BSC Week 5 Preview
Kris Kallem & Lance Berndt, BSC Contributors | October 02, 2015
Kris Says-
North Dakota @ Portland State
The two Big Sky teams with an FBS win and the two teams playing the best defense square off in downtown Portland. Each unit is giving up less than 65 yards on the ground so far but the Vikings have generated much more offense, especially out of their rushing attack. Given their excellent start, It would be nice to see the folks in the Rose City come out and support Portland State a little this Saturday.
Northern Colorado @ Sacramento State
Sacramento State showed some fight last week and has some solid wide receivers in Harrison, Hennie, and Agude. Northern Colorado, despite their last two blow out losses, is surprisingly middle of the pack in the BSC for most offensive and defensive stats. Conference wins will be few and far to come by for both of these squads in 2015 and this will be one of their few chances to pick one up.
Players of the Week
On offense, Montana State’s Dakota Prukop threw for 399 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Bobcat win over Cal Poly
Tyrone Holmes of Montana took home the defensive award with a filthy 4 sack and 5 tackles for loss performance. Holmes already has 8 sacks on the season.
North Dakota punter Mitch Meindel gets the special teams nod with a 50.5 yard average against Davis. He now leads the FCS in punting average.
Lance says-
Southern Utah @ ORV Weber State
Sure on the surface this may just look like a game between two middle of the road Big Sky teams, but the winner should be well on their way to establishing their dark horse candidacy in the conference title race. Aside from tough road losses at SDSU and NDSU, both teams have looked quite respectable to start the season. Weber State comes in on a tear with two easy wins over conference opponents, and what has been most impressive for them is how balanced their offense has played in their wins. Southern Utah has flexed their defensive muscle in 3 of their first 4 games and will need that James Cowser led attack to be in full force to take down Weber in Ogden.
#12 Montana @ UC-Davis
UC-Davis has proved to be pretty predictable on the road the last few seasons, but you never know what you’re going to get when they’re playing at home. With veteran Ben Scott at the helm at QB, we could see a potential trap game for Montana in their hopes of going on a run to a conference title. The Grizzlies played very well last weekend on defense, though, and will look to build on their performance against the Aggies average offensive attack. The big question here will be how well UC-Davis can fare against Montana’s fast paced offense. This will be the first solid passing attack the Aggies have faced so far this season.
#11 Montana State @ Northern Arizona
Speaking of trap games, last season Northern Arizona welcomed a high-powered Eastern Washington team to town and came away with a major upset. With Dakota Prukop and the Bobcat offense clicking on all cylinders, they need to stay focused against this sneaky NAU team. We know the Lumberjacks can put up offense through the air, but against Montana State, they will need to prove that they can make big stops on defense. Last weekend, they did pretty well against the Grizzlies in the red zone forcing 3 field goals. They will need that effectiveness once again to hang around with the Cats. I think the key members to focus on will be Montana State’s defensive backs. We know the offense can hang with anyone, but if the defense can shut down Case Cookus and Emmanuel Butler, this will be a very long day for Northern Arizona.
ORV Cal Poly @ Idaho State
Contrary to what Dennis Green is so famous for exclaiming, these two teams lately have not been who we thought they were. Idaho State looks like the circus joke they were before last season giving up endless points on defense and turning the ball over excessively on offense. Cal Poly made a statement win at Montana, but has reeled off 3 straight losses since then, all by double digit margins. The Mustangs defense seems to get worse each game, while the Bengals offense has been in a very similar decline. This is a must win game for both teams, but I don’t think Idaho State can get out of their slump. The offseason loss of QB Justin Arias and the preseason injury of star LB Mario Jenkins has proven to negatively effect their success much more than originally thought. I think Cal Poly’s option attack runs all over the Bengals defense to continue Idaho State’s embarrassing start to the season.