MSU Stadium Expansion Plan <– Click to see the video

Included are six phases:

A. It should first be mentioned that MSU is installing FieldTurf as we speak.
1. 38 new skysuites over the student side bleachers.
2. Replace the south endzone bleachers with a bowl, in total adding about 600 seats (getting rid of those rickity bleachers we currently have).
3. Upper bowl of south endzone (adding 3,730 seats).
4. Rebuild east (student) grandstand, adding 3800 seats and removing 6000.
5. Lower bowl of north endzone, adding 2,630 seats.
6. Upper bowl of north endzone, adding 3,730 seats.

New capacity will be approximately 22,00, and is schedule to be completed over the course of about 10 years.

A pair of Montana players were drafted this weekend, along with an OT from Ogden.

4 34 133 Baltimore David Hale OT Weber State
5 19 154 Atlanta Kroy Biermann OLB Montana
6 38 204 Miami Lex Hilliard RB Montana

A few Sky players have also signed some free agent contracts:

C Brennen Carvalho, Portland State signs with Packers
DT Casey Tyler, Portland State signs with Patriots
K Dan Carpenter, Montana signs with Dolphins

EDIT TO ADD:
LB Jorden Senn, Portland State signs with Colts
FB Olaniyi Sobomehin, Portland State signs with Saints
RT Daren Heerspink, Portland State signs with Dolphins

One man’s humble attempt to rank the QBs in the Sky based on how I think they will fair in their respective 2008 campaigns.

1.  Cameron Higgins, Weber State - Newcomer of the year in 2007, this freshman averaged 340 yards per game of total offense in the last 4 games of the season.  He has a strong running game to support him, a solid WR corp, and he can run the ball effectively himself.  This season will decide whether his freshman campaign was a fluke, or he is the real deal, and I am a believer.

2.  Matt Nichols, Eastern Washington - It was a tough decision between Nichols and Higgins, but I gave Higgins the nod because his coaching staff remains intact.  Nichols may be the best pure passer in the league, but the BSC is leaning towards QBs with more mobility than in years past, and Higgins has a slight advantage in this department, though Nichols is certainly no slouch.  He may have the best WR in the conference in fellow junior Aaron Boyce.

3.  Cole Berquist, Montana - What I like about Berquist is his ability to create and his accuracy under pressure.  He isn’t going to wow anyone with huge numbers (though he is capable), but he isn’t going to cost you any games.  He is also deceptively mobile as well, and is a very smart player.  I was tempted to put him below Kriesien, because I think the Griz WR corp is going to have a drop off from last year, but I think the new guys will step up and Berquist will have a great senior campaign.

4.  Lance Kriesien, Northern Arizona - Kriesien may be the worst pure passer on this list (not that he is a bad passer), but he may be the most athletic.  He averaged 15 carries a game last year, and might have to increase that total with the loss of Alex Watson to graduation.  He is a legitimate threat to pass or throw every play, and the turf of the NAU Skydome suits his style of play.  He could be near the top of the Sky in total offense output next season.

5.  Drew Hubel, Portland State - Returning for his sophomore campaign after replacing injured starter Brian White halfway through the season last year, Hubel showed flashes of brilliance in that crazy run and shoot offense that Glanville’s Vikings run.  He also showed flashes of why he is a freshman, tossing 9 picks in his final two games of the season.  Unlike the top 4 ranked QBs on the list, Hubel is zero threat to run the ball, as he is a pure pocket passer.  Another year in Glanville’s system could do wonders for this newcomer.

6.  Russel Hill, Idaho State - Another immobile QB, this freshman had a pretty good first season on a team with a first-year head coach.  He threw for over 2300 yards, but finished with 15 INTs to 14 TDs, for a rating of 128.8, good for fifth in the league last year.   This is another case of a freshman working out kinds in a situation with a new coaching staff.  I’m not sold on the WRs, or his OL, however.

