IF UM LOSES J. JOHNSON........

[BlackFalkin]

EAGS cement their place as ALPHA MALE of the BSC.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Yes, the same "ALPHA MALE" that went 6-5 last year & hasn't won an outright Big Sky title in 15 years.


If you're right, the Big Sky is gonna be a pretty malnourished pack.

[EWURanger]

Yes, the same "ALPHA MALE" that went 6-5 last year & hasn't won an outright Big Sky title in 15 years.


If you're right, the Big Sky is gonna be a pretty malnourished pack.

Nobody besides Montana has won an "outright" Big Sky title since Eastern in the last 15 years.

I am starting to re-assess what my top 3 Big Sky schools are going to look like in 2012, and I think they look like this:

MSU
Poly
Eastern

UM could easily be in there, or even end up as the #1 by the end of the season. But it's hard to dismiss the turnover UM has had and all the off the field distractions in the program. As of right now, the above three all look stronger on paper going into the Spring, IMO.


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[EWURanger]

Oh, and I doubt UM loses Johnson.


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[OptimusPrime]

[grizzaholic]

The Bobcats will be loaning him to the Griz for the season?

[OptimusPrime]

The Bobcats will be loaning him to the Griz for the season?

No, I hear Nick Montana will be transferring in instead from a very reliable source.

[grizzaholic]

The Bobcats will be loaning him to the Griz for the season?

No, I hear Nick Montana will be transferring in instead from a very reliable source.

Not to throw some more fuel onto the fire but....I have heard from a very unreliable source that Montana will be running the triple option for the first half of games and spread 5 wide for the second half of games. IF, and that is a big IF, OT happens, the Griz will be taking a knee on all plays.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Yes, the same "ALPHA MALE" that went 6-5 last year & hasn't won an outright Big Sky title in 15 years.


If you're right, the Big Sky is gonna be a pretty malnourished pack.

I love how Griz fans resort to the "you were 6-5 last year" remark, conveniently disregarding that we recently won a National Championship, or that the Griz went 6-4 (FCS) just two seasons ago before rallying back to 11-3 and no NC last year.

I'm not saying EWU is the "Alpha Male" of the conference, because that's just stupid, but the Griz certainly are not alone at the top anymore. EWU, CP, UM and MSU will be consistently competing for the title.

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

Yes, the same "ALPHA MALE" that went 6-5 last year & hasn't won an outright Big Sky title in 15 years.


If you're right, the Big Sky is gonna be a pretty malnourished pack.

I love how Griz fans resort to the "you were 6-5 last year" remark, conveniently disregarding that we recently won a National Championship, or that the Griz went 6-4 (FCS) just two seasons ago before rallying back to 11-3 and no NC last year.

I'm not saying EWU is the "Alpha Male" of the conference, because that's just stupid, but the Griz certainly are not alone at the top anymore. EWU, CP, UM and MSU will be consistently competing for the title.

We lost a lot but have a decent core coming back. Loosing JJ would be a blow, but it won't be the end of the world. The biggest thing that will determine our fate is how our young kids that will see playing time step up do.

[grizzaholic]

Yes, the same "ALPHA MALE" that went 6-5 last year & hasn't won an outright Big Sky title in 15 years.


If you're right, the Big Sky is gonna be a pretty malnourished pack.

I love how Griz fans resort to the "you were 6-5 last year" remark, conveniently disregarding that we recently won a National Championship, or that the Griz went 6-4 (FCS) just two seasons ago before rallying back to 11-3 and no NC last year.

I'm not saying EWU is the "Alpha Male" of the conference, because that's just stupid, but the Griz certainly are not alone at the top anymore. EWU, CP, UM and MSU will be consistently competing for the title.

You seem to be forgetting SUU.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I love how Griz fans resort to the "you were 6-5 last year" remark, conveniently disregarding that we recently won a National Championship, or that the Griz went 6-4 (FCS) just two seasons ago before rallying back to 11-3 and no NC last year.

I'm not saying EWU is the "Alpha Male" of the conference, because that's just stupid, but the Griz certainly are not alone at the top anymore. EWU, CP, UM and MSU will be consistently competing for the title.

You seem to be forgetting SUU.

After they lose Sorensen, we'll see.

[Silenoz]

CHECK DAT SIG

[Mvemjsunpx]

Yes, the same "ALPHA MALE" that went 6-5 last year & hasn't won an outright Big Sky title in 15 years.


If you're right, the Big Sky is gonna be a pretty malnourished pack.

I love how Griz fans resort to the "you were 6-5 last year" remark, conveniently disregarding that we recently won a National Championship, or that the Griz went 6-4 (FCS) just two seasons ago before rallying back to 11-3 and no NC last year.

