Title Duel A Prime Attraction

Give Prime Sports and the Big Sky Conference credit for showing remarkable foresight in putting together a package of live football telecasts prior to this season.

Nearly three months before the fact, the network and league figured Saturday’s showdown between Northern Arizona and Montana in Missoula might prove crucial to the Big Sky title.

As it turns out, it might decide it - even with a full month remaining in the regular season.

“This is a huge game,” admitted first-year Montana coach Mick Dennehy, whose Grizzlies remain the No. 2-ranked Division I-AA team in the country following last Saturday’s 34-30 escape at Eastern Washington.

And there is certainly nothing on the surface to dispute Dennehy’s claim.

NAU, 7-1 overall, is riding a six-game winning streak and leading the Big Sky at 4-0. The Lumberjacks, whose only loss came at Division I New Mexico, are ranked No. 6 among I-AA schools.

Montana (6-0 and 3-0), the defending national champion, is unbeaten in its last 13 games and just a half-game behind NAU in the Big Sky race. A sellout crowd of 18,868 is expected for the 11:30 a.m. (PDT) game, which will be televised live by Prime Sports.

Northern Arizona, which features the running of Archie Amerson, and Montana, which boasts the Big Sky’s most dangerous pass-catching combination of quarterback Brian Ah Yat and wideout Joe Douglass, rank 1-2 in the nation in total offense.

NAU, which is getting an average of 206.9 rushing yards per game out of Amerson, the nation’s leading runner, averages 537.1 yards and 47.3 points per game.

“I can’t remember a better offensive team coming to Washington-Grizzly Stadium,” Dennehy said.

A win by Montana - considering its final four foes are a combined 4-10 against league opponents - would put the Grizzlies in a commanding position to defend the Big Sky title they won last fall. NAU still has a Nov. 2 home game against Idaho State and a Nov. 9 road trip to third-place EWU (5-2 and 2-2) remaining, but it’s unlikely the Lumberjacks will lose both.

Eastern, MSU, Cal State Northridge, Weber State and ISU each have two losses and would need late-season collapses by both NAU and Montana to have any chance of catching either team.

Polling for hollers

Bragging rights as the nation’s top Division I-AA football conference still belong to the Big Sky.

The league currently has four teams - No. 2 Montana, No. 6 NAU, No. 22 EWU and No. 25 Idaho State - ranked among the top 25 in the country. In addition, it is ranked in Jeff Sagarin’s computerized NCAA football ratings as the No. 1 I-AA conference in the country.

According to the Sagarin’s ratings, Montana is the top I-AA team in the nation and 47th-best among the country’s 228 Division I schools. Sagarin has NAU ranked No. 4 among I-AA teams and 77th overall. Eastern is ranked 11th and 99th - ahead of such D-I schools as Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Temple and Duke.

Say what you really feel

Portland State coach Tim Walsh didn’t mince words when describing the foibles of a Vikings offense that produced only 110 total yards and a minus-3 yards rushing in last Saturday’s 35-10 loss to Weber State.

“Our offense got demolished and just plain stunk,” he said, after watching his team convert just two of 12 third downs and fall to 2-5 and 0-4.

Jackson update

Idaho State continues to provide periodic progress reports on cornerback Marcus Jackson, who suffered a serious spinal-cord injury making a tackle against Western Montana earlier this season.

This week’s update, issued by Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., where Jackson is undergoing treatment, said Jackson is medically stable, but still paralyzed from the neck down and still connected to a ventilator, which assists his breathing.

“Marcus is very motivated to participate in therapy,” the hospital added, “and is working as hard as possible.”

Sky writings

Montana and No. 1-ranked Marshall, the team the Grizzlies knocked off in last year’s national championship game, are the only remaining unbeaten Division 1-AA schools in the nation… . Idaho State has been outscored 54-9 in the first quarter of its first six games… . Cal State Northridge’s David Romines, with 68 catches for 939 yards and eight touchdowns, leads Douglass, the Big Sky’s second-leading pass-catcher, by 24 receptions. Douglass, however, has caught 11 touchdown passes to eight for Romines… . EWU defensive back Maurice Perigo, who has returned two pass interceptions and one punt for touchdowns, is one TD away from moving into the Big Sky’s weekly list of leading scorers… . Tod Pickett will do play-by-play of Saturday’s NAU-Montana telecast and Don Read, who coached Montana to last year’s national championship, will provide color commentary.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

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