7.  Jordan Rasmussen/Mark Iddins/Mark Desin, Montana State - What was originally thought to be a 2 person race, ex-WR Mark Desin has been impressing so far this spring.  Rasmussen is a sophomore, prototypical NFL-style QB with good size (6′4 222).  Iddins is a JC transfer, will be a junior, and is very mobile and has a good arm.   He was rated a 3 star JC recruit by scout.  Desin threw for over 9300 yards in his high school career in Montana, and will be a sophomore.  He is the most mobile of all, but is only 5′11 tops.  One of these three will probably finish in the top 5 but no one knows who will be starting yet.

8.  Bryan Waggener/Mike Vlahogeorge, Northern Colorado - Big things are expected of Waggener, who used his redshirt season at the University of Florida, after being a 4 star recruit out of Citrus JC. He has good size and good speed, and could be a real sleeper in a year that should be chalk full of good QBs in the Big Sky. Vlahogeorge saw time under center last season for the Bears, and looks to have the most game experience of the group of QBs vying for the starting position in Greeley.

9. Jason Smith/McLeod Bethel-Thompson - Bethel-Thompson is another big name drop-down, and has a pretty good resume, having started the Las Vegas Bowl for UCLA last season. He has good size and had a great high school in not only football, but basketball and baseball as well. Coach Sperbeck also brought in some JC WRs to help, and if everything clicks Bethel-Thompson could be looking a newcomer of the year award. He will have to get past Smith, who started every game for the Hornets last year as a freshman, though it was not an impressive season.

It should be noted that numbers 1-5 were very close, and could almost be interchanged. Numbers 7-9 are all about unknowns, I gave the nod to the Cats because of previous experience and depth of competition. But again, these could pretty much be interchanged with each other as well.

I thought I’d spend a few minutes talking about what has been going on in MSU land so far this spring.

First, the big news out of Bozeman is the fact that the Board of Regents approved a plan that would allow MSU to purchase an artificial playing surface.  While the specific surface has not yet been selected, the construction will begin after spring drills sometime and is scheduled to be completed by August 1st, making it available for the upcoming season.  This was most likely pushed for after a muddy last season, including a mudbowl that was the Souther Utah game.  The Cats have also had to cancel about half their practices so far because of weather and no dry playing surface, so this will also be beneficial for spring ball.

The first scrimmage has been completed as of 4/13, and the Cats played fairly well considering the limited number of practices they have been able to hold.  Of course the biggest question in the Bobcat camp is who is going to emerge as the starting QB after the departure of senior QB Jack Rolovich?  The candidates:  Jordan Rasmussen (6′4 226), a redshirt sophomore who is the last remaining Kramer prototype QB recruit;  Mark Iddins (6′2 198), a mobile, highly regarded JC transfer with 2 years left to play; or Mark Desin (5′11 192), who simply broke the Montana high school passing record, throwing over 9,000 yards in his high school career, who is the most mobile of the three, as he is pretty much guaranteed a spot at WR (where he played last year) if he doesn’t win the job.  You would think with Desin’s size that he wouldn’t have a chance, but he played well in the first scrimmage, as he went 10-16 for 93 yards and one score, with a few nice scrambles (which they don’t record).

Stats from the first scrimmage:

RUSHING: Aaron Mason 8-33, Blayde Becksted 11-21, Anthony Tillemans 8-12.
PASSING: Jordan Rasmussen 13-8-0, 80, 0; Mark Desin 16-10-0, 93, 1 TD; Mark Iddins 10-8-0, 52, 1; Willie Sullivan 3-1-1, 2, 0.
RECEIVING: Tyler Bolton 5-53-1, Derek Green 3-18-0, Brandon Bostick 3-33-0, Joe Schreibeis 3-28-0, DeAndre Green 3-22-1, Shane Robison 3-27-0, Blayde Becksted 2-2-0, Anthony Tillemans 2-3-0, Deon Toliver 1-6-0, Derek Erickson 1-5-0, Aaron Mason 1-3-0, Mecklen Davis 1-5-0.

