Montana State’s wide receiver and special teams ace, Dane Steel, just keeps making plays for the Bobcats and as the season marches on, he hasn’t let up. That relentless effort has made him one of the breakout stars of the 2025 season for the second-ranked team in the FCS.
Steel came up with a touchdown reception in the first half of the Cat-Griz game and moments later had a big hit on Montana’s ensuing kickoff return. Like himself – Steel is listed at 5-foot-10, 178 pounds – even his small plays are big plays, and none were bigger than his three-yard reception on fourth-and-three in last Saturday’s second round playoff game after Yale had cut MSU’s lead to 14-6 in the fourth quarter.
“That was a sweet play that coach (Pete) Sterbick drew up,” Steel said of his touchdown catch against Montana. “I was lucky enough to be put in that position to score on that play.
“They kind of beat us in the kickoff battle. (UM kickoff returner Michael) Wortham had some good returns, and he was taking them up the middle, so I figured that he was going to cut that one back as well, and I got lucky enough to be put in a good spot to make that play.”
Steel’s all-around play isn’t anything new. He was a phenom in his prep days at Sheridan High School as he copped Wyoming 4A offensive and defensive honors along with the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year as the top player in the state on both sides of the ball in 2023 when the Broncs claimed their third straight state title. He had 44 catches for 970 yards and nine touchdowns, adding 368 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. He had 35 tackles, six interceptions and two defensive touchdowns and scored 31 touchdowns on the season.
He was a two-time state champion in wrestling at 152 pounds and also an honorable mention all-state performer in soccer.
“He’s just a complete football player in a small package but he can play so much bigger than he is and there’s no moment that’s too big for him at the same time,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said.
Fans were a little stunned a few weeks ago when MSU took on Weber State and Steel joined first-team All-BSC punt returner Taco Dowler in deep punt formation. Steel, who set the state record with six punt returns for touchdowns and returned a kickoff for a score, looked right at home as he returned four punts for 66 yards.
Steel’s reception against Yale extended what would be a touchdown drive that put the Bobcats ahead 21-6 with just over 10 minutes to play. It would prove critical later in the game when the Bobcats squandered an opportunity to put the game away by fumbling and Yale scored off that turnover to make the finals minutes intense.
“I think Yale is a lot better than people gave them credit for coming into that game,” Steel said. “They surprised us a lot. Credit to them for showing up and showing out. We have a lot of things that we need to improve on from that game but credit to Yale. They came in here and were physical and played great.”
A redshirt freshman out of Sheridan, Wyoming, Steel is second on the team with 32 receptions and 373 yards. He’s also completed the only pass he’s thrown this season for 11 yards and has six tackles on special teams.
“You talk about guys that have really emerged on this team that we knew maybe had a chance, but you knew it would happen, Dane’s at or near the top of that list,” Vigen said. “Knew that he was capable. Knew that nothing was in his mind that would slow him down from taking advantage of the opportunities and see what the opportunities would look like.”
Steel came into the season with promise. But just where he would end up was still in up the air. A solid spring and summer got him noticed and he hasn’t looked back from there.
“He goes from being in the mix, but not entirely in the mix early in the season offensively to in pretty short order he’s right in the thick of things,” Vigen said. “It’s certainly his ability with the ball in his hands but also his blocking. His contributions on the special teams side were a big thing when we recruited him that he would be able to do all of that.
“The biggest thing that changed from this year to last year was a lot of my fundamentals,” Steel said. “As a receiver and that comes from coach (Sam) Mix doing a great job and guys like Taco, Chris (Long) and Ryan (King) that played receiver a lot more than I have at a higher level and better competition. I’ve been able to learn from those dudes, take from them and learn their moves and implement them into my game and then Justin (Lamson) doing a great job and coach Sterbick putting me in position to do things. There’s a lot of contributing factors and I’m lucky to be in the position I am to make those plays.
The Bobcat’ offense struggled against Yale in their second-round playoff matchup. MSU got key turnovers to turn the game – and the Cat-Griz game – in their favor, but Steel believes the offense needs to play better and not have to rely on the defense too much.
“We play best right after a turnover. Caden’s interception led to our first score, that’s a big thing along with Cole’s (Taylor) interception. Those were probably the two biggest plays in that game. When you go back to the Montana game and Caden got that and it kind of shifted the momentum of that game. When our defense is playing and creating turnovers, our offense feeds off that for sure.
“Our offense needs to do better just normally. When the defense isn’t creating turnovers and just getting off the field it’s just fine, but our offense needs to do a better job just scoring.”
The high of playing in his first Cat-Griz game was something Steel picked up on quickly.
“Regarding the emotion thing, anybody that’s been a part of that game understands the emotions that go into it,” Steel said. “Our offense was feeding off that and feeding off our defense and that helped us out a lot in that game.”
The Bobcat’ offense has changed noticeably from being a near run-only offense to bigger mix between the run and the pass.
“Our change in (offensive coordinator) this year with coach Sterbick clearly is more into the pass game and whether that be downfield or short game, he’s doing a great job. Everybody’s contributing to that, and it’s been a fun switch. It’s been fun to be a receiver and be a part of that, but it’s just been a fun year, and we’ve been pretty lucky to be in the position we are as an offense.
“(MSU quarterback) Justin (Lamson) does a good job keeping possession of the ball, making good decisions in the pass game,” Steel said. “That’s why you see him make those plays with his feet because he doesn’t force the ball downfield, he doesn’t force a lot of turnovers and that leads to the efficiency.”
The Bobcats are preparing for their FCS playoff quarterfinal matchup with No. 7 Stephen F. Austin this Friday night. The Bobcats and Lumberjacks were slated to play and home-and-home series in 2024 and 2025, but SFA had to back away from the games, so they’ll finally get to face each other.
“It’s a fun opportunity for (SFA) to come to Bozeman. Clearly, for us to have another home game is a fun opportunity as we get into December. They’re a good team and anybody who is still playing football in December is one of the best eight teams in the country so it’s going to be a fun game. We’re going to look at it with a good eye and understand that we squeaked on out last week against Yale. We gotta do better this week for sure but excited to play and get after them.
“Regardless of their strengths and weaknesses, you gotta respect them and their defense has done well this year, so our offense is going to have to be better than we were last week, but I’m excited to get after it.
Steel is following in the footsteps of older brothers Coy and Brock. Coy was a wide receiver and punt returner for the Bobcats and in the 2019 playoffs his four big punt returns netted 105 yards and helped MSU blow out Albany State 47-21 en route to MSU’s first FCS/IAA semifinal appearance since 1984. Brock, a junior linebacker, is also a kickoff and punt cover team star. He’s appeared in multiple games at linebacker and has 18 tackles to go along with an interception, forced fumble and pass breakup.
“Certainly, the examples (of what to do) his brothers have laid before, but Dane’s his own guy, too,” Vigen said. “His offense, his defense, his special teams, his wrestling background. He’s a complete football player.”
