Big Sky Opening Day

Three Big Sky teams opened their season today against I-A foes, but no one came out victorious.

Sacramento State 0 Boise State 45
- This one wasn't even close! Sac managed 50 rushing yards and 32 passing. I don't know what else to say.

Eastern Washington 17 Oregon State 56
- Well at least the Eags put some points on the board, though they found themselves down 35-0 just 19 minutes into the game, thanks to three fumbles and an INT. The Eags would finish with just 126 yards of total offense against a middle of the road OSU squad.

Northern Arizona 14 Arizon State (#24) 35
- The best showing so far by a BSC club, the Jacks were tied up with those Devils at the start of the 4th quarter, 14-14. NAU actually led two times in this game, 7-0 and then 14-7. Murietta and Watson hooked up 11 times for 206 yards and two TDs, and Murietta finished an impressive 15-20 for 259 yards. Is this the beginning of the return of Murietta that we Big Sky fans have been wondering about for years?

Overall, a dissapointing way to start the new season. I expected a bit more competition from our BSC bretheren, but it looks like only NAU showed up to play some football.

A real quick preview of the rest of the BSC action (I will be back to full preview mode next week, I had a very hectic week):

Griz 20 Iowa 45
- This is probably the best opponent the BSC has faced in years. The Griz have the potential to keep this closer than that, but the loss of Hilliard to injury and Chambers to... whatever... are going to make for a very tough matchup. Drew Tate and Albert Young are going to shine, but senior QB Josh Swogger has something to prove as well.

Wildcats 20 Colorado State 38
- CSU has been down and lost Kyle Bell to injury, but they are still way ahead of a regrouping Wildcat squad. The loss of Zach Hall hurts the Cats, although they are still talented enough in the backfield. CSU will be too much this early in the season.

Bobcats 17 Colorado 35
- This game might be close for a half, because both teams are breaking in new offensive players, and CU is breaking in a new coach. Both teams return talented defenses, and could kee this game relatively low-scoring for awhile. The Buffs will start to click in the second half and erase any chances of an upset.

Bengals 24 UNLV 30
- I believe this game will be the closest of the matchups between I-A squads. Gutierrez has been playing lights out in scrimmages, and Togafu will prove his worth defensively. UNLV is going through a transition phase, and a lot of changes have been made. UNLV will still have too much raw talent to overcome, but this talented ISU squad will give them all they can handle.

Vikings 17 New Mexico 38
- The Lobos are a quality IA program. The Vikings have way too many question marks, though lots of talent. But the inexperience and lack of playing together will make this a very tough task. And it doesn't get any easier for PSU after this, either...

Bears 14 UC Davis 27
- The Bears are impressively the only BSC team not playing a I-A opponent this season. But this a talented Aggie squad, lead by QB Jon Grant and WR Tony Kays. The Bears have a new scheme, new coach, new conference and question marks galore. Even at home they will not be able to stop their former GWFC foes.