3:25 – Paul Dennehy, quarterback of 1976 national title team

12:23 – Kelly Davis, WR on 1984 national title team

30:16 – Chad Mayer, Bobcat TE from 1992-1996

55:26 – Brent Swagger, All-American offensive tackle 2000-2003

Montana State has a rich history of strong play along both the offensive and defensive fronts. 

The Bobcats have been particularly consistent along the offensive front during the 21^st century. Part of that stems from the fact that Mike Kramer, a head coach credited with restoring upward trajectory to the program and snapping the streak against the rival, was a former standout offensive lineman himself. 

“The Bobcats wanna run the ball, they wanna lean on the front,” said Eastern Washington head coach Aaron Best, who played offensive line under Kramer in the late 1990s when Kramer was the head coach at Eastern. “They’re built from the front back as always. You gotta win along the lines of scrimmage to beat them.”

Kramer hired Jason McEndoo, who went on to become the longest tenured and most beloved assistant coach in school history. A starter Washington State’s 1998 Rose Bowl team, McEndoo coached under Kramer for 2003 until 2006 before working for Rob Ash from 2007 until 2014. 

Coach “Mac” mentored a variety of some of the best offensive linemen in school history. Brent Swaggert and John Weidenaar were two of the most durable offensive tackles in Big Sky Conference history. Jeff Bolton won the Rimington Award as the top center in the country while Jeff Hansen was a multiple time All-American. J.P. Flynn competed on a couple of NFL practice squads. Mike Person played nine seasons in the NFL.

Of all the things that ailed Montana State when Ash was let go following a 54-35 loss to rival Montana in Bozeman in November of 2015, the offensive line was far down the list of issues for Bobcat football. 

MSU has had three offensive line coaches since McEndoo. Jason Eck, now the head coach at Idaho, spent the 2015 season working with a veteran group that clearly missed Mac, yet still saw Weidenaar earn All-American status.

Brian Armstrong coached the offensive line in 2016 before moving to offensive coordinator. Josh Taufalele took over for two seasons before leaving coaching, giving way to Armstrong’s return to coaching the position group. 

Despite Montana State’s lauded offensive line recent history, former head coach Jeff Choate still put a huge priority on stacking the position group with talent. In 2019, the Bobcat offensive line featured Mitch Brott, a 50-game starter who broke Swaggert and Weidenaar’s school record in that category, plus Conner Wood, Taylor Tuiasosopo, Lewis Kidd and Zach Redd, all starters from their redshirt freshman years. All but Brott were Choate recruits.

Wood ended up transferring to Missouri last spring. Redd retired from football with a year of eligibility remaining, which would’ve been last fall. Tuiasosopo graduated after consecutive all-league campaigns as a physical offensive guard guard. Kidd is now on the active roster for the New Orleans Saints. And T.J. Session, who started when healthy last season, transferred to Cal in the off-season. 

That’s all to say the talent along Montana State’s offensive front over the last handful of years has been surpassed by very few FCS programs, North Dakota State the first one that jumps to the top of mind. So, when second-year head coach Brent Vigen says he and his staff expect this year’s unit — a conglomeration of sophomores and freshmen that includes a converted defensive lineman and a 6-foot walk-on center — will be better than last year’s unit before the first game of the season, it gets your attention. 

And now those offensive linemen are, in fact, getting the attention.

The Bobcat’ run game – despite seeing injuries steal their top three tailbacks in All-American Isaiah Ifanse, San Diego State transfer Keagun Williams, junior Lane Sumner and plus backup fullback Jaharie Martin for good measure – has, in fact, been better than last year’s run game in terms of yards per carry and yards per game.

Through three games MSU averages 6.6 yards per rush and 267.3 yards rushing per game. A year ago, those averages came in at 5.2 and 220.9 after a 15-game schedule.

“We’ve felt like this unit has a chance to be better and that’s the expectation,” Vigen said following the McNeese State game. “When is that point when we say, yes, we are better? I hope that’s a couple of games in. We are more athletic, I know that.”

Cut to MSU’s third and most recent game. Vigen continues to see the unit’s growth.

“Three games in, taking a big picture look, you look at it and I think our offensive line has played well,” Vigen said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “I think they’re maturing.”

