Vikings Hire Trio Of Coaches

Fetter comes to Portland State after spending five seasons at Division II Western State of Colorado. He spent the past three years as defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coach. He was also assistant head coach.

“Josh brings tremendous experience as a defensive line coach and as a defensive coordinator. He also has great recruiting ties in the state of Washington,” said Coach Tim Walsh. “He should be a great help to Coach Tuitele on the defensive line, and to coach Lupfer with game planning. I would also expect he will really help in an area we are already successful - recruiting in the state of Washington.”


One of five former Viking players who are now coaches at PSU, Chenault is in his second season as a coach. He spent the 2005 season as the secondary coach at Eastern Oregon University, working with both cornerbacks and safeties. The Mountaineers were 6-3 last year.

“Nick had a great experience at Eastern Oregon,” said Tim Walsh. “What he lacks in overall coaching experience, he makes up for with his youth and enthusiasm. He will become a very good football coach for us this year.”

Former Viking defensive back Ryan Wells joins the Portland State coaching staff after four years of collegiate coaching at other programs.

Wells coached defensive backs at Morningside College last year. Morningside, an NAIA program, was 12-1 during the 2005 season, reaching the semifinals. Prior to coaching at Morningside, Wells was an assistant coach at Eastern Oregon from 2002 to 2004.

“Ryan has gone out and made himself a great football coach,” Tim Walsh said. “He comes from a great program at Morningside and that experience has really helped him grow. He is another person who is from PSU, knows PSU, and really wants to continue building this program.”

I-AA Positional Rankings Include Several BSC Players

Matt Dougherty, executive director of I-AA football, has released a list of positional rankings, naming the top 5 to 20 players in the country and their respective positions, and several Big Sky stars made the list.

Guards:
1. Brennan Carvalho, Portland State (Jr., 6-1, 310) - After starting as a true freshman in 2004, Carvalho earned first-team All-Big Sky honors as he started all 11 games at left guard and helped the Portland State offense lead the conference in rushing and sacks allowed.

2. Matt Alfred, Eastern Washington (Jr., 6-3, 290) - Alfred has started at guard or tackle in the Eagles� last 22 games and garnered first-team All- America honors as the Eagles racked up 477.8 yards of total offense a year ago.

9. Brant Birkeland, Montana State (Sr., 6-2, 270) - Birkeland will play a key role at left guard on a Montana State line that could be blocking for the running game more often without Travis Lulay.

Tackles:
5. Rocky Hanni, Eastern Washington (Jr., 6-5, 290) - Hanni moved from tackle to guard as a sophomore, but moves back to the tackle spot this year and should keep adding to his run of starting every game in his career.

9. Joe Hirst, Montana State (Sr., 6-7, 295) - Hirst has battled injuries throughout his career, but stayed healthy a year ago to earn second-team All- Big Sky recognition and is the top returning player on a annually strong Bobcat offensive line.

Defensive End:
3. Mike Murphy, Montana (Sr., 6-3, 240) - Murphy tallied six sacks and five forced fumbles for a tough Grizzly defense, and has 108 tackles and 20.5 sacks in his career.

Linebacker:
12. Pago Togafau, Idaho State (Sr.,5-10, 210) - Togafau looks to build on two solid seasons for the Bengals, as he tallied 103 stops in 2005 after recording 122 as a sophomore two years ago.

Cornerback:
3. Dominic Dixon, Portland State (Sr., 5-10, 195) - With consecutive nods to the Big Sky All-Conference team, Dixon has emerged as one of the top cover corners in I-AA football and filled the stat sheet with 53 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions a year ago.

Kickers:
5. Jeff Hastings, Montana State (Sr., 5-9, 180) - Hastings connected on 16- of-21 field goal attempts, and endeared himself to Bobcat fans by nailing three kicks in a 16-6 win against Montana.

Preview #2 - Eastern Washington

Change of plans. I know I promised a preview on ISU, but instead am going to focus on Eastern.

