Big Sky Predictions 10-29

[JALMOND]

As October closes, some things are becoming apparent in the Big Sky, but there are still some things that need to be cleared up. Playoff talk usually starts up about now and the conference is trying to gear up to get the maximum number of teams invited to the playoffs. Some teams are emerging in the role of spoiler and would love to throw a wrench into other teams' plans. Here are this weekend's predictions. As usual, all are my opinion only and so far for the season, I am at 36-9. Hoping for perfection...

ISU at MSU---One thing that has shown is that the Bengals are getting ready for next year, especially on the heels of the big beatdown last week at Brigham Young. One other thing is that the Bobcats may think they have things sewn up, which is dangerous in its own right because any team can bite you. Which is exactly what Kramer will want to do to the Bobcats. The Bengals will be ready, will the Bobcats?...MSU 34, ISU 10.

NAU at Sac State---The Lumberjacks have to be elated with a moral victory of sorts last week against Montana, having played the Grizzlies tough the whole game. The Hornets had their game with Eastern Washington won and their dream season continuing, only to see it slip away in overtime. Now the Hornets' dream season is on the verge of going away. Will it?...NAU 28, Sac State 26.

PSU at EWU---Interesting matchup in that the Vikings love to run the ball, including the quarterback and the Eagles, with all their injuries, have been suspect against the run. The Eagles have a strong passing attack and the achillies heel of the Vikings defense has been in the secondary. What could transpire is the biggest shootout in quite some time...EWU 48, PSU 42.

North Dakota at UNC---After last week, one could look at the score of the Bears game against Montana State and see that they lost another one. But what was not evident was the fact that the Bears did not let the Bobcats ever pull comfortably ahead in the game. Throughout the year, the Bears have improved and are not the same youthful team that started the year. The big question, though, is can they get a win?...UNC 21, North Dakota 17.

WSU at UM---The Grizzlies outlasted Northern Arizona last week and have shown an ability to do just enough to get a win. The Grizzly fan base is beginning to talk playoffs again. For the Wildcats, they had a good start last week against Southern Utah, but gave it up in the third quarter. Now they have to regroup and try to save the season. The problem is that they do not win at Washington Grizzly stadium...UM 27, WSU 14.

Need perfection.xthumbsupx

[veinup]

MSU over ISU by a large margin.

Sac State over NAU, should be a close game though.

EWU vs. PSU.. this is a toughy. barnburner. Eastern squeezes it out to keep some playoff hope alive.

ND @ UNC .. i really have no interest in this game whatsoever. i'll take north dakota.

WSU @ UM.. this game is huge. as the grizzly fan base, yes, i am beginning to talk playoffs again. thank god. it has been too long. i'd hate it if a possible lack of Tru on the field swings things in Weber's favor.. regardless, i'll take the griz at home. 34-24.

[wapiti]

ISU 17 at MSU 31---ISU keeps it close for 3 quarters but MSU pulls away in the 4th quarter. I do hope the fans treat Kramer well.

NAU 24 at Sac State 45---Sac state plays a complete game with few mistakes and easily beats NAU.

PSU 21 at EWU 32---EWU keeps its playoff bid hopes alive with another W and this should get them in the top 20 of all polls and rankings.

North Dakota 17 at UNC 21---Tough pick here. So I went with the home team and that UNC shows continued improvement.

WSU 21 at UM 30--- Once again McKnights leg gets them a victory. How much will the off-field issues affect UM should show in this game. (I would imagine the two players involved have missed some practice time to take care of their legal issues.)

Future Big Sky teams:

UCD 17 at SUU 35

USD 16 at CP 28

[MSUBobcat]

ISU@MSU - The blowout didn't happen last week. This one is at home though and a win gets the 'Cats to a playoff eligible 7 D-I wins with 2 games to go. Here's to hoping they beat another bottom feeder handily. MSU 35, ISU 20.

NAU@Sac St. - NAU looked pretty good last week against the Griz. However, Sac St. can still reach the magic number of 7 D-I wins to at least be considered for a playoff spot. And they are at home. Sac St. 24, NAU 20

PSU@EWU - If you like offensive slugfests will be an exciting game. I wish had the opportunity to watch it. I gotta go with the feeling I've had since EWU got their 1st win in week 5: that they would run the table, get 7 D-I wins and the selection committee HAS TO take the defending champs. EWU 45, PSU 40

UND@UNC - After how tough they played MSU, one would have to think they get their 1st win. BUT, I think UND, who has beaten a better SUU team on the road, wants to show the BSC they belong. (Hoping the Bears get that elusive 1st win though) UND 21, UNC 20.

