The Bottom Line - Week 11

By Chris Kelly

For the second straight week, Cal Poly faced an explosive offense, and for the second straight week that offense got the best of them. Eastern Washington, who came in leading the Big Sky in most offensive categories, dropped Cal Poly to 7-2 after beating the Mustangs, 38-21, on Saturday afternoon in Cheney, Wash. The two teams traded touchdowns early on to even the score at 14. After that, EWU was able to turn it on and pull away.

After Cal Poly tied the score early in the 3^rd quarter, the Eagles outscored the Cal Poly 24-7 behind the arm of Erik Meyer. Meyer, who threw for 417 yards connected on two scoring passes and Toke Kefu punched on in from one yard out. Cal Poly would take on one more score to finish the scoring. Anthony Garnett threw for over 300 yards again, and added three touchdown passes. Jordan Beck led the defense with 21 tackles (not a misprint), 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

CK's Take: Cal Poly's defense was up against it on Saturday. As good as this unit has been all season, they just ran into an offense playing at a peak right now. It would take a lot to convince me the Eastern Washington won't pound on Montana State this next weekend, and get ready for the playoffs. That team is playing great football. A week after allowing UC Davis nearly 500 yards, Eastern Washington put up nearly 600 yards in a season high effort. The Mustangs were able to pressure Meyer at times, but the Eagles had some nice balance on the ground and Meyer just made play after play. I don't want to be the coach that has to play this team in the next few weeks.

As for the Mustangs, the running game was pretty much muzzled, (2 yards rushing) which bestowed the pressure on Anthony Garnett. Sure he put up over 300 yards and three scores in a comeback effort, but completed less than 50% of his passes, and threw three interceptions. When a team becomes one-dimensional it becomes very difficult to win unless your quarterback is on point. Anthony Garnett road woes continue something we'll have to watch this week. 

Cal Poly has had some touch luck of late. First they a get a Davis team (in a rivalry game) coming off two losses, and lose a tough game. This past week it was Eastern Washington. The Eagles had played mediocre towards the beginning of the season, but the Mustangs caught them in the middle of their best stretch football. Oh, and don't look now, but those Northern Colorado Bears (the Mustangs opponent this week) we were all feeling so bad for might just be working things out at just the right time.

Speaking of those Bears, they laid one on Southern Utah last weekend as UNC won for the second time this season 42-7. The Bears were led by Nick Hager, who started at quarterback in place of the injured Tony Christensen. Hager was 18-23 passing and had 243 all-purpose yards. He accounted for four of the six Bears scores including two touchdown passes to Vincent Jackson, who tallied 82 yards. Andre Wilson and Jahir Waterman combined for over 140 yards on the ground to pace the Bears. Nick DiPadova, and Ryan Palmer led their respective teams defensively with 15 and 13 tackles.

CK's Take: Well I picked just the right week to jump back on the Northern Colorado bandwagon. UNC finally grabbed that second win and with it made a mess of the race for the championship, which I'll discuss later. So out goes Tony Christensen and in comes Nick Hager, who immediately leads his team to a win. Makes you wonder if Hager deserves another start? The Bears, however, did live up their end of the bargain on defense holding the Thunderbirds to just 319 yards of offense. In fact, the Bears only gained 73 yards more than SUU, which isn't the story told by the final score.

The Bears were able to run the ball a little, which opened up the pass for Hager. Now by no means were the Bears rolling up rushing yardage against a tough SUU front seven, but this is really a key to understanding how the Bears won. The Bears needed some moderate success on the ground to help open things up for Hager, which happened. SUU, conversely, loves to get Casey Rehrer moving with his feet to really give defenses fits. The Bears defense did a tremendous job containing Rehrer to only 37 yards and just 224 yards of total offense. That is way below Rehrer's average, and with his ability to run taken away the offense stalled. Then you throw in the +4 turnover margin in favor of the Bears which helps explain how a win turned into a blowout. The question now becomes whether the Bears can continue this trend and grab a piece of that conference title.

