Big Sky Picks Week One

[Wildcat Ryan]

It's that time of the year again. College football is back and so are the weekly Big Sky predictions. Starting with Week one.

Thursday Sept 1st

North Dakota Hawks @ Stony Brook Seawolves- Game is gonna be a close one. Both teams are gonna be good defensively. This will be a good test for the Hawks, I think they are gonna win, but don't sleep on Stony Brook.

23-18 North Dakota.

Southern Utah Thunderbirds @ Utah Utes- The hunt to defend their Big Sky crown starts as SUU heads up I-15 to take on instate foe and perennial Pac 12 Power Utah. SUU put a scare into Utah State last season, but now a larger hurdle looms. SUU lost a lot of talent and a head coach, and Utah is being predicted to win the PAC 12 south.

48-14 Utah.

Weber State Wildcats @ Utah State Aggies- These two teams went in two different directions last season. USU had high expectations and ended the season with 5 losses in their last 7. Weber State on the other hand was given no expectations, picked to finish in the cellar of the conference. The Wildcats posted the #1 overall defense in the Big Sky and came a missed field goal away from a possible playoff berth. Can the Cats get over that hump this year and erase the embarrassing beat down Weber got last time in Logan.

31-20 Utah State.

Montana State Bobcats @ Idaho Vandals- A new era of Bobcat football begins in Moscow Idaho as the Bobcats take on past and future Big Sky foe Idaho. Idaho football has been anything but good since they moved to the FBS, but being at home (not saying much) and so many ?'s for the Bobcats will help Idaho lift to a win and Idaho fans can claim just how much better they are than the Big Sky.

24-17 Idaho.

Friday Sept 2nd

Cal Poly Mustangs @ Nevada Wolf Pack- The Mustangs bring back experience and the dreaded triple option. Cal Poly can make some noise this year, but they still might be a year away from BSC title contention talk.

32-16 Nevada

Saturday Sept 3rd

Rocky Mountain Bears @ Northern Colorado Bears- The Northern Colorado version of the Bears should roll. Honestly I don't know much about Rocky Mountain.

55-10 Northern Colorado

Simon Fraser Clan @ Idaho State Bengals- At least the Bengals can get a win before their murderous schedule starts.

61-10 Idaho State

UC Davis Aggies @ Oregon Ducks- R.I.P Aggies. Lets just hope the Aggs can leave Eugene without many bad injuries.

66-0 Oregon

Central Washington Wildcats @ Portland State Vikings- The Wildcats of CWU are good team at their level, and will prove to be a good test for the Vikings. Barney Ball is Back in Portland, can the Vikings build upon their breakout season they had last year?

41-20 Portland State

Eastern Washington Eagles at Washington State Cougars- The Eagles will score, but Washington State's defense will stop the Eagles more than Eastern will be able to stop the Cougars, unless Eastern can miraculously pull a defense from out of nowhere.

51-28 Washington State

St. Francis Red Flash @ Montana Grizzlies- The Griz are one of the Preseason favorites to win the Big Sky crown. That journey starts at home vs the Red Flash of St. Francis. Not losing games at home is a great start.

31-13 Montana

Western Oregon Wolves @ Sacramento State Hornets- Hornets had a disappointing season last year and hope to rinse that horrible taste from their mouths. The Question is can Sears lead Sacramento out from the gutters? I'm not so sure.

33-14 Sacramento State

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks @ Arizona State Sun Devils- NAU has arguably the best QB in the Big Sky. Can NAU get over the hump and win that elusive BSC title and get back to the playoffs? To start they face off against instate foe Arizona State in Sun Devil Stadium. Hopefully NAU doesn't fall victim to the injury bug in this game.

44-17 Arizona State

[kalm]

It's that time of the year again. College football is back and so are the weekly Big Sky predictions. Starting with Week one.

Thursday Sept 1st

North Dakota Hawks @ Stony Brook Seawolves- Game is gonna be a close one. Both teams are gonna be good defensively. This will be a good test for the Hawks, I think they are gonna win, but don't sleep on Stony Brook.

23-18 North Dakota.

Southern Utah Thunderbirds @ Utah Utes- The hunt to defend their Big Sky crown starts as SUU heads up I-15 to take on instate foe and perennial Pac 12 Power Utah. SUU put a scare into Utah State last season, but now a larger hurdle looms. SUU lost a lot of talent and a head coach, and Utah is being predicted to win the PAC 12 south.

