Big Sky notes: Perhaps we should have known

While the Montana State Bobcats were taking care of business this past Saturday, the Montana Grizzlies were falling flat in their lone October home game.

Perhaps neither should have been a surprise. The Bobcats were taking on a program, Northern Colorado, that has long been in the lower division of the Big Sky Conference. Idaho, meanwhile, was trending up before hanging a 30-23 loss on the Griz to reclaim the Little Brown Stein.

Idaho started six FBS transfers on its speedy defense. Since returning to UM Bobby Hauck is now 1-3 coming off bye weeks.

Also, and we’re not making this up, the Wordle answer on Monday was STEIN. This begs the question: What did the New York Times know, and when did they know it?

“I knew it was going to happen,” Idaho receiver Hayden Hatten asserted Saturday. “It sounds insane saying it like that, but we have this belief in our team now. … There’s no game that’s too big for us right now.”

All of this sets up a doozy of a weekend slate for the Big Sky, with four teams in the top seven of the FCS polls squaring off. Montana State has the Saturday afternoon game against Weber State; Montana plays at Sacramento State for the pajama crowd (9 p.m. Mountain kickoff).

High-flying Cat

Montana State coach Brent Vigen spent part of his Monday press conference talking about Willie Patterson’s performance in the Bobcats’ 37-14 win at Northern Colorado: 148 yards and three touchdowns receiving.

“It was really good, and he did it in a multitude of ways,” Vigen said. “The jump ball touchdown,

the inside fade, the slant he takes and runs (in from 37 yards out). There was a really important catch that he got interfered with early on our sideline that was just an incredible catch. That game showed his versatility.”

Vigen also shared the bad news that safety Rhedi Short and O-lineman Tan Fleischmann are out for the season, but added that all-Big Sky running back Isaiah Ifanse (knee surgery) returned to practice.

“Nothing to get too excited about,” Vigen added. “But, first time with a helmet on all fall. It’s week to week — not this week by any means. We’ll have a couple weeks here, we’ll see how things go.”

After the No. 2 Bobcats play No. 5 Weber State, they have a bye week ahead of a Nov. 5 game at Northern Arizona.

That works

The Ogden Standard-Examiner notes that Weber State has the best red-zone defense in the FCS, with seven scores allowed in 13 trips. The 13 trips are second-fewest for teams that have played at least six games; the Wildcats have allowed just four touchdowns.

Weber State’s 6-0 start is a new program record and the Wildcats have also won eight straight on the road. Their 42-7 victory at Portland State came in coach Jay Hill’s 100th game, and he is 64-36 as Weber’s coach.

“There’s so many good things going on and I’ve got to congratulate the staff,” Hill said after his team gained 525 yards, 286 on the ground, at Hillsboro Stadium. “The coaches we have right now are phenomenal … and the players have bought into what they’ve been asked to do. It was a complete win today.”

That didn’t work

The Spokesman Review led off its coverage of Sacramento State’s 52-28 win over Eastern Washington with a failed fake punt by the host Eagles.

Eastern trailed 35-21 at the time, and was trying to cash in an end zone interception against the Hornets’ Jake Dunniway. Then punter Nick Kokich sailed a throw over his receiver, Nolan Ulm.

“It was there. It was available,” Eastern coach Aaron Best told the paper. “It wasn’t executed the way we anticipated and practiced it the last couple of weeks.”

It took Sac State three plays to cover 38 yards: Cameron Skattebo, who looks every bit as good as former Hornet Elijah Dotson, ran for the first 28. Asher O’Hara, the other half of Sac State’s two-QB attack, got the final 5 for a touchdown and a 42-21 lead.

The No. 3 Hornets gave the Eagles the same issues Idaho did the now-No. 7 Griz: Sac State was 9-for-13 on third down and held the ball for over 36 minutes..

Other eye-opening numbers included the Hornets’ 385 rushing yards (201 by Skattebo) and 36 first downs.

Special vs. special

A blocked PAT kick, a dropped punt snap for a safety and an onside kick allowed colored the Grizzlies’ loss to Idaho, even if the mishaps added up to six Vandal points in a seven-point game.

“I’d rather talk about our big returns that set us up in great field position,” said Hauck, who saw Malik Flowers return one kickoff 44 yards (leading to a field goal that cut UM’s game to 22-16) and Junior Bergen take a punt 40 yards (leading to another punt). “And In regard to that (safety), when the ball is snapped you have to catch it. That would be it.”

QUICK KICKS: A victory over Weber State would give MSU a school-record 17-game home winning streak. … Troy Taylor is 18-1 as a coach in Big Sky games for Sac State. … Vigen is 17-2 in Big Sky games for Montana State. … Hauck went 5-1 in bye games in his first tenure as Griz coach. … Bobcat quarterback Sean Chambers still leads FCS with 16 rushing TDs. Sac State’s Asher O’Hara is (11) is tied for third.