Big Sky notes: The rich get a little richer

Lost in Montana State’s vaunted rushing attack — the Bobcats average 6.59 yards a carry and 311.4 yards a game, both second in the Football Champion Subdivision — is that Julius Davis hasn’t had one carry.  

That could change. Bobcat coach Brent Vigen noted in his weekly radio show that Davis, a second-team all-Big Sky Conference selection last fall, is making the trip to Portland State this week. 

The Wisconsin transfer had three 100-yard games last season while piling up 718 yards, but knee surgery shelved him in the offseason. There is a chance he could play Saturday, or be held out in hopes of the senior playing in 2025. 

“He’s in a position where he can utilize a redshirt year this year,” Vigen said Wednesday. “We have five games left and obviously he can play four. That’s what we’re using for a barometer right now.” 

Davis could also play in the postseason without having those games count on his NCAA clock. Then again he could get in 8-9 games this fall and call it good.  

Viking Voyage 

With the Grizzlies on a bye week the Bobcats are representing Montana in Big Sky play. They face a Portland State team coming off its first win, 42-38 at Idaho State. 

Quarterback Dante Chachere not only picked up Big Sky offensive player of the week honors, he was the Stats Perform national player of the week on offense. 

His 200 yards rushing and passing was the first game of its kind in Portland State’s quarterback-rich history. 

“ESPN got him a helmet sticker,” PSU coach Bruce Barnum said this week, in a weekly interview posted at goviks.com.  

Chachere is the first national honoree since linebacker Ian Sluss picked off three passes, taking one back for a TD, on Oct. 27, 2012 against UC Davis. 

Barnum spoke highly of the No. 3-ranked Bobcats, including comparing Vigen favorably to movie actor Dolph Lundgren. 

Quarterback Tommy Mellott is, like Chachere, extremely fast at QB, he noted. The Bobcat defense is stout. 

“We’re going to try to get the ball above the 50 the first half,” Barnum said. “And then maybe the second half we can get it past the 35.” 

On a more serious note, who was hopeful the Vikings defense — it stopped Idaho State on six of seven second-half drives — could hold up. Also that his team have a quicker start after trailing 35-21 at intermission last week. 

“The defense is going to have to play hard and consistent,” he said. “We have a half like we had last week against the Bobcats, I don’t know if we’re going to catch up.  

“They’ve got an arsenal. You don’t just stop Mellott to beat Montana State. We’ll see how we do.” 

Eagles Soar 

Eastern Washington joined PSU by getting a road conference win, knocking off Sacramento State 35-28.  

The game was notable for two things:  

1, the Eagles stole a possession with a surprise onside kick — its second in two games. Montana’s 52-49 win on the red turf seems like ages ago; EWU had a bye the next week. 

2, the Eagles piled up 286 rushing yards, giving them 546 in their last two outings. 

“Offensively, we wore them down and it was a good, stout rush defense that we attacked in a lot of different ways,” Eastern coach Aaron Best said in a postgame radio interview.  

The onside kick came after Kekoa Visperas hit Tuna Altahir for a 4-yard touchdown pass at 11:14 of the third quarter. The Eagles then drove 55 yards to another, this one a 14-yard scamper by running QB Jared Taylor. 

The Eagles had the lead for good, and now face UC Davis at home Saturday. 

Vandals Regroup 

Idaho coach Jason Eck feels his Vandals will pick up the pieces from last week’s 38-7 loss at Montana State, an ESPN2 showdown that was all Bobcats. 

“I think it was a kind of a hyped-up game, a heavyweight fight,” Eck said during a weekly press conference. “And we got our butts knocked out in the game. I’m anxious to see how our team will respond.”
The Vandals (4-3 overall, 1-2 in league) dropped seven spots in both polls, to Nos. 13 and 14. No crime, Eck figures. 

“You look at the three teams we’ve lost to, they’ve all been on the road to teams ranked in the top 6 in whatever division they play in (Oregon, UC Davis and MSU). Those teams combined to go 20-1. That just tells us we’re not quite there yet. We’re not one of those top-6 teams.” 

Eck credited Montana State’s offense for bringing the pain. 

“I thought they had some good schematic things that were tough on some base rules within our defense,” he said. “Which is really good coaching by them, to figure out some of our rules and put us in binds with things.” 

The good news is that Idaho gets 2-4 Cal Poly Saturday in Moscow. But last week provided ample warning about these Big Sky games. 

 “There’s a lot of underdogs that won last week,” Eck said. “So we can’t just roll our hats out there and think we’re going to win this thing.” 

He added Nick Josifek, who started at QB last week, won’t play Saturday. He and Week 1 starter Jack Wagner now have both suffered shoulder/collarbone injuries. 

Eck did say the play that knocked Josifek out – a sack by MSU’s Paul Brott – was not anything extra or dirty. 

“I don’t think so,” he said. “(Josifek) made the first guy miss. That’s just football. ... bad luck.”