(STATS) – Last year’s best conference title race in the FCS might be anyone’s guess again this year.
The Big Sky is so deep with talented teams that Northern Arizona was installed Tuesday as the preseason favorite even though it hasn’t won the conference title in 13 years, and Southern Utah, last year’s champ, managed only seventh place.
The 13-team Big Sky – the largest FCS conference – has two preseason polls, and the head coaches and media agreed Northern Arizona should hold the top spot. Portland State and Montana tied for second place in the coaches poll, while Montana was second and Eastern Washington third in the media poll.
Over half the teams were in contention for the conference title or an FCS playoff bid heading into the final weekend of the regular season last November. Northern Arizona’s playoff bid was derailed by a loss to Southern Utah, which captured its first Big Sky title after being picked eighth in the preseason polls.
NAU, which finished 7-4 overall and 5-3 in the conference, had four offensive players named the Big Sky preseason team, but is less experienced on defense. Sophomore quarterback Case Cookus, who was the STATS FCS Freshman Player of the Year after throwing 37 touchdowns, will have to manage high expectations after being a surprise on the national scene last year.
“It’s execute – that’s the bottom line,” he said, looking ahead to the season. “We watched the film, we watched all those games where we lost. It comes down to a few plays each game.
“I made a few mistakes in each of those games where it could have swayed the game each way. If we can cut down on those mistakes, we’re right there in playoff contention.”
And title contention. The Lumberjacks last tied for the Big Sky title in 2003, and although they’ve had four straight winning seasons under 19-year veteran coach Jerome Souers, only their 2013 squad has advanced to the playoffs in the last 12 seasons.
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BIG SKY FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLLS=
Head Coaches Poll
1. Northern Arizona (8 first-place votes), 132 points
2. (tie) Portland State (2), 121
2. (tie) Montana, 121
4. Eastern Washington (2), 112
5. North Dakota (2), 105
6. Weber State, 83
7. (tie) Southern Utah, 73
7. (tie) Montana State, 73
9. Cal Poly, 66
10. Northern Colorado, 43
11. Sacramento State, 30
12. Idaho State, 24
13. UC Davis, 23
Media Poll
1. Northern Arizona (8), 287
2. Montana (7), 283
3. Eastern Washington (5), 269
4. North Dakota (2), 262
5. Portland State (3), 252
6. Weber State, 174
7. Southern Utah, 162
8. Montana State, 157
9. Cal Poly, 153
10. Northern Colorado, 111
11. Idaho State, 58
12. UC Davis, 56
13. Sacramento State, 50
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BIG SKY CONFERENCE FOOTBALL PRESEASON TEAM=
Offensive Player of the Year – Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington
Defensive Player of the Year – Caleb Kidder, DE, Montana
Offense
QB – Case Cookus, Northern Arizona
RB – *John Santiago, North Dakota
RB – Chad Newell, Montana State
FB – *Joe Protheroe, Cal Poly
TE – Steven Wroblewski, Southern Utah
OG – Cameron Young, Weber State
OG – J.P. Flynn, Montana State
C – Blake Porter, Northern Arizona
OT – Jacob Julian, Northern Arizona
OT – Calvin Steyn, Weber State
WR – *Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington
WR – Mike Sharp, Southern Utah
WR – Emmanuel Butler, Northern Arizona
Defense
DE – Caleb Kidder, Montana
DE – Davond Dade, Portland State
DT – Chance Bearnson, Southern Utah
DT – Chuntony Johnson, Northern Colorado
OLB – Mike Needham, Southern Utah
OLB – Mac Bignell, Montana State
ILB – Emmett Tela, Weber State
ILB – Manoah Pearson, Sacramento State
CB – Xavier Coleman, Portland State
CB – Taron Johnson, Weber State
S – Cole Reyes, North Dakota
S – Yamen Sanders, Montana
Special Teams
PK – Jonathan Gonzales, Portland State
P – Tate Lewis, Southern Utah
RS – Ellis Onic II, Northern Colorado
ST – Hakeem Diggs, Northern Colorado
* – unanimous selection
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