Star RB Demetrius Crawford sat out with a minor injury, as did first-team all-american LB Bobby Daly.  If the name Mecklen Davis sounds familiar to you, he was a starter for the Cat B-Ball team 2 years ago, and was a solid bench player last year as well.

Brian Bignell, HS, 6-2, 225, DL Helena Capitol, (AA Co-MVP)
Jared Rohrback, HS, 6-1, 215, LB Great Falls CMR, (AA Co-MVP)
Matt Harris, JR, 6-2, 225, LB Orange Coast Community College, (JC)
Mark Iddins, JR, 6-3, 205, QB Mukilteo, WA (JC - Scout 3 star)
Anthony Patterson, JR, 6-4, 300, OL Sierra Junior College (CA)
Steven Foster, HS, 6-5, 240, TE Helena High
Ben Taunauu, HS, 6-5, 286, OL Mater Dei HS (CA)
Rick Haluszka HS, 6-2, 205, QB/DB/P Harlem, MT
Jody Owens HS, 6-0, 195, LB Mesquite Horn HS (TX)
Clint Mentzal HS, 6-5, 280, RT, Midlothian High (TX)
Ricky Evans HS, 6-0, 185, RB, South Grand Prarie HS (TX)
Zach Coleman HS, 5-10, 165, CB, Bishop Dunne HS (TX)
C.J. Palmer HS, 6-0, 225, RB/LB, Klein HS(Houston, TX)
DeSean Thomas HS, 6-0, 190, CB/WR, Cleburne HS(TX)
Matt Bernard HS, 6-4, 305, OG, Gig Harbor High School (WA)
James Ekumah, HS, 6-1, 215 LB, Arlington Bowie HS (TX)
James Andrews, HS, 6-1, 185 CB, Rockwall HS(TX)
Jason Cunningham, HS, 6-2, 165 K, Tascosa HS(Amarillo, TX)
Jake Chilton, HS, 6-0, 185 DB, Billings(Central)
Reil Cornelius, HS 6-3 180, WR Helena
Turner Daines, HS 6-3 265, OL Billings(Central)
Ryan Damberger, HS 6-1 215 TE Bozeman
Derek DeJong, HS 6-4 215 DE Manhattan Christian
Heath Howard, HS 5-10 180 CB Plentywood
Kevin Steiner, HS 6-5 205 TE Shelby

Not sure yet:

Todd Brandt, HS, 6-5, 215, OL Bozeman, (First team All State) 

Brandt had verballed according to all news outlets, but his name is strangely absent from the signing day list.

Full bios and more information can be found in this PDF.

Carlos Taylor scored a career-high 34 points en-route to a 74-58 victory over the Montana Grizzlies Saturday night in Bozeman. A crowd of over 6,500 watched as the two teams evenly battled for the first half and part-way into the second half, before MSU went on an 11-0 run to take a 4 point lead, and would never look back. Taylor’s 34 points were the 3rd highest total by a Bobcat versus the Griz in MSU history, and the most by a Bobcat since 1988.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/sports/

Here are my humble predictions for week 6 around the Big Sky:

UNC @ ISU- While I have yet to see the Bears in person, I have seen the Bengals, and they are close to being a good offensive team. Depending on who starts at QB (Butler suffered a concussion @ MSU), UNC may have a hard time stopping the pass. Barnett is proving once again he is on the top 3 backs in the Big Sky. UNC has given up a ton of points, and I would like to say their defense has improved, but the least amount of points they have allowed is 31, and that was their 31-0 loss at home to DII Chadron State. If Russell Hill starts, it won’t be as bad for the Bears, but if Butler is healthy, he is a young talented QB with his best days ahead of him.
UNC 17 ISU 35