WSU @ UM - The only matchup of teams that still have playoff aspirations. BBQ has to win out against pretty tough competition (which makes it possible to still walk away with the AQ, if the pieces fall into place). UM needs to win this to avoid a must-win situation in the Brawl, as they have 6 D-I wins and only 2 D-I opponents left. Griz do the Bobcats a favor and end their playoff hopes, breaking Weber's spirit for next week ;) UM 27, WSU 20

[MSUBobcat]

ISU 17 at MSU 31---ISU keeps it close for 3 quarters but MSU pulls away in the 4th quarter. I do hope the fans treat Kramer well.

xlolxxlolxxthumbsupx I'm sure they'll be very receptive of him.

[JALMOND]

As October closes, some things are becoming apparent in the Big Sky, but there are still some things that need to be cleared up. Playoff talk usually starts up about now and the conference is trying to gear up to get the maximum number of teams invited to the playoffs. Some teams are emerging in the role of spoiler and would love to throw a wrench into other teams' plans. Here are this weekend's predictions. As usual, all are my opinion only and so far for the season, I am at 36-9. Hoping for perfection...

ISU at MSU---One thing that has shown is that the Bengals are getting ready for next year, especially on the heels of the big beatdown last week at Brigham Young. One other thing is that the Bobcats may think they have things sewn up, which is dangerous in its own right because any team can bite you. Which is exactly what Kramer will want to do to the Bobcats. The Bengals will be ready, will the Bobcats?...MSU 34, ISU 10.

NAU at Sac State---The Lumberjacks have to be elated with a moral victory of sorts last week against Montana, having played the Grizzlies tough the whole game. The Hornets had their game with Eastern Washington won and their dream season continuing, only to see it slip away in overtime. Now the Hornets' dream season is on the verge of going away. Will it?...NAU 28, Sac State 26.

PSU at EWU---Interesting matchup in that the Vikings love to run the ball, including the quarterback and the Eagles, with all their injuries, have been suspect against the run. The Eagles have a strong passing attack and the achillies heel of the Vikings defense has been in the secondary. What could transpire is the biggest shootout in quite some time...EWU 48, PSU 42.

North Dakota at UNC---After last week, one could look at the score of the Bears game against Montana State and see that they lost another one. But what was not evident was the fact that the Bears did not let the Bobcats ever pull comfortably ahead in the game. Throughout the year, the Bears have improved and are not the same youthful team that started the year. The big question, though, is can they get a win?...UNC 21, North Dakota 17.

WSU at UM---The Grizzlies outlasted Northern Arizona last week and have shown an ability to do just enough to get a win. The Grizzly fan base is beginning to talk playoffs again. For the Wildcats, they had a good start last week against Southern Utah, but gave it up in the third quarter. Now they have to regroup and try to save the season. The problem is that they do not win at Washington Grizzly stadium...UM 27, WSU 14.

Need perfection.xthumbsupx

3-2 including not seeing how good my Vikings are. Puts me at 39-11 for the year. Close on the NAU/Sac State game.

[Squealofthepig]

The Vikings ARE good - I was thinking that if I had to list a top five "happy surprise" teams of the year, they'd be Towson, Maine, ODU, PSU and UCA.

I don't think anyone saw today's Griz came coming out like it did. I mean, seriously, where have THESE guys been all year? Jordan played lights out in the first half, and it was nice to not spot a team a few scores.

Similarly, the Cats really dominated; Kirk was an absolute beast, and it will be interesting to see who the BSC Offensive Player of the Week will be (Kirk, Johnson and Kavanaugh all were spectacular; I'd probably give it to Kavanaugh based on doing it on the road in Cheney).

Kavanaugh's numbers: 16/23 for 147 yards, 1 TD 0 int; 24 rushes for 154 yards.

Kirk: 24 rushes, 184 yards, 4 TDs

Johnson: 23/32 for 299 yards, SIX TDs and 0 int (and had 53 yards rushing on eight carries).

Seriously - hats off to all three, I'd say split it between them, as all are incredible performances.

[veinup]

watching jordan johnson roll out of the pocket time and time again and deliver ****ing LASERS into the endzone? color me impressed.

[Catbooster]

The Vikings ARE good - I was thinking that if I had to list a top five "happy surprise" teams of the year, they'd be Towson, Maine, ODU, PSU and UCA.

I don't think anyone saw today's Griz came coming out like it did. I mean, seriously, where have THESE guys been all year? Jordan played lights out in the first half, and it was nice to not spot a team a few scores.

