Grip on Sports: No reason to get defensive about the area’s college football results this weekend

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Sunday morning. Again. But unlike last Sunday, every college football fan in the Inland Northwest woke up this morning with a smile on their face. Unless, of course, their head hurt from celebrating too much. Read on.

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• The biggest celebration? You decide. But we have an idea. …

• If you study Mike Leach’s coaching career, his best teams have always had stouter-than-you-would-expect defenses. It happened in Lubbock in 2008. It happened in Pullman a couple times recently. And it is happening now.

John Blanchette, as he usually does, got to the heart of the matter this morning with his column. And he rightly points out Utah wasn’t the sternest of tests, due to a one-dimensional offense.

But as we pointed out earlier this week in a story for The Athletic, this defensive group is smart and experienced. Those attributes allow the defensive staff, led by veteran coordinator Tracy Claeys, to make adjustments at halftime.

Peyton Pelluer mentioned it to Blanchette after the game and it was obvious watching on TV. The Cougars did a better job in the second half keeping the linebackers clean, which allowed for fewer running lanes.

Of course, the Utes made some adjustments as well on defense and they worked too. Until it came down to a one-on-one play. And the Washington State athlete won. Come to think of it, that’s another feature of a successful Mike Leach team.

• The Big Sky Conference has its upstarts (Idaho State and UC Davis, anyone?) It has its legacies. (Montana and Weber State.) And it has its top-ranked team.

That would be Eastern Washington.

The Eagles showed once again they are the class of the conference by traveling across Montana and taking care of a resurgent Montana State team. Not just take care of the Bobcats, actually. Pretty much dominating.

Again, the defense is the difference. Eastern has always been able to score, dating back to the Dick Zorne days. But when EWU has a defense that can get off the field on third down, that’s when the Eagles really fly. It seems to be the case again this season.

• Idaho’s defense has improved as the season has worn on. But the Vandals had to figure out a way to score enough points to win. They did Saturday.

It didn’t hurt that Portland State is once again among the conference also-rans, but a win is a win. And Idaho picked up its first Big Sky won in decades.

OK, the Vandals have been doing a tour of FBS conferences the past 20 years or so, but they are back in the Sky now. And have a conference victory.

• The happiest group of Inland Northwest football fans? That’s easy. Whitworth’s. The Pirates got the Linfield monkey off their back yesterday afternoon in the Pine Bowl and they did it with a suffocating defense.

The win gives Whitworth a perfect September – three home wins and two byes – and gives everyone in the Northwest Conference hope. But most importantly, it gave the Whits a win over the conference’s top dogs for the first time in more than a decade.

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WSU: Not to be a downer or anything, but the Cougars are this close to being 5-0, with a woeful Oregon State team on deck before their bye. As it is, they are 4-1 and, once again, are a factor in the Pac-12 North. That’s all because they found a way to tough-out a Homecoming win yesterday. Theo Lawson was there and he has the game analysis as well as the difference makers and the news one of the Cougs’ better defenders didn’t play. … John has his column, which we link once more. … Tom Clouse was also in Pullman and he covered Skyler Thomas’ ejection – a good call but, sadly, no more targeting than the one missed at USC – and the stout play of his replacement. He also had a couple of stories as the game was going on. … Tyler Tjomsland has the photo report. … The guys in the office put together the highlights. … Finally, I had my job. Watch hours and hours of coverage and have a TV Take done as the game ends. … The defensive back Winston beat on the game-deciding 89-yard touchdown pass is the best Utah has. … The Utes will spend some time lamenting lost chances and their many mistakes.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, it wasn’t a good day for the conference’s national posture. We say that even though Washington handled BYU with ease in Seattle, winning 35-7 behind Jake Browning’s record-setting day. Yes, that is the same BYU team that went into Wisconsin and defeated the Badgers, but that won’t matter to most national pundits. … Mainly, because the Huskies win will be overlooked thanks to Stanford getting manhandled in South Bend. Notre Dame handed the Cardinal a 38-17 loss. … The only Pac-12 team with a marquee nonconference game remaining is USC. Against Notre Dame late in the season. But after last night’s 24-20 win at Arizona, does anyone have faith in the sloppy Trojans? Heck, the Wildcats haven’t been very good this season and had a late shot. … Oregon bounced back from the debilitating loss to Stanford by hanging a 42-24 defeat on just-ranked California. Next up for the Ducks: the rivalry game with Washington. … There is no rivalry between Oregon State and Arizona State, and no rush defense between the two either. Each team had a rusher go over 200 yards and ASU’s Eno Benjamin ran for 312 in a 52-24 Sun Devils win. … Colorado is 4-0 and untested. … UCLA is 0-4 and unimpressive.

EWU: The Eagles did a great job of limiting Montana State’s potent rushing attack in the 34-17 win. Ryan Collingwood made the trek to Bozeman and has the game story and a notebook. … The Bobcats see what they want to be in Eastern. Before they get there, though, they will have to quit making so many mistakes. And the offense will need to improve. … Around the Big Sky, Montana went into San Luis Obispo and handled Cal Poly easily, winning 48-28. … Northern Colorado is 0-5 after a 38-13 home loss to North Dakota. The Bears gave up 351 rushing yards. … Don’t look now, but Idaho State is for real. The host Bengals defeated Northern Arizona 56-42. 

Idaho: It’s been 23 years between Big Sky Conference football wins for the Vandals. Peter Harriman may have been in Moscow for the last one, I don’t know. But he certainly was there for this one and has the game story. … Portland State just doesn’t have enough offense yet.

Whitworth: The 19-14 come-from-behind victory was the Pirates first over Linfield since 2007. Dan Thompson has the game story.

Chiefs: Spokane opened the home schedule with a 6-3 win over the Kootenay Ice. Kevin Dudley was in the packed Arena and has this game story. … Around the WHL, Everett picked up a road win in Kennewick. … Portland won at home over Seattle.

Preps: Tahoma won the Linda Sheridan Volleyball Classic.

Softball: A local team won a senior world championship tournament in Las Vegas.

Seahawks: No matter the outcome today, Arizona has been a house of horrors for the Hawks over the years. … Seattle needs the win to stay relevant. … Quinton Jefferson needs to play at his best.

Mariners: Though the M’s picked up their 88th win last night, one of their cherished records fell to the New York Yankees. … Edwin Diaz has saved more games in a season than almost anyone. … Maybe it’s time to blow up the M’s.

Sounders: Seattle had to win. It did, beating woeful Colorado 4-0 to stay in line for the postseason.

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• I really didn’t want to know who won the Ryder Cup today, because the DVR was working and my son, who stayed up all night, told me the Justin Thomas/Rory McIlroy duel was the best match-play one he’s seen. But I think I need to pass along the result here for everyone. I am sacrificing my own enjoyment for your information. Will such a selfless act be enough to win me a Pulitzer Prize? Until later …