This Week’s Sky Highlights
Week 6 brings us some very important conference matchups, including a meeting between nationally-ranked teams Montana and Eastern Washington in Cheney. Both teams were upset last week, and the loser will have two conference losses...No. 22 Weber State heads to Bozeman, looking for its first win over Montana State since 2000. Weber State moved to 2-0 in league with a win over Montana last week. The Bobcats are 1-0 in conference...No. 18 Northern Arizona, also 2-0, guns for its fifth straight victory when it takes on a dangerous Portland State team in Flagstaff. PSU upset Eastern Washington last week behind 623 passing yards form Drew Hubel...In Greeley, one losing streak will end when Northern Colorado plays host to Idaho State. The Bears have lost seven straight, while ISU has lost nine straight.
This Week’s Sky Schedule
Saturday, Oct. 11....................................................... Time
Series: MSU leads 25-19-1. Last Meeting: MSU won 21-5 in 2007.
Series Streak: MSU has won 7. TV: Max Media (Montana)
Video Stream: www.bigskytv.org.
Series: ISU leads 19-5. Last Meeting: ISU won 26-14 in 2007.
Series Streak: ISU has won 6. TV: Altitude
Video Stream: www.bigskytv.org.
Series: UM leads 23-10-1. Last Meeting: UM won 24-23 in 2007
Series Streak: UM has won 2. TV: Montana’s News Stations. KSKN (Spokane)
Video Stream: www.bigskytv.org.
Radio: The game will air on tape delay on WCKY at 9 p.m. MDT, and on www.1530homer.com as part of the FCS Came of the Week.
Series: NAU leads 11-4. Last Meeting: NAU won 44-43 in 2007.
Series Streak: NAU has won 1. TV: Dish Network #9411. Fox College Sports. Will air on tape delay on Fox Sports Arizona.
Video Stream: www.bigskytv.org.
*Big Sky Conference Game
Times Local to Site/Subject to Change
Around the Big Sky
RUN-AND-SHOOT IN FULL FORCE: Portland State stunned 11th-ranked Eastern Washington 47-36 on Saturday at PGE Park in Portland behind an amazing passing performance from QB Drew Hubel. The sophomore completed 44-of-73 passes for 623 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. Hubel broke the NCAA FCS record for pass attempts without an interception in the game. The previous record was 68 pass attempts by Marshall’s Tony Peterson against Western Carolina on Nov. 14, 1987. Hubel’s best quarter was the second when he completed 12-of-20 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. At halftime, he had completed 22-of-38 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns. He was 22-of-35 for 274 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. Amazingly, Hubel fell just short of breaking Big Sky records for pass completion, pass attempts, and passing yards. Weber State’s Jamie Martin completed 47 passes against Idaho State in 1991, in a game he threw for an NCAA FCS record 624 yards. Idaho State’s Paul Peterson attempted 74 passes in a 1983 game against Nevada. Hubel tied the PSU record for completions. Last season, Hubel tied the national record with nine touchdown passes in a game. Four Portland State wide receivers finished with at least 100 receiving yards, which is believed to be the first time that has happened in league history. Mario D’Ambrosio tied a school record with 16 catches. He had 192 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The 16 catches ties for the fifth-most in league history. Daniel Wolverton had 109 receiving yards, Aaron Woods had 146 and Ray Fry had 102. Hubel and Eastern Washington’s Matt Nichols combined for 1,041 passing yards. Nichols completed 34-of-55 passes for 418 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The teams combined for 1,086 yards of total offense. Hubel was named National Player of the Week by the Sports Network.
Top Single-Game Passing Performances in Big Sky History
Player, School Opponent Yards Year
1. Jamie Martin, Weber State Idaho State 624 1991
2. Drew Hubel, Portland State E. Washington 623 2008
3. Vern Harris, Idaho State Montana 589 1985
4. Brian Ah Yat, Montana E. Washington 560 1996
5. Dave Dickenson, Montana Idaho 558 1995
Wildcats END GRIZZLIES STREAKS: Weber State snapped a nine-game losing streak against third-ranked Montana, downing Montana 45-28 on a rainy day at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. It was Weber State’s first win over Montana since 1998. The Wildcats snapped Montana’s 25-game regular-season winning streak, and the Grizzlies’ 16-game conference winning streak. Sophomore QB Cameron Higgins, who leads the nation in passing yards and touchdowns, completed 21-of-30 passes for 237 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. Running back Trevyn Smith rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown, and also had 54 yards on four catches with a touchdown. Smith finished with 212 all-purpose yards. Wide receiver/returner Bryant Eteuati finished with 186 all-purpose yards (112 kick returns/74 receiving) and a touchdown. Weber State trailed 21-10 with 8:43 in the first quarter, but scored 21 points to close out the half to take a 31-21 halftime lead. The Wildcats had seven sacks and forced four turnovers. Weber State jumped into the Sports Network Top 25 this week, marking the first time the Wildcats have been ranked since the end of the 2000 season. Weber State takes on Montana State this Saturday in Bozeman, looking to end a seven-game losing streak to the Bobcats.