Eastern Washington
'05 Record (7-5, 5-2)
'05 Rating - A-
Starters returning: 6 off, 6 def, 2 spec
Letterwinners returning/lost: 39/21

2005 Review:
Last year's Eagle squad featured one of the most profilic QB/WR tandems in the history of the Big Sky. QB Erik Meyer won the most prestigious award an offensive player can win in I-AA, the Payton Award. Meyer would throw for 3,616 yards in the regular season, including 26 TDs and only 5 INTs. A big part for his success was the play of Payton watch list WR Eric Kimble. Kimble would haul in 78 receptions for 1264 yards during the regular season, including 10 TDs. Together, the Erik to Eric combo would lead to 201 completions, 3,169 yards and 35 TDs in their careers. This high-powered offense would finish 2nd nationally in passing yards, and third in total offense. Transfer standout Ryan Cole would add 879 more yards on the ground, with 14 scores. Defense would be the ultimate demise for the Eagles, though they were not a bad bunch by any means. But they did blow a substantial lead in the first round of the playoffs to UNI, losing in the final minutes to eventual I-AA National Champion runner up, Northern Iowa. They would finish 61st overall in total defense. This team truly had the tools to be a NC contender, but slipped up in a harsh environment at the Panther Dome. This was the most exciting team to watch in the Big Sky for two years straight, and I know I for one will miss seeing the Erik to Eric combination, no matter how devastating they were to my beloved Bobcats.

Key Losses: QB Erik Meyer, WR Eric Kimble, WR Craig McIntyre, WR Raul Vijil, LB Joey Cwik, CB Jesse Hendrix, FB Lars Slind,
Key Players Returning: OG Matt Alfred (1st/2nd team All-America), S Bryan Jarrett (1st team BSC), RB Ryan Cole (2nd team), Tim Calhoun (2nd team), S Brandon Keeler (2nd team), OG Rocky Hanini, LB Nick Denbeigh, LB David Eneberg, K Sheldon Weddle, RB Dale Morris, RB Toke Kefu, QB Chris Peerboom, DT/OG Harrison Nikolao
Transfers: WR Shane Hoffman (Orange Coast CC)

2006 Outlook:

Offense:
Without sounding like a broken record, the obvious question here is how do you replace a Payton winning quarterback, and a 1st team All-American wide receiver? The answer is simple - you don't. Meyer was one of the best pure passers in I-AA history and it will be a long time before another QB like that graces the Sky. But the shelves are certainly not empty over in Cheney. Star running back Ryan Cole will return for his senior season, where he saw great success last year as a first-year player in the BSC, transferring from I-A Oregon State. With two quality OL back, as well as the move of Harrison Nikolao to OG, the running game should be more than adequate. Dale Morris was impressive in his debut season as an Eagle, and look for him and Cole to pound defenses. Losing BSC 2nd team FB Lars Slind won't be easy, but the offensive line should prove enough to overcome that. So with a decent line and a quality backfield, what do the Eagles do for a passing game? The quarterback position is up for grabs, as all three competing players have looked average to good during the spring. Junior Chris Peerboom is the only one with experience as an Eagle, but saw very minimal time behind Meyer. Others competing for the job are a pair of redshirt freshman, Matt Nichols and Josh Powell. Unfortunately, no one has stood out in spring practice. Nichols played well in the 2nd scrimmage, but tossed 3 INTs in the final scrimmage, although he had 3 TDs to go along with those. As far as I can tell, the job is still wide open, with maybe a slight nod going to Peerboom on experience in the program alone. The receiving corp is also very inexperience. Except for junior Tyler Coleman, who caught 22 passes last year, only one other letterwinner returns. Charles Searcy will switch from DB to WR, where he played in junior college. Beyond that, there are some redshirt freshman that will compete. JC transfer Shane Hoffman will most likely not play this year. But the Eagles do return a 2nd team BSC selection, in TE Tim Calhoun, who has garnered BSC honors twice in his two fully healthy seasons, though he isn't used much as a receiver.
Grade - B-

Defense:
There is plenty of experience returning on the Eagle defense, but lost a lot of their talented players to graduation (Cwik, Hendrix, etc). The secondary looks fairly strong, as it returns 8 letterwinners there, but the play has to be elevated. A pair of talented safeties look to make things happen, in Bryan Jarrett and Brandon Keeler. Jarrett had a great year last year, his first as an Eagle, and earned first-team honors. There are plenty of players who saw action last year, but did not start. They will have to step it up to replace a talented secondary from last season. Linebacker is a position that is going to have to step up in a big way. Two honorable mentions return, but losing Joey Cwik will be huge. Nick Denbeigh and David Eneberg both had good seasons last year, but will have to emerge as leaders on this young Eagle defense. Consistency will be the key, as the Eagles defense played awful in their four losses last year, and great in their 7 wins. Defensive line will be young and untested, but there are some potentially great players coming in in Lance Witherspoon and Gene Piffero, both sophmores. The line will be anchored by a pair of seniors who both played sparingly last year. Overall, there are a lot of question marks on a defense that was underrated last year, but they have yet to prove that they are as capable as last years group.
Grade - C+

