The Zips play in the MAC conference and were picked to finish fourth preseason. They return three starters from last year’s squad that won the MAC, and was the best team not in a post-season tournament. They lost out on a last minute bank-shot by Miami. (OH) Like IUPUI, they have a couple big men, but not good ones, which means the Zips will most likely play a small, quicker lineup. Coming off a game versus IUPUI, the Viks should be ready to deal with this.

Match-Ups
Big Men
Akron: Jeremiah Wood PSU: Scott Morrison
A strictly inside player, Wood should be a good match-up for Morrison. He doesn’t pass well, and he can’t shoot from the outside. Add on the fact that he gets in foul trouble, and Scotty could really exploit his 5 inch height advantage. Wood may have trouble living up to his reputation as a ferocious rebounder in this match-up, even though he is a candidate for MAC player of the year.
Advantage: PSU

Small Forward #1
Akron: Nate Linhart PSU: Tyrell Mara
Linhart is a lefty, and presents a difficult match-up for opponents with his size and range. However, I think Mara should be up to the challenge, because he is a similar player with a bit more muscle. Both players play good defense, so there probably won’t be many points scored here.
Advantage: Push

Small Forward #2
Akron: Quade Milum/Jimmy Conyers PSU: Deonte Huff
Because neither team is playing another inside guy, I characterized two positions as SF. I think Milum may get the start due to the match-up problem he presents to the Vikings. The senior is a prolific shot blocker, and extremely athletic. (he was the Ohio state high jump champion in HS) He may matchup more against Mara, dependent on how the coaches choose to set things up. Each of the two options for Akron scored in double figures in their exhibition game. Huff won’t be able to rely on athleticism to win this battle, so he’ll have to play a perimeter game, which makes him less dangerous.
Advantage: Akron

Off-Guard
Akron: Nick Dials PSU: Dupree Lucas
This is the match-up of former players at big-time basketball programs in Ohio with Nick being the former Buckeye, and Dupree the former Musketeer. Although he didn’t display his three point touch with an 0 for 7 effort in the exhibition, the shooter can really fill it up at times. Dupree should have every advantage in this match-up besides outside shooting, and they share the same height. If Lucas makes his mid-range jumper, he should outscore Dials.
Advantage: PSU

Point
Akron: Steve McNees PSU: Jeremiah Dominguez
McNees has the obvious height advantage at 6′2″, but that didn’t stop Dominguez in the UCLA game. McNees was a great high school player, and should carry that to the collegiate level after a red-shirt year. The only way PSU wins this match-up is if Dominguez can force McNees out of his comfort zone with his quickness.
Advantage: Akron

Bench
Both teams have good benches capable of scoring some points. However, Akron’s is a bit shorter than PSU’s. Julius Thomas and Kyle Coston may see extended minutes in this one due to their size.
Advantage: PSU

Prediction
After tonight’s thrilling victory over IUPUI I’m leaning towards the Vikings coming through again. PSU will have to address the issues with interior and transition defense, but should be ready for a more physical game tomorrow night.

PSU 71-68

First Half
The first half began in a great manner for the Viks. IUPUI turned it over a bunch of times, and PSU got off to a 10-0 lead. It was all downhill from there. The Viks started turning it over, and couldn’t get many rebounds. The shooting was satisfactory, but the Viks weren’t able to play good defense. When it couldn’t get any worse, Austin Montgomery hit a buzzer beater to put the Jaguars up 34 to 25 at the half.
Halftime–34-25 Jaguars

Second Half
The Vikings hit two 3s to start the second half to cut into the lead. The rest of the half was back and forth with the teams both playing good offense and the power forwards dominating. Jon Avery and Tyrell Mara hit almost every shot they took. The rest of the players weren’t too shabby either with the regular contributors eventually hitting a few. Patterson was hitting every three he took, but the starters for the Vikings just kept answering the call. In the last two minutes, JD was dynamite. He hit some big shots, including the reverse lay-up to put the Viks up by two. Then, they stole the inbounds pass, and with a slight delay, ran out the clock. This was obviously the most suspenseful game of this short year, and may even have been more exciting than the tournament win over MSU last year.
Final–75-73 Vikings

Wow! What a rush! I listened to the game on the IUPUI radio network and chatted with Marty about the game on PSUFF. Though the spread was 9 at half time, it could have been a lot worse. The Viks were completely out-manned. However, the Jaguar starters played all but about 2 minutes of game time in the second half, and they paid for the fatigue with the L. The player of the game has to be Dominguez. Mara was essential to the second half comeback, and to keeping it close in the first, however, Dominguez kept the team cool and collected down the stretch, and hit the winning bucket at the end.

