Big Sky Picks: No. 4 Eastern Washington looks to disrupt No. 17 Jacksonville State’s young offensive line in Week 3

Eastern Washington beat writer Ryan Collingwood predicts Week 3 games in the Big Sky Conference. He went 12-0 last week and has an overall record of 21-1.

Montana (2-0) at Oregon (1-1): The Griz are improved – No. 20 in the latest FCS media poll – but aren’t on the same planet as the Pac-12 North preseason favorite Ducks, who feature one of the best offensive lines in college football and a potential No. 1 overall draft pick in quarterback Justin Herbert. Oregon 54, Montana 17

Montana State (1-1) at Western Illinois (0-2): After beating the Leathernecks in Bozeman last year, 10th-ranked Montana State looks to do the same in Macomb, Illinois against a team averaging 15 points and picked near the bottom of the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll. Montana State 27, Western Illinois 14

Idaho State (1-0) at Utah (2-0): The Bengals looked pedestrian in a 38-13 win over NCAA Division II Western State last week. They’ll appear much worse against the Pac-12 South favorite and 11th-ranked Utes. That defense is no joke. Utah 44, Idaho State 7

Weber State (1-1) at Nevada (1-1): Weber State – the country’s sixth-ranked FCS team –didn’t yield a touchdown two weeks ago to a solid Mountain West program, San Diego State, in a 6-0 loss. Jay Hill’s squad will find a way to make this ugly in Reno, but the Wolfpack have a little more firepower. Nevada 20, Weber State 14

Cal Poly (1-1) at Oregon State (0-2): The Beavers have won three games in the Jonathan Smith era and are widely expected to be in the Pac-12 cellar again. This may be their only win of the season, and the Mustangs won’t make it too easy. Oregon State 34, Cal Poly 24

Western New Mexico (0-1) at Northern Arizona (1-01): After getting handled by Arizona in Tucson last week, NAU can take a breather against Western New Mexico, an NCAA Division II program that went 0-10 last season and, last week, fell to Ottawa of Arizona, a 2-year-old NAIA school. NAU 49, Western New Mexico 0

Northern Colorado (0-2) at Sacramento State (1-1): Two of the Big Sky’s traditionally bad programs seem to be going in different directions: The Bears are perhaps dipping from last year’s 2-9 team and the Troy Taylor-energized Hornets are rising. Sac State 35, Northern Colorado 21

Stephen F. Austin (0-2) at Southern Utah (0-2): The worst team in the Southern Conference - the Lumberjacks fell 37-27 to NCAA Division II Tartleton State last week – against one of the Big Sky’s bottom-tier teams. I’ll take the latter. Southern Utah 37, SFA 31

Portland State (1-1) at Boise State (2-0): First-year BSU defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding saw plenty of Portland State during his long tenure at EWU and often found a way to slow down Barney’s club. The Vikings gave struggling Arkansas trouble on the road two weeks ago, but will have a much harder time on the smurf turf against the No. 22 Broncos. Boise State 45, Portland state 14

Lehigh (0-2) at UC Davis (1-1): Lehigh, picked to finish fifth in the traditionally average Patriot League, makes the trip from east Pennsylvania to California to take on a high-octane and fifth-ranked Mustangs squad ready to show the FCS its a national contender. UC Davis 42, Lehigh 21

Idaho (1-1) at Wyoming (2-0): Former NDSU head coach Craig Bohl has made the Cowboys a competitive bunch in his six years on the job, knocking off SEC member Missouri last week in Laramie. That’s bad news for the Vandals, who let NCAA Division II Central Washington get in a position to score a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter last week (the Vandals held on for a 41-31 win): Wyoming 40, Idaho 17

No. 4 Eastern Washington at No. 17 Jacksonville State: The STATS FCS Game of the Week in northeast Alabama should feature as much offense as humidity. With Walter Payton Award candidates and star quarterbacks Eric Barriere (EWU) and Zerrick Cooper (JSU) leading their respective teams – both tradition-rich clubs appear to have some deficiencies on defense and special teams – expect a shootout, which EWU often avoided in 2018. The Gamecocks’ offensive line is still young and developing (it gave up six sacks in a Week 1 upset loss to Southeast Louisiana), which is what EWU’s experienced defensive line and blitzing linebackers will try to exploit. That’ll be the difference. EWU 49, Jacksonville State 42