By BILL LAMBERTY, Montana State sports information
BOZEMAN, Montana – Bobby Daly is familiar with the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year award. He played with three Bobcats who won it, was coached by another, and is related to yet another. So Montana State’s linebackers coach has special insight into the path that led Troy Andersen to the Big Sky’s top defensive honor in 2021.
“I think a lot of people see his great ability as a football player and think it is God-given,” said Daly, an All-America linebacker for the Bobcats himself. “What people don’t see is the work ethic. He is a very diligent, smart, hard-working individual who is willing to put in the time to get results on the field. He is his toughest critic. He doesn’t care about the big plays that he makes, he comes in and watches film and focuses on the mistakes he made within the game. That’s the common quality among all those guys. They expect the big plays, but the mistakes eat at them. They want to improve every day. Troy fits that mold.”
Andersen became the eighth Bobcat to capture Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year honors on Tuesday. He joins defensive end Brad Daly (2013), Bobby’s brother, along with linebacker Jody Owens (2012), defensive end Dane Fletcher (2009), outside linebacker Roger Cooper (2004), safety and one-time MSU linebackers coach Kane Ioane (2003), Corey Widmer (1990), and outside linebacker Mark Fellows (1984).
One thing Andersen doesn’t have in common with most of those previous MVPs was almost constant position changes. After playing on offense for the Cats as a freshman and sophomore – he was Big Sky Freshman of the Year in 2017 as a running back and 1st Team All-Big Sky at quarterback in 2018 – he moved to outside linebacker in 2019. This season, he played middle linebacker.
According to MSU defensive coordinator Freddie Banks, Andersen’s ability and willingness to move inside was like a key that unlocked the team’s defensive potential.
“(That move) let us play the style of defense we wanted to play,” Banks said. “He plays really hard, really smart, he’s the center of the defense so he makes all the checks for us. He’s definitely our team’s most valuable player in terms of the defense. I think (the position change) was easy for him because he played quarterback, so the transition wasn’t very hard. And he’s a leader by nature, I think he might have been born with that trait.”
While enjoying the moment for Andersen, Bobcat coach Brent Vigen also easily understands the historical perspective.
“His impact over his time here has been all over the place,” Vigen said. “It’s been on offense, it’s been on defense, it’s been on special teams, but this year what we tasked him with is playing a new position in a new space and he took it and ran with it. He led us in tackles and finished second in the conference in tackles.”
It made sense that Andersen’s athleticism would make him a perfect middle linebacker in MSU’s system, but Vigen said toughness and willingness to make physical plays is what pushed Andersen onto a player-of-the-year trajectory.
“It’s a sideline-to-sideline game that he’s played (before) but it’s also a down-and-dirty game that he hasn’t had to play before,” Vigen said. “He performed real well in that way. He was just shy of 10 TFLs, two interceptions, he’s the leader on our defense, as well. In a league with so many good candidates I’m glad to see him get that award.”
And Vigen also admired the way Andersen, who wasn’t allowed to participate fully in spring drills, went about his business.
“The way he attacked it with no spring ball, through the summer and into fall camp he was learning on the fly, and what we saw was a real progression on Saturdays of him getting better and better. I’m sure he’d be the first to say that he’s got some room to grow still, but he attacked every opportunity he had to play as well as he could.”
MONTANA STATE BIG SKY DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
2021: TROY ANDERSEN, Linebacker (Dillon, Montana)
2013: Brad Daly, Defensive End (Helena, Montana)
2012: Jody Owens, Linebacker (Mesquite, Texas)
2009: Dane Fletcher, Defensive End (Bozeman, Montana)
2004: Roger Cooper, Linebacker (Port Orchard, Washington)
2003: Kane Ioane, Safety (Billings, Montana)
1990: Corey Widmer, Defensive Tackle (Bozeman, Montana)
1984: Mark Fellows, Outside Linebacker (Choteau, Montana)