In Utah, the North Dakota State Bison won their 2nd consecutive game defeating Weber State, 31-17. The Bison were led by Kyle Steffes, who ran for a career-high 176 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Steve Walker had another efficient game completing 8 of 12 passes for 141 yards. Walker's favorite target was Travis White who scored twice on catches of 53 and 5 yards. The defense was highlighted by Jayd Kittleson who had 14 tackles and a forced fumble.

Quick Hits: This win keeps the slim advantage the Great West had over the Big Sky coming into play. The current count stands at 6-5 with three games to play. As for North Dakota State, this team continues to play excellent football. The defense had been playing well all year long, and the switch to Steve Walker at quarterback has seemed to ignite the offense over the past couple week. What a game this sets up in Davis this weekend against the Aggies.

And the final game of the weekend involved South Dakota State who put the hurt on Augustana 38-9. The guys who did most of the damage were the big three on the Jackrabbit offense, Brad Nelson, Anthony Watson and Brian Janecek. Nelson threw for 250 yards and four touchdown passes. Watson added 151 on the ground, while Janecek had 141 yards receiving. Defensively, James Epps picked off two passes, and returned one 62 yards for a score. Hank McCall and Chris Coauette each had ten tackles.

Title, Playoffs, and Bears, oh my!

Two weeks left, and it seems only right that nearly nothing is decided in this first season of Great West action. Four teams still have a chance to at least share the conference championship. Cal Poly is still fighting for a playoff spot. And now the Bears have emerged with a chance to win a share of this title. With their win three teams sit with one loss. This should be one heck of a finish, so let's break it all down starting with how each team can win the conference title.

Cal Poly: With a win this weekend, guaranteed at least a share of the title. If Cal Poly wins, and UC Davis loses, Cal Poly wins it outright.

UC Davis: With a win this weekend, also guaranteed of a share of the title. Can win title outright if Northern Colorado beats Cal Poly this weekend, and then UNC loses to South Dakota State the following weekend.

Northern Colorado: Can gain at least a share of the title with win this weekend and Aggies loss. Can win title outright if aforementioned happens, and then the Bears win next weekend against the Jackrabbits. Will still share title if they win, and Aggies win, but must win the following weekend against South Dakota State.

South Dakota State: The Jacks also still have an outside shot to share the title. SDSU would need UNC to beat Cal Poly, NDSU to win in Davis, and then win against Northern Colorado in the final week. With this scenario four teams would finish with two losses, and all four would share the first-ever conference championship.

For the next few seasons four teams all still in provisional status and waiting out their four year period before they are playoff eligible. This leaves just Cal Poly and Southern Utah as the only teams that could be a part of postseason play. Just two weeks ago Cal Poly was undefeated, and ranked No. 5 in the nation. They seemed a lock for a playoff spot. Two weeks later, and two losses later, things are a little more concerning. So where does Cal Poly sit with just two games remaining? Well to answer that question I turned to Matt Dougherty, who covers I-AA at the national level for the Sports Network. I asked Matt if Cal Poly wins their final two games, which by no means are assured, where do they sit in the playoff pecking order?

Matt: "I don't see Cal Poly having much trouble at 9-2. Other conferences have beat up 
on each other the last few weeks (who could have imagined SFA is now 5-4) and will 
continue to in the final weeks. They have the win at Montana State, the win at NDSU 
looks better every week. 8-3 is a possibility, but that's where not having a voice on the 
committee could end up hurting.  My special playoff report column came out Monday, 
which analyzed every team that still has a shot at the playoffs and gives an outlook on 
their remaining schedule/chances. It will give a good base for Cal Poly's chances to 
make the postseason."

