Shifts in the Big Sky

Move over, Kroy Biermann. Another Montana football player is in the hunt for the Buck Buchanan Award.

Montana State linebacker Bobby Daly was named to the Buck Buchanan Award watch list, which was announced Tuesday by the Sports Network. Daly leads the Big Sky Conference in tackles and is tied for fourth in the nation in total tackles with 72. His 38 solo tackles are also ranked fourth in the nation. 

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior is part of a Bobcat defense that is only allowing 18 points against Football Championship Subdivision opponents. He has eight tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks this season.

Three names were recently added to the list of 13 that was announced in August. The list will be revised once more before the final ballot is released at the end of the season. The winner will be chosen Dec. 13 in Chattanooga, Tenn. at the same time the Walter Payton Award is given.

Biermann and Daly are the only Big Sky athletes on the watch list.

Wildcats get first shutout since 1980
Weber State’s 23-0 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday marked the first shutout the team has had over a Big Sky opponent in 27 years.

The last time the Wildcats held a conference foe scoreless was a 10-0 victory over Nevada in 1980.

It was only Weber State’s third shutout ever over a league opponent.

The shutout, which came on the road, was the first away-game shutout for the Wildcats in 41 years. The last came at Montana, when Weber State beat the Griz 28-0 in Missoula.

The Wildcats are Big Sky leaders in scoring defense, pass defense and total defense.

McBride hits century milestone
The Weber State win on Saturday also gave head coach Ron McBride his 100th career coaching victory. He has 12 wins at Weber and had 88 in a 13-year stint at Utah from 1990-2002. He is the second winningest collegiate coach in the state of Utah.

Souers in seventh
Northern Arizona head coach Jerome Souers moved into a tie for seventh on the Big Sky’s all-time win list as the Wildcats earned him his 53rd career victory. A win this weekend over Weber State will move the NAU leader into a tie for sixth place.