As the second week of October begins, just three teams remain undefeated in Big Sky Conference play.
North Dakota moved to 2-0 last week with a gritty 19-16 comeback win over previously undefeated No. 16 Portland State. The Vikings fell to 3-1 overall, 1-1 in Big Sky play as UND rushed for more yards (260) last Saturday than PSU had give up all season (192) entering the game.
Montana moved to 2-0 in league play with a second straight stellar defensive performance. UM followed up its eight-sack performance in a 23-14 win over Northern Arizona with a five-sack performance in a 27-13 win at UC Davis. Montana leads the country with 22 sacks.
Gary Crowton
Southern Utah entered its bye week at 2-0 after a 44-0 win over in-state rival Weber State on Friday night. The Thunderbirds forced six turnovers, including interception returns for touchdowns by LeShaun Sims and Taylor Nelson. Despite a three-game winning streak and a 2-0 start in league play, Southern Utah offensive coordinator Gary Crowton abruptly resigned earlier this week, giving no specific reason for his exit.
“I don’t know exactly all the details of what’s going on with Coach and why he chose to step away,” Southern Utah head coach Ed Lamb said on Wednesday. “He played a lot of it close to the vest and was very respectful. This was not a situation where we are trying to cover up me getting rid of him or anything like that. We maintain a good friendship and he’s been amazing for me in my career. I’m trying to respect his personal wishes and allow him to do what he needs to do.”
“I think he made, in some ways, an unselfish decision. We have some momentum right now and have won a few games in a row and the offense seems to be clicking. To do this in a situation where we have a bye week and some extra time to prepare for another opponent I think was very unselfish on his part.”
After losses at Utah State (12-9) and at South Dakota State (55-10), the Thunderbirds have averaged 43 points per game during the three-game win streak, though much has to do with SUU’s 11 takeaways and three points allowed during Big Sky play. Southern Utah’s offense includes a senior quarterback in Ammon Olsen, a senior running back in Malik Brown and a group of veteran receivers led by seniors Mike Sharp and Justin Brown.
“I’ve been very honest with the players: this is a lot of adversity for us and it’s going to take a tremendous effort from the players to offer up their trust in the coaches,” Lamb said. “Like I said to the players with the coaches in the room, we are no different as coaches than the players are. We are evaluated on a daily basis and we need to prove and earn their trust by helping them be productive.”
Gary Crowton during his time in the CFL with
Crowton has made many stops during his 33-year coaching career. His first Division I offensive coordinator job came at Western Illinois in 1987 for one year before taking the reigns at New Hampshire for three seasons. He was the OC at Georgia Tech in 1994 before taking the same job at Louisiana Tech in 1995. From 1996-1998, Crowton was the head coach at LA Tech before jumping to the NFL. Crowton was the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears in 1999 and 2000 before taking the head coaching job at BYU in 2001. In 2005, he became the offensive coordinator at Oregon. In 2007, he joined Nick Saban’s staff at LSU and in 2008, he was the offensive coordinator for the Tigers’ national championship team. By 2012, he was the OC for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL. The staff was fired in 2013 and Crowton landed at Southern Utah.
Lamb, a BYU alum, served as a graduate assistant on Crowton’s staff at his alma mater in 2001. Lamb has been the head coach at Southern Utah since 2008. Lamb said Crowton told him of his desire to resign during a normal Monday morning meeting Lamb has with each of his coordinators.
“My reaction was really devastation on a personal level because of what coach has meant to me and what he offers day to day around the program,” Lamb said. “But professionally, we had a job to do. We had practice that day and a team to take care of.
“It’s just like if a player doesn’t want to be at SUU anymore. The last thing I’m going to do is talk them into staying. You have to understand what is best for each individual and move on with the business at hand.”
Southern Utah and Northern Colorado take wins and winning records into bye weeks. The Bears scored twice on defense and returned a kick for a touchdown to post a 27-20 win at Sacramento State despite not scoring an offensive touchdown. UNC is 3-2 entering its bye.
Cal Poly at No. 7 Eastern Washington
Cal Poly’s trying schedule continues as the Mustangs head to Cheney to face an Eastern Washington team fresh off a bye.
