Big Sky Week 2 Recap

Montana State Athletics

Utah 63, Cal Poly 9 (Salt Lake City, UT))

The Mustangs took their lumps on Saturday night, giving up 14 points to the Utes before the halfway mark of the 1st quarter was over. They were able to answer a couple of drives later with a 30 yard field goal to break the seal, but went into the locker room down 35-6 after Utah added one more TD with 3 seconds left in the half. The Utes would go on to allow just 3 more points to the Mustangs, a booming 51 yard field with 11:13 remaining in the 4th quarter. Cal Poly cycled through their QBs, giving reps to redshirt sophomore Ty Dieffenbach, redshirt junior Anthony Grigsby, Jr., and redshirt sophomore Jackson Akins. Defensively, the Mustangs struggled to control the Utah run game, allowing 273 yards on the ground for the day. But, the defense logged 4 TFLs for 13 yards, including a sack for a 2 yard loss. Cal Poly will get some reprieve next weekend in their home opener against D2 Western Oregon.

Boise State 51, Eastern Washington 14 (Boise, ID)

EWU took to the Smurf Turf on Friday night against a BSU team that may have been vindicated after their previous week’s opponent, South Florida, knocked off in-state powerhouse Florida in Gainesville. The story of the night for the Eags was the defense. Eastern allowed 328 yards on the ground while giving up 309 yards through the air. Graduate QB Jared Taylor led EWU in both passing and rushing in this one, clocking 102 yards through the air and 76 yards on the ground. Aside from that, offense was a struggle to come by. The Eags managed two sustained scoring drives in the first and second halves of 72 yards and 80 yards, respectively. In spite of the defensive struggles, the EWU defense forced 5 total TFLs for 18 yards. Redshirt junior DE Ben Voigtlaender led the way with 1.5 of those TFLs for 2 yards. Eastern will be on the road one more time next week, heading to Northern Iowa to face the Panthers before their home opener on the Inferno the next week.

#5 Idaho 37, Saint Thomas 30 (Moscow, ID)

Our very own Kevin Marshall joined Vandals podcast Tubs at the Club last week to say that the Tommies will come to Moscow to play a physical game. Kevin knows ball, as the Tommies gave the Vandals all they wanted on Saturday afternoon. The Fightin Taters and the Tommies played an interesting game of Hot Potato with the lead throughout, until the 4th quarter, when the Taters took it back for good. If offense is your thing, this game had a lot of it. Vandals QB Joshua Wood was the game’s MVP as he went for 281 yards, 3 touchdowns and an INT through the air and 87 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He ended the day with 368 all-purpose yards. Defensively, the Vandals had 6 TFLs for a whopping 27 yards, including 2 sacks for 15 of those yards. Redshirt sophomore DE Matyus McLain was the driving force on defense, claiming 3 TFLs for 19 yards, 1.5 of those a sack for 11 yards. Idaho will welcome a surprisingly feisty Utah Tech team to the Kibbie Dome next weekend to celebrate the Dome’s 50th anniversary.

New Mexico 32, Idaho State 22 (Albuquerque, NM)

The Stripes faced a familiar foe on Saturday, when they took on former Idaho Vandals head coach Jason Eck, now leading the FBS New Mexico Lobos. The offense took a heavy blow this week when ISU head coach Cody Hawkins announced that starting QB Jordan Cookie would be out for the foreseeable future. But redshirt freshman QB Davis Harsin and redshirt sophomore QB Jackson Sharman grabbed their opportunities to step in and produce for the high-flying offense. Harsin ended his day with 181 yards through the air, a touchdown, and an INT while Sharman added 84 passing yards of his own. The Bengals run game also showed up, racking up 125 yards and a touchdown on the ground, led by Harsin with 60 of those yards. Defensively, the ISU run defense struggled again this week, allowing 216 yards in total, led by former Montana State RB Scottre Humphrey with 141 of those with 2 touchdowns. But, the defensive line did get pressure on former Vandals QB Jack Layne, including 2 sacks for 17 yards and 4 total TFLs. The Stripes will head home next week to host D2 Lincoln at the ICCU Dome.

