Football Notes - NCAA Playoffs First Round

11/25/2014 7:52:48 PM

Two of the three Big Sky Conference postseason football teams will be in action on Saturday as the 2014 Division I Football Championship begins.

The Montana Grizzlies play host to San Diego in the first meeting between the schools since 1958. Montana is in the playoffs for the second straight year and the  22nd time overall. The winner of the game will travel to Cheney, Wash., for a second-round matchup against No. 4 seed Eastern Washington on Saturday, Dec. 6.

The Montana State Bobcats return to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus to take on South Dakota State of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bobcats won playoff games in 2011 and 2012 at Bobcat Stadium. The winner will advanced to play No. 2 seed and three-time defending national champion North Dakota State in Fargo next Saturday.

 
Saturday, Nov. 29 .................................................... Time
 
 
San Diego (9-2) at Montana (8-4)........................ 2:05 MST
 
Location: Missoula, Mont. Washington-Grizzly Stadium (25,217)
Series: San Diego leads 1-0.
Last Meeting: San Diego beat Montana 24-13 in 1958 in San Diego.
TV: None. Internet: ESPN3.
 
South Dakota State (8-4) at Montana State (8-4) 2:05 MST
 
Location: Bozeman, Mont. Bobcat Stadium (17,200)
Series: Montana State leads 10-2.
Last Meeting: MSU won 27-24 in 2004 in Bozeman.
Last Meeting: San Diego beat Montana 24-13 in 1958.
TV: None. Internet: ESPN3.
   
EAGLES REPEAT: For the second straight season, Eastern Washington won the Big Sky Championship and didn’t have to share. The Eagles beat Portland State 56-34 in Portland on Friday night to clinch at least a share of the title. Montana’s 34-7 win over Montana State on Saturday secured an outright title for the Eagles. EWU has now won or shared three straight Big Sky titles. This marks the first time in school history EWU has won three straight championships. It was the eighth Big Sky title for the Eagles, who joined the Big Sky in 1987. Eastern Washington earned the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. Eastern Washington will be in the playoffs for the third straight year, and the fifth time in six seasons. Eastern Washington has compiled a 22-2 Big Sky mark the past three seasons.
 
NOT OVER YET: Montana head coach Mick Delaney announced he would retire at the the end of the season, but his Grizzlies made sure that didn’t end Saturday. Montana dominated Montana State, beating the Bobcats 34-7 in front of a stadium-record crowd of 26,352 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. With the win, Montana was able to secure an at-large bid to the playoffs. The Grizzlies forced seven turnovers against the Bobcats, intercepting QB Jake Belskin five times. Delaney, who is in his third season as the head coach, went 2-1 against the Bobcats. He is taking Montana to the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
 
POCATELLO PROUD: Idaho State took care of many dubious losing streaks in 2014, and put to rest another with a 46-28 win over Weber State. Idaho State had lost 11 straight to the Wildcats. Idaho State finished the regular season 8-4, the program’s first eight-win season since 2003. Idaho State’s eight victories matched its entire win total from the previous five seasons combined. The Bengals’ six conference victories are the most since going 6-1 en route to winning the 1981 national title. From 2007-13, Idaho State won a total of six conference games. This marks just the sixth time in school history ISU has won eight games in a season. Idaho State went 6-0 at home for the first time since 2003. The Bengals finished with a school-record 2,718 rushing yards, breaking a 57-year-old record. Idaho State averaged 562 yards per game during the regular season. ISU amassed 6,744 yards of total offense, averaging 562 yards per game.
 
CAL POLY RUSHES TO RECORDS: Cal Poly closed the regular season with 341 rushing yards in a 34-3 win over San Diego. The Mustangs finished the season with 4,221 rushing yards, a league single-season record. Cal Poly rushed for 3,890 yards in 2013, the old record. Cal Poly’s average of 351.8 rushing yards per game set a Big Sky record. The old mark was 337.2 set by Weber State in 1971. Cal Poly also set a single-season league record for  rushing attempts with 764, breaking its previous record of 753 set in 2012. Cal Poly rushed for 44 touchdowns, also a single-season record. Cal Poly became the first Big Sky school since Nevada in 1983 to have two rushers gain 1,000 yards. Junior quarterback Chris Brown rushed for 1,265 yards - the most ever in a season by a Big Sky QB. Kori Garcia gained 1,039. Brown has rushed for 1,950 yards. He’ll enter his senior season just 14 yards shy of tying the rushing record by a Big Sky QB.
 
CARTER A PAYTON CANDIDATE: Sacramento State senior wide receiver DeAndre Carter was added to the Walter Payton Award Watch list last week. Carter closed his career in style with nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown in Sacramento State’s 41-30 win over UC Davis. Carter finished the regular season leading the nation in catches (99), receiving yards (1,321) and receiving touchdowns (17). Carter just missed becoming the second player in league history to catch 100 passes in a season. Still his 99 catches rank second in league single-season history behind the 112 by Idaho State’s Rodrick Rumble in 2011. Carter finished his career with 207 catches for 2,760 yards with 35 TD catches. He also rushed for a TD and returned a punt for a TD.
 