Cal Poly snapped a three-game losing streak by rushing for 499 yards in a 58-26 win over Idaho State. The Mustangs opened the season with a 20-19 win at then-No. 8 Montana. The Mustangs lost three straight to FBS No. 15 Arizona State (35-21), FCS No. 10 Northern Iowa (37-21) and at No. 11 Montana State (45-28).
Cal Poly’s option attack ft. Chris Brown and Joe Protheroe
“No question a much-needed win against Idaho State,” Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh said. “I think they are reeling a little bit on defense right now. I think offensively, they are pretty good.”
The Mustangs currently lead the country by rushing for 363.8 yards per game. Quarterback Chris Brown and Joe Protheroe are each averaging more than 100 yards per outing.
“They are not just unique at what they do but they do it well,” EWU head coach Beau Baldwin said. “A lot of people try to be unique at what they do and they aren’t good so big deal. They are unique and consistent and Coach Walsh has done an incredible job. They have a lot of answers. You can do things exactly right and still have trouble.”
Baldwin said the extra time to work on preparing for the triple option was key for his team. The 2-2 Eagles also hope to get several injured players back. Seven starters missed the Sacramento State game (a 28-20 win) a week after six starters missed EWU’s55-50 win over Montana State. Senior right tackle Cassidy Curtis (foot), senior slot receiver Shaq Hill (knee) remain out. The Eagles hope to get senior rover Todd Raynes (hamstring), senior offensive tackle Clay DeBord (concussion), sophomore cornerback Victor Gamboa (concussion), sophomore wide receiver Nic Sblendorio (shoulder), junior running back Jalen Moore (ankle), freshman defensive end Jonah Jordan (ankle), freshman safety Mitch Fettig and redshirt freshman quarterback Reilly Hennessey (ankle) back into the rotation.
Cal Poly’s schedule will have provided six straight ranked opponents following Saturday. Next week could bring seven if Portland State can stay in the top 25 (the Viks are No. 25 this week). Cal Poly will likely have to win five of its final six games to be considered for a playoff bid. A win in Cheney would go a long way to keeping Cal Poly’s Big Sky title hopes alive.
EWU wide receiver Cooper Kupp
“Eastern Washington, you are playing one of the elite teams in the country,” Walsh said. “They are the three-time defending Big Sky champs. We understand just how athletic they are. I know a lot of people want to talk about Cooper Kupp but the quarterback has played unbelievably well. Their running back Jabari Wilson has played extremely well. And they have a host of wide receivers who go along with Cooper Kupp and on top of that, their offensive line is probably the best offensive line in the Big Sky. When you do that, we have our hands full. Offensively, we have to keep up with the Baldwins.”
Behind the otherworldly junior year of EWU junior wide receiver Cooper Kupp (46 catches, 759 yards, 10 TDs), the Eagles lead the country with 466.2 passing yards per game. Cal Poly ranks last in the league in pass defense at 313 yards allowed per game.
“Keeping them off the field would be important unless you are keeping them off the field the way some teams have, and that’s by giving up a lot of 65-yard touchdowns,” Walsh said. “Their time of possession, if I could do that, I would too. One play, 65 yards and a touchdown, I’m good. But with our offense, we can keep it for six or seven minutes and they were in some kind of rhythm, we can break rhythm. It’s an interesting matchup.”
Weber State at No. 12 Montana
Montana has its first win streak under first-year head coach Bob Stitt and the Grizzlies have done it in a different fashion than most expected they might. Montana opened its season with a 38-35 win over four-time defending national champion North Dakota State filled with big plays and more than 430 passing yards. The last two weeks, Montana has shown an added initiative to run the ball and has let its defense wreak havoc.
UM running back John Nyugen/by Brooks Nuanez
With starting quarterback Brady Gustafson out with a lower leg injury, Chad Chalich has led the Griz to a pair of victories. Chalich has completed 61 percent of his passes for 544 yards, four touchdowns and one interception during conference play.
