The Northwest Report Week 8

The Northwest Report Week 8

By Nick Haswell For Football Reporters Online

So much for this past weekend being a non-descript one in the Northwest college football landscape. With several of the teams having the week off and not many enticing matchups, Week 7 looked like a weekend to be forgotten. Instead, it will be a weekend to be remembered in the Northwest by fans, and one to be forgotten by several Northwest teams.
Here are some short recaps from each game this past weekend:

Game of the Week #1-Eastern Washington at Montana: It was hard to find one Game of the Week, as there were three great games this weekend. The first one matched up the Eastern Washington Eagles (4-2) against the top team in the Big Sky Conference, the Montana Grizzlies (5-0). Eastern needed the win to keep pace at the top of the Big Sky standings and for any hope of a postseason berth (depending on their appeal to the NCAA on this season’s postseason ban). Eastern took an early 10-2 lead, but Montana took a 20-13 lead into the half. The Griz scored another TD half way through the 3rd quarter to go up by 14, but the Eagles ended up tying the score before the end of the quarter. An 82 yard punt return for a TD by Marc Mariani put Montana back on top before EWU tied the score at 34 with fewer than 5 minutes left. Facing a 4th and Goal at the Eagles 1 with a little over a minute left, Montana’s Bobby Hauck went for the TD rather than kicking a go-ahead field goal. Chase Reynolds bowled over a defender at the goal line for the TD and the Grizzlies held on for the 41-34 win.

Game of the Week #2-South Dakota at Montana State: Just 166 miles to the east of Missoula, another great game was taking place in Bozeman between the South Dakota Coyotes (3-3) and the Montana State Bobcats (3-2). The game winded up going to overtime with the teams tied at 24. The Bobcats scored on a 36 yard TD pass from Cody Kempt, starting his first game of 2009, to Elvis Akpla on the 2nd play of overtime. South Dakota drove to the 3 yard line on their possession in OT, but a pass on 4th and Goal bounced off a wide open receiver’s hands in the end zone, allowing MSU to escape with a 31-24 win.
Game of the Week #3-Washington at Arizona State: The Washington Huskies (3-3) looked to be headed to OT versus the Arizona State Sun Devils (3-2) as the score was tied at 17 with under a minute left. But a curious 3rd and 1 pass play on their own 19 that went to complete and subsequent punt gave Arizona State the ball at midfield with less than 15 seconds left in the game. Sun Devil QB then stunned everyone watching by throwing to a wide open Chris McGaha down the middle of the field for the winning TD. A coverage break down by Husky FS Nate Williams left McGaha wide open on the final play.

Boise State at Tulsa: The Boise State Broncos snuck out of Tulsa with a 28-21 victory over the Golden Hurricane(4-2) to remain unbeaten at 6-0. Sophomore QB Kellen Moore led the balanced Bronco attack by tossing 3 TDs. RB Doug Martin added 112 yards rushing, including 83 in the 3rd quarter alone in his second game back from moving from the defensive side of the ball following the injury of starting RB D.J. Harper.

Hawaii at Idaho: DeMaundray Woolridge rushed for 4 TDs and added 81 yards rushing in Idaho’s victory over the Hawaii Warriors (2-4). The Vandals (6-1) are bowl eligible for the first time in a decade after gaining 420 yards of total offense in the win. QB Nathan Enderle bounced back from an off game last weekend by completing 14 of 17 passes for 226 yards and a TD.

Northern Arizona at Portland State: The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (4-2) blew out the Portland State Vikings 44-23 last Saturday. The Vikings (2-5) managed just 274 yards of total offense as starting QB Drew Hubel missed the game due to injury. Backup QB Connor Cavanaugh struggled in his place, completing just 11 of 23 passes and throwing 3 INTs. PSU also struggled on defense, allowing 458 yards of total offense.

