Big Sky notebook: Montana, Montana State are conference’s best chance to advance in playoffs
Long considered one of the best leagues in the Football Championship Subdivision, the Big Sky Conference is still positioned to advance a team to the national championship, something it has done three of the past four seasons.
It just might not have a long list of quality candidates to do so.
For the first time all season, just three Big Sky teams are in this week’s FCS Stats Perform Top 25. The last time the league had just three teams ranked in the poll was on Oct. 29, 2018, when Weber State was fourth, Eastern Washington fifth and UC Davis sixth. The Eagles advanced to the national championship that year, when it lost to North Dakota State.
This year’s story is similar. Eastern Washington’s opponent on Saturday, Montana (9-0, 5-0 Big Sky), is ranked No. 2. Ranked third is Montana State (7-2, 5-0), and UC Davis (6-2, 4-1) sits at No. 11 after losing to unranked Idaho State last weekend.
“This is a pivotal time for most college football programs,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said during his Monday news conference. “There are teams that are getting better, and there are teams that are on the other side of it, waiting for it to be over. We’re obviously hungry for more, and that was apparent with how we played on Nov. 1.”
Indeed, the Bobcats dismantled Northern Colorado, 55-7. It was their seventh victory in a row, following nonconference losses to No. 8 South Dakota State and FBS Oregon.
Montana has won on nine straight weekends following a season-opening bye week. Six of its nine victories have come at home.
“It’s a great place to play here,” Montana grad senior Evan Shafer said Monday. “We’ve got eight home games with the best fans in all of FCS football. And I can’t wait to keep it rolling.”
Montana climbed into the No. 2 spot in the poll after former No. 2 Tarleton State (9-1, 5-1 United Athletic Conference) suffered its first loss of the season, dropping it to No. 6. TSU is now one spot behind Tennessee Tech (9-0, 6-0 Ohio Valley-Big South), which is quarterbacked by former EWU player Kekoa Visperas.
The Big Sky had four ranked teams last week, but a nationally televised overtime home loss to Idaho dropped Northern Arizona (5-4, 2-3) out of the poll from its former spot at No. 19.
There are 24 spots in the FCS playoff field, 11 of which are awarded to conference champions. Polls are not a criteria for the committee that chooses the other 13 at-large selections.
Sacramento State (5-4, 3-2), Eastern Washington (4-5, 3-2), Idaho (4-5, 2-3) and Northern Arizona could still conceivably earn a playoff spot. The league’s remaining five teams already have six or more losses, which almost certainly eliminates them from contention.
The league’s three ranked teams are led by quarterbacks who are having strong seasons statistically. Caden Pinnick, UC Davis’ redshirt freshman, has the best efficiency rate in the league (176.5) and has thrown 17 touchdowns to just four interceptions in seven games played. His 248.5 passing yards per game ranks fourth in the Big Sky.
Montana State junior transfer Justin Lamson has completed no worse than 63% of his passes in every game this season and ranks fourth nationally in completion percentage (72%). He has thrown for 1,909 yards, 16 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Keali’i Ah Yat, though, is having an MVP-caliber redshirt sophomore season at Montana. His 2,534 passing yards lead the FCS, and his 19 passing touchdowns rank 11th nationally.