Big Sky Review 2015.6

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BSC  Week 6 Review

Lance Berndt & Kris Kallem, BSC  Contributors | October 13, 2015

Lance says-

Weber State 24, Montana 21 (OT)
After 14 straight losses in Missoula, Weber State was finally able to pull out a win at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. It was a defensive battle back and forth, and it was Weber State who made the key defensive plays. Both teams put up two offensive touchdowns, but Weber also had a touchdown return off an interception and also picked up a crucial overtime fumble recovery that was soon followed by their game winning field goal. Also, the Wildcat D sacked the Montana quarterbacks five different times. Both teams are now 2-1 in the conference and very much still alive in the Big Sky title race.

Portland State 66, (FBS) North Texas 7
In what has been said to be the largest ever winning margin for an FCS team over an FBS team, this was quite the surprise. Portland State jumped on North Texas from the get go, annihilating them from start to finish on both sides of the ball. This win either makes Western Oregon look like a Northern Colorado, or it makes North Texas look like the College of Faith. Either way, this has to be one of the most impressive performances for the Vikings at least since they joined Division 1. It was a truly balanced performance as well. The team rushed for 388 yards on an average of 8 yards per carry. They were led by David Jones, Steven Long, Mitchell Thompson, and Nate Tago who combined for 347 yards and 6 touchdowns on just 33 carries. Also, quarterback Alex Kuresa passed for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sadat Sulleyman tallied 3 tackles for loss on defense which included 2 sacks. The defense as a whole had 8 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, a fumble recovery, and had a shutout posted until a very late touchdown when mostly subs were playing.

​Montana State 35, Sacramento State 13
The Bobcats didn’t put up the offensive performance that most people expected, but they still came away with a 3 touchdown win. With a lot of downfield passes, Dakota Prukop was able to pass for 277 yards on just 12 completions, while the team totaled 234 yards on the ground. Hornet RB Jordan Robinson was able to run for 108 yards on 17 carries to lead the team on offense. On defense, Mac Bignell had 9 solo tackles for Montana State and the team had 6 tackles for loss and 3 sacks.

Kris Says-

Idaho State 37, North Dakota 31
North Dakota turns it over three times and loses quarterback Keaton Studsrud in the 3rd quarter as the Bengals come from 15 back to get their first conference win of the season. Idaho State’s Michael Sanders threw for 427 yards and four touchdowns and KW Williams catches 12 balls for 202 yards and two scores. A tough loss for North Dakota as they give right back the road win they stole at Portland State last week.

Eastern Washington 42, Cal Poly 41 OT
Everything played out perfectly in this game for Cal Poly except the final score. On a windy day in Cheney, the Mustangs controlled the clock, gained over 500 yards rushing, and kept Cooper Kupp in check the entire game. Neither team turned the ball over either, but several key penalties on Poly’s defense late in the game kept Eastern’s final two drives alive and helped the Eagles force overtime. The Mustang duo of Chris Brown and Joe Protheroe had 294 combined yards on the ground and Eastern Quarterback Jordan West was an efficient 27-35 for 224 and 4 touchdowns. West is tied for the FCS lead in touchdowns thrown.

UC Davis 38, Northern Arizona 24
The Davis defense holds Northern Arizona to just 7 second half points and pulls off the huge upset. Both quarterbacks played well with the Aggies Ben Scott going 20-25 for 289 yards and 3 scores and Case Cookus passing for 265 yards and 3 scores for the Lumberjacks. Similar to North Dakota this was another truly bad loss for an NAU team coming off a big win from last week.

Players of the Week:

Idaho State quarterback Michael Sanders gets it on offense, finally showing some Justin Arias type numbers through the air.

On defense, the award goes to Weber State safety Cordero Dixon who had a pick six and 9 tackles in their win at Missoula.

Another Wildcat wins the special teams award. Kicker Josh Kealamakia averaged 44.5 yards per punt and also kicked the game winning field goal in overtime.