NAU STIFLES THE RUN AGAIN: For the first time since Northern Arizona’s opener against Arizona State, an opponent finished with positive rushing yards against the Lumberjacks. Sacramento State managed 21 rushing yards on 41 attempts against NAU, for an average of 0.5 yards per rush. In its three previous games, NAU’s opponents had minus-57 rushing yards. Northern Arizona’s rush defense was helped by eight sacks of Sacramento State quarterbacks in the 42-10 win. NAU leads the nation in rushing defense (11 yards per game) and quarterback sacks (3.8 per game). This week, NAU takes on Portland State, which ranks last in the nation in rushing offense at 21 yards per game.
SOUERS TOPS AT NAU: Northern Arizona’s Jerome Souers became the school’s all-time leading in coaching victories, when he earned his 59th with a 42-10 win over Sacramento State last Saturday. Souers, who has been at NAU for 11 seasons, passed Max Spilsbury, who had 58 victories from 1965-64. The 59 victories puts him in a tie for fifth on the Big Sky’s all-time career list with Boise State’s Jim Criner. Nevada’s Chris Ault is the all-time leader with 111 victories, followed by Montana’s Don Read (85), Eastern Washington/Montana State’s Mike Kramer (77) and Portland State’s Tim Walsh (65).
NOT AGAIN: For the third straight week, Northern Colorado suffered a heart-breaking loss in the final seconds. On Saturday, UC Davis completed a 38-yard Hail Mary on the final play of the game to pull out a 34-30 win over the Bears. The pass was completed, despite five Bears around the ball. Northern Colorado lost 38-35 to Texas State on Sept. 22 when the Bears fumbled on the Texas State 1-yard line on a QB sneak in the final 30 seconds. On Sept. 29, UNC lost 25-22 to NAU. Trailing 23-22 with just over a minute to play, UNC tried a two-point conversion. The snap was bad, and NAU picked it up and returned it for two points. Northern Colorado took a 30-28 lead with 1:18 to play against UC Davis when Michael York made a 26-yard field goal. Davis went 66 yards in eight plays. Northern Colorado has lost seven straight games dating back to a 16-13 win over Montana State on Oct. 27, 2007. Six of those seven losses have been decided by 10 points or less, including four that have been decided by four or less. This Saturday, Northern Colorado plays host to Idaho State, which has lost nine straight games.
PASSING FANCY: With Portland State’s Drew Hubel, Eastern Washington’s Matt Nichols and Idaho State’s Russel Hill each throwing for more than 300 yards last week, Big Sky quarterbacks have now combined for 18 300-yard passing games this season. There were a total of 17 in the league last season. Big Sky teams are averaging 286 passing yards per game. The league record for average passing yards per game is 284.6, set in 1994. Last season, Big Sky teams passed for 239.8 yards per game. In 2006, it was 205.5 passing yards per game, which was the lowest since 1980. Portland State ranks first in the nation at 409.8 passing yards per game. Eastern Washington is second at 345. Weber State is fourth in the nation at 305.8 passing yards per game, and Idaho State is ninth at 293.2. Montana is 12th, while Northern Colorado is 17th and Northern Arizona is 21st. PSU’s Drew Hubel leads the nation in passing yards per game. EWU’s Matt Nichols is second. Weber State’s Cameron Higgins is seventh, and Idaho State’s Russel Hill is 10th. Hill has thrown for more than 300 yards in each of his last four games, marking just the second time in school history the feat has been accomplished. Vern Harris threw for 300-plus yards in four straight games from Oct. 13-Nov. 3, 1984. Big Sky quarterbacks have already thrown 105 touchdown passes this season. Last season, the total was 169. Weber State has 20 touchdown passes in six games this season. In 11 games in 2007, the Wildcats had 12.
