BILLINGS — Thirty years of history — and a great deal of emotion — will flood Bobcat Stadium on Saturday when Montana State commemorates its most significant football moment in a generation.
Three decades on, MSU’s 1984 national championship still has virtue.
To most of the country, that particular year was about Reaganomics, Van Halen and Ghostbusters. But to the good people of Bozeman and Bobcats fans around Montana it was about a dream season that was as amazing as it was unexpected.
The names still resonate: Quarterback Kelly Bradley. Tight end Joe Bignell. Linebacker Mark Fellows. Linebacker and Billings Senior product Tex Sikora. So many others.
Up to 45 of them are expected to attend a championship reunion at Bobcat Stadium, complete with the current Cats wearing throwback uniforms from that mythical ’84 season.
“That’s very special,” Bobcats cornerback Bryson Keeton said. “As a team we talked about it during the offseason and it’s something we all wanted to do. To have that come to life is special. It’s a cool thing.”
MSU began the 1984 on Sept. 8 with a 30-14 home victory over NAIA Mesa State. It culminated Dec. 15 with a 19-6 triumph over Louisiana Tech in the Division I-AA title game in Charleston, South Carolina. The year before, in Dave Arnold’s first season as coach, the Bobcats were a paltry 1-10. In 1985 they went 2-9. But in between it was pure magic.
“Looking back, it’s something you probably appreciate more now than you did 30 years ago because it came out of nowhere,” said Dean Alexander, an MSU hall of famer and the school’s radio voice from 1973-2002. “It happened so fast. It was such a bad year the year before, and then ’84 was a year that was straight out of a Hollywood movie.”
MSU started 2-2 but streaked to 10 consecutive wins, including victories over Idaho, Nevada, Boise State and archrival Montana. The Cats also knocked off I-A Fresno State (and former MSU coach Jim Sweeney) on the road, a landmark victory in the regular-season finale that sprung them on their title run in the following three weeks.
In an ice-cold playoff opener on Dec. 1 in Bozeman, the Bobcats rallied past Arkansas State 31-14 after falling behind by two TDs. And things looked bleak again the following week in the semifinals at home against Rhode Island.
Trailing with just four minutes remaining, the Bobcats were backed up on their 13-yard line as Rhode Island threatened to put the game away. But safety Joe Roberts intercepted a pass from Rams quarterback Tom Ehrhardt and took it 97 yards for a touchdown to give the Cats the lead.
Rattled, Rhode Island fumbled the ensuing kickoff and MSU punched in another TD three plays later, and that sealed a 32-20 victory.
“It was kind of euphoric because you really had the believers, and people were anticipating big things,” Alexander said. “But that Rhode Island game was over.
“And we all know what happened: Joe Roberts makes the interception and gets the escort from everybody and their brother all the way to the end zone.”
The following week Bignell caught two touchdown passes and the Bobcats handled Louisiana Tech to claim the title.
Bradley, a sophomore, was named the league’s offensive MVP. Fellows, a senior who had an astounding 23 sacks and 30 tackles for loss, was the defensive MVP.
“There were five or six seniors providing leadership and the motivation from what they went through in ’83, and then you had some sophomores and some young guys that really blossomed,” Alexander said. “The camaraderie, the respect the players and coaches had for each other really made a difference. It all came together in one year.”
This week, during preparations for Saturday’s game, MSU has shown highlights from the 1984 season on the video board at Bobcat Stadium to get acquainted with the group they will honor.
Coach Rob Ash said members of that squad — as well as players from the 1964 Big Sky championship team — will visit practice Friday.
The ’84 team still reverberates through the program. Players donated financially to the FieldTurf project at Bobcat Stadium in 2008, and a handful of current Bobcats are sons of players who won it all 30 years ago.
“Our guys have heard about the ’84 team but none of them were born when it happened,” Ash said. “We’ll be watching videos of Joe Bignell catching touchdowns in the national championship game, and then you look over and you see two of his sons (Nate and Mac) that are now on our team.
“There’s a tremendous connection. There’s a real closeness. I know the ’84 guys would like nothing more for another team to rise up and have a tremendous season like they did.”