College football signing day is already an interesting time, full of superlatives about the incoming classes that no doubt signal a rosy future for the program.

Add in a pandemic, and you could have some crooked numbers: Montana Grizzlies coach Bobby Hauck said Wednesday that he and sports information director Eric Taber counted 78 freshmen and sophomores on the Griz roster.

“Roster spots and scholarships were in short supply and I think we handled that really well,” Hauck said, then added: “We don’t need any more young guys. There’s a chance before the season we could add a couple older guys. But we don’t need any more young guys.”

Hauck managed to count 23 new players Wednesday, the second-and-final signing day for NCAA football. Five FBS transfers fill out a group that began with 12 high school signees in December and kept growing.

The most eye-catching “older guy” so far is San Diego State transfer Luke Johnson, who quarterbacked the Aztecs past Texas-San Antonio 38-24 in the 2021 Frisco Bowl.

“I’ve known Lucas a long time,” Hauck said of the senior, who played at Mt. Carmel High in San Diego. “I recruited him out of high school. I actually had him committed to San Diego State and he left me at the altar to go to Georgia Tech.”

Johnson transferred back to SDSU, had an impressive 2021 campaign and is on the move again.

“He’s a great addition and we should have a great quarterback battle this spring and fall,” Hauck, an assistant at SDSU from 2015-17, said.

As for the many youngsters, a name stands out beyond the three Helena High kids coming to the Griz (or the four Billings West kids going to MSU): Glacier specialist Patrick Rohrbach.

Reached Wednesday by phone, Hauck had nothing but good things to say – and that was before he started talking about the maroon-and-silver TV room the Rohrbach’s have in their basement.

“Their house is Griz Central,” Hauck said.

Rohrbach was well-served to start attending the Griz specialists camps — Hauck said they won’t ever recruit a player that doesn’t attend — and better served by performing well.

“He came in this last June and he just killed it,” Hauck said. “He was awesome. Field goal, he kicked off, he punted far better than anybody else there, and we had quite a few kids. We felt really good about him.”

To be sure, every coach feels good about every incoming recruit. But Rohrbach’s stature may be bolstered by the fact punter Brian Buschini — who Rohrbach met as a seventh-grader at the Griz camp — transferred to Nebraska.

It was noted that signees Drew Klumph (Sentinel) and Ian Finch (Hellgate) are walk-ons, which helps explain the large class, and that the class had a decidedly Western Montana feel.

“No one lives in Eastern Montana anymore,” Hauck said. “It’s deserted aside from a few outposts, my hometown (Big Timber) included.”

He added: “They (Klumph and Finch) both showed up in our camp last year; they were both good. There are numerous kids in this class, including those two, that if we had a normal allotment of scholarships, they’d have one.”

Rohrbach, the 157-pounder that is apparently all leg, has one.

“If you had to pick one of the freshmen most likely to contribute this year,” Hauck said. “It’s him.”

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com.

Montana

Transfers

Name Pos Yr. Hgt Wgt Prev. school

Jayden Dawson Sr. CB 5-11 185 C. of Idaho

Garrett Hustedt So. DE 6-2 230 Nebraska

Lucas Johnson Sr. QB 6-3 215 San Diego St.

Dylan Mayginnes Fr. OL 6-5 298 Washington St.

Sawyer Racanelli So. WR 6-3 210 Washington

Robert Whitehead Jr. CB 6-1 170 Grossmont (JC)

High School - February

Name Pos Hgt Wgt Hometown

Ethan Barney OL 6-4 280 Sumner, Wash.

Vince Genatone LB 6-1 205 North Platte, Neb.

Drew Klumph Ath 5-11 175 Missoula (Sentinel)

Jareb Ramos DL 6-4 273 Centenniel, Colo.

Cooper Walton LB 6-1 205 Johnstown, Colo.

High School - December

Sam Alford WR 6-3 190 Park City, Utah

Beau Dantic Ath 5-10 173 Laurel

Marcus Evans LB 6-0 190 Helena

Ian FInch WR 6-3 195 Missoula (Hellgate)

Eli Gillman RB 6-0 200 Dassel, Minn.

Braunson Henriksen DL 6-5 230 Polson

Kaden Huot QB 6-4 200 Helena

Chase McGurran S 6-0 175 Helena

Patrick Rohrbach K/P 5-11 157 Kalispell (Glacier)

Tyson Rostad Ath 6-1 195 Hamilton

Joey Visser S 6-1 175 Boulder

Joe Weida TE 6-4 225 Missoula (Sentinel)

Montana State

Transfers

Name Pos Yr. Hgt Wgt Prev. school

Ravi Alston WR Sr. 6-3 205 St. John’s (Minn.)

Sean Chambers QB Jr. 6-3 225 Wyoming

Dru Polidore DB Fr. 6-1 185 Air Force

High School - February

Name Pos Hgt Wgt Hometown

Luke Abshire QB 6-1 180 Spokane (Central Valley)

Michael Armstrong DB 6-0 190 Bozeman (Gallatin)

Jaden Perkins OL 6-1 290 Bozeman

Jaren Perkins DL 6-0 245 Bozeman

Jared White RB 5-10 195 Frisco, Texas

High School - December

Ethan Abbott DL 6-5 285 Florence

Christian Anaya WR 6-1 175 Chandler, Ariz.

Caden Dowler DB 6-0 190 Billings (West)

Taco Dowler WR 5-9 160 Billings (West)

Logan Frederickson DL 6-3 210 Rigby, Idaho

Casey Kautzman K 5-11 205 Butte

Max Kimball DB 6-0 180 Billings (West)

Ryan Krahe LB 6-1 205 Great Falls

Burke Mastel OL 6-4 290 Red Lodge

Conner Moore DL 6-5 260 Millbury, Ohio

Max Murphy TE 6-2 220 Billings (West)

Tommy Nilson OL 6-3 255 Missoula (Hellgate)

Rylan Schlepp TE 6-4 230 Bozeman (Gallatin)

Dylan Snyder WR 6-2 185 Butte

Jake Vigen Ath 6-2 200 Bozeman (Gallatin)