I'm not saying EWU is the "Alpha Male" of the conference, because that's just stupid, but the Griz certainly are not alone at the top anymore. EWU, CP, UM and MSU will be consistently competing for the title.

The first part of your second paragraph was entirely my point. Why would anyone think a team that just went 6-5 (with a departing Payton winner, no less) is on the verge of "cementing" dominant status? If anyone was likely to dethrone Montana, it looks on the surface that the most likely candidate would be MSU. It was just BF being BF and me ridiculing BF for being BF.

Padron is the only reason EWU is even in the discussion. However, if he struggles like Mitchell did for a good chunk of 2010, the Eags are in trouble. There's no Taiwan Jones to bail him out.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Yes, the same "ALPHA MALE" that went 6-5 last year & hasn't won an outright Big Sky title in 15 years.


If you're right, the Big Sky is gonna be a pretty malnourished pack.

Nobody besides Montana has won an "outright" Big Sky title since Eastern in the last 15 years.

I am starting to re-assess what my top 3 Big Sky schools are going to look like in 2012, and I think they look like this:

MSU
Poly
Eastern

UM could easily be in there, or even end up as the #1 by the end of the season. But it's hard to dismiss the turnover UM has had and all the off the field distractions in the program. As of right now, the above three all look stronger on paper going into the Spring, IMO.

I never actually mentioned Montana in my post—I was just making fun of the "EWU coronation" idea.

But as for the Griz, they have had had a bit of turnover, but they also have a lot of talent, a good coaching staff, & a history of reloading without dropoff. UM does technically return just 2 starters on defense, but they return two others that were effectively starters—Matt Hermanson & a healed Jordan Tripp. Also, the last time Montana lost this much on D was 2008, when they still ended up in the Title Game. Johnson (assuming nothing comes of this accusation) was looking real good at the end of the season and the entire running back corps returns.

I'm not sure why you're so high on Cal Poly. They don't lose a ton, but they were just 6-5 last year and 3 key players do depart—FB Jake Romanelli, K James Langford, and CB Asa Jackson. Also, the Big Sky likes to pass and the Mustangs were pretty bad at defending that last year. Montana, MSU, Portland State, Weber, NAU, Eastern, & Suutah all look better than Cal Poly to me, making them middle-of-the-pack at best.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I love how Griz fans resort to the "you were 6-5 last year" remark, conveniently disregarding that we recently won a National Championship, or that the Griz went 6-4 (FCS) just two seasons ago before rallying back to 11-3 and no NC last year.

I'm not saying EWU is the "Alpha Male" of the conference, because that's just stupid, but the Griz certainly are not alone at the top anymore. EWU, CP, UM and MSU will be consistently competing for the title.

The first part of your second paragraph was entirely my point. Why would anyone think a team that just went 6-5 (with a departing Payton winner, no less) is on the verge of "cementing" dominant status? If anyone was likely to dethrone Montana, it looks on the surface that the most likely candidate would be MSU. It was just BF being BF and me ridiculing BF for being BF.

Padron is the only reason EWU is even in the discussion. However, if he struggles like Mitchell did for a good chunk of 2010, the Eags are in trouble. There's no Taiwan Jones to bail him out.

My point was that it's naive to think that EWU couldn't finish at the top of the conference in 2012 after going 6-4 (FCS) in 2011, especially considering how UM finished tied for the top this last year after finishing 6-4 (FCS) the year prior.

Also, Padron is much better than BLM, our WR corps is much more experienced (than it was for BLM), and our run game should be much better than last year as we have a lot more depth and experience at OL and RB. With a gunslinger like Padron, we should still primarily be a passing team though.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Nobody besides Montana has won an "outright" Big Sky title since Eastern in the last 15 years.

I am starting to re-assess what my top 3 Big Sky schools are going to look like in 2012, and I think they look like this:

MSU
Poly
Eastern

UM could easily be in there, or even end up as the #1 by the end of the season. But it's hard to dismiss the turnover UM has had and all the off the field distractions in the program. As of right now, the above three all look stronger on paper going into the Spring, IMO.

I never actually mentioned Montana in my post—I was just making fun of the "EWU coronation" idea.

But as for the Griz, they have had had a bit of turnover, but they also have a lot of talent, a good coaching staff, & a history of reloading without dropoff. UM does technically return just 2 starters on defense, but they return two others that were effectively starters—Matt Hermanson & a healed Jordan Tripp. Also, the last time Montana lost this much on D was 2008, when they still ended up in the Title Game. Johnson (assuming nothing comes of this accusation) was looking real good at the end of the season and the entire running back corps returns.

