Tropical Storm Francine may affect Eastern Washington’s travel plans this week
After the conference picked up another win over an FBS opponent last weekend, the Big Sky’s matchups Saturday are almost entirely about proving the conference’s teams can handle others their own size.
Of the conference’s 11 games this week, 10 are against other FCS teams. That includes Eastern Washington’s return trip to Southeastern Louisiana (0-2), which is coming off losses to FBS teams Southern Miss and Tulane.
Not only that, the Lions – who lost to the Eagles 40-29 in Cheney last season – are contending with Tropical Storm Francine, which is creeping through the Gulf of Mexico. The storm led Southeastern Louisiana to close its campus until midday Thursday.
The storm has also impacted the Eagles’ travel plans, although it should not impact Saturday’s game.
“When you’re going across two time zones, we like to sneak out on Thursday,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said during media availability on Tuesday. “I don’t know if that will be the case or not.”
Regardless, the Eagles are looking to get their second win, which would also help the Big Sky’s standing among FCS conferences. Aside from the obvious impact of wins and losses on the conference’s individual teams, a Saturday like this helps the Big Sky affirm its status as one of the FCS’ best conferences.
That can potentially come into play at the end of the season as the postseason committee decides on at-large bids in the 24-team playoff bracket.
There is just one unbeaten Big Sky team left this year, and that’s Montana State, which has one of the conference’s two wins over FBS teams – Idaho, which beat Wyoming last week, is the other – as well as a victory over Maine last weekend. The Bobcats, idle Saturday, remained at No. 3 in this week’s Stats Perform Top 25. Idaho (1-1) is one spot behind.
The Big Sky is 5-4 against other FCS conferences. Two of those losses are to teams in the nonscholarship Pioneer Football League, including Eastern’s 35-32 overtime loss to Drake and Cal Poly’s 27-21 loss to San Diego.
This week, Morehead State (2-0) heads to Montana with a chance to give the Pioneer League a 3-0 sweep of the season series.
“Their league has done a good job in the early season, and I expect they will come in here fully expecting to beat us,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said during a Monday news conference. “We’ve got a big week of preparation. We need to find a way to get a win this weekend.”
No. 8 Montana (1-1) is coming off a 27-24 loss at North Dakota (1-1), which moved up to No. 10 in the Stats Perform poll. Montana plays at Eastern Washington on Sept. 28.
This week, Idaho State (1-1) heads to Grand Forks, North Dakota, for its shot at the Fighting Hawks. It is looking to win there for the second straight time, following a 25-21 victory at North Dakota – now of the Missouri Valley Football Conference – in 2018.
North Dakota was a Big Sky member from 2012 to 2017 and shared the conference title with Eastern Washington in 2016.
“Road games are hard to win at any level,” ISU head coach Cody Hawkins said after the Bengals’ 50-10 win Saturday over Western Oregon. “I have a ton of respect for the Fighting Hawks. I’ve lost games there before and had tight battles with them when they came to our place. They’re going to be as well coached as anybody we play. … Those fans are proud, and that’s a darn good football team.”
The Big Sky has three other teams ranked in the Top 25, including No. 11 Sacramento State (0-2), with two losses against FBS schools San Jose State and Fresno State. UC Davis, Eastern’s opponent on Oct. 19, is ranked 15th after a win over Texas A&M-Commerce of the Southland Conference; Weber State (1-1), which beat Portland State 43-16 on Saturday in the Big Sky’s first conference game, is ranked 20th.
UC Davis’ victory was the first for head coach Tim Plough, a former Aggies quarterback and assistant coach who took over for Dan Hawkins during the offseason.
The game-clinching play in UC Davis’ 36-22 victory was a 60-yard interception return touchdown by linebacker David Meyer, who was named co-Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week.
“I’m sure I’ll be thinking years from now when I’m done about David Meyer intercepting that pass and making us all take a deep breath,” Plough said Monday during his weekly media availability.
“Just to have my family here, my friends, was a cool moment. … I’m getting a lot more texts now that I’m at the helm of the team they all care about.”
The Big Sky, which has six victories over Mountain West Conference teams since the start of the 2021 season, has two more games this season against teams from that conference. Portland State travels to Boise State on Sept. 21, the same day Eastern Washington will play at Nevada.