Link to playoff report: 
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/news/AGN3588402.htm

Week 11 Games

Or should we call it showdown Saturday? All six teams are finally all in conference 
action this weekend. No non-conference games, no Big Sky opponents. Just Great West 
football in three big games this weekend. Each game involves someone vying for a piece 
of the title and if hard pressed I could make a case for any of these six teams winning their 
respective game this weekend. It should be a great weekend of conference action. Last 
week I posted my first 4-0 week in a long while running my record on the season to 
32-10 (.762)

South Dakota State @Southern Utah

South Dakota State takes to the road for its final two games, the first stop in Cedar City, 
Utah to meet the Thunderbirds. The game marks the first ever meeting between the two 
schools. Both teams certainly have big reasons beyond pride to let it all hang out in the 
final weeks. South Dakota State still has a shot at the conference title, and Southern Utah 
with wins in its final two weeks could finish above .500 for the first time since 2000. 

For South Dakota State, they really just need to continue the offensive balance. With the 
combination of Brad Nelson passing the ball and Anthony Watson running it, they've had 
good success all season. When one has been shut down, the team has struggled. This week 
the focus will be to get Watson going, but the difficulty against this athletic front seven of 
the Thunderbirds is finding some holes to run through. Southern Utah's defense is 
tremendous against the run and slowing it. Coming into play this week they are allowing 
just 103 yards per game at 2.8 per carry. This is one of those games where Watson is a 
good enough back that he'll make a few plays, but this defense has a way of slowing 
things. Don't be fooled by last week's score into thinking that the Jacks can run all over 
this team. It won't sit well how this played last week with Coach Wes Meyer, and he'll 
have his guys more than ready this weekend. Where South Dakota State has to win the 
game on this side of the ball is with the arm of Brad Nelson. The battle will be up front 
where the offensive line must protect Nelson and give him some time to make plays. The 
Thunderbirds like to bring pressure often and Nelson will see plenty of Marques Harris 
in his face this weekend. Whether the offensive line can keep the pressure away from 
Nelson will determine just how successful SDSU will be on offense. 

The success on offense for Southern Utah rests solely on the shoulders of Casey Rehrer. 
The senior quarterback was so solid over the first six games of the season, but has found 
life a tad more difficult over the last three games. Teams have been defending Rehrer in 
different ways, but always trying to focus on taking Rehrer's comfort level away. When 
he can't scramble or is being slowed with his running the offense has really come to a 
halt over the past couple weeks. With that frustration has set in as Rehrer had been forced 
to do it all through the air. Over the first five games, he threw just three interceptions. If 
you take out the cupcake game against Montana Western, Rehrer has thrown nine picks 
over three games. South Dakota State's defense which has been so solid all season long 
now really knows they have to contain Rehrer. The Jacks play good run defense so the 
chance of the T-birds taking the pressure off of Rehrer by running it with Ryan Filipe is 
slim. The whole game plan has to be focused on Casey Rehrer. They've got to have a spy 
for the quarterback to make sure he doesn't cut loose running the ball, and never let him 
get comfortable in the pocket. This game has the makings of another close battle. I think 
each offense will have some successes, but this will be a game that ends up more of a 
defensive battle. These defenses will both make some big plays, but I expect Southern 
Utah to respond to last week's loss. Giving up 49 points is resting on the minds of that 
defense. As for Rehrer, there's a reason this quarterback just broke the single season 
records for passing attempts, yards, and touchdowns last Saturday. The T-Birds are at 
home this week, and the senior quarterback will cut down the turnovers which have 
plagued the T-Birds over the past few weeks. His play should be enough to lead his 
team to a tight win over a tough Jacks group. Southern Utah 21 South Dakota State 17

Northern Colorado @ Cal Poly

Two teams both looking for a piece of the Great West conference title square off in San 
Luis Obispo, Calif., this weekend. Thanks to the Northern Colorado win this game 
suddenly looks very intriguing. Cal Poly comes in riding a two-game losing streak, while 
UNC just broke a seven-game losing streak.