#6 Montana 42, Central Washington 17 (Missoula, MT)

The Griz faithful got the first of a whopping 8 home games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday afternoon. D2 Central Washington gave the Griz a challenge in the first half, even taking a lead of 17-14 with 3:54 left in the half. But, Montana hit the gas in the second half to bury the Wildcats, scoring 28 unanswered. The Griz ground game was front and center, racking up an eye-popping 310 yards. Redshirt junior and preseason All-Big Sky RB Eli Gillman delivered on 198 of those yards, including 3 touchdowns. Redshirt sophomore QB Keali’i Ah Yat also passed for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns, but got burned on 2 INTs. Redshirt senior WR Michael Wortham led the wide receiving corps with 120 yards and a touchdown on 6 tosses from Ah Yat. This was also the first time fans got to see the new Griz defense together in real competition, helping to answer some of the question marks they had going into this season. Redshirt sophomore LB Caleb Otlewski led all defenders with 3 TFLs for 3 yards. The Griz will be home again next week, this time hosting #11 North Dakota to Missoula, one of the toughest matchups on their schedule this year.

#2 South Dakota State 30, #3 Montana State 24 2OT (Bozeman, MT)

Easily the FCS game of the week and a true clash of the titans. Defense was the order of the day, with both team stifling each other’s offense throughout the contest. At the half, things were all knotted up 10-10 when Montana State kicked a 33 yard field goal as time expired. Things slowed down again until the 4th quarter when the Jackrabbits worked the ball 50 yards to the end zone to take a 17-10 lead with 9:08 left in the game. It was the Bobcat special teams that answered the bell, forcing a fumbled punt that immediately led to a scoop and score to tie the game again 17-17. After trading OT touchdowns, SDSU scored on one 25 yard strike to put the pressure back on the Bobcats to answer. Montana State pushed the ball forward, ending up being short by just inches to end the game with a turnover on downs and heartbreaking loss in front of the home crowd. First year OC Pete Sterbick’s offense  emphasized the Bobcat running game, stacking up 210 yards and 2 touchdowns. Don’t be surprised to see a rematch between these two teams in December. The Bobcats will host Pioneer League San Diego next weekend, a game in which they will be heavily favored.

Northern Arizona 38, Utah Tech 31 (Flagstaff, AZ)

The Lumberjacks hosted neighbor Utah Tech for their home opener in what could grow to be a competitive regional rivalry now that the Trailblazers plan to join the Big Sky in 2026. After trading touchdowns, the NAU offense and defense both did their part to score 17 points unanswered before heading to the locker room at halftime with a 31-10 lead. But the Lumberjacks offense slowed in the 2nd half, scoring just one more touchdown at the start of the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, Utah Tech was threatening with their 3rd second half touchdown to trim the NAU lead to just 7 with 4:29 left in the game. The vaunted Lumberjack secondary came through late with a big INT to close the Trailblazers out with 58 seconds remaining in the game. Junior QB Ty Pennington had a healthy 229 yards passing and a touchdown on 28 attempts. Redshirt junior RB Seth Cromwell led the NAU ground attack with 67 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Lumberjacks finished the day with 162 yards total rushing yards. NAU will hit the road again next weekend to take on Southern Utah after their surprising loss to San Diego last weekend.

Colorado State 21, Northern Colorado 17 (Fort Collins, CO)

The Bears surprised many this weekend, after being on the verge of beating FBS Colorado State on the road. UNC established themselves early, going 10-0 at halftime. Midway through the 3rd quarter, the Bears added on with a touchdown following a 75 yard drive to go up 17-7. UNC clung to a 17-14 lead late in the 4th quarter when Colorado State took 13 plays and 3 minutes of clock to score a go-ahead touchdown with 45 seconds remaining. Then, came the controversy. The Bears answered with a massive pass down the field and a roughing the passer penalty from the Rams to put UNC in striking distance. With 10 seconds to go, junior WR Carver Cheeks appeared to haul in the game-winning touchdown, but was overturned on review by the Mountain West refs to ultimately lose the game. The UNC defense had a day, holding CSU to just 141 yards passing and no touchdowns. They also clocked 4 TFLs for 24 yards, including a big sack for 19 yards by Big Sky Co-Defensive Player of the Week DL Ezra Ekuban. The Bears will take their renewed confidence to Vermillion, SD next weekend to take on #14 South Dakota after their shocking upset to Lamar.