Overall Grade - B-

Final Thoughts:
Head coach Paul Wulff has built a very successful program at EWU, and he has done it the old-school way - molding high school recruits. He hasn't relied on transfers as much as most I-AA schools. He has shown that you can still be successful by teaching young players. He has built a solid program that has had winning seasons every year since 1999. While replacing Meyer and Kimble will be an arduous task, I think there is enough talent in the wings to have another winning season, even if just 6-5. I think the Eagles will finish middle of the pack; there is just too much talent in the rest of the league for this young, rebuilding Eagle squad to take the crown. But that certainly doesn't mean you should count them out...

New Blog!

Well Hornet fans, you finally have a blog to call your own. TheeGreenHornet has created a Sacramento State Hornet fan blog, and it looks great! Check it out, as it is very well done and has much better journalistic formatting than I could ever dream. That's what I get for rocking my English classes with Cs and Bs. Anyway, here is the link (which is perma-linked on the sidebar, for your convenience):

http://theegreenhornet.blogspot.com/

Sac Inks Junior College Standout

Marcel Marquez, a talented, albeit short quarterback from The College of Canyons, has signed a LOI to play football for Sacramento State. The Cougars were 12-1 last year, and Marquez passed for 3,107 yards and 28 TDs with a 57% completion rate, while rushing for 13 more scores on the ground and a team-leading 660 yards. He arrives on campus mid-July, and hopes to compete for the starting spot right away, which is basically still open. His main competition will most likely be fellow JC transfer, Tim Brockwell of Glendale Community College.

Consolidated Preseason Rankings

A consolidation of all the major magazine rankings and major polls is out. Four BSC teams fall into the top 32, with just two in the top 25.

1. New Hampshire
2. Appalachian State
3. Montana
4. James Madison
5. Cal Poly
6. Furman
7. Illinois State
8. Northern Iowa
9. Youngstown State
10. Texas State
11. Delaware
T12. Southern Illinois
T12. Georgia Southern
14. Eastern Kentucky
T15. North Dakota State
T15. Hampton
T17. Eastern Illinois
T17. Nicholls State
19. Massachusetts
20. Coastal Carolina
21. McNeese State
22. UC Davis
T23. Montana State
T23. Hofstra
25. Lafayette
26. Richmond
27. Colgate
28. Grambling
29. Eastern Washington
T30. Northwestern St
T30. South Carolina St
T32. Portland St
T32. William & Mary

I was surprised to see PSU in and no Idaho State or Weber State. I think three I-A games is just too much for any I-AA team to overcome. But then again, preseason rankings aren't that important, but it can help you get an automatic bid if you are in the top 25 to begin with.

UNC Transition Going To Be Difficult

Thanks to TexasTerror over at AGS, here is an article that talks about the Bears making the full transition into the Big Sky. It has quotes from former Bear coaching legend Joe Glenn, as well as from Big Sky commissioner, Dough Fullerton. It is a good read and I suggest you take a look.

Weber Fills Coaching Vacancies

Head coach Ron McBride announced the hiring of two assistance coaches earlier this week. Kevin McGiven and Fred Fernandes join the coaching staff as quarterbacks coach and running backs coach, respectively. McGiven spent last season as the quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator for Southern Utah. Fernandes is one of the most prolific high school coaches in the history of Utah, coaching at Northridge. The running backs coach from last season, Casey Waletich, will now server as the offensive coordinator.

Coach McBride on the new hires:

"We are extremely fortunate and lucky to be able to get two quality coaches in Kevin and Freddie," said McBride. "Kevin has a solid background in coaching and developing quarterbacks having done it at BYU and Southern Utah. I talked to several coaches about Kevin and they each gave him glowing recommendations. He knows the system we have in place and has some good ideas for improvement. I've know Freddie a long time and have followed his career as a player and coach. He's outstanding coach whose's had tremendous success. He took over a program at Northridge High and made it into a team which regularly won state championships. He's really a good people person and our players are really going to respond his coaching philosophies and techniques."

Coach McBride on Waletich:

"I feel very confident in Casey's ability to formulate game plans and make the right play calls," said McBride. "He's become a very good student of the game and has a very calm demeanor about him."

