For the first time since 1978, three NIU football standouts—outside linebacker Mike Hollingshed, offensive guard Bob Montel and quarterback Marshall Taylor—will share the school’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1988.

By no coincidence, all three seniors served coach Jerry Pettibone’s 7-4-0 Huskie squad as the team’s tri-captains this past fall.

“This is the first time in my four years here that we’ve had three MVPs,” Pettibone said. “But all three contributed so much to the success of our program, that it was virtually impossible not to honor all three of these young men.”

Hollingshed finished his career as the No. 6 all-time NIU tackler with 321 hits in our campaigns. The 6-foot, 198-pounder won four letters and posted 36 career starts, 24 career deflections and seven career pass thefts.

Montel—nicknamed “Boss Hogg” for his exemplary leadership on the offensive line—earned his third letter in 1988. The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Huskie returned to action a week after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee at mid-season.

Taylor set the school record for career total offense plays and wound up second in Huskie career total offense yardage with 6,138.

Senior Phil Foley received the Abe Rosenbloom Defensive Lineman Award. He paced the nation’s No. 23 scoring defense with 14 tackles for 55 yards in losses last season.