Close calls, upsets, trouncings expected

The Griz face one of their toughest opponents yet when they take on Northern Arizona this Saturday. Meanwhile, three other conference contests take place, and Idaho State jumps out of league play for a game against Cal Poly. Here is the outlook for those four games, along with picks you can take to the bank. Not to brag, but this sports editor is 28-9 so far.

Montana State at Northern Colorado (12:05 p.m. Saturday)

MSU (5-2, 3-1 BSC) moved up one spot to No. 19 this week, and now heads to Northern Colorado to take on a Bears squad that still hasn’t won a game this season.

The Griz mauled the Bears last Saturday, and the Cats are coming off a win over Sacramento State. The Bobcats trailed the Hornets 9-0 late in the third quarter last weekend, but scored 20 unan-swered points to rally back. MSU is still in the hunt for the conference title.

MSU Buck Buchanan candidate Bobby Daly tallied 14 tackles and forced two fumbles. Quarterback Cory Carpenter got his first start of the season, replacing an injured Jack Rolovich.

The Bobcat offense didn’t commit a single turnover.

Northern Colorado’s Cristian Sarmento had a career-high 17 tackles against the Griz, and currently leads the league.

The Bears took care of the ball last weekend, with only two turnovers to Montana’s three miscues.

UNC lost to one tough Montana squad already. No surprise here, MSU wins big.

Eastern Washington at Sacramento State (2:05 p.m. Saturday)
EWU heads to Sac State in desperate need of a victory. The Eagles must win their final four Big Sky games if they want to have a chance at the playoffs.

They’ve only beat four conference foes consecutively twice since joining the league 10 years ago.

The Eagles are 4-3, while Sac State sits at 1-6. Eastern Washington has won all eight times the two teams have met in Sacramento.

Sac State has only scored one touchdown in the last 193 minutes of play. After jumping out to a 9-0 lead against MSU, the Hornets’ usually stingy defense dropped dead.

The Sac State offense wasn’t exactly stellar either, as the Hornets only got 100 yards and couldn’t find the end zone.

Eastern Washington wide receiver Aaron Boyce had his fourth straight 100-yard receiving game in EWU’s 42-7 loss to BYU that erased the Eagles from the top 25 poll.

The game will be an interesting matchup between Sac State’s solid defense and Eastern Washington’s productive offense. EWU is seventh in the FCS in passing offense, and quarterback Matt Nichols has thrown for 17 touchdowns.

The Hornets have struggled offensively and rank 111th out of 116 FCS teams in scoring.

This is a huge game for the Eagles if they want to get out of the hole they recently dug themselves. They began the season undefeated until meeting the Griz in Missoula, and have been losing ever since. Turnovers and poor field position hurt the Eagles at BYU, and injuries have also been problematic. EWU has lost nine players for the season. Still, I think the Eagles are capable of pulling off a win this weekend, albeit a narrow one.

Weber State at Portland State (2:35 p.m. Saturday)
Any hope of a Big Sky title vanished for the Vikings, as Portland State saw a 13-3 halftime lead slip away, and ended up losing to Idaho State 38-20 on Saturday. The Bengals scored 28 points against a struggling PSU defense in the third quarter to tie a school record.

PSU and Weber State both post 2-5 records.

The Wildcats are coming off a 29-20 league loss to NAU. Entering the game, the Wildcats had only one rushing touchdown all season but managed to score two against the Lumberjacks. The Wildcats offense has struggled, only averaging 15.7 points per game, but surprisingly have two of the best backs in the Big Sky.

Bryant Eteuati leads the league with 1,346 yards and averages 192.3 per game. He is ranked fourth in the nation.

Tailback Trevyn Smith leads the league in rushing yards, with 691 yards on 145 carries and a touchdown.

PSU has won the last three meetings with the Wildcats, including last year’s 20-10 win.

This is a tough call. A lot of people think PSU is going to give the Griz a run for their money in a couple of weeks. I’m going to surprise everybody and take the Wildcats in this one.

Cal Poly at Idaho State (3:05 p.m. Saturday)
ISU is coming off its best game of the season, where the Bengals tied an FCS record with two fumble returns for touchdowns. But when the Cal Poly Mustangs come to town, the Bengals will have to play their best football to win.

Cal Poly has the second best overall offense in the country, notching nearly 500 yards per game.

The 4-3 Mustangs recently fell out of the national rankings after dropping a 48-35 decision to fellow Great West Football Conference member South Dakota State. This is the first time since the beginning of the 2004 season that Cal Poly hasn’t been ranked.

The Mustangs have already beat Big Sky teams Weber State and Northern Colorado, and they should be able to add another win to their list this weekend.