IT’S BEEN AWHILE: Montana has had a pretty dominate defense in recent years, especially against Big Sky teams. The 45 points scored by Weber State last Saturday is the most scored by a Big Sky team in a regulation game against a Montana defense since the Grizzlies lost 55-43 to Idaho in 1995. Montana allowed 51 points in a 51-48 overtime loss to Portland State during the 1998 season. Idaho State scored 43 points against Montana in a three-point overtime win over the Grizzlies in 2003. Saturday marked the first time an FCS opponent scored 40 points against Montana since a 41-29 loss to Sam Houston State early in the 2004 season. Iowa (2006) and Oregon (2005) both scored more than 40 points against Montana.
The Montana Hangover: Weber State faces a very stiff challenge in Bozeman this weekend against Montana State. It is especially tough considering Weber State is coming off a victory over Montana. Since 1999, Montana has lost just eight conference games. Portland State beat Montana in 1999, and lost the very next week to Sacramento State. Montana lost to Eastern Washington in 2002 in the Eagles’ final game of the season. EWU opened the 2003 season with a loss. Montana State also beat Montana in 2002, and lost the very next week in the first round of the playoffs. Idaho State beat Montana in 2003. Idaho State lost the next week 38-21 to Weber State. In 2004, Portland State beat Montana 35-32. The Vikings were able to win the next week, beating Idaho State 42-21. Montana State beat Montana 27-20 in 2003. The Bobcats lost in the first round of the playoffs the next week to Northern Iowa. Montana State was the last Big Sky team prior to Saturday to beat Montana. The Bobcats topped UM 16-6 to close their 2005 season. The Bobcats opened 2006 win a big win over Colorado. So, six of the last eight Big Sky teams to beat Montana have lost the very next week. The last time Weber State beat Montana in 1998, the Wildcats topped Sacramento State 27-14 in its next game to move to 5-0. Weber State ended up losing its next five games after that.
DEHAZE TIES NAU RECORD: Northern Arizona senior Robbie Dehaze made his 48th career field goal, tying the school record for career field goals made. Dehaze banged home field goals of 37 and 48 yards against Sacramento State. Micky Penaflor made 48 field goals at NAU from 1986-98. Dehaze is currently second on the active list for career field goals made, one behind Elon’s Andrew Wilcox. Dehaze is second on the active list for career scorers among kickers with 266. Jacksonville State’s Davin Hallford has 275 career points.
THOMPSON ISU’S All-Time Leader: Idaho State senior Eddie Thompson became the school’s all-time leader in receptions, surpassing Sale Key. Thompson had seven catches in Saturday’s loss to Montana State, giving him 189 for his career. Thompson ranks third on the national active list, trailing only Elon’s Terrell Hudgins (236) and Towson’s Marcus Lee (191). Thompson leads the nation with an average of 10 catches per game this season. Thompson needs three more receptions to move into a tie on the Big Sky’s all-time receptions list with Montana’s Raul Pacheco (192)..
EXTRA-POINTS: Montana State’s Bobby Daly is the active leader in FCS football in career tackles with 332. Sacramento State’s Cyrus Mulitalo is fourth with 289, and Northern Colorado’s Cristian Sarmento is tied for seventh with 279…Sarmento had 10 tackles against UC Davis, extending his streak of games with double-digit tackles against FCS teams to 12….Northern Colorado QB Bryan Waggener has 1,124 passing yards in four games. Only Corte McGuffey got to 1,000 yards faster in a season, doing so in 1998….EWU’s Aaron Boyce had 13 catches for 181 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Portland State…MSU’s Eric Fisher had a 70 yard punt against Idaho State…Sacramento State’s Tony Washington had 117 receiving yards and a touchdown against NAU. Washington has at least 100 receiving yards in four of his last five games...Weber State is sixth among FCS teams in this week’s Sagarin Ratings. Two weeks ago, the Wildcats were 41st. Montana is 10th among FCS teams in the Sagarin Ratings. The Big Sky jumped up to third among FCS conferences in this week’s Sagarin Ratings, behind the CAA and the Southern...Montana has committed nine turnovers in its last two games...Weber State has not beaten Montana and Montana State in the same season since 1987...NAU’s K.J. Gerrard intercepted his 18th career pass last week. He leads all Division I active players in interceptions....Four Big Sky teams are ranked in this week’s Sports Network Poll, marking the first time since Week 5 of the 2006 season, that four league teams are ranked. UM is 12, NAU is 18, WSU is 22 and EWU is 23.