“He’s done very well,” Stitt said “We were very surprised last week how well he practiced. He is 2-0 and being a quarterback is like being a starting pitcher. If you are getting the win, you are doing ok. Chad might not be pretty but he’ll grind it out and find a way to get the ball in the end zone and to get the win.”
Weber State put together its first two-game winning streak under Jay Hill with wins over Sacramento State and Northern Colorado. But the Wildcats could not hold on to the ball against Southern Utah.
“Southern Utah came in here and kicked our butts,” Hill said. “Their defense is very good. They have three or four guys on defense that are great playmakers. Those guys showed up. We did not handle the game well. You lose the turnover margin by six and you are going to get your butt kicked.
“Now we go into a hostile environment in Montana. They have very good wide receivers, a good offensive line and the defense is maybe the strength of their team. It doesn’t get any easier this week and we will have to rebound from our loss because that one was hard.”
Last week, Weber quarterbacks junior Jadrian Clark and true freshman Justin Shaw combined to throw five interceptions. Shaw finished 0-of-4 with three interceptions.
Weber State linebacker Emmitt Tela/by Robert Caset
“We all watch the NFL and Brett Favre throws five picks in a game, Peyton Manning throws five picks in a game, Jameis Winston who was the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft pick throws picks,” Hill said. “Do you worry about that? Absolutely. But you hope you recruited a kid resilient enough that he is going to bounce back and learn from it and become a much better player because of it.
“I think Justin is going to be a very good player. He has some abilities and some skill set that is high. We want to give him exposure in opportunities where he can get meaningful reps during the game to bring his progression along. Having said that, Jadrian Clark is still the guy we are relying on to play well and be the guy.”
With the exception of the two-game win streak, Weber has had a hard time manufacturing points. In losses to Oregon State, North Dakota State and Southern Utah, Weber scored 21 total points. The Wildcats are 10th in the league in turnover margin with five takeaways against 10 turnovers.
“We don’t look past anybody,” Stitt said. “Nothing has been easy this year. Every game, we have had to grind and grind to come out on top. Every game has come down to the very end. We haven’t had anything easy.”
Idaho State at No. 23 North Dakota
North Dakota might have felt like it was looking at its collective reflection in the mirror last week. Portland State is a team similar to UND, built for powerful, smothering defense and an offense designed on controlling the clock. This week, UND plays its polar opposite in an Idaho State team that led the country in total offense last season.
North Dakota running back John Santiago
“This will be a challenge of contrasting styles of play with a team that wants to run a lot of plays and go fast and a team that wants to control the football and win the field position battle,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “We are looking forward to it. It’s our homecoming and it should be a lot of fun.”
Last week, UND sophomore quarterback Keaton Studsrud rushed for a career-high 107 yards to compliment true freshman tailback John Santiago’s third 100-yard game this season. North Dakota possessed the ball for 35:36 and notched 11 of its 20 first downs with rushes.
Last season, UND averaged 15.7 points per game but still won five games because of its aggressive defensive mindset. This fall, UND is averaging almost 21 points per game and have already won four times.
“There is an offensive catharsis going on at UND,” ISU head coach Mike Kramer said. “Coming out of the NDSU game (a 34-9 UND loss), everyone in the conference probably thought UND, great defense, no offense but after the last couple of weeks, they’ve found a way to no only run the ball but an element of pass back into it. They have a good one-two punch with the quarterback and the running back and a mobile offensive front. But also, they don’t turn the ball over. When you are 4-1, you don’t turn the ball over. We lead the conference in total turnovers (15) surrendered and fewest turnovers attained (two). In a game against a conservative offense like that, those numbers will bear fruit unless we can knock the ball out of someone’s hands.”
Idaho State quarterback Michael Sanders/by Brooks Nuanez
Last season, Walter Payton Award finalist quarterback Justin Arias led ISU’s high-powered offense. The Bengals led the FCS in total offense and averaged more than 40 points per game. This season, the production has been cut in half with Michael Sanders at the helm. ISU is averaging just 20.6 points per game, a stat hindered by the fact that Saturday marks Idaho State’s fourth straight road game.
