Will a spring season actually become a reality for Big Sky Conference football? It’s a daily question that lingers across a league that has members in eight different states and half of the time zones in the United States.
The challenges in executing a spring season range from navigating city, county, state and federal regulations stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic; but also include evaluating revenue loss and the inclement weather that is standard throughout the Rocky Mountain West the first months of each year.
Still, the league released a six-game football schedule in earnest the day after Election Day the first week of November.
“We are going to have to figure out the whole winter season,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said. “The key for us is, in order to play this winter-spring season, we are going to have to do with our guys what we normally do in August. We have to determine how much work we can get done to safely put our guys out there to go out and play.
“It can be pretty treacherous in terms of the preparation. We are going to have to get in a certain amount of work to make sure our guys can safely compete. And I’m not sure when that first game can be.”
Skyline Sports has broken down the first half of the schedule along with rivalry week. The full tentative spring schedule is a six-game slate with two Saturdays — March 20 and April 17 — serving as bumper weeks in case rescheduling is needed. Every team in the league will play at least one home game and at least one away game in each the first three and the last three weeks of the season.
Here’s a look at the last two weeks of the proposed Spring football season in 2021.
WEEK 5 – APRIL 3
Game of the Week – Eastern Washington at Montana State — EWU has one of the toughest first four games of any team in the league with rivalry contests at Portland State and against Montana, a trip to UC Davis and another rivalry game against Idaho.
The Bobcats will be coming off a showdown with rival Montana and will already have three-time reigning champion Weber State in their rearview.
This could be a clash with playoff implications for both teams. Or it could be a redemption chance for one and the next step to a postseason bid for the other. Or it could be just for pride, even though the season will be still a week from its completion.
The most interesting factor is that Montana State’s program turned a corner shortly after a 34-17 home lost to EWU in Bozeman in 2018.
That game, Eastern All-American quarterback Gage Gubrud suffered to an injury that ultimately ended his Eagle career, opening the door for Eric Barriere, an electric play-maker who led Eastern to the national title game that year as a sophomore.
And last season, MSU and Eastern Washington did not play. The Bobcats surged all the way to the FCS Final Four while Eastern finished 7-5.
Both programs will be hungry to renew their rivalry with completely different identities than the teams that produced instant classics earlier this decade like EWU’s 52-51 win at Bobcat Stadium in 2014 or the 55-50 shootout that took place in Cheney the follow year in which EWU also emerged.
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Montana at Idaho — Since his return to the helm at his alma mater, Hauck has taken great joy in helping his Griz trounce the Vandals.
In Hauck’s first season back in 2018, Montana routed Idaho in Moscow, 46-27. Last season, the Griz took Idaho apart in a 42-17 win at home, the third win in a four-game streak that allowed UM to earn a playoff seed despite losing its season-finale to the rival Bobcats.
Since returning to the Big Sky — Idaho left the league following the 1995 season, embarking on a largely unsuccessful 22-year stint in the FBS — the Vandals have played Montana twice, Montana State once and Eastern Washington once. UI is 1-3 against its traditional rivals.
This game marks an opportunity for Idaho to post a second straight rivalry win. If the Vandals are to establish themselves as a real Big Sky contender, this will be essential.
Leading up to this game, UI has winnable games against Northern Colorado and at Idaho State, followed by a rivalry game against Eastern Washington, who the Vandals beat down last season in a non-conference game in one of the more surprising early-season results last fall.
Cal Poly at Portland State — Portland State has the most proven quarterback in the league outside of Barriere in Davis Alexander, a tough, savvy dual-threat who is entering his fourth year as a starter.
PSU would be even more than a “dark horse” for a playoff bid if not for a reduced playoff field and a short schedule. But even in this atypical slate, if the Vikings can stack three wins in the first four games of a schedule that includes EWU in Portland, at Northern Arizona, at Idaho and against UC Davis, then a win over Cal Poly could make the season-finale against Montana a play-in game.
Cal Poly is an even bigger mystery, given the departure from the triple option era that trademarked both Rich Ellerson’s (2001-2008) and Tim Walsh’s (2009-2019) tenures. Beau Baldwin is now the head coach in San Luis Obispo.
Aside from Hauck, Baldwin stands alone as the greatest coach of the 21st century in the ranks of the Big Sky. Between his time as EWU’s offensive coordinator on Paul Wulff’s staff (2003-2006) and his time as Eastern’s head coach (2008-2016), Baldwin had a hand in seven Big Sky titles, nine FCS playoff appearances, and the last national title captured by the league in 2010.
