DeNarius McGhee

In his freshman year, McGhee started as a redshirt.[1] He played outstandingly his first year in college football and had one of the best seasons by a Bobcat quarterback. McGhee led the Bobcats to nine wins, the second highest in the school's history. He earned the Big Sky Offensive MVP and was voted the league's top newcomer, and was named National Freshman of the year by College Football Performance Awards and MSU's Sonny Holland Offensive MVP. He had the third-best season in the school's history and threw 3,163 yards.[2] According to ESPN, in the “NCAA Division I-A Player Passing Statistics of 2011,” he would be in 29th right behind Russell Wilson of Wisconsin, who threw 3,175 yards.[3] McGhee helped turn around the team and lowered the teams turnovers.[4] In an article in the Billings Gazette, Greg Rachac said, “The Bobcats are off to their best start since 1978. And I believe McGhee is the reason for the renaissance.”[5] When McGhee was a freshman, Brian Wright said, “DeNarius would be the first to admit he had plenty of areas in which to improve.”[6] He knows he still has to grow, even though he had a superb and successful year as a quarterback for the Bobcats.

McGhee improved as an athlete from his freshman year to his sophomore year. Eastern Washington University's defensive coordinator John Graham said, “Nothing seems to rattle him, and I think he’s maybe even staying in the pocket longer and not panicking and taking off running as much as he did as a freshman.”[6] The fall of his sophomore season, the team voted him one of the three captains.[1] One of McGhee's best games of his sophomore season was against Portland State. His statistics were good; he completed 15 of his 22 passes, and had no turn overs.[7] After that game against PSU, McGhee was awarded Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week. He was also in the running for the Walter Payton Award and was in the final 20, along with 9 other quarterbacks.[4] McGhee led MSU to its first playoff win since 2006 when it beat New Hampshire 26–25 in Bozeman. McGhee ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as the Bobcats advanced to the FCS quarterfinals.

McGhee had another solid campaign in 2012 as he again led the Bobcats to a Big Sky Conference title and helped advance the team to the quarterfinals of the NCAA FCS playoffs where they defeated Stony Brook 16–10 in the first playoff night game at Bobcat Stadium to advance to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs for the second straight season. McGhee attempted (436) and completed more passes (288) and at a higher completion percentage (66.0) than in his previous two seasons at MSU. He earned first team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), his second BSC Offensive Player of the Year award and was first team All-BSC at quarterback. He ran his record as MSU's starting quarterback to 30–8 to become the all-time leader in wins in MSU history. He needs just four more wins to become the winningest quarterback in Big Sky Conference history. In the spring, McGhee was initiated into the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, where he became a highly active member. Eventually, he would live at the fraternity his senior year and would assume high level leadership positions within the organization.

McGhee suffered a separated shoulder on the last play of the second game of the season at Southern Methodist University. Playing near his hometown McGhee helped lead the Bobcats to a 22-5 first half lead and MSU still led 30–19 in the third quarter before SMU rallied and scored a touchdown with :12 seconds to play. MSU ran the hook-and-ladder for its last desperation attempt and McGhee completed a pass to Tanner Roderick, then got the ball back and was driven out of bounds landing on his right shoulder.

McGhee returned to the field three weeks later, playing in 10 games. He finished the 2013 season completing 175 of 265 passes for 2087 yards and 8 touchdowns. He rushed for 248 yards in 83 attempts.