We’re through the non-conference part of the Big Sky Conference football season. Can’t come soon enough, time to start the race towards the playoffs and the auto-bids. There’s a horse race at the top of the Big Sky and everyone’s still got a chance to snag that auto-bid. Except Northern Colorado. They do not have a chance.
This week saw Monmouth make the cross-country trip to Montana and face the Grizzlies. After the teams spent a quarter feeling each other out the fireworks started. Dalton Sneed threw for four touchdowns to lead the Griz over the Hawks. Monmouth quarterback Kenji Bahar put on a show, however, throwing for 393 yards, an impressive young quarterback. Eastern Washington took the trip down the Palouse to take on Idaho. The Vandals jumped out to a 28-0 lead and never looked back as they defeated Eastern Washington. Montana State made quick work of the visiting Norfolk State Spartans.
In the Big Sky game of the week UC Davis went to the Fargo Quanset Hut and took on North Dakota State. Close game most of the way through, but a late Bison touchdown iced the win. Jake Meier had a big day through the air, throwing for 312 yards and a score, but also had way too many turnovers to keep the Aggies in the game. South Dakota State beat up on Northern Colorado in the Big Sky pillow fight of the week. Northern Iowa eeked one out against Idaho State. Haven’t decided if Idaho State is good or lucky. Portland State beat some directional school. South Dakota State put a hurting on Southern Utah. Illinois State had a big third quarter to get past Northern Arizona. To cap the night Sacramento State hung with Fresno State for two quarters before eventually giving up 20 points in the fourth quarter and losing to the Bulldogs.
This week we’ll see Montana go to California and take on UC Davis. Northern Arizona will come north to take on Montana State in Bozeman. Idaho will head to Greeley to take on Northern Colorado. North Dakota comes across the Big Sky to take on Eastern Washington. In the Big Sky pillow fight of the week Portland State heads to Pocatello to take on Idaho State. Northern Iowa can’t get enough of the Big Sky, and will take on Weber State in Ogden. In the night cap Cal Poly will travel to Southern Utah.
Scores
Monmouth 27
Montana 47
Eastern Washington 27
Idaho 35
Norfolk State 21
Montana State 56
UC Davis 16
North Dakota State 27
South Dakota 14
Northern Colorado 6
Idaho State 6
Northern Iowa 13
Eastern Oregon 9
Portland State 59
Southern Utah 7
South Dakota State 43
Northern Arizona 27
Illinois State 40
Sacramento State 20
Fresno State 34
Big Sky Player of the Week
This week’s Big Sky Player of the Week is Montana quarterback Dalton Sneed. Sneed was 30/40 for 334 yards and four touchdowns in Montana’s win over Monmouth this weekend.
Big Sky MVP Candidates
Jake Meier, QB, UC Davis
Dalton Sneed, QB, Montana
Case Cookus, QB, Northern Arizona
Ulonzo Gilliam, RB, UC Davis
Jeff Cotton, WR, Idaho
Big Sky Power Rankings
Weber State
UC Davis
Montana State
Montana
Eastern Washington
Northern Arizona
Sacramento State
Cal Poly
Idaho
Portland State
Idaho State
Southern Utah
Northern Colorado
The Quad Shot
The Big Sky Conference took it on the chin this week. Going 0-5 against the Missouri Valley this week isn’t doing the conference reputation a lot of favors. A few lopsided match-ups this week, not exactly pairing 1:1 matchups. The only good game of any of these was UC-Davis and NDSU. Davis looks like a formidable team heading into conference play. Surprised that Jake Meier threw three interceptions, thought he’d have a little better showing. Once again, I guess it’s NDSU and everyone else.
Eastern Washington what the hell are you doing? I know Idaho isn’t good, or at least good enough to jump out to a 28-0 lead on a supposed top five team heading into the week. Still hope for the Eags though, it was a non-conference game. But man, that’ll probably be a black mark on the playoff resume if the Eags can turn around their season. Just watch, Idaho will now run the table.
I’ll be curious if Weber State can win out this season. The top of the Big Sky is particularly strong and right now I can see a scenario where any of the top five can win the conference. Eastern better fix that whole defense thing they have going on. Montana needs to fix that giving up a lot of passing yards things. Montana State better fix that quarterback thing. UC Davis, can they keep scoring against tough defenses? Weber State, will they be able to score at all or just play defense and pray? I might be way off, none of these teams are perfect, at least perfect enough to beat NDSU. Or even SDSU, for that matter.
On a more non-Big Sky related note.. I’ve been an AGS top 25 poll voter for quite a few years. FCS I would say is generally the toughest of all divisions of college football to rank. You have teams playing up, teams playing down, teams that don’t play up or down and it’s really tough to gauge where a team is at after the first three to four weeks of the season. Furman I getting top 10 votes and I just don’t get it. Two FBS losses, two FCS wins against “eh” opponents.. does that make them top 10? Then there’s the Ivy League.. teams like Princeton getting top 25 consideration and votes despite not playing a single game until week four. What sense does that make? Even then, the Ivies play a game or two non-conference then stick to their own league. How do we know if they’re good or bad? Do we give credit for FCS teams playing up and not getting completely obliterated by an Oregon-esque team? Tough to judge, not a fan of being a poll voter this time of year, but I’ll keep my perfect year streaks intact once more this year.