In the units three games it has far exceeded its opponents per game averages. The Bobcats gained 6.1 yards a pop against McNeese, which is allowing 5.0 in its other two games. Morehead State has allowed 7.2 yards per rush, but MSU was good for 9.4 that day. Last Saturday against an Oregon State team that had allowed just 3.9 yards per carry against Boise State and Fresno State, the Bobcats were good for 5.3.  

“It was our hope that at some point during the season, we would say that hey, we have a better offensive line than we previously did,” Vigen said. “And I don’t know if we can quite say that yet. But I think we’re getting there.”

Vigen and Armstrong have a raw, athletic group to work with. Not only does he have a solid core group with sophomore Justus Perkins (6-0, 280) at center; junior Cole Sain (6-4, 290) at right guard and sophomore J.T. Reed (6-3, 288) at left guard; sophomore Rush Reimer (6-5, 300) at left tackle and converted defensive lineman Marcus Wehr (6-2, 291) at right tackle – Vigen also has highly touted redshirt freshman Titan Fleischmann (6-4, 305) and Jacob Kettels (6-4-290) competing for time. Late in fall camp, Fleishman was the starting right tackle and Wehr was ahead of Sain at right guard.

“I think they’re playing with the right amount of confidence,” Vigen said. “I think they’re communicating, I think they’re still on edge knowing that there’s guys behind them that could be put in.”

One of the key cogs in MSU’s revamped line is Wehr, a sophomore out of Billings Central who’s already shown position versatility since flipping to defense. A year ago Wehr was a budding defensive lineman. But that all changed when Vigen came to Wehr after the national championship game. When Wehr went to Vigen’s office he was asked if he’d be interested in moving to the offensive line.

“I’m willing to do whatever to help this team win,” Wehr said. “I think it’s been a good transition for me so far from the spring to the fall. It’s been a grind and there has been some bumps in the road, but I’ve been getting better every day.”

“On offense, you have to be more condensed and more controlled with your motions,” Wehr said. “It’s not like d-line where you are just exploding out when you are reading and know what you are doing. You have to be aggressive on offense to a point.”

The Bobcats had to replace all but Perkins from last year’s starting unit. All but Sain are freshmen and sophomores.

“Every year, you graduate seniors and you have to replace them,” Wehr said. “We are a next man up mentality team and I think what we are doing this year. We just have to get our best five out there. We will have a lot of guys step up and we believe we will be great.

“I think (having for sophomores on the line) is good because we all got here around the same time and we all went through about the same things, grinding through morning practices and lifts. We know each other so well and we have good chemistry together.”

The fresh faces on the line this year have weathered more than meets the eye as they knocked helmets with the MSU defensive line last year as scout team players. A fact not lost Brody Grebe, who has had plenty of experience facing his teammates in practice.

“Some of these other guys on the offensive line had to go against current (Los Angeles Rams defensive end) Daniel (Hardy) and (All-Big Sky defensive end) Amandre (Williams) and (All- Big Sky defensive tackle) Chase (Benson),” Grebe, MSU’s preseason all-conference sophomore defensive end, said in August.

“There aren’t going to be guys in this league that they are going to have to go against every single week as good as the guys we have on our team and we go against them every day. We are just trying to make each other better.”

The Bobcats travel to Cheney, Wash. to take on the Eagles Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Mountain time.

For nearly two decades, Montana had an advantage against Montana State on the offensive and defensive fronts, a key factor in UM’s 16-game rivalry winning streak between 1985 and 2002 and a run of five wins in seven years between 2003 and 2009.

The Griz frequently ranked at or near the top of the league in sacks while producing an elite number of NFL prospect offensive linemen for an FCS school. Montana State had a slew of standout players to be sure — offensive linemen like Brent Swaggert, Jeff Bolton and Jeff Hansen along with defensive linemen John Montoya, Adam Cordeiro, John Taylor and Dane Fletcher come to mind — but the Griz seemed to always hold the physical edge up front.

In 2010, an MSU offensive front anchored by Mike Person (a Glendive native still in the NFL) and a defensive line featuring All-American Dan Ogden helped the Bobcats win in Missoula for the first time since 2002. In 2012, eventual Buck Buchanan Award winning defensive end Caleb Schreibeis sparked MSU’s second straight win in Missoula.

In 2014, a Griz defensive line charged by Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year Zack Wagenmann and electrified by explosive defensive tackle Tonga Takai hit Jake Bleskin early and often, forcing the MSU quarterback to throw five interceptions as Montana routed the playoff-bound Bobcats.