Baldwin is also recognized as one of the top quarterback gurus in the West, guiding Erik Meyer (2004, 2005), Matt Nichols (2007, 2009), Bo Levi Mitchell (2011), Vernon Adams (2013, 2014) and Gubrud (2016) to Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year honors. Baldwin also helped EWU help lure running back Taiwan Jones (2010 Offensive POY), and wide receiver Cooper Kupp (four-time All-American, 2015, 2016 BSC Offensive POY) to Cheney. And he recruited Barriere.
During his run at Eastern, Baldwin helped the Eagles replace the Griz as the factory for professional players. The 2016 EWU team that lost at home in the FCS semifinals on a fluke last-second play by Youngstown State featured Kupp, one of the greatest players in the history of college football, any division. Kupp is currently working on a Pro Bowl career with the Los Angeles Rams while his former Eastern classmates wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (San Francisco 49ers) and linebacker Samson Ebukam (Rams) are also NFL starters.
Can Baldwin attract that sort of talent to San Luis Obispo? History says yes. But how good is Cal Poly in Year 1 under the offensive mastermind? Time will tell.
UC Davis at Idaho State
Southern Utah at Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado at Weber State
The rest of the fifth week of this Big Sky schedule should be predictable with potential playoff contenders UC Davis and Weber State fortifying their post-season resumes. Who will be alive in the playoff picture by Week 5 if the Big Sky can only hope to get two — or in a perfect scenario, three — teams into the 16-team FCS bracket?
WEEK 6 – APRIL 10
Game of the Week — Portland State at Montana — Bruce Barnum guided Portland State to six Big Sky victories in his first season as head coach in 2015. The Vikings have only won eight league games in the four seasons since. But there’s more to the story. And the final (or at least initial) grade for the change in philosophy is likely coming soon.
Barnum inherited a talented squad when PSU dismissed Nigel Burton in 2014 after five frustrating seasons. Barnum had been the offensive coordinator under Burton and the Vikings had little trouble on that side of the ball.
In 2015, PSU caught lightning in a bottle, defeating two FBS programs, winning nine total games and earning a seed in the FCS playoffs along with the first-round bye that came with it. Patrick Onwuasor, an FCS Defensive Player of the Year finalist who is still playing in the NFL, led a talented group that played with an obvious chip on their collective shoulders.
Over the last four years, Barnum has tried to use a different recruiting model than the transfer-heavy strategy that caused for predecessors like Jerry Glanville and Burton to unsuccessfully chase consistent success.
So far, the results have been slow as Barnum enters a pivotal sixth season. On one hand, PSU has some question marks entering the next campaign, namely finding a replacement for running back Sergio Hoffman, who signed as an undrafted NFL free agent with the Arizona Cardinals. He was the lead ball carrier in a multi-back system that rushed for nearly 200 yards a game last fall. Barnum’s teams can always run the ball.
Portland State also needs to replace offensive tackle Korbin Sorensen and wide receiver Davis Koetter after each entered the NCAA Transfer Portal entering their senior seasons. Sorensen, who had offers from most of the Big Sky including Montana and Montana State coming out of high school, landed at Oregon State.
And the Vikings have the nearly impossible task of replacing Charlie Taumoepeau, a three-time All-American who was one of two Big Sky players invited to the NFL Combine (Montana linebacker Dante Olson was the other) and is on the practice squad for the Dallas Cowboys.
On the other hand, Portland State has several favorable pieces and a favorable schedule that could help them make a run. Alexander has started 25 games entering his senior year as PSU’s quarterback, two more than Barriere and the most of any quarterback in a league where almost every other team might have new starters under center.
PSU also has talent on the offensive line and in the skill positions, highlighted by a wide receiver core that returns senior Emmanuel Daigbe, a raw but athletic former junior college receiver who led PSU in catches and yards last season. The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder has caught 63 passes for 1,024 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first two years playing college football.
The Vikings also added Darien Chase, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound receiver from Vancouver, Washington who spent last season as a redshirt at Nebraska. After leading Union High School to the 2018 Washington 4A state title, Chase was ranked by multiple recruiting outlets as the No. 1 prospect in the entire state. He chose the Huskers over offers from Boise State, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State and Utah.
Defensively, Portland State returns 10 players with starting experience, including All-American senior Anthony Adams. In defensive coordinator Payam Saadat’s unorthodox “Flex” scheme, Adams is listed as a “Sam” on the depth chart. He earns individual accolades as a defensive back. But in reality, he’s all over the field.
