The return of the return has been a welcome site for Montana State’s football team in 2022. The Bobcats hadn’t seen anyone return a kickoff or punt for a touchdown since 2015 when Logan Jones ran a kickoff back a record-tying 100 yards against Portland State seven years ago.
You had to go back to 2013 to find the latest punt return for a touchdown – an 82-yard return by Shawn Johnson against Montana.
That all changed in the matter of two games this season when true freshman Taco Dowler ran a punt back 67 yards against Morehead State. A week later Marqui Johnson took a kickoff back 98 yards in Portland against Oregon State.
This past Saturday the Bobcats may not have gotten a return for a score, but they did have a pair of returns that led to scores against UC Davis. Most notably was Johnson’s 67-yard kickoff jaunt in the third quarter that set MSU up on the Aggies’ 27. Two plays later the Bobcats were in the end zone when Sean Chambers connected with Clevan Thomas Jr. down the sideline.
“We needed to make a play on special teams,” MSU special teams coordinator and wide receiver coach Justin Udy said. “They got us on a fake punt earlier, so obviously (Johnson’s kickoff return) was a huge play.
“In that situation it was so key to give the offense good starting position. Those are the types of plays that we’re going to continue to have to make. In games like that, playing teams like Davis those plays ultimately help you separate.”
That touchdown came right after UC Davis scored a touchdown on a halfback pass from Ulonzo Gilliam to McCallan Castles. The ensuing Aggies fake extra-point into 2-point conversion made the score 24-21 early in the third quarter.
The Bobcats grabbed the momentum after that and in the final quarter with a 14-point lead, Dowler was able to wiggle free briefly on a punt return to gain six yards. That started MSU’s most time-consuming (nearly six minutes) drive of the game, which couldn’t have come at a better time for the Bobcats as they not only milked the clock down to the 6:10 mark, but connected on a 30-yard field goal by Blake Glessner to give MSU a three score lead at 41-24.
“With Marqui and Taco we have weapons and that’s great,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “We didn’t have that last year; we didn’t have that turn the field over ability. I think we have a chance to make a difference with our special teams. The return game was lacking last year, but it’s not this year and it’s exciting.”
The Bobcats struggled covering the returns against Oregon State but seem to have shored that up against their past two opponents. MSU had knocked most of its kickoffs through the end zone against McNeese and Morehead and didn’t punt in either game.
“We got ourselves into a situation matchup-wise against Oregon State,” Udy said. “We had to get back to work after that game. My message was: we can’t let one game beat us in the following weeks. I thought (against UC Davis) our kickoff cover and punt cover teams were really great.”
Shawn Johnson was one of the best returners in MSU history and his 2013 season is one of the best in league history. He had two (100 and 99 yards) kickoff returns that are in the top ten in the record books that year, and his 82-yarder against the Grizzlies is the sixth-longest punt return of all time. Johnson has to take a back seat career-wise, however, to Corey Smith. Smith ran five punts back for touchdowns and two kickoffs back for scores during his career. His 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the 2003 Cat-Griz game is one of the most famous plays in school history.
The Bobcats had a few near misses in the return game over the past few years. Jones ran a kickoff back for a score against Western Illinois in 2019 that was negated by a penalty. Willie Patterson’s 87-yard punt return for a touchdown against Wyoming was also wasted due a penalty. Patterson had a punt return of 47 yards against UT-Martin in the second round of the 2021 playoffs. Coy Steel returned three punts for over 30 yards each against Albany in the 2019 playoffs.
The longest punt return in MSU history came in 1991 when Sean Hill returned the ball 86 yards for a score against Idaho State, who is this Saturday’s opponent. Bill Mulcahy held the record since 1962 when he returned a punt 85 yards against Idaho. The longest kickoff return is held by four players. Along with Jones and Shawn Johnson, Demetrius Crawford (2008) and Harvey Wylie (1954) had 100-yard returns.
MSU plays Idaho State this Saturday at 2:00 in its annual Homecoming Game at Bobcat Stadium.