Northern Colorado at Idaho State: Idaho State (0-7) missed perhaps their best opportunity for a victory in 2009 by losing to the Northern Colorado Bears (2-5) by the score of 30-7. UNC held ISU to negative 11 yards rushing and just 197 yards of total offense last Saturday. The Bengals now own the 4th worst offense in the FCS in total offense and have the worst rushing offense in the FCS at 26 yards per game. The previously dormant Bear offense came alive against the Bengal defense by gaining 435 yards of total offense.

This weekend’s games include all the Northwest teams in action this week. Let’s look ahead and preview each game and take a look at the keys to each game:

Game of the Week-Oregon State at USC: Oregon State (4-2) will have had two weeks preparation for this weekend’s game versus the USC Trojans. Is this another trap game for USC (5-1), after hanging on against Notre Dame and facing off against Oregon in Eugene next weekend? The Beavers will be looking to beat USC for the 2nd year in a row, and for the 3rd time in 4 years. The key to the game appears to be whether OSU will be able to slow down USC Freshman QB Matt Barkley enough to keep them in the game. OSU has had to break in 3 new starters in the secondary this season and the defense is currently 9th in the Pac 10 in pass defense.

Oregon at Washington: Will this weekend bring another down to the wire game for the Huskies? After 3 consecutive heart stopping finishes, UW (3-4) faces the top team in the Pac 10 standings, the Oregon Ducks (5-1). Oregon had an extra week to prepare for the Huskies after their win over UCLA 24-10 two weeks ago. The Ducks are still not certain that QB Jeremiah Masoli will be back to start against the Huskies. If he can’t start, Nate Costa will start his second consecutive game. UW’s defense has played better against the run the last few weeks, but they face the top rushing offense in the Pac 10 in the Oregon Ducks.
Washington State at California: California (4-2) got back on the winning track after a two game losing streak in defeating UCLA last weekend. Washington State (1-5) did not play last weekend. Wazzu ranks last in the Pac 10 in nearly every offensive and defensive category. Their best chance to keep it a close game is to throw the ball well against the susceptible Cal secondary.

Boise State at Hawaii: The Broncos (6-0) look to stay unbeaten on their visit off the mainland against the Warriors (2-4). Hawaii’s best bet to pull off the upset is to win the turnover battle and keep the nation’s most efficient passer, Kellen Moore, off the field.

Idaho at Nevada: Idaho (6-1) is on a 5 game winning streak and Nevada (3-3) has won their last 3 after losing their first 3 in 2009. Whoever wins the battle between Nevada’s rushing offense (#1 in the WAC) and Idaho’s rushing defense (#1 in the WAC) probably will win the game.

Montana State at Eastern Washington: A key game in the Big Sky Conference is this weekend between the Montana State Bobcats (4-2) and the Eastern Washington Eagles (4-3). A loss by either team would hurt their playoff chances, whereas a win would keep their hopes alive. EWU suffered a big loss last weekend when their top WR Aaron Boyce went out with a season ending injury. MSU’s defense boasts the best rushing defense in the Big Sky, but also is the worst against the pass, allowing more than 300 yards through the air per game. The Eagles top the Big Sky in rushing offense in the Big Sky at about 150 yards per game, but they also have an effective passing attack led by QB Matt Nichols.

Montana at Sacramento State: The #2 Montana Grizzlies (6-0) travel down to Sacramento to take on the 2-4 Hornets. The Griz have the top scoring offense in the Big Sky at 36.8 points per game, as well as the top scoring defense at 19.7 points per game. The Grizzlies appear to be a mismatch for the Hornets, as Sacramento State’s defense is 8th (out of 9) in total defense in the Big Sky in allowing almost 436 yards of offense per game.

UC-Davis at Portland State: The 2-5 Portland State Vikings face off against the 3-3 UC-Davis Mustangs in a non-conference matchup. Portland State faces a tough UC-Davis team who nearly defeated Montana earlier in the season and played Boise State tough into the 4th quarter. Portland State has to take advantage of a weak UC-Davis running game that averages only 55 yards per game to pull out a victory.