Montana’s rivalry game wins in 2011, 2013 and 2015 had as much to do with elite skill position players as it did line domination. But over the last three years, Montana State’s ability to bully Montana at the point of attack has been the No. 1 factor in MSU entering the 119^th edition of the rivalry war on a three-game winning streak.

“There’s no question it’s been a critical element of the game since I’ve been here,” MSU head coach Jeff Choate said. “And it will be no different this weekend.”

Montana State has had above average to elite offensive lines for almost all of the 21^st century. Jason McEndoo carved out a reputation as one of the best offensive line coaches in the Western United States, helping groom All-Big Sky and All-American players under former head coaches Mike Kramer and Rob Ash.

Standouts like John Weidenaar, Joel Horn and J.P Flynn played for McEndoo and 2015 OL coach Jason Eck. Flynn made it to the 2016 season, Choate’s first at the helm. Even though that Bobcat team entered the Cat-Griz game with a 3-7 mark, MSU went to work decimating a Montana defensive front intent on standing up in two-point stances.

Following a 24-17 victory that saw the ‘Cats rush for 368 yards — former dual-threat quarterback Chris Murray consistently followed Flynn through the hole on quarterback draw plays — Choate simply said, “It’s Football 101. You stand up your defensive linemen and we are going to attack you.”

The Bobcats again dominated the line of scrimmage, rushing for 322 yards in a 31-23 win over UM in 2017. That offensive line featured Mitch Brott, Lewis Kidd and Taylor Tuiasosopo, a sophomore and two freshmen who are still starting on the Bobcat offensive line today.

And last season, Montana State defensive tackle Chase Benson blew up the interior of UM’s mediocre offensive line, nose tackle Tucker Yates and middle linebacker Grant Collins smacked Griz tailback Adam Eastwood to force a fumble and defensive end Derek Marks recovered to seal MSU’s first three-game rivalry winning streak since 1985.

Montana’s offensive line went from nationally peerless to the weakness of the team in less than a decade. The 2015 and 2016 Griz started multiple players recruited to play other positions, including former tight ends Cooper Sprunk at center and Mike Ralston at right tackle.

In 2018, MSU employed a variety of overmatched players, from former walk-on redshirt freshman Colton Keintz at right tackle to former walk-on junior Cody Meyer at center. A slew of offensive linemen went down with injuries or left the program.

UM head coach Bobby Hauck, who coached a seemingly endless string of All-Americans during his first tenure 2003 until 2009, went to work on fixing both fronts the moment he took the job. His Griz team enter Saturday’s showdown against Montana State with a much-improved offensive line.

“I’m really impressed with the job that Coach Hauck has done in Year 2,” Choate said. “He has clearly addressed some issues on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

“What I see is a bigger, better offensive line. And I think that has allowed them to be more balanced…They have invested in that offensive line and Chad Germer is a really good football coach. It was probably just a matter of time.”

Junior Conlan Beaver has made the jump from stiff and struggling blind side to durable, solid left tackle. Fifth-year senior Angel Villanueva went from two-year starter to benched to out of shape to battling a bad back before this year. But he lost nearly 40 pounds, earned his starting spot at left guard back, and is peaking as a senior.

Fifth-year senior Cy Sirmon came to UM as an all-state linebacker from Wenatchee, Washington. He played linebacker, defensive end and defensive tackle before moving to guard last season before settling in at center this season.

Montana added mauling junior college guard Moses Mallory — “That’s the type of guy you want on your team…he is downright dirty and nasty,” receiver Samori Toure said — continued developing Keintz and added Dylan Cook, a 6-foot-6, 285-pound former quarterback at Montana State-Northern to the tackle rotation.

“Honestly, in every aspect of the game, from their strength to their knowledge of the game to their communication, across the board, they are all playing really well,” UM senior tight end Colin Bingham said when asked about the offensive line. “They love being the guys in the trenches doing the dirty work and winning us games. They have won us quite a few games this year and they are going to keep doing it for us.”

The Griz defensive front is suddenly athletic, aggressive and physical if not inexperienced. Senior captain Jesse Sims is the lynchpin in the middle as a durable nose tackle. He is flanked by a precipitously deep group featuring former NC State transfer Joe Babros, sophomores Braydon Deming and Eli Alford along with redshirt freshman Alex Gubner.