Look out folks, this Weber team could surprise some people in 2006. This is a program going nowhere but up.

NAU Being All They Can Be

Okay, so maybe not. But they did land Pete Hargis, a transfer quarterback from IA Independent Army. Hargis, who was expected to compete for the starting job opposite David Pevoto, left the team for personal reasons. Hargis, a two star recruit according to scout.com, will be a freshman and expects to serve as backup for Murietta until his graduation. Hargis can also run the option, and we may see a few designed option plays from those crazy Lumberjacks.

Sac Hires New Strength And Conditioning Coach

An often overlooked aspect of college football, strength training in your first year of college is crucial. That doesn't mean it isn't important every year, but that first year you must make the transition from high school physique to that of a D1 player. Today, the Hornets announced the hiring of a very good strength and conditioning director, Gary Uribe. Uribe has spent the last three years as an assistant s&c coach at Southern Cal. This is a great hire and we may start seeing a different brand of football from the Hornets of Sacramento.

Preview #1 - Sacramento State

Well folks, here we go with my weekly preview series, starting today with Sacramento State:

Sacramento State
'05 Record (2-9, 1-6)
'05 Rating - F
Starters returning: 6 off, 10 def, 2 spec
Letterwinners returning/lost: 41/18

2005 Review:
To say last year was a dissapointment for the Hornets would be a gross understatement. A very young Sac squad would find minimal sucess in 2005, winning only two games, oddly enough back to back. They defeated NAU at home, then followed it up by soundly beating NAIA Azusa Pacific, another home game. Those would be the only two bright spots on an incredibly dismal year for the young Hornets. The offense was anemic. Want some stats? Try 3010 yards of TOTAL offense for the entire year, gaining less than 280 yards per game (105th in IAA). That would be a good year for a Big Sky quarterback, let alone an entire offense. They only managed 192 points, 79 of those coming from their two wins. They gave up 45 TDs, worst in the Big Sky. They turned the ball over 30 times, nearly three per game. Folks, this was not a good Hornet team. They were a young team at many positions, but one that will be hard to replace will be quarterback, where they lost their two contributing quarterbacks, Chris Hurd and Brad Tredway. Ryan Mole, who had a breakout freshman season, missed 2 games due to injury, and started in only 6 (3 Big Sky games), played injured for a good deal of the year, and still racked up 783 yards, about 89 yards per game.

Key Losses: QB Brad Tredway, QB Chris Hurd, OLB Matt Logue (1st team defense)
Key Players Returning: RB Ryan Mole (2nd team offense), RS Kris Daniels (2nd team offense), S Brett Shelton (2nd team defense), WR Ryan Coogler, WR Bobby Mooshagian, OL Tyrone Davis, SS Brent Webber, LB Tyson Butler, P Mitch Lively
Transfers: OL Kyle Tasher (Solano JC), FB John Alanis (Glendale CC), QB Tim Brockwell (Glendale CC), OL Kyle Leitzke (Palomar JC), DL Dallas Mauga (Grossmont JC), OL Matt Russell (Missouri)

2006 Outlook:

Offense:
The Hornets biggest position to fill is not at QB, but rather along the offensive line. Only one starter returns, and he only started four games at the end of last year. You can see that they brought in three offensive lineman from junior colleges and IA Missouri (although Russel played two years at a JC, transferred to Missouri, and then back to Cali for his senior season). The Hornets have a talented backfield with Ryan Mole and Kris Daniels, but the running battle is won in the trenches. Replacing four starters will be tough, but none of the starters being replaced were all-conference. QB transfver Tim Brockwell was not all that impressive in spring, but we will most likely be starting under center August when the Hornets travel to Boise State for the season opener. Brockwell did lead his JC squad to the national title and a 11-0 season last year. The Hornets also return their two leading receivers, Ryan Coogler and Bobby Mooshagian. Together they combined for 69 receptions and 686 yards and a score. John Alanis was impressive in spring, the transfer from Glendale CC, and looks to make holes for Mole and do some rumbling himself. Also WR Torrell Baker played running back in spring, and had a team high 89 yards on 17 carries in the final spring scrimmage. Overall, the Hornets should be improved in the backfield and wideout spots, but the QB and OL are big question marks.
Grade - C