Similarly, the Cats really dominated; Kirk was an absolute beast, and it will be interesting to see who the BSC Offensive Player of the Week will be (Kirk, Johnson and Kavanaugh all were spectacular; I'd probably give it to Kavanaugh based on doing it on the road in Cheney).

Kavanaugh's numbers: 16/23 for 147 yards, 1 TD 0 int; 24 rushes for 154 yards.

Kirk: 24 rushes, 184 yards, 4 TDs

Johnson: 23/32 for 299 yards, SIX TDs and 0 int (and had 53 yards rushing on eight carries).

Seriously - hats off to all three, I'd say split it between them, as all are incredible performances.
I expect PSU to be in the running for a playoff spot next year, although they may schedule themselves out with FBS and DII (or worse) games.

I expected the Griz to win, but was surprised at the margin. I watched part of the second half after getting home from the Cats' game. As expected, the Griz are improving every game.

Kirk had 166 yards in the first half (I think he played only the first possession in the second half before taking his pads off) and he's now at 1,114 yards for the season so far. Tray Robinson had 152 yards rushing in the first half. So maybe the offensive line should be the offensive POW candidate for MSU this week.

I'd probably agree with Kavanaugh getting offensive POW. Tougher competition and on the road.

[veinup]

you gotta give this to jordy in my opinion. career game.

[Ginsbach]

The Vikings ARE good - I was thinking that if I had to list a top five "happy surprise" teams of the year, they'd be Towson, Maine, ODU, PSU and UCA.

I don't think anyone saw today's Griz came coming out like it did. I mean, seriously, where have THESE guys been all year? Jordan played lights out in the first half, and it was nice to not spot a team a few scores.

Similarly, the Cats really dominated; Kirk was an absolute beast, and it will be interesting to see who the BSC Offensive Player of the Week will be (Kirk, Johnson and Kavanaugh all were spectacular; I'd probably give it to Kavanaugh based on doing it on the road in Cheney).

Kavanaugh's numbers: 16/23 for 147 yards, 1 TD 0 int; 24 rushes for 154 yards.

Kirk: 24 rushes, 184 yards, 4 TDs

Johnson: 23/32 for 299 yards, SIX TDs and 0 int (and had 53 yards rushing on eight carries).

Seriously - hats off to all three, I'd say split it between them, as all are incredible performances.

They absolutely did. The Bengals have been regressing as the year goes on. I had somewhat high expectations this year (and by that I mean win 2-3 conference games) but they seem to be getting worse every game.

Also, every week after the Sunday night NFL game, they have an interview with Kramer. There is something about that man that creeps me out. I think it's a combination of his smile and the fact that he and the reporter stare lustfully into each others' eyes rather than look at the camera.

[Walkon79]

No matter how much I hate to admit it. Johnson should get the nod for a breakout game. 300 yards and 6 TD's?

[JALMOND]

I expect PSU to be in the running for a playoff spot next year, although they may schedule themselves out with FBS and DII (or worse) games.

In 2006, we did not have enough DI wins to cover the Montana and Montana State games and the FBS games (Cal and Oregon). This year it is looking like the same thing (TCU). We don't have Montana on the schedule next year (as of now) so that may help. We do play Washington next year and Nevada has been bounced back and forth however.

[MSUBobcat]

No matter how much I hate to admit it. Johnson should get the nod for a breakout game. 300 yards and 6 TD's?

Yeah, those are tough numbers to contend with. If they could give the award to the Bobcat O-line as a whole though, 338 yards and 6 TD's between Kirk and Robinson is pretty impressive, considering Palmer and Johnson played most of the 2nd half.

Side note, according to MSU's website, Cats have rushed for 1,019 yards in last 3 games, w/ the 2 headed monster each getting over 100 yards xbowxxbowx

[Squealofthepig]

As a follow-up, Johnson did get the co-offensive BSC POTW; and shared it with... Northern Colorado's Patrick Walker.


Walker set a Big Sky single-game record with 315 receiving yards in Northern Colorado's 27-25 loss to North Dakota. Walker had touchdown catches of 80 and 88 yards. Walker also was named the national player of the week by The Sports Network.

Source: http://missoulian.com/sports/college/montana/griz-qb-named-big-sky-player-of-the-week/article_fb9af7d6-03f0-11e1-923a-001cc4c002e0.html

[MSUBobcat]

As a follow-up, Johnson did get the co-offensive BSC POTW; and shared it with... Northern Colorado's Patrick Walker.

Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing that Walker set the BSC record for receiving yards (on bigskyconf.com perhaps), so that definitely deserves recognition. Congrats to that young man. Not much to feel good about for UNC this season, but at least he's in the record books for the time being.