NAU @ PSU - Lumberjacks, what happened? From what I understand, Kreissen was playing hurt and went out at halftime? What is his status? For this prediction, I will assume he will be a go at gametime. If he does start, this could be the highest scoring game of the year so far in the Big Sky. A classic Big Sky game, where defense is optional. PSU’s Brian White has been on fire lately, throwing for 1,529 yards and 6 TDs in just 5 games, although he does have 5 INTs in that span as well. They beat a very good EWU team last week, and White did it without star receiver Tremayne Kirkland. NAU on the other hand got smoked by an up and coming (maybe) Sac State squad. Did I hear that Skyler Moore was injured? Both teams have the offense, but who will step up on defense? I think NAU is a little banged up, and this game is in Portland where Glanville has drummed up decent support so far.
NAU 24 PSU 35

Sac @ Weber - Weber had a horrible OOC start to the year, but have played well, at least defensively, in conference so far. They did lose their best DLmen last week on a questionable block by UM’s Cody Balough, but they still have plenty of talent on that side of the ball. Teams often struggle with their man-to-man coverage, and will be a good test to see how good freshman QB Jason Smith really is. Whatever happened to Ryan Mole, or the JC transfer that went to the same JC as MSU’s Demetrius Crawford? On the other end, Weber’s offense has struggled mightily, despite having one of the best RB’s in the Big Sky in sophomore Trevyn Smith. Getting his second start at QB should be Cameron Higgins, a dual-threat freshman who may have emerged to the top of the muck that is the Weber QB situation. I’m still not a believer of the Hornets, and I think Weber wins in a low-scoring affair in Ogden, thanks to the play of their defense.
Sac 10 Weber 14

Southern Utah @ #13 Montana State - The T-Birds of Southern Utah have played the most brutal schedule in FCS football so far, and it doesn’t get any better this week as they head to Bozeman to play the 13th ranked Bobcats. SUU’s QB, Wes Marshall, is a good dual-threat QB in a pretty decent option offense, but rumor is he is a game time decision for Saturday. It would be a big blow to the T-Birds hopes of winning, who despite their 0-4 record are not a horrible team. But they are going to have to be above average Saturday against a Bobcat team playing with confidence and swagger. Demetrius Crawford has emerged as the league’s leading rusher, though he has yet to actually start a game (though he does get most of the carries), and is averaging an amazing 7.8 yards per carry. Jack Rolovich has made a few mistakes, but is always going to bounce back and make the big play. The Cats struggled early against a well-prepared ISU squad, but eventually found their rhythm, and settled down defensively, and soundly beat the Bengals 40-20 in Bozeman. The T-Birds were in the middle of their brutal schedule last week at #6 McNeese State, losing 41-20. The T-Birds may put up more points than Bobcat fans will like, and it may take some second half adjustments, but the Cats should beat the T-Birds by at least 2 TDs.
SUU 20 MSU 38

Game of the Week:

EWU @ #1 UM - Eastern was upset last week in Cheney to a PSU squad that is finally beginning to click in that spread offense. The Eagles have thrived on turnovers this year, but lost the turnover battle for the first time last week, and the score reflected that, but still retain the best turnover margin in the nation. The Griz actually have a negative turnover ratio for the first time in recent memory, but are playing very solid on both sides of the ball, despite their lackluster performance offensively against an underrated Weber defense. EWU sophomore QB Matt Nichols is having a stellar season, throwing for 1,129 yards, 11 TDs and just 2 INTs, good for a rating 162.6, good for 9th nationally. The ground game has also produced 8 TDs and over 700 yards of rushing offense through four games. In fact, the Eagles have the 5th ranked offense in the country. They will bring that potent offense into Washington-Grizzly stadium to face the 6th ranked defense in the country, and the #1 scoring defense nationally as well, only allowing 10.3 points per game. UM struggled with what many call their first “real” opponent of 2007, Weber, and look to improve offensively against a EWU defense ranked 97th in the country. Cole Berquist isn’t exactly lighting teams up, but he is playing mistake-free ball and scoring points, and he can do it on the ground as well. EWU always plays the Griz tough in Missoula, but I just can’t quite smell upset here. If EWU can get up early, it will force the Griz to play catch-up, something I don’t think they will be able to do. Whereas if UM gets up early, EWU has the passing offense to get back into it. But I’ll go with the Griz at home.
EWU 24 UM 30