IUPUI-pronounced ‘ooey pooey’ is a subsidiary of Indiana University and Purdue University in Carmel, a northern suburb of Indianapolis. They play in the Summit League, formerly known as the Mid-Continent.

IUPUI was created in 1969 as a partnership by and between Indiana and Purdue Universities, with IU as the managing partner. With over 29,000 students, IUPUI is the second-largest campus in the Indiana University state wide system.

The Jaguars should come in to the Top of the World Classic with a lot of confidence. On the 10th they played Marquette very close in Milwaukee, and beat up IU-South Bend by 35 yesterday. They were picked as the favorites to win the Summit League, and boast preseason player of the year George Hill.

Coming off a tough loss against UCLA, the Vikings will look to get rid of the goose egg in the win column for the 2007-08 season. If they can exploit some of the mismatches, it might happen. However, the Jaguars won’t be pushovers.

Matchups
Big Men
IUPUI: Billy Pettiford PSU: Scott Morrison
IUPUI has one player over 6′8″ on their roster, and he doesn’t play much (when he does he’s not very good on offense, and picks up lots of fouls on defense). Due to this, I’ll compare the guys who should see significant PT. Pettiford is a solid all-around player who can score, rebound, and pass the ball. Morrison should be able to slow him down significantly with the threat of the shot block against the 6′7″ forward. If he has a good game passing, look for PSU to go with a smaller lineup. However, at only 220 pounds, he may be unable to keep Morrison away from within 4 feet of the hoop where Scotty actually has an offensive game.
Advantage: PSU (Slight)

Forward #2
IUPUI: Jon Avery PSU: Tyrell Mara
This appears to be a good match up for both guys. Tyrell is a strong physical player, and Avery likes to play inside. On the flip side, Tyrell’s three-point shooting ability will force Avery away from his comfort zone. I look for a lot of fouls here, and not very many points.
Advantage: Push

Guard/Forward
IUPUI: Austin Montgomery PSU: Deonte Huff
Two players who do a little bit of everything. They can both score, defend, and rebound. I look for Huff to be a bit more physical than Montgomery is used to. If Huff can use his athletic superiority, he might score 15+.
Advantage: PSU (Slight)

Off Guard
IUPUI: George Hill PSU: Dupree Lucas
Hill is another exceedingly tough match up for Lucas after Shipp last week. This one may be another huge gap. It seems that Lucas is a lot more productive when he doesn’t have to exert himself on the defensive end. Add to that, he seems to be a slow starter. However, PSU doesn’t need 30 from Dupree in this game. If he can get 10-15, I’m sure coach Bone would be happy.
Advantage: IUPUI

Point Guard
IUPUI: Gary Patterson PSU: Jeremiah Dominguez
After a great debut against UCLA, JD will look to continue his success. Patterson is also a smaller guard, so that should be a better match up. On the other hand, he did score 15 points against Dominic James, so this should be a good challenge.
Advantage: Push

Bench
PSU should have a huge advantage here if Bone can afford to have them in. The Vikings have more quality players on their bench than the Jaguars do, and certainly more scoring ability. Look for the Viking bench to dominate if the Jaguars want to rest some of their starters.

Prediction: This game is one that could easily go either way. I’m going to pick the Vikings because they have a shorter trip, and the more physical team. Because the Jaguars will probably be a bit slowed down in their first game, the size should give them fits.

Score: PSU 67-62

UCLA started the game with a big lineup-Love, Aboya, Mbah A Moute, Shipp, and Westbrook. Love was completely dominant on the offensive side of the ball, and certainly the best player on the court during the first half-he even hit a 3 pointer. Shipp was the next best player on the court, he was able to hit a few outside shots and shut out Lucas. Collison was out with an injury, but it didn’t seem to matter. The Bruins ran a double team at Morrison every time he had the ball, and it worked.