In order to push the winning streak to two, the Bears will need their offense on its game 
again. Still, though, questions linger about the quarterback situation which makes it 
difficult to determine who we'll see taking snaps this weekend. On one hand you have 
Tony Christensen, who started every game this season, but has had some erratic moments 
over the course of the year. On the other hand you just broke a seven-game losing streak 
in style when backup Nick Hager stepped in and played well. I am of the belief that no 
player should lose their job to an injury, but Christensen had struggled at a few different 
points this season. I don't think Coach O. Kay Dalton is ready to make any sort of 
controversy out of the situation, but it makes for interesting discussion for fans. 
Whichever guy gets the ball, you can bet that Andre Wilson and Jahir Waterman will be 
big pieces of the game plan. The Bears know their offense thrives when the ball is run 
well. It takes so much pressure off the quarterbacks to sit back and look for Vincent 
Jackson streaking down the field. One match up the Bears have to be looking at is 
Vincent Jackson against the Mustang secondary. This group has surrendered over 
800 passing years over the past two weeks, and has been a tad banged up in the 
secondary. Last weekend safety Aaron Williams was hurt and missed the second half. 
He is probable this weekend, but this is a group that has been tattered the past two 
Saturdays. I imagine that the Bears have to like Vincent Jackson running free against 
this group, especially since it may not be the healthiest bunch. The Mustangs defense 
will be charged up after the past two weekends. The running room may be difficult to 
find. The Bears know they have to pass effectively and hold up along the line. The past 
two games have shown improvement from a group that was allowing sacks at an alarming 
rate. The challenge will be much greater this weekend against the Cal Poly front seven. 
Vincent Jackson against this secondary would have me smiling heading into the game but 
I question whether the quarterbacks can get the ball to him enough? If they do, it could be 
another big offensive output against this defense.

For the Mustang offense, it comes down to Anthony Garnett's ability to make plays. 
All of his strongest games have come as a part of home cooking in San Luis Obispo. 
Now Cal Poly comes home again for a monster game, and badly need Garnett to be on 
his game. He needs to avoid poor decisions, and the turnovers that have plagued him. 
The Mustangs could sure use the help of the running game this weekend. Last weekend 
they were held to just two yards and didn't have a running back clear 40 yards. Running 
the ball greatly improves the passing game, and opens up so much more of the playbook, 
this is obvious. But there are some quarterbacks, such as Jon Grant, and Casey Rehrer, 
who can still pick teams apart without a running game. The Mustangs are not one of those 
teams. Cal Poly needs to get that option churning and Geno Randle out in the open. 
Northern Colorado has really has some rough defensive games against very good offenses 
this season. Now the storm has settled and this group has the look of a veteran bunch who 
survived the storm. Over the past two games, they've held their opponents under their 
average yardage allowed and forced six turnovers. Don't tell me that win didn't do 
absolute wonders for this team's confidence last week. This game goes from a "gimme" 
a week ago into another tough road game for the `Stangs. Both teams enter this week with 
something to prove. UNC wants people to badly know last weekend wasn't a fluke, and 
make a statement by putting themselves in position to share or win the conference title. 
The Mustangs come off two rough losses, and their playoff hopes dangling on a cliff. As 
much as the Bears have some great angles to steal this game at home, the Mustangs are 
desperate. Coach Rich Ellerson will challenge his players this week as so much rides 
on this game. I expect this defense will bring it on Saturday and get back to the winning 
formula of the first seven weeks. They'll let Vincent Jackson get his, but pressure will 
force the quarterbacks into some bad decisions. The Bears will make it close, but the 
Mustangs will edge them out in the end. Can you say I-AA playoffs Mustangs? 
Cal Poly 26, Northern Colorado 20

Game of the Week 

North Dakota State @ #20 UC Davis

Trends. The game between the Bison and Aggies marks the seventh between the teams as 
they've split the previous six meetings. UC Davis has won the two previous meeting 
played over the last two season, 23-14, and 35-7. Before that the two teams met four 
times in the D-II playoffs where the Bison got the better of the Aggies in three of the 
four meeting. The only Aggie victory was in 1982 when Ken O'Brien was the quarterback 
of the Aggies. 

