Big Sky Quad Shot: Week 8

[MrTitleist]

http://thefcswedge.com/big-sky-conference/big-sky-quad-shot-week-8/

Apparently I have things to do tonight, so it's a day early!

[JALMOND]

Great early morning reading! Things are about to get busy for me as well with the Blazers starting back up on Wednesday.

I like how you think Portland State is a "sleeper". A lot of things need to go right for the Vikings to have a shot. There is even a scenario where they could be 8-4 and possibly miss the playoffs (no wins over playoff teams and 2 sub-DI wins). Missing Sac State, Weber and even Montana State this year does not help the Vikings chances. Catching Davis and EWU on a down year also does not help.

Sac State reminds me of the Portland State team of 2015. You can bring in the talent but if you can't coach the talent, you aren't going to win. Getting the most out of the talent and getting them to play as a team is critical of that team's success. Sac State is a fun team to watch from a distance.

[Catbooster]

Nice write-up again. I enjoy them every week.

The Big Sky MVP is for the season, not the week right? Otherwise, I'm not sure how Sneed gets in there after a 15/25, 140 yd, 0 TD, 2 int performance in a loss, but Josh Davis isn't listed. Davis probably deserves to be on the list either way.

I'll have to disagree on having the Griz above the Cats on the power rankings. I've had the Griz above the Cats for awhile now too, and especially after the Cats lost to Sac. But after the Griz loss to the Hornets, I've got them flipped. The Cats did well against Sac statistically (for what it's worth) while the Griz didn't despite winning the turnover margin. The Griz lost by 27 points, Cats by 13. I think the Griz performance was worse against the only common opponent so far. But the Cats did have them at home while the Griz had to travel.

[MrTitleist]

Nice write-up again. I enjoy them every week.

The Big Sky MVP is for the season, not the week right? Otherwise, I'm not sure how Sneed gets in there after a 15/25, 140 yd, 0 TD, 2 int performance in a loss, but Josh Davis isn't listed. Davis probably deserves to be on the list either way.

Correct, for the season. Gilliam is the Big Sky's leading rusher, Cotton is the Big Sky's leading receiver, Barriere is the Big Sky's leader in total yards. FWIW.

[Catbooster]

xthumbsupx

[uofmman1122]

I'll have to disagree on having the Griz above the Cats on the power rankings. I've had the Griz above the Cats for awhile now too, and especially after the Cats lost to Sac. But after the Griz loss to the Hornets, I've got them flipped. The Cats did well against Sac statistically (for what it's worth) while the Griz didn't despite winning the turnover margin. The Griz lost by 27 points, Cats by 13. I think the Griz performance was worse against the only common opponent so far. But the Cats did have them at home while the Griz had to travel.
I mean, it doesn’t really matter. Splitting hairs over who got stomped worse by Sac is more about protecting egos at this point.

The Griz were on the road and were the unluckiest team I’ve ever seen, so a rematch at home where literally everything doesn’t go wrong may have a better result (maybe not a win, but probably much closer)

I think the cats played pretty well against Sac, but were still overmatched. The good news is we get to settle which team is better in November, so either fanbase gloating might be a little silly right now. Who’s ahead of the other doesn’t really matter until then.

[Catbooster]

I'm not too worried about it. Lots of time for things to get sorted out. I'll likely flip-flop them another time or two in the next month. And then it gets decided on the field.

I was just giving my opinion, having watched both games and reviewing the stats.

[MSUBobcat]

I'm not too worried about it. Lots of time for things to get sorted out. I'll likely flip-flop them another time or two in the next month. And then it gets decided on the field.

I was just giving my opinion, having watched both games and reviewing the stats.

I tend to agree with you for the time being. The SEMO and Davis wins are a bit of a wash (#25 and #23 in this week's AGS, respectively), with the Davis win probably being slightly better, especially being a road W. There's nothing overly impressive in either teams' other wins, though Monmouth could become a solid win in a couple weeks, depending on how they do against Kennesaw. However, Sac State's offense was a hot knife thru butter against the Griz, averaging over 20% more yards/play on the 83 plays than against MSU, including 31 first downs and nearly a 2-1 TOP. The Griz gave up 25 more yards PASSING thant MSU gave up TOTAL. MSU actually out-gained Sac State, but the 3rd down efficiency was an atrocious 27%. The Griz also had 2 weeks to prepare, and game film of MSU holding them to under 470 yards, which only their FBS opponents had done.

Still, I don't put much stock in looking a little better in our loss than someone else lost to them in theirs. Both have tough tasks at hand to focus on, with MSU going on the road to ORV North Dakota and the Griz hosting an EWU that can ill-afford to lose another game this season. Even at 8-4, EWU may be on the outside looking in with a sub-DI win and UND being their best W if they fall to Montana. One week at a time, boys....