Redshirt freshman Milton Mamula, who suffered what looked like a serious non-contact knee injury last week, along with true freshman Jacob McGourin have been productive as pass rush specialists. And sophomore Patrick McConnell a former walk-on who transferred from UM from the University of Mary despite going to high school in Kalispell, leads the team with 6.5 sacks.

“They roll a lot of guys in and out there on the defensive front,” Choate said. “Sims is the stalwart and he plays three downs. No. 99 is a guy who shows up. But they play those linebacker body types a lot at or near the line of scrimmage and that’s really an extension of their defensive line is their linebacker core with some of the bogus pressure they do.”

Even with Montana’s massive and impressive improvements on both fronts in such a short period of time, Montana State still holds an advantage in the trenches. The Bobcat defensive line features former Washington transfers end Bryce Sterk, Buck end Amandre Williams and tackle Jason Scrempos, all who are playing at a career-high level. Senior Derek Marks and junior Chase Benson have both had all-conference caliber seasons on the inside.

That quintet has combined for 45 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks this season. They have also been productive tacklers at the line of scrimmage and in open space. Sterk is third on the team with 51 tackles while Williams is fifth with 48, Benson sixth with 47 and Marks eighth with 40. If not for the team effort, all but Scrempos would have arguments as first-team All-Big Sky players this season.

And the Bobcat offensive line, anchored by left tackle Brott and his 46 straight starts, is also bolstered by four other players with at least two years of starting experience. Kidd, a 6-foot-6, 305-pounder has evolved from stout but sometimes soft to menacing and powerful. Tuiasoso and sophomore Zach Redd form a productive platoon at left guard when Redd isn’t playing center. Sophomore Denver Krone is one of the surprising contributors on this year’s Bobcat team and plays plenty of snaps at center. Right tackle Connor Wood’s status for Saturday — he’s missed the last two games with a knee/leg injury — is unknown but junior Jake Sessions has proven to be a more than adequate backup.

The unit has helped the Bobcats plow their way to a Big Sky-best 260 rushing yards per game and 33 rushing touchdowns, top in the conference.

“They are are also a year older, a year more experienced,” Choate said. “They are a bigger, more physical group overall and I really think that has helped them to balance that group out.

“I like our fronts. We have continued to improve. Saturday, that will be a key battle in the game.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

On Sunday, the MSU football team announced its captains for the 2016 season. In a player vote, seven players were elected as captain: senior offensive lineman J.P. Flynn, senior running backs Chad Newell and Gunnar Brekke, senior linebacker Fletcher Collins, junior linebacker Mac Bignell, and junior safeties Bryson McCabe and Khari Garcia.

Montana State’s captain records date back to 1897. From that year until 1966, Montana State had none, one or two team captains. In 1966, guard Wayne Purdom, end Gary Richardson and fullback Bob Senden were the first  trio in school history. From 1966 until 1980, MSU had more than two captains just twice. In 1980, fullback Jeff Davis, linebacker Jack Muhlbeier, nose guard Ron Rainieri and defensive lineman Larry Rubens were the first four-some to captain the Bobcats.

“One interesting thing when I talked to the kids about captains is I said, ‘this is almost like a blended family.’ You have a group of guys here who had established themselves under Coach Ash and the previous regime and they were looked at as leaders and carried themselves and such. And there’s a group of guys who have emerged and started to exemplify the culture we are trying to create and now we’ve blended it,” first-year head coach Jeff Choate said following Sunday evening’s practice.  “One of the reasons why it’s such a large number is it’s a cross section of our team, the old and the new and bring that together and make it one tight knit group.”

During the Earle Solmonsen and Cliff Hysell days, Montana State most often chose captains from game to game. In 1991, Hysell’s first season, offensive tackle Ken Eiden, quarterback Joe Volek, defensive tackle Corey Widmer, defensive tackle Jason Hakert and linebacker Todd Graves became the first quintet to serve as Bobcat captains. In 1997, defensive end Neal Smith, strong safety Dylan Tripp, defensive end Walter Robinson, wide receiver Kenyatte Morgan and tight end Scott Harry gave MSU another five-some for its captains. In 1998, MSU had five captains once gain, with offensive guard Brian Archdale, linebacker Ken Amato, quarterback Rob Compson, linebacker Kevin Lundstrom and defensive end Ty O’Connor leading the team.

