True freshmen punters like Montana State’s Colby Frokjer are usually the unassuming type. They stick to their corner of the practice field, working with the team’s long snapper and hoping some other duties are thrown their way to reduce the ennui of the situation. In Frokjer’s case that extra duty means being the not-so-glamourous holder for placekicks.
Behind the paper pushing façade can lie more than meets the eye. Eastern Washington found out about that the hard way Saturday in the Bobcats 57-3 win over the Eagles.
Crouched down to catch the ball from long snapper Brody Johnson and hold it for kicker Myles Sansted, Frokjer came out of the MSU backfield like he was launching out of a phone booth. The 6-foot-3, 188-pounder split through the Eagles’ line and sprinted 26 yards to the end zone in a flash.
None of that should come as the big surprise some may perceive it as. Frokjer was one of the best basketball players in Utah, averaging 16 points and seven rebounds per game as a senior. He played some quarterback, running back and wide receiver for his Roy High School football team in West Haven, Utah. He excelled at punting and kicking, however, and was voted his region’s MVP and was also listed as a Top Ten punter in the nation.
He was second at the state track and field meet in the javelin with a throw of 172-5 and runs the 100 meters in the mid-11.0s. He was also the No. 1 for three years on the Roy golf team. He shot a 2-under in prep tournament play and currently sports a +2 handicap on the Utah links.
“As far as all-around athletes on our whole team, he’d be up there,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “He was a four-sport athlete in high school who was really good at everything. I’m sure he could’ve done some other things from a college perspective and we’re just happy he’s here and excited to see what he can become.
“I played safety, receiver and quarterback in high school,” Frokjer said. “I was our utility guy; I went wherever we needed. My freshman through junior year, I was mostly playing quarterback with a little bit of receiver on the side. I think I threw eight touchdowns my sophomore year and then after my junior year I switched mostly to receiver and safety. I definitely got more athletic playing that than I did sitting back there playing quarterback. That helped out quite a bit.”
His TD run against EWU put the Bobcats up 36-3, but perhaps more importantly seemed to ignite MSU’s run game as it was followed by a 37-yard touchdown run by Adam Jones, a 54-yard run by Colson Coon and a 32-yard TD scamper by backup quarterback Chance Wilson. MSU had just 49 yards rushing at halftime, due in large part to quarterback Justin Lamson throwing for 251 yards in the first half. Frokjer’s run was part of a 244-yard second half performance by the MSU run game. The Bobcats accumulated that total with just 26 carries, which harkened back to how they have run the ball the past several seasons.
“We had that play dialed up all week,” Frokjer said. “They actually surprised me with it because I have class on Monday nights when our (team) meetings are and they talked about it in our meeting. I wasn’t there and then they didn’t tell me until practice. It was a surprise to me when we were doing it, but everybody else knew. When they told me I was like, ‘ooh, that’s gonna hit, that’s gonna be exciting.’ In the game, (the Eagles) were crossing face the whole time and (the EWU defender) went the other way so I had to make like a little cut but once I made that cut it just opened wide up and I knew I was gone after that.”
The options seem limitless due to Frokjer’s wide range of skills, especially at wide receiver. That’s something he doesn’t hesitate to remind the coaches about.
“I talk about it every day,” he said. “They’ll give in eventually; I can feel it. I’ll keep putting in my word.”
“We can get him running on some fakes here and there but that’s about as far as we want to go with that,” Vigen said with a smile. “He was a really good safety in high school and that’s where that translates to his athleticism, but he’s got enough on his plate right now.”
Frokjer’s season got off to a rough start when he had two punts blocked against FBS No. 3 Oregon in a 59-13 drubbing. He had another punt blocked against No. 2 FCS South Dakota State a week later and that led to a short 21-yard touchdown drive for the Jackrabbits, who would go on to win in double-overtime 30-24. He also shanked a punt out of bounds at midfield to set up another SDSU touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Since then, Frokjer has steadied himself and is averaging 44 yards per punt. One punt stuck SDSU deep in its own end and led to a fumble return for a touchdown by the Bobcats. Last week he had a punt downed on the one-yard line.
Since getting out of high school, he’s been able to focus on punting and that’s helped him get dialed in to the position.
“Going from playing everything to specializing in just punting has been interesting,” Frokjer said. “At first it was a bit of a struggle but now we’re getting into it, and it’s been good. It’s mostly just consistency. Being able to practice everyday instead of my ten minutes a day, once a week that I would get in high school. Being able to just really punt everyday has definitely helped being a lot more consistent.”
He’s always had kicking in the back of his mind.
“My dad (Rodney) kicked in college (Weber State), and he kicked for a semi-pro team, so I’ve been kicking my whole life ever since I was little,” Frokjer said. “I’ve punted since I was seven years old. A ton of work in the offseason when I did have time. I was out on the field punting every day.”
The transition from home life to college life has been an easy transition for him, especially since the season started.
“It’s so awesome,” Frokjer said. “The fans, the crowd, the atmosphere. It’s insane. When we ran out of the tunnel on Gold Rush I was like this is sick. Like, you don’t get this very often at very many places. The atmosphere is so awesome, it’s so fun to play here.
“Our culture throughout the whole program is so good. Everybody is so united, everybody is together and in on it and we all know the team that we can be and the team that we want to be. We just have our goals in mind and we’re just gonna do what we can as a team to achieve them.
Seeing his team break loose after having to face stiff competition in the first two games of the season and then struggling against upstart Mercyhurst last week was helpful as well.
“It was super fun, especially that first quarter,” Frokjer said. “We ended up having five kickoffs in the first quarter. It was like, this is how the game’s going and we’re just going to keep rolling with it and everybody was clicking, everybody was firing. Justin Lamson was just on fire. Adam (Jones) did well, Taco (Dowler) was on fire. If it wasn’t for Dane (Steel), my punt would’ve went into the end zone. He went down there and saved that. We just, all around as a whole team, were just clicking.”
The Bobcats will travel to lofty air of Flagstaff, Arizona, which sits at 7,000 feet above sea level this Saturday. The light air makes for a good for kickers and punters, something Frokjer is aware of.
“You can definitely tell a difference,” he said. “When we went down to Oregon, you had to adjust to it. I think it’s a bigger change from here to Oregon, than it’ll be from here to Arizona but it’s definitely higher, so it’ll add a little bit of distance. So that’ll be a fun game. No wind with it being a dome. Kicker’s paradise.”
MSU takes on the Lumberjacks Saturday at 3:00.
