BILLINGS — By the time Montana State steps atop “The Inferno” at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington, on Saturday, it will have spent 15 days between games. But that’s not the half of it.
The 11th-ranked Bobcats (1-0) will be playing an Eastern Washington team that’s likely to be plenty grumpy with a 0-2 record. Simply put, the 14th-ranked Eagles are in dire need of a win, and MSU is in their sights.
The matchup, though it will be played against Big Sky Conference rivals, will be a non-conference game. It will be broadcast regionally on ROOT Sports.
“We have to own up to what we are right now,” EWU coach Beau Baldwin said after last week’s loss at Northern Iowa. “We have to own the fact that it is going to take even that much more.
“We are in a little bit of a hole at the beginning of the year — nobody wanted to be in it. But every one of us have to figure out what are the little things we have to do to fight our way out of it. But it’s not about the next eight or nine weeks, but what are we going to do tonight and tomorrow in terms of prep for next week. It’s little steps at a time.”
Montana State’s retooled defense will spend this week preparing for an Eastern Washington offense that threw for a school-record 526 yards against UNI. Combined, quarterbacks Jordan West and Reilly Hennessey completed 37 of 47 passes and had four touchdown passes.
But the biggest storyline surrounds EWU All-American wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who did not play in the second half after suffering a hip injury. Kupp caught nine passes for 179 yards and a pair of touchdowns before the injury.
Kupp is listed as questionable to play against MSU. The Eagles are also dealing with injuries to Hennessey (ankle), receiver Shaq Hill (knee), running back Jalen Moore (ankle), offensive linemen Cassidy Curtis (foot) and Jerrod Jones (knee), and safety Zach Bruce (shoulder).
Still, Baldwin said the Eagles “have plenty of guys who can go out there and play. Different players stepped up and operated, but we just have to do it at higher level.
“Regardless of where players are at on our depth chart — and who is in and who is out — it doesn’t matter. We want the injured players back, but moving forward I’m excited about the players who are in there and we should continue to win football games with whoever is coming off the bench.”
After opening the season with a 45-14 victory over Division II Fort Lewis, the Eastern Washington game is the Bobcats’ first true test of the season — and it comes against one of the nation’s best offenses.
In its previous two meetings with the Eagles, MSU’s defense surrendered 1,173 yards and 106 points.
Griz head east
Eighth-ranked Montana (1-1) returns to the field this week when it travels to Lynchburg, Virginia, to play 15th-ranked Liberty (1-1). It is the first time the Grizzlies travel that far east since a visit to Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina, in 2012.
It was a whirlwind start to the season for the Griz, who knocked off top-ranked and four-time defending national champion North Dakota State in the season-opener, then lost to Cal Poly on a late 49-yard field goal the following Saturday.
After last week’s bye, the Griz take on a Liberty team that made the playoffs last season. The Flames are coached by Turner Gill, a former star quarterback at Nebraska who had previous head-coaching stints at Buffalo and Kansas of the FBS.
Montana beat Liberty 34-14 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 2012.
The Grizzlies are the third Top 10 team Liberty, of the Big South, will welcome to 19,200-seat Williams Stadium in Gill’s four-year tenure.
Big Sky surprise
Bruce Barnum is Portland State’s coach on an interim basis, but he’s making a great case to have that tag removed. The Vikings are the surprise of the Big Sky Conference so far.
PSU, now 2-0 and ranked No. 19 in the latest STATS poll, rolled over previously ranked Idaho State 34-14 last week as quarterback Alex Kuresa threw for 167 yards, rushed for 156 more and accounted for two touchdowns.
But it was Khalil Dawson’s 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter that ignited the Vikings.
Dawson’s return came on the kickoff that followed a 10-yard touchdown pass from Michael Sanders to Hagen Graves that put Idaho State up 7-0. After that, the Vikings scored 24 unanswered points. On Monday, Dawson was named the Big Sky’s special teams player of the week.
The victory over ISU came on the heels of a 24-17 victory over Washington State of the Pac-12 in Week 1.
“We were maybe supposed to win one (game), but now we have won two,” Barnum was quoted after beating the Bengals. He added in jest: “We have to reset our goals.”
The Vikings are 2-0 for the first time since 2011. The win over ISU was their first victory over a ranked team since 2008.
Poll position
There was some jostling in the latest STATS Top 25 poll, which was released on Monday.
Idaho State, because of its loss to Portland State, fell out of the poll after being ranked No. 23. Northern Arizona, now 2-0 after a blowout win over Division II New Mexico Highlands, jumped into the No. 24 spot after Portland State moved up four places to No. 19.
Eastern Washington fell seven spots to No. 14 after its loss at Northern Iowa, while Cal Poly (1-1) moved ahead one place to No. 17 after a 35-21 loss at FBS Arizona State. The Mustangs were tied with the Sun Devils 21-21 in the second half before surrendering two unanswered touchdowns.
The eighth-ranked Grizzlies and the 11th-ranked Bobcats stayed remained in their same positions.
Nationally, Jacksonville State (1-1) took Auburn to the wire last week, but lost 27-20 in overtime. Still, the Gamecocks of the Ohio Valley Conference took over the No. 1 spot, supplanting Coastal Carolina (2-0), which is now No. 2. Sam Houston State (0-1), North Dakota State (1-1) and Illinois State (1-1) make up the rest of the top five.
Around the league
North Dakota QB Keaton Studsrud was named the Big Sky’s offensive player of the week on Monday. Studsrud completed 19 of 30 passes for 260 yards and three first-half touchdowns in a 21-18 win over Drake. UND is 2-0 for the first time in three years. … Northern Colorado S Taylor Risner took home the defensive player of the week award. Risner had 16 tackles in the Bears’ victory over Houston Baptist. UNC is also 2-0. … Weber State was tied with North Dakota State early in their game Saturday in Fargo, N.D., after a 68-yard touchdown pass from Jadrian Clark to Cam Livingston. But the Bison scored 31 unanswered points to win 41-14. … Portland State’s Dawson wasn’t the only Big Sky player to score a special teams touchdown last week. Weber State’s Eric Wilkes returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD in the fourth quarter against NDSU.
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