PDF of This Week's Notes
THIS WEEK’S SKY HIGHLIGHTS
All nine Big Sky teams open the 2010 campaign this week. Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona open the season on Thursday. The No. 13 Eagles trek to Reno to face old Big Sky member Nevada…Northern Arizona opens the season at home against Western New Mexico…The other seven league teams open play on Saturday. Montana, Montana State, Northern Colorado and Idaho State are all at home against non-Division I teams. No. 2 Montana takes on Western State, while Montana State plays host to Fort Lewis…Northern Colorado welcomes Adams State to Greeley…Idaho State battles NAIA UM-Western…The Nigel Burton era at Portland State begins Saturday in Tempe, as the Vikings meet Arizona State…Sacramento State heads to the Bay Area to face Stanford for the first time in school history….Weber State takes the longest trip East in school history to battle Boston College of the ACC. All Big Sky home games can be viewed for free on Big Sky TV.
AROUND THE BIG SKY
WATCH LISTS: Five Big Sky Conference players begin the 2010 season on the Walter Payton award watch list, while three are on the Buck Buchanan watch list. Both awards are presented by The Sports Network and are sponsored by Fathead.com. The Payton goes to the top offensive player in the FCS. The Buchanan is awarded to the top defensive player. Eastern Washington running back Taiwan Jones, Montana running back Chase Reynolds, Grizzly QB Andrew Selle, Northern Arizona quarterback Michael Herrick and Weber State QB Cameron Higgins are candidates for the Payton. Eastern Washington linebacker J.C. Sherritt, Montana cornerback Trumaine Johnson and Sacramento State defensive lineman Christian Clark are Buchanan Candidates. Big Sky players have won six Payton awards and three Buchanans. Sherritt was the runner-up for the Buchanan in 2009.
COACHING DEBUTS: Montana’s Robin Pflugrad and Portland State’s Nigel Burton both make their collegiate head coaching debuts on Saturday. Pflugrad’s Montana team plays at home against Division II Western State. Burton’s Vikings are on the road against Arizona State of the Pac-10. Pflugrad spent the 2009 season as an assistant with the Grizzlies, where he was also an assistant from 1986-94. The Portland State graduate also served as an assistant at Oregon, Washington State and Arizona State. Burton, who played at Washington, returned to PSU where he wan an assistant in 2001-02. He spent the last three seasons as Nevada’s defensive coordinator. Pflugrad replaced Bobby Hauck, who compiled an 80-17 record in six seasons, winning six Big Sky titles and earning three trips to the national championship game. Hauck is now the head coach at UNLV. Burton replaced Jerry Glanville, who was let go after compiling a 9-24 record in three seasons.
GRASS ALL BUT GONE: Ten years ago, six of the nine Big Sky teams played on natural grass surfaces. Just two natural grass surfaces remain in the league in 2010. Eastern Washington and Sacramento State both replaced natural surfaces with Sprinturf with summer. EWU will debut on its red turf on Sept. 18. Sacramento State plays on its new field for the first time on Sept. 11. Weber State and Northern Colorado are the only teams still playing on natural grass. Ten years ago. Weber State is planning on removing its natural grass in the summer of 2011.
FIVE ON TV: Five of this week’s nine games will be televised, including two on regional sports networks. Portland State’s game against Arizona State can be seen live on Fox Sports Arizona. Sacramento State tilt against Stanford will air live on Comcast Sports Net Bay Area. On Thursday, Northern Arizona’s opener against Western New Mexico will be televised on NAU-TV, which is available on Dish Network channel 9411. Montana State’s opener against Fort Lewis will air in HD on the Max Media networks in Montana. The Montana Grizzlies opener against Western State will be televised by the CW Networks in Montana.
THIS WEEK’S SKY SCHEDULE
TUESDAY, SEPT. 2
NO. 13 EASTERN WASHINGTON (0-0) AT NEVADA (0-0) 6:05
SERIES: NEVADA LEADS 7-1. LAST MEETING: NEVADA 51-14, 1991
SERIES STREAK: NEVADA HAS WON 2.
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (0-0) AT NO. 23 NORTHERN ARIZONA (0-0) 7:05
SERIES: NAU LEADS 15-6-1. LAST MEETING: NAU 47-0, 2007
SERIES STREAK: NAU HAS WON 4.
TV: NAU TV (DISH NETWORK 9411). INTERNET: BIG SKY TV.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 4
FORT LEWIS (0-0) AT NO. 24 MONTANA STATE (0-0) 1:05
SERIES: MSU LEADS 2-0. LAST MEETING: MSU 45-9, 1998
SERIES STREAK: MSU HAS WON 2. TV: MAX MEDIA. INTERNET: BIG SKY TV.
WESTERN STATE (0-1) AT NO. 2 MONTANA (0-0) 1:05
SERIES: UM LEADS 1-0. LAST MEETING: UM 38-0, 2009
SERIES STREAK: UM HAS WON 1. TV: CW-MONTANA. INTERNET: BIG SKY TV.
NO. 19 WEBER STATE (0-0) AT BOSTON COLLEGE (0-0) 1:05
SERIES: FIRST MEETING
INTERNET: ESPN3
ADAMS STATE (0-1) AT NORTHERN COLORADO (0-0) 1:35
SERIES: NC LEADS 12-10-1. LAST MEETING: NC 55-14, 2003
SERIES STREAK: NC HAS WON 5
UM-WESTERN (0-1) AT IDAHO STATE (0-0) 3:35
SERIES: ISU LEADS 9-0. LAST MEETING: ISU 37-0, 2005
SERIES STREAK: ISU HAS WON 9. INTERNET: BIG SKY TV
SACRAMENTO STATE (0-0) AT STANFORD (0-0) 3:35
SERIES: FIRST MEETING. TV: COMCAST SPORTS NET BAY AREA
PORTLAND STATE (0-0) AT ARIZONA STATE (0-0) 7:05
SERIES: FIRST MEETING
TV: FOX ARIZONA.
TIMES LOCAL TO SITE/SUBJECT TO CHANGE