Aggie offense vs. Bison Defense. There's no fooling what the Aggie offense depends on, 
the arm of quarterback Jon Grant. Grant leads the league in passing averaging nearly 280 
yards through the air per game. While Grant has been making plays with his arm, what is 
missing is a consistent run game. The Aggies get 90 yards per game from their two backs, 
Nelson Doris, and O.J. Swanigan, but haven't been able to depend on that part of their 
game to move the pile when needed. Enter the Bison defense ranked last in the league 
allowing 133 yards rushing per game. However, that's a deceiving stat since many of the 
teams the Bison have faced have been option teams. Where there's no deception is the 
fact that the Bison have a very strong defense, especially up front. They rank #1 in the 
Great West in scoring defense and total defense, allowing just 283 yards per game. The 
front four of the Bison is a talented group, led by Isaac Snell, Dwight Summerville, 
Alvin Robinson and Travis Ware. This foursome has 25 tackles for losses this season. 
They'll be a challenge for the Aggies offensive line. This is an Aggie offensive line that 
has at times been as solid as can be, but at others has struggled to give their quarterback 
protection and open up holes. The way the Aggies have struggled to run the past few 
weeks, I expect that trend will hold as the Bison front should do a good job of slowing it. 
Then it all comes down to an explosive passing game against the Bison secondary. This 
Bison secondary will be especially challenged by a talented group of receivers. Kevin 
Freeman, Tony Kays, and Jesse Oliva all rank in the top 10 in the conference in 
receptions. Factor in tight end Daniel Fells, who will be a difficult match up for 
whoever is covering him and this a deep and dangerous group. The Bison secondary, 
which has been so terrific against the pass year, will be challenged this weekend. It's 
up to Bobby Babich, Matt Gorman, Craig Dahl, and Jared Essler to rise to the occasion.  

Bison offense vs. Aggie Defense. When you look at these teams it jumps out that both 
teams have very good defenses. Most fans prefer offense though, and North Dakota State 
counters the Aggie explosive offense with a darn good one of their own. They have the 
best one-two running combo in the league in Kyle Steffes, and Cinque Chapman. The two 
rotate series to always have fresh legs in the game which makes life difficult on the 
opposition. Coming into play Steffes is averaging 98 yards per game, while Chapman 
adds another 63. Now while it's easy to talk about this stand out running game and the 
backs, a big part of the credit has to go to this Bison offensive line. This group is big, 
mobile, and will likely be the best line the Aggies defense has seen. They are led by 
center Rob Hunt who one day may be snapping the ball at the next level. For now he 
just wants to continue to own the line of scrimmage. The Aggies know they'll be 
challenged to stop the run, so expect the Aggies to throw the playbook of schemes, and 
stunts at the Bison in order to disrupt the timing, and control that running game. UCD 
will still likely be without linebacker Tom Parisi who missed the Cal Poly game with 
injury. Keep an eye on this piece of the game because they don't get much better than the 
Bison O-line. The other key part of the Bison offense is their quarterback, freshman Steve 
Walker. I always focus on the word freshman because it's a rarity to see one starting. He 
certainly hasn't played like one in his two starts as he's gone 16-23, for 272 yards and 
four touchdowns. The freshman has been anything but to date. It is key to remember that 
the NDSU has yet to need Walker to throw the ball much, just as Coach Bohl wants it for 
a young quarterback. The Bison want to pound it, to open up a few passing opportunities. 
The Aggies want to stop the run and force the pass more than Walker has done over the 
two games. If Walker has to throw more than 20 or 25 times, don't expect that 75% 
completion rate. The question is will more throws lead to more mistakes? Only way 
we'll find out is if the Aggies can slow the run. 