Defense:
The defense returns 10 of the starting 11 from a year ago on a defense that gave up a lot of points, but not necessarily yards. This was a defense that was on the field a lot more than any defense should have to be. With the Hornets averaging nearly 3 turnovers a game and scoring just 17 points per game, it is no wonder that the defense gave up 35 per contest. Although Co-BSC defensive MVP Matt Logue is gone, there is plenty to be optimistic about for the Hornet defense. Sac was 42nd in IAA last year in pass efficiency defense, and return their entire secondary, including a talented pair of safeties in Brett Shelton and Brent Webber, who had 147 total tackles between them and a pair of INTs each. Also back is CB Brandon Smith, who lead the team in interceptions last year with 3. Mike Brannon returns on the DL, and is one of the more talented pass rushers in the conference, earning honorable mention last year with 3 sacks. Overall a talented defense that should be top 5 in most categories come seasons end.
Grade - B-

Overall Grade - C

Final Thoughts:
Sac, as usual, has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, but can never seem to make it work. A healthy Mole, and a talented defense won't be enough to challenge for the crown, but might keep the Hornets out of the bottom this year. They will surprise a team or two, causing some chaos to one of the front-running squads.

Whitney Lewis May Transfer Yet

I know, I know. Don't post rumors. Well this rumor is far too juicy to pass up, so bite me. If this kid did transfer to a I-AA school, he has the potential to elevate any program he lands at. So far, he is looking at MSU, NAU, and also Northern Iowa. Buried on the depth chart behind many talented receivers is no way to get a look from the NFL.

He was named to virtually every high school All-America team after a senior season in which he had 65 catches for 1,235 yards with 16 touchdowns and ran for 1,059 yards on 112 carries with 23 touchdowns. He scored a total of 268 points with 42 total touchdowns, which equated to a touchdown every 4.5 times he touched the ball.

Those are some stats. He also runs a sub-4.4 40, and was a 5 star recruit out of high school. Sounds like he had grade issues in 2003, but hasn't had any problems to date.

Bobcats Gain Two, Lose Two

MSU FOOTBALL

Bobcats land two transfers

By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Writer

The Montana State football team recently signed two new transfers, but lost another assistant coach.
Receiver Kyle Wimberly and tight end Darnell Worthy will join the Bobcats in the fall after transferring from California junior colleges.
Wimberly (6-foot-4, 180 pounds) started as a freshman at Moorpark College, averaging 14 yards per catch. He redshirted last season in order to run track and has three years of eligibility remaining.
Wimberly ran sprints and relays at Moorpark and helped the football team to a 7-4 record in 2004 after an 0-3 start.
Worthy (6-4, 250), who played at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, also started his freshman year. Last year, he was a backup to Matt Sims, an all-conference tight end who signed with Utah earlier this year.
Worthy is expected to fill the slot vacated by Missoula’s Nick Parker, who recently left the program.
On the coaching front, Jason Linders became the third assistant to leave MSU after last season. The defensive line coach the past two seasons is seeking another job in Division I.
“He’s moving to the Las Vegas area primarily to be near his family (Linders’ mother is sick),” Montana State head coach Mike Kramer said.
Linders was named linebacker coach in February after defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski left for Boise State. Former linebacker coach Rob Christoff then took over as defensive coordinator.
Kane Ioane, a two-time all-Big Sky Conference safety who won league defensive MVP in 2003, will take over the linebackers. Ioane was a secondary coach last season under Jimmy Lake, who left to take the assistant defensive backs position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Lake replaced Raheem Morris, who took the defensive coordinator job at Kansas State.
MSU is expected to hire Steve Irvin to replace Ioane.

So the Bobcats landed those two transfers, Wimberly and Worthy, but lost their linebacker coach. So who is the 2nd guy they lost? Taylor Rank, who earlier had said he was transferring from South Carolina to play for Mike Kramer, had a change of heart, and will be lucky to break the top 3 on the USC depth chart. He'll be back, they call come back.

Is the outflux of coaches from MSU necessarily a bad thing? They have all gone on to better, higher profile jobs, and one is currently in the NFL. To me, this shows that MSU is a great place to groom coaches, and we should be thankful for having such talented coaches here in Bozeman. Do I wish they'd stay? Of course, but the reality is I-AA football is not where every coach dreams of spending their career. The fact that so many good coaches come out of I-AA shows we know football as well, sometimes better, than the big boys.