PSU was completely ineffective on the offensive side. Lucas seemed lost, and got into foul trouble, and Morrison turned over the ball multiple times. The Viks couldn’t score or rebound. Huff had six at half time, and Dominguez was very good defensively. Off the bench, Coston hit a three ball, and Julius Thomas was tough on the boards. Andre Murray couldn’t score, in fact, the guards couldn’t really score at all outside a steal and lay-up by Dominguez.

Halftime Score: 36-17 UCLA

The Viks started the second half quickly, cutting the lead to 13, but Shipp put the dagger in by hitting back to back 3 balls.

The remainder of the second half went back and forth, with neither team making much progress.

The Viks won the power forward battle, even though Mara was overmatched physically. PSU also won the point guard and small forward battle, but the SF battle was by a small margin. Unfortunately, Dupree Lucas didn’t score a single point, and Scott Morrison was completely dominated by Kevin Love. Josh Shipp was also great on the offensive end.

Final score 69-48

The real concern for the Vikings going forward is Mickey Polis. He’s not a formidable option at point guard. Even against WOU he couldn’t keep control of the ball. Dominguez can’t play the full 40 every time out.

PSU should do better on the offensive end against a more level playing field. The Bruins showed their superior athleticism, and skill at times, but the toughness and quickness of some of the Vikings created success at times. Going forward, the Vikings should be competitive in all of their games the rest of the way with the exception of maybe the Washington State game. The Cougars play a physical game as well, but with lower calibre athletes than the Baby Bears.

The Vikings should be in the running for the crown at the Top of the World Classic next weekend in Fairbanks, AK, and at this point seem to be one of the favorites with Colorado State’s huge loss to the Griz earlier this evening.

Final Score: 93-58

PSU was disgustingly better at every position except center. That said, when Morrison forced his offense, he was effective. I think he maybe had seven points, and even blocked the 7′3″ center’s shot a couple times.

Tyrell Mara dominated his position defensively. He didn’t score, but his presence was clearly felt. He’ll probably end up on the other teams’ top scorers all year, unless they are centers.

Deonte Huff and Dupree Lucas were their regular exciting selves. Lucas probably had around 20 points, and was able to hit almost every shot he took. Huff wasn’t hitting outside shots, and he missed a few highlight-reel dunks, but he made a few steals, collected a few boards and threw down one good dunk.

Dominguez was the key to the Viking offense. When he was in, everything moved very smoothly, and he created shots for everyone on the floor. However, he was in foul trouble all game, and when he was off the floor the offense was stagnant. If he can’t stay on the court during the conference season, the Viks go from legit contenders for the NCAA bid to competing for a bid to the conference tournament.

Julius Thomas backed up Morrison at center. He filled in with tenacity on defense and on the boards, and was able to cover a couple seven footers reasonably well. His shooting didn’t look great, but he won’t need to score much to help the team. This likely won’t be his role during the regular season when J.R. Moore is available.

Kyle Coston backed up Mara at the 4. As expected, he looked physically overmatched against heavier players, and was ineffective most of the game. He knocked down a few jumpers late.

There was a rotation of players which included Huff, Lucas, and Coston at the 3.

Andre Murray backed up Lucas. He had a great shooting touch and passed the ball well too. However he drew Coach Bone’s criticism for unwise decision making at times. He should receive playing time all year, and is ready to score off the bench like PSU needs.

Mickey Polis backed up Dominguez. He gave great effort, made a few long jumpers, and looked pretty good on defense. However, his ball-handling and distribution were consistently lacking, and that doesn’t bode well if Dominguez is off the floor.

Brian Curtis also saw some time and passed the ball well. He probably won’t see any time in meaningful games, as he is the 5th guard in the rotation.

Alex Tiefenthaler and Justynn Hammond aren’t eligible until January.
J.R. Moore didn’t see action because of a minor knee injury.

There are plenty of reasons to believe this team can compete for the NCAA bid in March. However, it’s going to depend on the seniors, and Dominguez’s presence on the court. With 3 players who are among the best in the Big Sky at their position, there is no reason to believe this team shouldn’t be there at crunch time.

I think that the Fred Delkin article many have discussed at PSUFF and AGS is a little over the top, but in general I agree. PSU would benefit greatly from the move exposure wise, even though it would hurt financially. The key is, as usual, bringing in more fans and wealthy boosters who will help PSU get better facilities.