48-14 Utah.

Weber State Wildcats @ Utah State Aggies- These two teams went in two different directions last season. USU had high expectations and ended the season with 5 losses in their last 7. Weber State on the other hand was given no expectations, picked to finish in the cellar of the conference. The Wildcats posted the #1 overall defense in the Big Sky and came a missed field goal away from a possible playoff berth. Can the Cats get over that hump this year and erase the embarrassing beat down Weber got last time in Logan.

31-20 Utah State.

Montana State Bobcats @ Idaho Vandals- A new era of Bobcat football begins in Moscow Idaho as the Bobcats take on past and future Big Sky foe Idaho. Idaho football has been anything but good since they moved to the FBS, but being at home (not saying much) and so many ?'s for the Bobcats will help Idaho lift to a win and Idaho fans can claim just how much better they are than the Big Sky.

24-17 Idaho.

Friday Sept 2nd

Cal Poly Mustangs @ Nevada Wolf Pack- The Mustangs bring back experience and the dreaded triple option. Cal Poly can make some noise this year, but they still might be a year away from BSC title contention talk.

32-16 Nevada

Saturday Sept 3rd

Rocky Mountain Bears @ Northern Colorado Bears- The Northern Colorado version of the Bears should roll. Honestly I don't know much about Rocky Mountain.

55-10 Northern Colorado

Simon Fraser Clan @ Idaho State Bengals- At least the Bengals can get a win before their murderous schedule starts.

61-10 Idaho State

UC Davis Aggies @ Oregon Ducks- R.I.P Aggies. Lets just hope the Aggs can leave Eugene without many bad injuries.

66-0 Oregon

Central Washington Wildcats @ Portland State Vikings- The Wildcats of CWU are good team at their level, and will prove to be a good test for the Vikings. Barney Ball is Back in Portland, can the Vikings build upon their breakout season they had last year?

41-20 Portland State

Eastern Washington Eagles at Washington State Cougars- The Eagles will score, but Washington State's defense will stop the Eagles more than Eastern will be able to stop the Cougars, unless Eastern can miraculously pull a defense from out of nowhere.

51-28 Washington State

St. Francis Red Flash @ Montana Grizzlies- The Griz are one of the Preseason favorites to win the Big Sky crown. That journey starts at home vs the Red Flash of St. Francis. Not losing games at home is a great start.

31-13 Montana

Western Oregon Wolves @ Sacramento State Hornets- Hornets had a disappointing season last year and hope to rinse that horrible taste from their mouths. The Question is can Sears lead Sacramento out from the gutters? I'm not so sure.

33-14 Sacramento State

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks @ Arizona State Sun Devils- NAU has arguably the best QB in the Big Sky. Can NAU get over the hump and win that elusive BSC title and get back to the playoffs? To start they face off against instate foe Arizona State in Sun Devil Stadium. Hopefully NAU doesn't fall victim to the injury bug in this game.

44-17 Arizona State

I think NAU will play ASU close.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Thursday

Suutah 14-44 Utah — Oddly the first-ever meeting between these two

Weber 17-31 Utah St. — Weber's come a long way since a 70-6 loss here three years ago

Montana St. 24-37 Idalol — The Bobcats would win this in most any other year

NoDak 17-14 SBU — Stony Brook only scored 17 ppg last year, yet had a positive scoring margin


Friday

Cal Poly 28-48 Nevada — Tim Cramsey gets to shred the Mustang D for a second-straight year


Saturday

EWU 24-48 Wazzu — I can't imagine the Cougs will overlook a Big Sky team again

CDub 10-48 Portland St. — The Wildcats aren't quite the DII power they were several years ago

Davis 14-63 Oregano — Can Dakota Prukop put up 77 on the Aggies again?

Woah-regon 14-35 Sac — Last year's Hornets would've had a real test here

Some Fellow 7-42 Idaho St. — Could this be Mike Kramer's final win in Pocatello?

NAU 28-45 Arizona St. — The 'Jacks actually have 14 wins against ASU, but the last came in 1938

SFPA 20-38 Montana — St. Francis could end up as Montana's best home opponent

Rocky 17-56 NoCo — We may have to wait a few weeks to find out if the Bears are truly legit

[JALMOND]

Shooting from the hip, haven't had much time to analyze...