First up, let’s do a quick rundown of scores from last week in the Big Sky:

Thursday, 8/30

#24 (FBS) Boise State 56, Weber State 0

- This one wasn’t even close. The Broncs were up 28-0 at the end of one, and 49-0 by half. It actually could have been worse had not Boise pulled its’ starters towards the end of the half. One positive for the Wildcats - they tied BSU’s backups, 7-7 in the second half.

Northern Arizona 47, Western New Mexico 0

- Alex Watson got his potential Walter Payton season off to a good start, catching 8 passes for 133 yards and 2 scores. Junior Lance Kriesen, replacing All-American Jason Murrieta, looked fine in his first start, going 16-26 for 188 yards and 2 TDs. The Jacks did have to settle for 4 FGs, however, and NAU did fumble the ball 4 times.

Friday, 8/31

Eastern Washington 52, Montana Western 13

- The Eagles struggled a little early on, but sophomore QB Matt Nichols would equal a school record 6 TD passes as EWU cruised past NAIA foe Montana Western. Dale Morris would add148 yards on the ground, and 2 receivers would catch a pair of TD passes.

Saturday, 9/1

#10 McNeese State 35, #13 Portland State 12

- Not a good start for the Glanville era. PSU was able to move the ball into the red zone 3 times in the first 20 minutes of the game, but came away with just 6 points. MSU would can 395 yards of total offense, with 204 of those on the ground.

#2 Montana 37, Southern Utah 17

- Lex Hilliard would look a little rusty, but would have a solid performance in his first return since injuring his achilles tendon a year ago. He would finish with 108 yards on 22 carries with one score. The Thunderbirds would hang around, keeping it within one score until partway through the third. But the Griz would put it away late in the 4th with a TD pass to Eric Allen.

#25 (FBS) Texas A&M 38, #21 Montana State

- The Bobcats would have no trouble moving the ball against their ranked FBS foe, even outgaining them in totals yards; 403 to 390. But the Cats were unable to score when in Aggie territory, moving the ball inside the 30 7 times and coming away with 1 TD, 1 fumble, 1 INT, and three missed FGs. Jack Rolovich would finish 21-39 for 267 yards and 1 score. The Cats were down just 17-7 at half, but the Aggies would pull away late in the third.

#23 (FBS) Hawaii 63, Northern Colorado 6

- In what many predicted would be the worst loss by a BSC team in week one, Hawaii QB Colt Brennan looked like Payton Manning against Butte High, completing 34 passes of his 40 attempts for 416 yards and 6 TDs in the first half alone.

News:

Portland State loses starting QB and FB for the season. Starting QB Tygue Howland will have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left foot, and starting FB Bobby McLintock tore his right ACL. Brian White should step in for Howland, and Olaniyi Sobomehin will get the nod at FB.

http://www.denverpost.com/colleges/ci_6716150

Fans got a first look at the 2007 Bobcats under the direction of first year head coach, Rob Ash, Saturday afternoon during a 115 play scrimmage. The offense was able to move the ball well, something they rarely seemed to do in the Kramer era. Aaron Mason finished with 144 yards on 19 carries, and Jack Rolovich had 253 yards on 15 of 22 passing, including a 48 yard TD strike to Josh Lewis. Lewis would finish with 3 catches for 96 yards. Either this is a sign that the offense will be much improved under coach Ash, or the defense is still adjusting to a new scheme. Only time will tell, but I was happy to finally see some offensive production in a scrimmage for once. Read the SID release here.