The WAC has no reason to invite PSU now. Access to the Portland market wouldn’t help them because PSU simply doesn’t interest the average Portlander. 9,600 out of 562,000 is not what the WAC is looking for in a new team. However Montana isn’t either. (Not that they’re interested)

However, PSU is definitely a school that could become attractive to the WAC in the coming years. The progress the university has made in recent years is amazing.

Academically-The school is making great strides with many programs and is being noticed in nationwide publications. The large student body should only accelerate progress.

Architecturally-The PSU Urban Center, Maseeh Engineering Complex, and the newer housing buildings are great. With the addition new student rec facility and the MAX line running up to campus, the school should get even more attention. Some of the older buildings on campus are getting the renovation they need as well. (Shattuck Hall, and eventually Lincoln Hall and Science Building 2)

Athletics (especially the Stott Center) need the same attention. Large colleges make money off of their teams, but this comes from spending money. The universities spent big $ on facilities, the good recruits came, the product became one that fans came to see, and suddenly the games sold out.
In the last year PSU doubled its marketing budget, and with Torre Chisholm at the helm, you can expect this trend to continue.

If PSU wants to join the WAC, it will take time for the University to evolve into one that rivals the others in the conference. We will all have to wait and see what happens with the new administration. When it financially benefits the WAC to invite PSU, I guarantee the calls will be made.

Until then, expect PSU to continue its progress, and eventually compete for Big Sky titles in a sport other than volleyball.

Now that the Vikings are out of it for the Big Sky this year, it’s time to look to the future of the program. Since it’s the bye week, the coaches have almost all left for California to recruit the junior college guys. According to the Jim Beseda article in the Oregonian, Jerry Glanville’s phone has been ringing nonstop with guys who want to leave their FBS backup roles for PT with the Viks.

Wonder who the prospective transfers are. PSU has three fairly untalented quarterbacks on the roster, (Collins, Graves, Beeson) and four fairly talented ones (Howland, Hubel, Kavanaugh, Hagan) for next year. The first three probably won’t be asked back as scholarship guys next year.

You’d have to think some of those FBS third stringers are dying to get into the run & shoot.

As to receivers, we have a few experienced guys coming back in Bramow, Joseph, Smith, and Thompson. The transfers would love to play there as well.

The fullback position will probably still be thin outside of Bobby McClintock. Grant Schuberg will be back, and there will almost certainly be some recruits coming in here. The position change to fullback experiment has seemingly failed, so that will most likely stop.

Though the o-line is losing its most consistent performer in Carvalho, and three other “starters” it should be alright. Considering how well the Vikings recruited it last year there should be guys ready to play next year. Three almost certain starters are Rios, Punzal, and Kleffner. Laurisitis will likely fill one of the other spots, leaving one spot to be battled for among the rest of the guys.

The JUCOs will probably fit into holes in the defense. You look at who’s getting PT now, and it’s scary outside the linebackers.

LB-McCrae, Pederson, and Schantz should all stay there. You have to wonder if Dallas Smith will be the fourth guy.

DE-Evans/Nielsen then who?

S-Fetzer/Carradine/Schenk

CB-Patin, Jackson, Murphy, Brown, Ross, Onu. None of these guys has proven himself.

The team should improve with players chosen by the current regime. The question is whether or not the future stars like McClintock, Howland and Schantz will fit in to their leadership roles, and whether they can stay healthy.

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

Bigskyfans.com is a new place for fans from each school in the Big Sky Conference to get great information, chat with other fans, view photos and videos and get the latest news and events. The Big Sky Conference consists of nine schools. They are Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State and Weber State.

Bigskyfans.com was started by Chris Lynn, the creator of eGriz.com. He hopes to take the success of eGriz.com and help fans of all schools have a place to not only support their team, but also get the best information possible all in one place. This site will be run by a selection of fans from each school which will report on news and events. Each supporting fan will also write articles on desired topics.

There will be a Big Sky Message Board which will contain general forums for the Big Sky Conference. We are hoping this turns out to be a great place for the Big Sky Fans to come together and support not only their team, but the conference as well. Of Course there will be smack talk between teams, this is what being a fan is all about and is encouraged.

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