ISU has lost four straight thanks to an abundance of turnovers and a defense that has given up 500 yards rushing each of the last two weeks. ISU has been outscored 224-48 against Division I opponents this season.
“The best thing we can do defensively is to play better on offense,” Kramer said. “We must score on every single possession to give ourselves a fighting chance. It’s imperative for us against a running team to get a lead early and try to expand our lead.”
Saturday marks homecoming in Grand Forks. Schweigert is in his second season at the helm for UND but he spent 15 seasons at North Dakota during the school’s Division II days. He remembers consistent good crowds at the Alerus Center in the early 2000s. He wants to help his alma mater return to its glory days.
“We think the Alerus Center is a tough place to place,” Schweigert said. “Our crowd will keep growing as we win more games and that’s what our vision is here. We want to get the Alerus Center filled up again. For that, we have to keep winning.”
Northern Arizona at UC Davis
Northern Arizona’s new offense is coordinated by UC Davis alum Tim Plough. NAU’s version of the spread replaces the West Coast attack the Lumberjacks had employed in most of Jerome Souers’ previous 17 seasons as the head coach in Flagstaff.
Northern Arizona offensive front/by Brooks Nuanez
Through the first month of the season, the NAU offense experienced ups and downs expected with a new scheme run by a true freshman quarterback in Case Cookus. Last week, everything clicked. NAU rushed for 252 yards, threw for 254 yards and piled up 49 points in an eight-point win over No. 11 Montana State.
“We finally started to move the ball,” Souers said. “Last Saturday was a breakthrough day because we were able to protect our quarterback and run the football effectively.”
Now NAU takes its offense on the road to a place Plough used to play quarterback. Davis has lost five straight to begin the season but four losses have come to either FBS schools (Nevada, Hawaii) or ranked FCS opponents (North Dakota, Montana).
“It’s tough to play up there and I know they have been anxious to get into the win column,” Souers said. “They are playing really good defense and offensively, their multiplicity and balance is tough.
“We have a lot of respect for (Ben) Scott as a thrower. Their power game has always concerned us. We are a smaller defense. They can use heavy sets to control the line of scrimmage and the football.”
UC Davis quarterback Ben Scott/by Wayne Tilcock
A week ago, Davis had Montana on the ropes. The Aggies jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 13-7. But Montana pitched a shutout for the final 44 minutes of the game to emerge with a 27-13 win.
“We had some opportunities to score down in the red-zone and we had four turnovers that killed us,” UC Davis head coach Gould said. “The game was nip and tuck. We felt really good about the game plan and how the kids were playing. Tremendous amount of effort. I have a gritty team that fights from the start to the end but you can’t turn the ball over four times and expect to beat a team like Montana.”
On Saturday, Davis looks for its first win while NAU hopes to stay hot. The MSU victory was Souers’ 68th in Big Sky play during his tenure, tying him with former Nevada head coach Chris Ault for the conference record. He has seen the league shift and expand to its current girth of 13 teams. He has seen the league diversify in geographic reach and talent.’
“The parity of the conference is at an all-time high,” Souers said. “There just isn’t much difference between the teams at the bottom and the teams at the top. It’s really the teams that are able to stay healthy and manage their games that are getting the wins. Any given Saturday, anyone can win. You better be ready to go or you are going to get beat.”
No. 25 Portland State at North Texas
For the second time this season, Portland State will look for an upset of an FBS team. Portland State opened its season with a 24-17 win over Washington State of the Pac 12.
PSU running back David Jones
This time, it might not be considered an upset. PSU comes into the game an unexpected 3-1 with a No. 25 national ranking. North Texas is winless. The Vikings are a three-point favorite on the Las Vegas betting line to win this week.
“We are the favorite? By who?,” interim head coach Bruce Barnum asked with a laugh. “In Vegas, we are favored? Good. I’m not sure what they are doing in Vegas as far as trying to make money. But that’s good. Whether it’s rankings or favorites or what, we are facing a good football team. Look at who they have lost to. I don’t want my guys to read the media but now I’ll have to keep them away from Vegas too so they don’t get cocky.”
Portland State resumes Big Sky play next weekend with No. 18 Montana State coming to town.”
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