#11 North Dakota 50, Portland State 20 (Grand Forks, ND)

The Vikings found paydirt for the first time this season, scoring their first points of the season on a Jaylen Lynch touchdown with 48 seconds remaining in the 1st quarter. But things slowed for them for the rest of the half, ultimately going down 36-6 at halftime. Another PSU touchdown with 2:25 to go in the 3rd quarter, but the game was well out of hand at 43-13. Though the offense had a tough time getting going, the Viking defense piled up 8 TFLs on the day for 34 yards, including 4 sacks. But the PSU run defense gave up 275 yards and 3 touchdowns to seal their fate. Sophomore QB Jean-Keawe Sagapolutele passed for 146 yards, a touchdown, and 2 INTs. The Vikings mustered just 228 yards of total offense. PSU will take the long trip out to face FBS Hawai’i next weekend before Big Sky play begins the following week.

Nevada 20, Sacramento State 17 (Reno, NV)

New Sac State head coach Brennan Marion took the Go-Go Offense on the road again this week. This time, a much shorter trip to Reno, NV to face FBS Nevada and former Montana State head coach Jeff Choate. After a quick start, the Hornets were up 10-0 before the Wolfpack tied things up with 1:02 left in the 1st quarter. Sac State answered right back on a big 75 yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman WR Ernest Campbell to take a 17-10 lead. Nevada quickly drove down the field to kick a field goal and go into the locker room down 17-13 at the half. Then, both offenses fell silent for the majority of the second half, until a painful pick six by the Wolfpack to take a 20-17 lead with 2:17 remaining in the game. The Hornets answered back in the next drive, but a touchdown was negated by a costly holding penalty with 17 seconds to go. Forced to settle for a field goal attempt, the 42 yard kick went wide for a final score of 20-17. The Sac State rushing game had a decent day with 146 yards and a touchdown. But the run defense struggled, giving up 269 yards and a touchdown on the other side of the ball. Junior S Koa Akui came to play with not 1 but 2 INTs on the day. The rest of the defense amassed 5 total TFLs for 11 yards. The Hornets will face Mercyhurst for their home opener next Saturday, playing 3 games at home before their next road trip.

Washington 70, #15 UC Davis 10 (Seattle, WA)

The Aggies headed north for this FBS-FCS matchup, where things quickly got out of hand. By the time the 2nd quarter was over, UC Davis was looking at a 42-10 deficit to the Huskies. Davis chose to make the most of the situation by giving several of their quarterbacks reps, including redshirt freshman Caden Pinnick, senior Grant Harper, and freshman Treynor Cleeland. But, none of them had great success, with just 115 yards, a touchdown, and an INT total between them. Total offense for the Aggies on the day ended at 218 yards. The Davis defense had a hard time containing the Husky run game, particularly senior RB Jonah Coleman, who went for 111 yards rushing and a whopping 5 touchdowns. Davis will turn the page on this one and look forward to a bye week before hitting the road again to face Southern Utah in Cedar City on September 20th.

Arizona 48, Weber State 3 (Tucson, AZ)

After a long lightning delay on Saturday night, Weber State finally kicked off their last FBS game of the season against Arizona. The Weber State Wildcat secondary had a tough time keeping up with the Arizona WRs, allowing 406 yards and 5 touchdowns on the night. At the half Weber State found themselves down 34-0 with some key losses including OL Vae Soifua and DL Matt Herron. Weber State starting QB Jackson Gilkey had another tough night, tossing just 68 yards and 2 INTs. The Weber State defense had a few moments to hang their hats on, including 4 TFLs for 35 yards, including 3 sacks for 34 of those yards. Weber State will have another road game next weekend, taking the long trip to Lake Charles, LA to face McNeese State in the return game of a home-and-home series.