Utah State 24, WSU 17
Idaho 28, MSU 20
Utah 52, SUU 14
UND 20, Stony Brook 14
Nevada 35, CP 14
Oregon 50, UCD 7
UNC 38, my alma mater 7
PSU 37, Central Washington 14
ISU 31, Simon Fraser 7
Washington State 45, EWU 28
SAC 28, Western Oregon 14
UM 42, St Francis 7
NAU 48, Arizona State 45---Cookus and Butler shreds ASU's suspect pass defense (as long as Cookus can avoid the rush).

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

Utah State 28 WSU 14
Idah20 MSU 17
Utah 55, SUU 14
UND 21, Stony Brook 17
Nevada 42, CP 21
Oregon 55, UCD 7
UNC 28, Rocky 7
PSU 35, Central Washington 14
ISU 28, Simon Fraser 3
Washington State 42, EWU 28
SAC 24, Western Oregon 17
UM 49, St Francis 7
ASU 42, NAU 28

[mtjack]

NAU 48, Arizona State 45---Cookus and Butler shreds ASU's suspect pass defense (as long as Cookus can avoid the rush).

I'd considered this outcome but I hadn't been delusional enough to write it out. Thank you, JALMOND. I may not make it out of Tempe alive if this happens.

ASU has a thoroughly inexperienced quarterback, an offensive line with 15 total career starts and a defense that was nearly as bad as NAU's last season. I think NAU will put points on the board. The heat and the Pac 12 roster depth usually does NAU in by the 2nd half.

[EWURanger]

EWU 24-48 Wazzu — I can't imagine the Cougs will overlook a Big Sky team again[/i}

I don't think they did. They just got flat beaten by a better team.

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

Griz fans better throw up any koolaid they have drank this year.,,,,,,That was a terrible win.

[Vidav]

Griz fans better throw up any koolaid they have drank this year.,,,,,,That was a terrible win.

Special teams and turnovers are what kept the score close. Fix those things and we might be alright.

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

Griz fans better throw up any koolaid they have drank this year.,,,,,,That was a terrible win.

Special teams and turnovers are what kept the score close. Fix those things and we might be alright.

Our offense and terrible tackling didn't help either.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Griz fans better throw up any koolaid they have drank this year.,,,,,,That was a terrible win.

You're underestimating SFPA. I thought they were the best team in the NEC coming in and I'm more convinced of that now. They probably aren't a top-25 team, but they certainly aren't a Central Washington or Fort Lewis either.

[Mvemjsunpx]

EWU 24-48 Wazzu — I can't imagine the Cougs will overlook a Big Sky team again[/i}

I don't think they did. They just got flat beaten by a better team.

Just saw that score. Pac-12 teams are gonna stop scheduling Big Sky teams eventually, right?

NAU is giving Arizona St. a scare in a surprisingly low-scoring game, and Davis didn't get slaughtered by Oregon as bad as I thought they would. Let's just not talk about Sac State…

[Vidav]

Special teams and turnovers are what kept the score close. Fix those things and we might be alright.

Our offense and terrible tackling didn't help either.

The offense was slow to get going, no doubt. But I really think if we fix those two areas we will stand a chance.

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

Griz fans better throw up any koolaid they have drank this year.,,,,,,That was a terrible win.

You're underestimating SFPA. I thought they were the best team in the NEC coming in and I'm more convinced of that now. They probably aren't a top-25 team, but they certainly aren't a Central Washington or Fort Lewis either.

Maybe so.

My worry is that we still can't have any consistency on offense. We had a few big plays that kept us in the game IMHO. Brady had a bad game if you ask me, you can't turn it over like that and expect to start every week. We will know more after next Saturday.

[Mvemjsunpx]

You're underestimating SFPA. I thought they were the best team in the NEC coming in and I'm more convinced of that now. They probably aren't a top-25 team, but they certainly aren't a Central Washington or Fort Lewis either.

Maybe so.

My worry is that we still can't have any consistency on offense. We had a few big plays that kept us in the game IMHO. Brady had a bad game if you ask me, you can't turn it over like that and expect to start every week. We will know more after next Saturday.

It wasn't just Gustafson, though. The WRs weren't getting open in the first half very often at all. That changed in the second half.