ball. He’s there to block and he’s highly regarded for that skill per being selected pre-season All-Big Sky.
The 5-foot-10, 228-pound bowling ball wasted little time becoming a contributor as he started six games his true freshman season on the special teams. He made a name for himself as a sophomore when he played in all 15 games in 2019 with his blocking being a key in MSU’s record-setting ground attack. The 2021 season was a continuation of that and featured a pair of pass receptions in the first two games before he went down four games with an injury. MSU didn’t go back to Fitzgerald with the pass, but that may have been in an effort to keep him healthy for the run game. The senior could factor into the pass game in 2022.
Fitzgerald was more noted for his exploits on defense in high school — where he was also a standout baseball and basketball player — as he was named first team all-state his junior and senior seasons at linebacker. He brings a rare element to Cat-Griz games as he’s the son (Greg) and nephew (John) of former Montana football players, each who played during UM’s national championship glory days in the mid-1990s.
O’Reilly is the epitome of ‘local boy makes good’ coming out of Bozeman High and moving a scant nine blocks up 11th Avenue to compete for the hometown Bobcats. He’s another “Choate Quarterback” recruit, who – like Okada – was never expected to play the position at MSU. He was a second team all-state selection his senior year for the Hawks throwing for 3,178 yards and accounting for 39 touchdowns.
O’Reilly has been a starting linebacker since his sophomore season. The hard-hitting, powerful inside backer led the team in tackles as a sophomore (91) and was second on the team last season (105). His 196 tackles are by far the most of any player currently on the roster. He got to showcase his offensive skills in a 2019 road game against Northern Colorado when he tore off a 73-yard touchdown run as the upback in punt formation fake.
Like Fitzgerald, O’Reilly was selected to the preseason All-Big Sky team. The Bobcats were among the top-rated defensive teams in the nation last season and O’Reilly was a big reason why. He was especially hot after missing the Idaho State game.
Over the final seven games of the season, including four playoff games, he amassed 64 of his 105 tackles. He led the team in tackles over that stretch and had 2.5 tackles-for-loss, two pass deflections and a quarterback hurry. He also had a three-game run where he accounted for a turnover – interceptions against Northern Colorado and Cal Poly, then he forced a fumble and recovered it against Weber State.
Lastly, Mellott is a well-documented leader both on and off the field for not only the football team, but the university as well. He recently signed an NIL deal to aid with suicide prevention and is involved in a variety of off field activities. As a freshman he endeared himself to his teammates by participating on the special team units and playing wide receiver to go along with his backup quarterback and Wildcat duties in the backfield. Essentially doing anything he could to get on the field.
Mellott put together one of the great individual runs in school and Big Sky history during the FCS playoffs. He was named the starter for the first playoff game against Tennessee-Martin, which was also his first collegiate start.
In just four games he would amass 898 total yards and 11 touchdowns despite only playing one series in the national title game and throwing into a gusting wind in the second-round game. His passer rating during the playoffs was 160.9, which would’ve been the second-best mark in the conference had he made enough attempts.
The Bobcats kickoff their season Saturday at 6 against McNeese State in the annual Gold Rush game.
