Eastern tabbed preseason favorite in Big Sky

PARK CITY, Utah – For the first time in almost a decade, Montana is not the preseason favorite to win the Big Sky Conference football championship.

That honor – or burden – goes to Eastern Washington, the last team other than the Grizzlies to win the league title outright.

“It’s exciting, it’s a privilege,” said Eagles All-American quarterback Erik Meyer, the reigning Big Sky Offensive MVP. “I’m excited to get the season started. At the end of the season, if we finish No. 1, that’s where it matters.”

Eastern coach Paul Wulff, on the other hand, was dreading Monday’s announcement of the coaches’ and media polls at the Big Sky Summer Kickoff.

“Predictions and forecasts are like weather forecasts, none of us trust them very much,” he said. “If I had a dollar for every forecast (that was wrong) I’d be a rich man.”

Still, it is an indication of where the Eagles are, returning 15 starters from a 9-4 team that knocked off top-ranked Southern Illinois in the first-round of the I-AA playoffs.

“I figured Eastern would be up on us,” Montana senior linebacker Shane MacIntyre said. “They’ve got a great defense coming back and one of the better quarterbacks in the nation by far in Erik Meyer. They have proven themselves a great deal after what they did last year.

“We’ll let it motivate us. There’s no reason to throw in the towel and accept it right now.”

UM was favored in both polls prior to every season since 1997, the year the Eagles won the title and advanced to the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs.

Now the Eagles, who tied the Griz for the Big Sky title and finally returned to the playoffs last year, edged Montana in the preseason voting of the eight league coaches, who couldn’t vote for their own team, and 42 members of the media.

Six of the eight coaches picked EWU. The other two, including Wulff, picked UM, which reached the I-AA championship game last December. The point total was 48-43, with Portland State third, followed by Montana State, Northern Arizona, Idaho State, and Sacramento State and Weber State tied for seventh.

UM had 19 first-place votes from the media to 18 for Eastern, but the Eagles had a 303-302 edge in points, MSU had four first-place votes and was third, followed by Portland State, Northern Arizona, Idaho State – with one first place vote – and Weber and Sac again tied for seventh.

“If we were picked eighth, our kids wouldn’t believe we were eighth,” Wulff said. “The fact we were picked first, I don’t believe we should be thinking about that now. We have a lot of work to do. That’s the bottom line.”

But?

“I’m not going to lie to you, we’ve been trying to get to this point where as a program we’re going to accomplish things in the conference,” Wulff said. “Now the national recognition is coming because of it. I think we’ve got a lot of good players returning, that’s obvious, (but) a lot of things are going to come into play here.”

One thing to consider is how Eastern responds to the expectations they have never had before. The Eagles won the Big Sky title in 1997, although Montana was favored, but every year since the Grizzlies have lived up to expectations by winning or sharing a record seven straight league titles.

“This team is going to be in a situation this program has not been in. That’s a great challenge in itself,” Wulff said.

Meyer’s response was similar.

“I think we’re going to take it as we have to work harder,” he said. “We have the bull’s-eye. Everyone is going to be trying to beat us.”

Montana was selected first in the inaugural Big Sky Line online fan poll, just ahead of the Eagles.

The Eagles begin practice the second week of August and open the season Sept. 3 at San Jose State.

Injury update

Among the things that come into play, as Wulff said, are injuries and he immediately referred to four players who were hurt in an automobile crash last month.

He has just learned that backup wide receiver and punt returner Kyle Long, who was expected to play on all special teams, would miss the season because of a knee injury.

Long, punter Ryan Dockers, kicker Sheldon Weddle and backup tight end Anthony McCarty were returning to campus after attending the wedding of tight end Tim Calhoun when Dockers’ vehicle went off Highway 395 and rolled at least a half-dozen times.

Wulff said Weddle was the only one cleared to play so far.

Long is facing ACL surgery, Donckers has three broken vertebrae is his neck and McCarty has nerve damage in one of his hands.