# 92
Blake schmidt, DT: If you listen carefully and have access to the right people during any football season, you will usually hear the names of young players who are supposed to get really good. Blake schmidt is one of those players from MSU, a young defensive lineman who combines power and explosiveness. Montana State has been fortunate enough with indoor defensive linemen who bring a strong wrestling background to the Bobcat football program – Dan Ogden and Tucker Yates come to mind – and Blake schmidt matches this mold. A wrestling star as well as the Conference Defensive Player of the Year award for his play as a high school defensive lineman, Schmidt’s versatility is likely to make him a valuable part of the equation this season.

92 – That’s the number of runs scored in Montana State’s first four games of the team’s 1923 season. Ott Romney’s first season as the school’s director of athletics and head of physical education, a role in most mid- to small-sized schools of this era that included the head coach of football and basketball in 1922 produced a 4-4 season, but the Cats failed to win an out-of-state game that season. In fact, the team only played one game against another opponent from the Rocky Mountain Conference. The 1923 campaign opened with MSC (as it was then called) spending an entire week at the Utah Hotel in Salt Lake City. The team sandwiched a narrow 16-15 loss to BYU on September 29 and an October 6 loss to Idaho State with training at several athletic fields and gyms in the Utah capital that were set to the disposition of Romney, a favorite son. (Remember, the state of Montana was on the quarterback system at the time, so classes weren’t quite going.) The Bobcats crushed the Southern Idaho Branch (now the ‘Idaho State) 41-0 and returned home to beat Montana Wesleyan 30-3. That four-game, 20-day season opener ended in another narrow conference loss in a 7-6 home decision over Denver. After finishing 1922 4-4, the Bobcats compiled a superficially similar 5-4 score in 1923. Looking back, the difference between the two campaigns was significant. Romney’s second season saw the Bobcats beat Carroll, northern Colorado and New Mexico, while losing their fourth in a row to UM, as well as a 7-2 loss to Montana Tech. Building on modest gains in 1923, the Cats racked up a 19-12-2 mark over the next four seasons, Romney’s final seasons at Bozeman. And while MSC’s next win over the Grizzlies didn’t come until 1929, the Bobcats got competitive for the first time in the famous Rocky Mountain Conference. From those one-point losses at the 1923 opener until he left, Romney’s teams were 3-0 to Northern Colorado, 2-1 to BYU, 2-2 to Wyoming, 0-0- 1 against powerful Denver, 2-1 against Colorado (not a typo), and 1-1 against Utah State. The 1926 Bobcats won all four of their games against opponents from the RMC, but Utah’s five league wins gave the Utes the league title. The completion of MSC Gymnasium, now Romney Gym, was one of the factors in the rebirth of Bobcat football. As Romney put it in an open letter to the student body in 1923, “A magnificent new gymnasium – a home of physical education and recreational activities that leaves little to be desired – allows the Department of Physical Well-being to ensure you. the golden opportunity to be happy, wholesome, wholesome and carefully supervised leisure time. ”Later, Romney referred to the gym which, decades later, would bear his name as“ the factory of health Which he hoped would make physical activity a “habit.” Regardless of whether the building served that purpose or not, it certainly benefited Bobcat Athletics for generations to come, especially by attracting Quality student-athletes who would lead the state of Montana to athletic glory throughout the 1920s.

Chronology: Mark Stromberg (1982), Tate Kopp (1983), Shane Quilling (1984), Shane Powell (1985-86), Ken Buss (1987), Scott Eaton (1988), Tim Hanson (1989-90), Terry Phelan (1991 ), Devlan Geddes (1992-96), Aaron Nava (1997), Nathan Schmidt (1999), Adam Cordeiro (2000-03), Daryl Rogers (2004-05), Kody Swartz (2006), Brad Smith (2007-10 ), Nate Bignell (2012-13), Tucker Yates (2014-18), Blake schmidt (2019-)

Other 92 Notes: The tall guy wearing the No.92 caught the ball on a jump and walked over to Paydirt. A dozen strides in his gallop to the Eastern Washington end zone, he noted that no one was really chasing him. Thought arose Adam Cordeirothinks the pass may have been incomplete and not lateral, but he knew what he knew so he kept rolling. Several Eagles caught up and started the chase, but Cordeiro’s lead was too large and when he crossed the goal line with what was deemed a 76-yard fumble return for the touchdown he had a superb victory from Bobcat who, honestly, was only one of about five in a row that conspired to give the Cats the 2002 Big Sky title. Cordeiro was a bizarre athlete from Boulder, with a whimsical outlook on life. He was asked during the 2002 and 2003 seasons to move inside to attack from his more natural defensive stance, he made the transition selflessly while understanding exactly what that meant for his own station in life. . And he remained a stallion. Playing primarily in late 2002, he recorded 10.5 tackles for a loss, including 5.5 sacks. He recovered four fumbles and forced two. A year later, playing a defensive tackle, his stats were cut in half, but his impact resonated more strongly. MSU’s defensive front of Cordeiro and Ray Sebestyen on the inside, flanked by Jon Montoya and Clive Lowe, was noteworthy, with Cordeiro’s presence on the inside creating opportunities for assists that led to the 43 sacks of MSU.

Devlan Geddes and his teammates Chad Mayer and Scott Matthews were unique. They were hard working kids who came to Bobcat football in Cliff Hysell’s first recruiting class as rough athletes. They survived the ups and downs of Cliff Hysell’s early years as MSU’s head coach and left as a group that helped restore the pride of the Bobcat football program. These three also shared another distinction: They were the first captains selected on a seasonal basis during the Hysell era. Geddes, who wore # 92 with distinction, could quite easily be the poster child for the student-athlete concept. He was an All-America and Academic All-America who patiently built the strength and explosiveness that would define his great game and brilliant legacy. Geddes’ 22 career sacks were the third largest in Bobcat history at the end of his career, and remain 10^e on MSU’s all-time list, and he returned to Bozeman for a distinguished legal career.