BUTTE — Montana Tech's Landers Smith didn't mince words when describing the emotions at the conclusion of his team's 2023 football campaign.
"After that last game it left a little bad taste in our mouth," said the Charlo native and redshirt senior running back. "Super excited to get back to work. I feel like everybody has that same taste, and it's given us the confidence to come out here day one and be great."
Tech's first postseason trip since 2016 proved to be the end of the road last November for the Orediggers, who fell at home to future Frontier Conference member Dickinson State 35-28 after earning an at-large bid following a three-game win streak to wrap up the regular season, including a win over a No. 16 Carroll College team in the regular-season finale.
The Orediggers, who ended last season at 7-4 overall and 6-2 in league play, opened their 2024 fall camp on Thursday. With 28 seniors, this will be the largest graduating class so far under fifth-year head coach Kyle Samson.
On offense, Tech returns starting redshirt senior quarterback Blake Thelen, who racked up 2,900 passing yards and 24 touchdowns in 2023, redshirt senior wide receiver Wyatt Alexander, who piled up 1,109 receiving yards to go with nine touchdowns, and Smith, who stepped up early in the season for an injured Blake Counts and went on to post the conference's third-best rushing yardage last season with 732 yards.
Samson has plenty of veteran playmakers on his roster, and he recognizes what an asset that is.
"You can't replace experience, the leadership aspect," said Samson. "These guys know what we're about, they know what our culture is about. They've played a lot of football games in the Frontier which is obviously a tremendous league. I'm so excited about this group of guys that have been with me and our staff for four or five years."
The Orediggers were ranked No. 4 in the Frontier's preseason coaches' poll on Thursday. But considering they ended a seven-year playoff drought last season and this year have a team loaded with experience, Tech's aspirations are as high as they've been under Samson's tenure.
"We're taking it to the next level," said Thelen. "We're getting to the playoffs and we're winning games in the playoffs. We're trying to win a national championship. We know where we're at as a program, and making the playoffs just isn't good enough for us. Hosting a playoff game isn't good enough."
The Orediggers will face a solid litmus test in their season-opening Copper Game on Aug. 29 as they host Georgetown College (Ky.), a team coming off a run to the national semifinals last season.