When the Flex stays a play or two ahead of the opposing offense in terms of its unpredictability, Adams sees an increased chance to make plays. Last season, he made a ton, leading the nation in pass breakups with 24, including five that he picked off.
All of that is to say Portland State has less uncertainty than most teams in a league shrouded by mystery. Alexander has thrown for nearly 6,000 yards and 41 touchdowns while rushing for 1,061 and 19 more scores. But it’s been his competitive spirit and toughness that has earned him respect around the league.
In Hauck’s first season back at Montana, his Griz experienced an October free fall not seen around Missoula since before UM opened Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 1986.
A three-game losing streak including a fumble fest in a 41-14 loss at North Dakota and allowing 36 fourth-quarter points in a 49-21 home loss to UC Davis actually started when Portland State stunned the Griz.
The Flex defense confused Montana all-league quarterback Dalton Sneed enough to help the Vikings to a 13-0 halftime lead and Cody Williams’ 52-yard field goal at the buzzer left the 25,205 in attendance in shock.
Last season, Montana exacted revenge despite Sneed missing the 38-23 Griz win. Cam Humphrey, the front-runner to replace Sneed the next time the Griz take the field, had a career day in Hillsboro, throwing for 335 yards and four touchdowns.
Playing back in his home city, UM All-American Samori Toure caught seven passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns as Montana posted its second of what would become four straight victories.
Like Sorensen and Koetter, Toure entered the transfer portal this off-season. Although Humphrey returns, he’ll have to win the starting job from a group of competitors, including South Florida transfer Kyle Rygol, Saddleback College transfer Robbie Patterson and promising redshirt freshman Kris Brown.
And Montana will have to replace all three of its 2019 captains, including Olson, the 2019 Buck Buchanan Award winner and the most prolific tackler over a two-season stretch in Big Sky history.
Montana’s schedule – highlighted by away games at Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington and Idaho along with a mid-season rivalry showdown in Missoula against Montana State — is definitively tougher than PSU slate. The Viks begins with the “Battle for the Dam Cup” against EWU in Portland and make two of the same trips: to Flagstaff and Moscow.
In Hauck’s third season, the Griz are expected to be in the playoff hunt again. This game could be for a playoff spot, a playoff seed, a Big Sky championship or a combination of the three. It also could be a game that Portland State could use to get into the postseason picture as the Viks chase their third berth in school history.
Cal Poly at Eastern Washington — Cal Poly is arguably the most difficult team in the Big Sky to project simply because the Mustangs will look entirely different running an offense other than the triple option for the first time in the 21st century.
Eastern Washington has been the Big Sky’s most successful program over the last 10 years. A great deal of that success comes from Baldwin, Cal Poly’s new head coach.
This game will be promoted as an architect of the Eagles returning to Cheney to take on a team he helped bring to unprecedented heights. It will also mark the first time Aaron Best has clashed as head coaches with Baldwin, his former boss.
Best, who was an All-Big Sky offensive lineman in the late 1990s, has been coaching at his alma mater for almost all of the 21st century, including serving as Baldwin’s offensive line coach form 2008 until 2016 before taking over as head coach leading into the 2017 season.
The offensive hardware for Eagles seemed to never end with Baldwin’s magic touch. Following Kupp’s second straight Big Sky POY season in 2016 and the unlikely semifinal loss to Youngstown State to end EWU’s fourth FCS Final Four in seven years, Baldwin left to become the offensive coordinator on Justin Wilcox’s staff at Cal. Now he’s back in the Big Sky.
In the meantime, EWU has missed the playoffs in two of Best’s three seasons. The year the Eagles qualified for the postseason, they almost won it all.
If not for a juggernaut North Dakota State team led by a historic senior class featuring Walter Payton Award-winning quarterback Easton Stick, Eastern might’ve claimed the 2017 national title.
Both of these teams could be in the mix the final week of the season. Or not. But this will be an intriguing reunion to watch no matter the ramifications.
Idaho at Southern Utah
Idaho State at Montana State
Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado
Weber State at UC Davis
Which of these games will include a team fighting for playoff positioning or a post-season berth? Could the Weber State game in Davis have conference championship implications? Could any of the teams not expected to compete for a playoff spot be a surprise? It all remains to be seen, just as the validity of the actual execution of this schedule remains uncertain. Stay tuned.
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez, Jason Bacaj or attributed. All Rights Reserved.