ARIAS SURPASSES 4,000: Idaho State senior QB Justin Arias became the eighth player in league history to pass for 4,000 yards in a season. Arias threw for 322 in the win over Weber State to finish the regular season with 4,076 yards. His total ranks fifth in single-season history. Montana’s Dave Dickenson is third with 4,176 in 1995 and Weber State’s Jamie Martin is fourth with 4,125 in 1991. Eastern Washington’s Vernon Adams Jr. set the all-time record with 4,994 yards last season. Arias completed 318 of 522 passes with 38 touchdowns and 10 interceptions during the regular season.
 
SAFRON SEVENTH IN TOTAL OFFENSE: Sacramento State senior quarterback Garrett Safron closed out his career with 11,619 yards of total offense, which ranks seventh in Big Sky history. Safron appeared in 42 games. He passed for 9,713 yards and rushed for 1,906. Matt Nichols of Eastern Washington holds the all-time record with 13,308 yards. Safron finished the 2014 season with 4,241 yards of total offense, which ranks fourth in single-season league history. Idaho State’s Justin Arias finished this season with 4,105 yards of total offense.
 
COWSER BREAKS TFL MARK: Southern Utah junior defensive end James Cowser recorded three tackles for loss in the Thunderbirds’ 22-14 win over Northern Arizona. Cowser finished the season with 29 tackles for loss, which broke the Big Sky single-season record set by Idaho State’s Jared Allen. The current NFL star had 28 tackles for loss en route to winning the Buck Buchanan Award in 2003. Cowser had 26 solo tackles for loss and six assisted. He finished as the national-leader in tackles for loss with an average of 2.4 per game. Cowser has 60 tackles for loss in his career, which ranks third in Big Sky history. Allen is the all-time leader with 73. Weber State’s Brady Fosmark is second with 64.5
 
LOOMIS THIRD ALL-TIME IN PUNTING: Portland State senior Kyle Loomis led the nation in punting for the second straight season with an average of 46 yards per punt. Loomis, who played two seasons with the Vikings after roughly four years in the Army, finished his career averaging 46.21 yards per punt on 131 attempts. His average ranks third all-time in league history. The top two - Idaho State’s David Harrington and Eddie Johnson - played home games indoors. In fact, Loomis is the only player in the top eight who played the majority of his games outside and at sea level.
 
BENGALS CRACK TOP 25: Idaho State cracked the top 25 for the first time since the fifth week of the 2005 season. The Bengals, which finished the regular season 8-4., are ranked 24th in The Sports Network Poll. Idaho State became the sixth Big Sky team to be ranked this year. Eastern Washington is ranked fourth in The Sports Network Poll, followed by Montana at 12 and Montana State at 17. In the Coaches’ Poll, Eastern Washington is fourth, Montana is 11th, and Montana State is 17th.
 
Extra points: Sacramento State finished the season 7-5 under interim coach Jody Sears, the most wins for the program since going 7-4 in 2000. The seven wins ties the most for the Hornets since joining the Big Sky in 1996...Weber State’s Bo Bolen finished his career as the league’s all-time leader in kick returns (107) and kick return yards (2,665)...Road teams won four of the six conference games last week. Home teams finished 31-21 in conference games...Cal Poly linebacker Nick Dzubnar finished the season with 167 total tackles, which ranks third in Big Sky single-season history...Eastern Washington QB Vernon Adams Jr. hiked his career passing touchdown total to 105, which ranks 12th in FCS history...Montana State has secured its 13th consecutive winning season, the longest streak in school history...Montana DE Zack Wagenmann became the school’s all-time sack leader with 33.5 in his career. His total ranks third in the Big Sky since sacks became an official statistic in 2000...UM finished the regular season as the FCS leader in average attendance at 25,404. Montana State is fourth at 18,368.
 
   
The Big Sky Conference has advanced at least two teams to the playoffs in 29 of the last 31 years. The Big Sky has sent multiple teams to the postseason in 16 straight seasons. This is the eighth time and the third straight year at least three Big Sky teams have qualified. A record four advanced in 2013.
 
Eastern Washington is making its third consecutive playoff appearance, its fifth in six years, and its 10th as a member of the Big Sky Conference. EWU won the 2010 national championship, and advanced to the semifinals in 1997, 2012 and 2013.
 
Montana returns to the playoffs for the 22nd time and the second straight year. The Grizzlies’ 2011 appearance was vacated due to NCAA violations. Montana advanced to the postseason a record 17 straight seasons from 1993-2009. In 2011, UM won two playoff games and lost one, but those games have been vacated. Montana has won two national titles.
 
Montana State is in the playoffs for the eighth time, and the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Bobcats won the 1984 national title.
 
The Big Sky is 77-66 all-time in FCS playoffs, a winning percentage of .538. The Big Sky has won at least one playoff game in eight consecutive seasons.
 
A Big Sky team has advanced to the semifinals six straight seasons if you count Montana’s 2011 appearance. Montana qualified for the national championship game in 2008 and 2009. Eastern Washington won the championship in 2010, and advanced to the 2012 and 2013 semifinals.
 
Big Sky teams have won six national championships: Boise State (1980), Idaho State (1981), Montana State (1984), Montana (1995, 2001) and Eastern Washington (2010).
 
Eastern Washington, Montana and Montana State are all playoff regulars, but this marks the first time all three are in the field in the same year.