In 2003, All-America safety Kane Ioane led the largest group of MSU captains to date. Ioane, defensive end Jon Montoya, defensive end Adam Cordeiro, offensive tackle Brent Swaggert, wide receiver Scott Turnquist and fullback Ryan Elliott captained the Bobcats. Over the last 13 seasons, MSU has had three or four captains.

Newell (Billings), Brekke (Helena) and Bignell (Drummond) revive MSU’s streak of captains from Montana. In 2014, Montana State had four captains — Quinn Catalano, Na’a Moeakiola, Cole Moore, Tiai Salanoa — from out of state for the second time on record. In 2002, Montoya, a native of Brandon, South Dakota, and Prosser, Washington quarterback Tyler Thomas were MSU’s captains. This season also mark the first year since 2010 in which at least one of MSU’s captains does not hail from Texas.

Newell is the lone returning captain from a season ago. The former walk-on from Billings Senior enters his senior season with 1,408 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns in his career. His yardage total is 22^nd in school history and his touchdown total is eighth. With six more total touchdowns (he has three receiving scores), Newell can become just the second Bobcat to score 30 touchdowns in his career, joining 2013 captain Cody Kirk (48).

Brekke enters his senior season with 2,421 all-purpose yards in his three years as an offensive and special teams contributor. He needs 668 all-purpose yards to crack MSU’s Top 10 list. Last season, Brekke caught 22 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 304 yards and another score.

Last season, Bignell solidified his impressive rise from walk-on Class C safety to All-Big Sky outside linebacker. The son of MSU Hall of Fame tight end Joe Bignell ranked second in the Big Sky Conference with 20.5 tackles for loss. His six forced fumbles is just two away from tying 2012 captain and Buck Buchanan Award winner Caleb Scheibeis for the most in school history.

“What I believe is you have to have great conviction and discipline as a leader,” Choate said. “You have to do what you really think is best for the organization. I haven’t stepped down from anything I believe. To their credit, they’ve stepped in and got in line and by and large done everything we’ve asked them to do, embraced this change so my hat is off to them.”

Flynn (Bettendorf) and McCabe (Spirit Lake) are Montana State’s first two captains from Iowa. Rob Ash, Montana State’s head coach the last two seasons and a Des Moines native, recruited both. Flynn cracked the starting lineup at the beginning of conference play during his redshirt freshman season in 2013. He earned third-team All-Big Sky honors despite starting just seven games. In 2014, he earned first-team All-Big Sky honors. Last season, he was a third-team all-conference selection but suffered a torn patella tendon in his right knee. He missed spring drills but has practiced all but one day during MSU’s current fall camp.

McCabe spent a year at South Dakota State before transferring to Iowa Western College. After one standout junior college season, he signed with Montana State. He started six games last season but struggled with a variety of injuries. He and Garcia have emerged as MSU’s top safeties and the leaders of the secondary during fall camp.

Garcia burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2014 with his interception return for a touchdown against North Dakota on a homecoming afternoon. Last season, Garcia notched 36 tackles and broke up one pass while rotating with DeMonte King next to Des Carter at safety. The fearless junior has adjusted to Montana State’s new coaching staff as much as any Bobcat.

McCabe and Garcia are the first defensive back captains for the Bobcats since Jordan Craney and Mike Rider in 2010. Defensive backs Kevin Retoriano (2009), Ryan Force (2006) and Ioane were also captains since 2000.

“I think in particular for Khari, the change in that room has been really beneficial to him,” Choate said. “I think he has connected really well with Coach Alexander, a captain on our ’06 Fiesta Bowl team at Boise State. I think Gerald pushes those guys in that regard. That’s something that has definitely showed up.

“In Bryson’s case, he is a tremendous leader by example, a very accountable young man and he is a playmaker. Leadership can be defined in a bunch of ways and one of those ways it’s like being the principal, by having that title, you are the leader of that school. But that doesn’t necessarily make you someone who people look to for leadership. I think one thing that has to occur has to be production. That is where Bryson takes that next step. He has that position as the starter but he is also a productive player. That gives him credibility.”

Collins is a former walk-on out of Seattle Prep. He is MSU’s first captain from Washington since Auburn native Alex Terrien served in 2011. Collins has seen his career rise meteorically over the last two seasons. He rocketed up the depth chart to earn a starting spot last season only to miss the final seven games of the season with a hand injury. He is slated as Montana State’s starting middle linebacker.

Montana State opens its season on September 1 at the University of Idaho in Moscow.