Game Of The Week.... Cal Poly (6-2) at Montana (7-1) Let's get ready to rumble!!!... As the Great West Football Conference's Mustangs of Cal Poly invade Missoula, Montana, to do battle with the Big Sky's Grizzlies of the University of Montana. You got to love it when a heavy-hitter from the Great West faces a top dog from the Big Sky. It's all about Western DI-AA supremacy!! The question is... Which Cal Poly team will show up? The one that lost to South Dakota State or the one that knocked off DI-A San Diego State. But the one thing we all do know is that the Montana Grizzlies football team is awful tough to beat at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Let's take a peek into the matchup... Montana gets the nod on offense, while Cal Poly holds the edge of defense. Special teams are even, but Montana gets the +4 for the home field intangible. So it's pretty straight forward... Montana should win this game. Right? Not so fast there, Bubba. I've always felt that when a Great West team faces a Big Sky foe, the Great West team always lugs a huge chip around on their shoulder. Plus, the Mustangs are a confident bunch at the moment, so this game, just like a number of games around the nation this weekend, reeks of an upset. If the Mustangs get any resemblance of a ground game going... chalk this one up in the good guys' column. At least, until the next weekend... Cal Poly 28, Montana 23.
The Truth Is....
Please take this with a grain of salt and keep the hate emails to a minimum, because what I've got to say won't be kind to the ears of some Bison fans (Disclaimer: I'm a St. Cloud State graduate). Jeff and I flew out to Las Vegas last Friday courtesy of Sun Country Airlines and grabbed a Hertz rent-a-car over to Cedar City, Utah, on Saturday to catch the Bison play the Thunderbirds. The trip was good... even won a few bucks at the casino. But, to be honest, the Bison play the most boring style of winning football I've ever witnessed in my life. The Bison offense this season remind me an of the last year's Pittsburgh Steelers. It's like Perles lulls the opposition defense to sleep and then BAM!! Steffes busts the line of scrimmage for a 53 yard touchdown run. And then the next offensive possession... Perles does the same thing again. It may be boring, but it's brilliant way to win football games.
Just a quick word on Chaska's Garrett Johnson, the first official verbal commitment for the Bison this year. I officiate high school football in the Twin Cities area, so I've seen Johnson play a couple times (once this season). He's very athletic and has a very, very quick first step. Johnson pursues pretty well and is probably better at rushing the quarterback then holding his own versus the running game (pretty typical of a high school player). Garrett is most definitely one of the elite defensive ends/linebackers I've seen in the Metro area. Actually, I was quite pleasantly surprised to hear of his commitment to the Bison, because I and many other people considered him a true DI-A prospect. The Bison coaching staff must have done a heck of a selling job... North Dakota State (7-1) at UC Davis (4-4). Oh... there's a Bison game this week? Yep. The Bison travel to sunny California to take on the UC Davis Aggies. The Bison, currently rated 5th in the Gridiron Power Index, need to find that 'road magic' one last time this year before heading back home next week to face Cal Poly. That's one thing I love about the GWFC, there are no weeks off. The Bison hold the edge in all phases, but the home field intangible. Honestly, the Bison should win this game, but in the Great West you never know until the final horn sounds. So the game will be close... Just hold your breath... Cross your fingers and/or toes... Hold on to that eternal Bison faith... Okay, that's enough... Bison win. North Dakota State 27, UC Davis 20.
And The Winner Is.... * 2006 Season: 110-26 82% * Last Week: 10-5 67% * Upset Specials: 3-5 38%
San Diego 37, Jacksonville 21
James Madison 34, Delaware 27
Michigan 42, Ball State 10
South Dakota State 38, William Penn 7
Youngstown State 31, Southern Illinois 21
Minnesota 28, Indiana 27
Hampton 37, Bethune-Cookman 17
Concordia-St. Paul 30, Bemidji State 17
Maine 23, Northeastern 20
Charleston Southern 26, Gardner Webb 18
Upset Specials.... SE Missouri State 21, Tennessee-Martin 17
New Hampshire 35, Massachusetts 31
Tennessee State 27, Eastern Illinois 20
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