I'm not sure why you're so high on Cal Poly. They don't lose a ton, but they were just 6-5 last year and 3 key players do depart—FB Jake Romanelli, K James Langford, and CB Asa Jackson. Also, the Big Sky likes to pass and the Mustangs were pretty bad at defending that last year. Montana, MSU, Portland State, Weber, NAU, Eastern, & Suutah all look better than Cal Poly to me, making them middle-of-the-pack at best.

Cal Poly has always gone toe to toe with the top Big Sky teams (EWU, UM, they haven't played MSU in a while), return a lot from last year, and by far have the easiest schedule in the conference as they don't play UM, MSU or EWU in league play, just EWU OOC.

Sat, 09/01/2012 San Diego 4:05 PM PDT
Sat, 09/15/2012 at Wyoming TBA
Sat, 09/22/2012 UC Davis * 6:05 PM PDT
Sat, 09/29/2012 at North Dakota * TBA
Fri, 10/05/2012 at Weber State * TBA
Sat, 10/13/2012 Northern Colorado * 7:05 PM MDT
Sat, 10/20/2012 Portland State * 6:05 PM PDT
Sat, 10/27/2012 at Sacramento State * TBA
Sat, 11/03/2012 at Eastern Washington TBA
Sat, 11/10/2012 Idaho State * 6:05 PM PST
Sat, 11/17/2012 at Northern Arizona * TBA

I see 8 likely wins, with 3 toss ups.

[EWURanger]

Nobody besides Montana has won an "outright" Big Sky title since Eastern in the last 15 years.

I am starting to re-assess what my top 3 Big Sky schools are going to look like in 2012, and I think they look like this:

MSU
Poly
Eastern

UM could easily be in there, or even end up as the #1 by the end of the season. But it's hard to dismiss the turnover UM has had and all the off the field distractions in the program. As of right now, the above three all look stronger on paper going into the Spring, IMO.

I never actually mentioned Montana in my post—I was just making fun of the "EWU coronation" idea.

But as for the Griz, they have had had a bit of turnover, but they also have a lot of talent, a good coaching staff, & a history of reloading without dropoff. UM does technically return just 2 starters on defense, but they return two others that were effectively starters—Matt Hermanson & a healed Jordan Tripp. Also, the last time Montana lost this much on D was 2008, when they still ended up in the Title Game. Johnson (assuming nothing comes of this accusation) was looking real good at the end of the season and the entire running back corps returns.

I'm not sure why you're so high on Cal Poly. They don't lose a ton, but they were just 6-5 last year and 3 key players do depart—FB Jake Romanelli, K James Langford, and CB Asa Jackson. Also, the Big Sky likes to pass and the Mustangs were pretty bad at defending that last year. Montana, MSU, Portland State, Weber, NAU, Eastern, & Suutah all look better than Cal Poly to me, making them middle-of-the-pack at best.

Yeah, their pass defense will be a liability in the Big Sky unless it improves. Same with UND.

I like Poly for a couple reasons. First off, they have a really nice schedule, so if they take care of business and win the games they should and pull off 1 or 2 "upsets", then they'll be in a very favorable position towards the end of the year.

Secondly, I think their offense will present some unique challenges for a lot of Big Sky teams which are used to the pass-first type pro offenses that a lot of teams employ. PSU and UM are both run-orientated offenses, but the triple-option is a lot different than the Pistol and the spread/option hybrid-whatever-it-is that UM runs.


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[EWURanger]

Well, I was going to disagree with your first point there, but for a system that relies so heavily on the Qb, I guess it is valid. Even without Padron, there's a very scary group of WR's there. But you do need to have the Qb to make the throws, and some of them are pretty difficult ones, at that. So if Padron works out he could be that missing "it" that can transform an above average offense into a great one. I'm excited for him to come so I sure hope everything works out.

Point taken on Jones, but the offense really revolved around getting him the ball in 2010. So he did bail us out more than once that year. But to be fair to Mitchell, I don't really think he had a chance to shine until the offense revolved around the Qb. That is, until the later part of the playoffs in 2010, and then all of 2011. The argument could be made that Mitchell was equally as valuable a player in 2011 as Jones was in 2010, and fhe numbers show that. EWU moved the ball just as much without Jones as they did with him, just in different ways.

But what most people tend to overlook in all the Jones hype about the 2010 season is the fact that that team had a damn good defense that led the country in TO margin and made critical stops when they needed to. They gave up yards at times, but there was enough experience there to keep the team in games when the offense wasn't clicking. Besides all the injuries, that was the big difference between the 2010 and 2011 seasons, not the fact that Jones didn't return. Our defense couldn't make stops when they needed to in 2011. If you look at the stats, EWU basically moved the ball at will against virtually everyone they played. The defense (or lack thereof) was the real difference.