Key Matchup. Steve Walker, QB, North Dakota State vs. UC Davis secondary. The Bison 
pride themselves on a power run game. They love using their talented offensive line to 
control the line of scrimmage and open up holes for Kyle Steffes, and Cinque Chapman. 
I just mentioned how tough this defense is against the run and only allows 90 yards per 
game at only 2.8 per carry. The battle up front between the Aggie defensive line and 
Bison offensive line is sort of a subplot to this match up, but not really the key one in 
my mind. The Bison will eventually rip off a couple big runs, but UC Davis has proven 
that no matter how strong the run game, they will contain it. Against a good run game the 
game plan is always the same for UCD. The Aggies will stack the box, bringing up 
safeties, in order to focus on shutting down the run. What is does, however, is leaves 
the Aggie corners on islands. Expect the Aggies to try to give their corners more help 
than against Cal Poly, but this group will still play plenty of man up. Coach Bob Biggs 
has confidence in his cornerbacks, and Andy Sullivan, Derick Daniels and Angelo Caffese 
are a confident group. No matter how good the DB's perform it's never easy to play a 
good chunk of the game in man coverage. Assuming the Aggies can somewhat contain 
the Bison run game (which by no means is a gimme) then it becomes the freshman Steve 
Walker's job to beat those Aggies corners in man coverage. Being a cornerback is a 
thankless job, because even the best get beat a few times here and there. Can the Aggies 
corners make enough plays throughout the course of the game this weekend to make the 
difference? Steve Walker has played efficient football the past two games, and Coach 
Bohl will be forced to throw much more this weekend if the run stalls. If given the time 
Walker appears capable of making the big plays his team needs. The Aggie corners must 
be on their A game to contain the Bison passing offense, which has to like man coverage 
with the strength of Walker's arm. Walker has some serious ability, and at least in his 
brief experience has proven he can make all the plays. Coach Craig Bohl has to take some 
chances and go downfield a few times. The Bison passing game against the Aggie corners 
will be a battle to watch all day long. If Walker exploits the man coverage, it will be a 
long day for UCD.

X Factor. Jon Grant, QB, UC Davis. Over the first eight games that Jon Grant has run the 
Aggie offense this season, Coach Bob Biggs has to like what he sees. The sophomore 
quarterback has had one heck of a first season as the Aggies signal caller. The last 
quarterback to start as a sophomore was J.T. O'Sullivan, who now plays for the 
Green Bay Packers. O'Sullivan will end up having a better sophomore year statistically, 
(208-341, 26 td's, 3217 yds., 268 yds per game) but remember this was as a member of 
D-II program that played 12 games that year. He didn't see near the physical, and athletic 
teams that Grant has faced all season long in the Aggies second year as a provisional 
I-AA team. Still Jon Grant is averaging more passing yards per game, has an efficiency 
rating just three points below O'Sullivan's, is completing passes at a slightly higher rate, 
and doesn't have as strong of a run game to compliment him. (Read: he's doing this mostly 
on his own) The kid has had one heck of a year, and anyone who thinks otherwise is off 
base. Now he leads his team into the final two games of the season which will be as tough 
as any other two game stretch on the schedule. The last time out though Grant easily played 
his best game of the year against the best defense he's faced all season. Now he faces 
another quality defense in the Bison who can bring the pressure. The Bison will get to 
Grant, maybe not as much as the Mustangs, but this defensive line stacks up well when 
compared to the Mustang line. This season Grant has proven a lot. He doesn't need a 
running game. He can take a big hit. And he still makes play after play when his team 
needs it. The Bison better find a way to slow Grant down, because this quarterback is 
much better than the one that led the Aggies to 59 points and two wins over the NDSU 
the last two seasons. Coach Bohl has no choice but to bring pressure early and often and 
hope Grant make some mistakes. The Bison have the talent up front to make life difficult 
for the Aggies. But the big boys along the line have get to Grant before he releases. Unless 
you knock him out of the game just hitting him consistently won't get it done. It probably 
doesn't help either, that his confidence is beaming after the Cal Poly game. Now the added 
dimension of the run must be prepared for which makes defending him even tougher. 
Aggie fans want to compare him to O'Sullivan because of the sophomore parallel. Maybe 
the only thing missing is the O'Sullivan swagger, and if he gets that, watch out.