PSU On FM Radio For The First Time

KTRO Radio, Portland's newest talk radio station, has reached a three-year agreement to broadcast both Viking football and basketball games, PSU Athletics announced Monday. This is something that we take for granted as MSU/UM fans, because we dominate the air waves and television waves as the two biggest tickets in the state. Hopefully this can lead to some possible TV coverage down the road for PSU, creating more exposure and excitement for a program that deserves it.

2 RBs Land On Top 25 I-AA List

Lex Hilliard came in at #6 on the list, perhaps a bit too low, but impressive nonetheless.

6. Lex Hilliard, Montana (Sr., 6-0, 225) - With a passing game that made Montana fans relish the days of Dave Dickenson or even Craig Ochs, Lex Hilliard had to carry the bulk of the Montana offense on his shoulders. Fortunately for the Grizzlies, Hilliard was up the challenge and Montana again won a piece of the Big Sky and advanced to the postseason. Hilliard notched 1,322 yards with 12 touchdowns on 5.3 yards per carry, and mixed in some big games when Montana needed a win. He notched 159 yards and a score against Weber State and 142 yards and a touchdown versus Idaho State. While those efforts were nice, Hilliard�s 34-carry, 237-yard performance against Cal Poly helped vault the Grizzlies into the postseason. Hilliard scored twice in the playoff loss to the Mustangs, and already has nine playoff touchdowns in five games. Hilliard had 972 yards and 17 touchdowns while splitting carries with Justin Green in 2004. This year, Hilliard should get more help from the passing game led by Josh Swogger. With fewer people in the box, Hilliard has a great chance for a memorable final season for himself and the team.

Good assesment, and a solid passing game can only help Hilliard who tends to be a little injury prone (migraines). But he might also be splitting time with two I-A transfers, Coleman and Bradshaw. Either way, the Griz backfield looks to be a very dangerous one.

The other player on the list was UNC's Andre Wilson, who landed at #23.

23. Andre Wilson, Northern Colorado (Jr., 6-1, 190) - When healthy, Wilson was a handful with six 100-yard days to start the season in 2005. He notched a 202- yard game against Southern Utah, and went for 155 against the tough Cal Poly defense. Wilson had 1,034 yards with six touchdowns for the season after notching 990 yards in 2004.

The Bears will need big numbers from Wilson. I believe he is capable of having a big year for UNC.

Offensive Impresses In Final Scrimmage

The passing threw for a combined 310 yards, 2 TDs and an INT, while the running game added 126 yards on 25 carries to lead the offensive to a 34-24 victory over the defense. Transfer Tremayne Kirkland led all receivers with 2 catches for 89 yards and one score.

PASSING
Sawyer Smith 4-10, 101 yards, 1 TD
Rob Freeman 3-3, 100 yards, 1 TD
Danny Morales 6-10, 32 yards
Tygue Howland 4-7, 46 yards, 1 INT
Kyle Faulk 1-1, 31 yards

RUSHING
Mu'Ammar Ali 9-69
Kelena Ho'okano 11-36
Bobby McClintock 4-16
Olaniyi Sobomehin 1-5

RECEIVING
Tremayne Kirkland 2-89, 1 TD
Brandon Jones 2-76, 1 TD
Brendan Ferrigno 2-26
Mu'Ammar Ali 2-12
Marcel Thompson 2-12
Matt Smith 2-11
Tygue Howland 1-31
Bobby McClintock 1-11
Matt Leunen 1-10
Robert Powell 1-9
Quinn Faino 1-6

Second Official Skyline Contest

The official Big Sky website announces the arrival of the second skyline contest. Fans will pick the order of finish of the nine teams in the conference, and have a chance to win free airfare, lodging and a ticket to a I-AA first-round playoff game featuring a Big Sky Conference team. The winner will also receive Big Sky Conference merchandise. I submitted mine, so you might as well all not even bother.

PSU - A Year In Review

Here is a link to a little article that basically summarizes the 2005 Viking squad. Nothing most of us don't know, but if you were curious:

http://www.dailyvanguard.com/...

Updates / Lack Thereof

This last month has been a very hectic one for me. I haven't had much of a chance to update this blog due to family issues, personal complications, and work. I finally got around to checking my news email inbox, and there were 293 emails waiting for me. I deleted them all and am starting fresh as of today.

Starting Monday, 6/19, I will be doing a detailed weekly preview of each team from the conference, in no particular order. These will include stats from last year, returning players, what type of gameplans they will most likely employ, etc.

Alongside that I will still be doing regular updates as well.

And remember, only 84 days left until kickoff!