That said, EWU will need a much stronger running game in 2011 to contend. We don't need another Jones, we just need more productivity, which I think we will get with a lot of experience returning in the backfield and a lot more beef (and depth) up front on the O-line. The majority of the starters should all be in the 6'5 to 6'7 and 290-300 pound range, minus maybe the Center.


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[Mvemjsunpx]

Yeah, their pass defense will be a liability in the Big Sky unless it improves. Same with UND.

I like Poly for a couple reasons. First off, they have a really nice schedule, so if they take care of business and win the games they should and pull off 1 or 2 "upsets", then they'll be in a very favorable position towards the end of the year.

Their schedule is favorable, but I'd still be surprised if they got to 8-3. They should lose to Weber, EWU, & Wyoming, and I would probably pick PSU & NoDak to beat them at this point as well.

Secondly, I think their offense will present some unique challenges for a lot of Big Sky teams which are used to the pass-first type pro offenses that a lot of teams employ. PSU and UM are both run-orientated offenses, but the triple-option is a lot different than the Pistol and the spread/option hybrid-whatever-it-is that UM runs.

That would be true, except pretty much every Big Sky team has played CP multiple times in recent years. The presence of the Great West Conference created a lot of schedule inbreeding for the Big Sky. That's why I like the Big Sky absorbing it—it makes Big Sky teams play some other non-conference opponents (like Montana playing Liberty, for example).

[AZGrizFan]

That would be true, except pretty much every Big Sky team has played CP multiple times in recent years. The presence of the Great West Conference created a lot of schedule inbreeding.

Aren't they in the process of converting from a form of the spread-option to a true triple option though?

[EWURanger]

Also, Padron is much better than BLM, our WR corps is much more experienced (than it was for BLM), and our run game should be much better than last year as we have a lot more depth and experience at OL and RB. With a gunslinger like Padron, we should still primarily be a passing team though.

I'm not completely sold on the Mitchell/Padron SMU comparisons. There's so many variables involved that I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect Padron to come in and be better than Mitchell was right off the bat. I throw what both did at SMU out, because we don't use the R & S, and there's more than likely other factors in there as well such as did Padron have a better O-Line or more experienced receivers when he was at SMU than BLM did when he was there. We don't know how well Padron will adapt to being a pro-style Qb. Yeah, he did run it in HS but a lot of it will be new. So with that said, I don't think any comparisons between the two will be valid until after Padron finishes his college career. He may have more potential than BLM did just because of his size and arm strength, but we will just have to see.


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[Mvemjsunpx]

Aren't they in the process of converting from a form of the spread-option to a true triple option though?

I'm not sure (I think you have it backwards; they were totally triple option earlier). They were a complete flexbone team under Ellerson & kept it with Walsh. They've appeared to add more spread option stuff lately, but I really don't know if they're planning on axing the flexbone.

[EWURanger]

That would be true, except pretty much every Big Sky team has played CP multiple times in recent years. The presence of the Great West Conference created a lot of schedule inbreeding for the Big Sky. That's why I like the Big Sky absorbing it—it makes Big Sky teams play some other non-conference opponents (like Montana playing Liberty, for example).

Yeah, I know they've played a bunch of Big Sky teams recently. But I guess my point was that a team could go through a 2-3 week span of preparing for similar offenses and then have to change a lot of things up to play Poly because defending the triple-option is just so different in terms of preparation. I guess I see this as an advantage for them, but I suppose the same argument could be made of PSU's pistol.

Maybe it's just a "hunch". I thought they had a really solid team when we played them this year, so I would be surprised to see them finish below Weber or UND. Really the only reason we beat them was because their secondary gave up a lot of big plays. But if they can improve there, I think they'll contend.


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[Screamin_Eagle174]

Also, Padron is much better than BLM, our WR corps is much more experienced (than it was for BLM), and our run game should be much better than last year as we have a lot more depth and experience at OL and RB. With a gunslinger like Padron, we should still primarily be a passing team though.

I'm not completely sold on the Mitchell/Padron SMU comparisons. There's so many variables involved that I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect Padron to come in and be better than Mitchell was right off the bat. I throw what both did at SMU out, because we don't use the R & S, and there's more than likely other factors in there as well such as did Padron have a better O-Line or more experienced receivers when he was at SMU than BLM did when he was there. We don't know how well Padron will adapt to being a pro-style Qb. Yeah, he did run it in HS but a lot of it will be new. So with that said, I don't think any comparisons between the two will be valid until after Padron finishes his college career. He may have more potential than BLM did just because of his size and arm strength, but we will just have to see.


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Agree to disagree then, because they both played in 2009 with the same OL and WRs, and BLM lost his job because Padron was much better and getting it done. His TD/INT is almost twice as good, which tells me he's a better decision maker. The first half of 2010, you could see why BLM had as many INTs against CUSA foes as he did... he made bad decisions and forced a lot of throws.