The Roundtable Says:

Kent Schmidt, I-aa.org: (6-3)  "UC Davis has looked like the best team in the Great 
West so far this season, aside from losing at Southern Utah.  North Dakota State has lost 
three conference games by a total of eight points and very well could be better then their 
1-3 GWFC record.  NDSU is 2-2 on the road and UCD is 2-1 at home. UC Davis has also 
won the last two games in the series over the past two years.  I like that trend and think it 
will continue to a third straight year with the Aggies winning a close matchup by four.  
UC Davis 28, NDSU 24."

Jeff Kolpack, Fargo Forum: (5-4) "The difference will be Jon Grant. He will easily 
be the best quarterback the Bison have faced all season. UC Davis 24, NDSU 20."

Chris Solari, Argus Leader: (6-3 )  "NDSU at UC DAVIS: A week off after the Aggies' 
big in-state win over Cal Poly should do well to allow Jon Grant and his teammates to 
refocus after and not dwell on a victory of that magnitude. Steve Walker has had 
back-to-back steady performances as NDSU's QB in the last two weeks, and Kyle Steffes 
has run like one would expect a Bison to -- punishing any Weber State player in his way 
last week for 176 yards. However, UC Davis has momentum and home-field advantage in 
its favor, plus one more game after this one. UC Davis 28, NDSU 21."

Mike Mirer, Davis Enterprise: (9-0) "Jon Grant turned in a defining performance at Cal 
Poly two weeks ago. NDSU freshman Steve Walker will likely need to do the same 
Saturday if the Bison are to spoil UCD's dreams of a conference title. The Aggies will 
load up to stop the NDSU running game because that's what they do. The Bison, though 
their statistics in the last two games may suggest otherwise, are not an option team and 
that should free up the Davis defense to help its defensive backs a little. Playing against 
mostly single coverage, the Cal Poly receivers made big play after big play against the 
Aggies. Walker is young and needs to prove he can win a game before we assume that he 
can. Grant stepped over that threshold in San Luis Obispo. A league title within its grasp, 
I like UC Davis to hold off the Bison late. UC Davis 28, NDSU 27"

The Bottom Line: With the exception of two seasons ago, history tells us that these two 
teams always play each other tough. The Aggies have their local rivalries, and the Bison 
do as well, but there is just something extra to this game. It seems to bring out the best in 
the two programs. Maybe it's the respect each has for each other. Maybe it's the success 
each has had over time, as the two have grown together. Whatever it is, this game is good 
for I-AA football, and this year's game has all the makings of a great one. The Aggies 
come off a huge win against Cal Poly, and the Bison have played their best football over 
the past two weeks. The Bison thrive on the run game, something the Aggies are adept at 
stopping. I expect UC Davis to fare well, as they have all year long against good running 
teams. It then comes down to Steve Walker to win this game throwing more than just 12 
passes in a game. No doubt he'll make some plays. You can't help but be impressed with 
what he has done in his brief time as the starting quarterback in the Bison offense. But can 
he hang with Jon Grant? The Bison defensive front has to have their game of the year to 
really make Grant throw early, consistently. What Grant did to Cal Poly despite pressure 
all day was nothing short of amazing. The North Dakota State defense is good, but hasn't 
faced a passing offense even close to this Davis group. Walker will play fairly well, but 
ultimately makes a couple key mistakes this weekend having to carry more of the offense. 
Jon Grant has another big game as Daniel Fells finds the end zone twice. With a week to 
prepare and game plan, plus home field, the Aggies lay claim to at least a share of the first 
ever Great West title. UC Davis 30, North Dakota State 24.

Questions. Comments. Email Chris @ gwfcfootball@hotmail.com.