Still plenty to play for even if not a title
Fans can talk all they want about Saturday’s Big Sky Conference football game between Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington University being meaningless.
Just don’t try to sell the idea to the two coaches who will be involved.
Because NAU’s Jerome Souers and Eastern’s Beau Baldwin insist their upcoming game, which kicks off at Woodward Field at 2:05 p.m., still holds plenty of importance for both teams – from a momentum standpoint, if nothing else.
Souers, whose Lumberjacks (6-4 overall, 4-3 Big Sky) have lost three straight after opening the season 6-1, believes it is crucial for his team to play well in its regular-season finale in order to feel better about itself heading into off-season workouts.
“You look at the way programs are now, and you’re training really reflects, darn near year-round, what’s going on,” he said. “(Saturday’s game) is our last competition. It’ll be what our seniors remember and it’ll be what all of underclassmen remember going into the next semester.
“And I really do believe the outcome will reflect on their sense of themselves, their outlook and their (off-season) perspective.”
Baldwin’s Eagles (4-5, 3-3), who were expected to challenge Montana for this year’s BSC championship, will have another game to play on Nov. 22 when they travel to Ogden, Utah, to take on surprising Weber State, which has already clinched at least a share of the league title.
But to finish on the kind of high Baldwin wants his team to take into the off-season, Eastern needs a win over NAU.
“It’s huge,” he said of his team’s stretch run. “Obviously, everybody wants to be in the playoffs and be finishing (their season) that way. But if you’re not, how you finish your regular season can be huge in the effect it will have going into winter workouts, and then going into spring (practice).
“Hopefully, yes, you want to be in a position to compete past the regular season. But regardless of that, you always want to be peaking at the end of the season and playing better football. That just gives you better momentum and confidence heading into the off-season.”
Bobcats a hurting bunch
In the wake of a devastating injury report issued earlier this week, Montana State coach Rob Ash will be starting his third different quarterback in as many weeks when his Bobcats entertain Portland State on Saturday.
According to Ash, sophomore Mark Desin will take over for last week’s starter Mark Iddins, who injured a shoulder in last weekend’s 25-23 win over Northern Arizona and has been declared lost for the season. Early season starter Cody Kempt is also gone for the season, having given the school permission to announce that he has undergone surgery on his knee.
In addition, Ash learned that wide receiver DeSean Thomas and defensive end Dan Fletcher are also finished because of knee injuries suffered in Saturday’s win over NAU.
Ash likened his current injury situation to what he faced as the head coach at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., in 1982, when the entire community was floored by an outbreak of mononucleosis.
“The high school team canceled it season, and my team lost 19 players that had mono and were out for six weeks in the middle of the season,” Ash said. “We’re not quite to that stage yet, but this is second.”
Mac is back
Weber State coach Ron McBride is back at work. McBride missed the last quarter of the Wildcats’ title-clinching road win over Idaho State last weekend after being rushed to a Pocatello hospital after complaining of dizziness and shortness of breath.
The 69-year-old McBride, who spent Saturday night in the hospital, was on Wednesday’s Big Sky Conference coaches’ call and told reporters he is feeling fine. The Wildcats have a bye this week before closing their regular season at home against EWU.
Quick kicks
Weber State junior running back Trevyn Smith became the school’s all-time leading rusher last weekend and moved into No. 10 on the Big Sky’s career rushing list with 3,616 yards – just 30 fewer than former Montana State standout Ryan Johnson (1999-02), who ranks ninth with 3,646. … Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist has thrown 108 consecutive passes without an interception. … Sacramento State’s 29-19 victory over UC Davis last Saturday was the Hornets’ first over the Aggies in the Causeway Classic since 1999 and their first at Davis since 1996. … Idaho State’s 14-game losing streak remains the second longest in the nation behind Indiana State’s 24. … Northern Colorado’s junior linebacker C.J. Sterno, who suffered a broken leg in last Saturday’s loss to Eastern Washington, underwent surgery earlier this week and is out for the year.