Big Sky Review 2015.5

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BSC  Week 5 Review

Lance Berndt & Kris Kallem, BSC  Contributors | October 06, 2015

Kris Says-
North Dakota 19 Portland State 17

In a battle of top Big Sky defenses it was North Dakota who came out on top holding Portland State to just 247 yards of total offense. North Dakota running back John Santiago goes over 100 yards for the third time this season and quarterback Keaton Studsrud chipped in with 107 rushing yards of his own. Portland State has three dual threat QB’s who can run but when you get only 13 yards out of the running back position you’re going to have a tough time keeping up with most Big Sky offenses.

Northern Colorado 27 Sacramento State 20

Sacramento State dominated the game in nearly every category, out-gaining Northern Colorado 438-179. So how do you get just 48 yards rushing, 131 passing, and still manage to win the game? The Bears returned two Hornet fumbles for touchdowns in the second half to go along with a game opening kickoff return for a touchdown by Hakeem Deggs.

Lance says-

Montana 27 UC Davis 13

The Montana offense looked shaky most of the afternoon, and the Aggies capitalized early with 13 points before two minutes had passed in the second quarter. After that point, though, the Griz defense stepped up to play shutting out UC-Davis in the final 43 minutes of the game. The Grizzlies stormed the Aggies backfield for 8 tackles for loss, including 5 sacks. They also posted two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. One positive note for QB Chad Chalich was that he did not throw any interceptions while getting 3 TD passes and 29 completions on 49 attempts. The running game still looked rather poor and will need to improve as the conference schedule will continue to get tougher.

Northern Arizona 49 Montana State 41

The Lumberjacks dominated the running game on both sides of the ball and this game was not as close as the final score considering NAU held a 29 point lead late in the fourth quarter. They ran for 252 yards with Casey Jahn leading the attack with 175 yards and 2 TDs on 24 carries. Case Cookus passed for 4 TDs with Alex Holmes catching two of those TDs, while also passing for a TD of his own. NAU has a pretty favorable conference schedule going forward and could possibly end up playing in a “win and you’re in the playoff discussion” game in the season finale against Southern Utah.

Cal Poly 58 Idaho State 26

Idaho State just cannot catch a break with their very tough schedule to start the season and their defense is falling apart. Cal Poly is the third team to post their season high in points against the Bengals and they did it in a very impressive fashion. The Mustangs ran for 499 yards and 6 TDs on 81 carries. Kori Garcia and Chris Brown combined for 278 of those yards and 5 TDs. One positive note for Idaho State is that QB Michael Sanders seemed to find a little more of a rhythm this game, but it isn’t going to matter if the defense continues their horrendous play. If Cal Poly can finish the season strong with 5-6 wins, they should have a great chance at making the 24 team playoff.

​Players of the week:
The offensive player of the week is RB Casey Jahn of Northern Arizona. As mentioned before, he tallied 175 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Lumberjacks big win over Montana State.

For the second week in a row, the defensive player of the week is a Grizzly. This time it is defensive tackle Caleb Kidder who racked up a fumble recovery, an interception, five solo tackles, and one sack.

North Dakota also goes back to back with the special teams award. Kicker Reid Taubenheim takes the honor after nailing four field goals in the road upset over Portland State.