In the FCS Huddle: Big Sky newcomers seek to take next step

By Craig Haley, FCS Executive Director/Senior Editor (Sports Network) - The fact the football coaches from the old Great West Conference are demanding much more from their teams suggests a lot about their place in the Big Sky Conference. Their teams belong there. Cal Poly was outstanding in its first season in the Big Sky last year - earning a share of the conference championship - but the other three newcomers weren't nearly as content with their results, even though Southern Utah, North Dakota and UC Davis held their own while all four programs stepped up in class to what has become the biggest FCS conference in the nation. The four will need to put the pedal to the mettle this season. The Big Sky preseason polls that were released Monday reflect the depth of the conference. Cal Poly is expected to be a national Top 15 team again, but it was picked only fourth behind preseason favorite Montana State, Eastern Washington and Montana in both the conference coaches and media polls. North Dakota was picked seventh and Southern Utah ninth in both polls, which were exactly the same except for UC Davis was tabbed 11th in the media poll ahead of Weber State and the two were flip-flopped in the coaches poll. Quarterback and three-time Walter Payton Award finalist DeNarius McGhee of Montana State was named the preseason offensive player of the year and Montana linebacker Jordan Tripp, the 2012 Buck Buchanan Award finalist, was selected as the preseason defensive player of the year. All 13 schools were represented on the preseason all-conference team. Northern Arizona had the most selections with six. In the first season of the Big Sky's recent expansion, Cal Poly shared the title with Eastern Washington and Montana State, going 9-3 overall and 7-1 in the conference and reaching the FCS playoffs. Southern Utah finished 5-6 overall, but was 4-4 in the conference and tied for fifth place. North Dakota, a co-champion with Cal Poly in the final season of the Great West Conference in 2011, went 5-6 and 3-5, while UC Davis finished 4-7 and 3-5, with both teams part of a tie for eighth place. SUU and UND hung their hats on wins over national power Montana. "Cal Poly was super," Southern Utah coach Ed Lamb said, "but the rest of the old GWC teams need to step up our consistency of play in order to earn the respect of this great conference." "Our players learned, No. 1, of the competitiveness of the Big Sky," Cal Poly coach Tim Walsh said, "and that each and every week becomes a championship week and playoff game. You will find yourself in the middle of the pack if you don't look at it that way. You will be on the outside looking in." Among the four teams, only UC Davis returns its starting quarterback, fifth- year senior Randy Wright. But the Aggies have a new head coach in Ron Gould, who replaced Bob Biggs after his 20-year run. During spring practices, Cal Poly's triple option didn't get an answer at quarterback from a five-player competition. The QB derby includes junior Vince Moraga, the backup to Andre Broadous last season. Southern Utah has to replace San Diego Chargers seventh-round selection Brad Sorensen. Junior college transfer Aaron Cantu appeared to grab the reins in the spring, but recent Oregon State transfer Richie Harrington figures to factor into the picture. Redshirt freshmen Joe Mollberg and Ryan Bartels both hope to win the starting job at North Dakota. "I thought all four of us were nice additions to the league. Obviously, Cal Poly came in and made the playoffs, but I think each one of us fit in well," UND coach Chris Mussman said. "The biggest thing we learned, especially from the games where we were kind of overwhelmed, is you cannot make mistakes. You make one and things just start to steamroll and the game gets away from you. You have to play smart, sound football for 60 minutes. And, offensively, you have to be explosive and score quickly at times. There are not a lot of slow-it down, methodical-type teams in the Big Sky and we found that out quickly." BIG SKY FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLLS Voted on by Head Coaches 1. Montana State (8 first-place votes), 140 points 2. Eastern Washington (3), 130 3. Montana (2), 111 4. Cal Poly, 109 5. Northern Arizona, 104 6. Sacramento State, 88 7. North Dakota, 66 8. Northern Colorado, 63 9. Southern Utah, 57 10. Portland State, 49 11. Weber State, 48 12. UC Davis, 37 13. Idaho State, 12 Voted on by Media 1. Montana State (31), 596 2. Eastern Washington (12), 566 3. Montana (3), 492 4. Cal Poly (1), 466 5. Northern Arizona, 457 6. Sacramento State (1), 374 7. North Dakota, 309 8. Northern Colorado, 239 9. Southern Utah, 228 10. Portland State, 212 11. UC Davis, 191 12. Weber State, 164 13. Idaho State, 74 PRESEASON ALL-BIG SKY TEAM Offensive MVP - DeNarius McGhee, Sr., QB, Montana State Defensive MVP - Jordan Tripp, Sr., LB, Montana Offense QB - DeNarius McGhee, Sr., Montana State RB - Zach Bauman, Sr., Northern Arizona RB - Cody Kirk, Sr., Montana State FB - Dalton Turay, Jr., UC Davis OG - Tyler Worthley, Sr., Sacramento State OG - Gavin Farr, Sr., Sacramento State C - Mitch Gaulke, Sr., Southern Utah OT - Danny Kistler, Sr., Montana OT - Giovanni Sani, Sr., Cal Poly WR - Greg Hardin, Sr., North Dakota WR - Tanner Bleskin, Sr., Montana State WR - Fatu Moala, Sr., Southern Utah WR - Morris Norrise, Sr., Sacramento State TE - R.J. Rickert, Jr., Northern Arizona K - Colton Cook, Sr.,Southern Utah Return - Greg Hardin, Sr., North Dakota Defense DE - Zack Wagenman, Jr., Montana DE - Brad Daly, Sr. Helena, Mont. Montana State DT - Sullivan Grosz, Sr., Cal Poly DT - Tim Wilkinson, Sr., Northern Arizona OLB - Jordan Tripp, Sr., Montana OLB - Trevor Spence, Sr., Idaho State ILB - Ronnie Hamlin, Sr., Eastern Washington ILB - Clarence Bumpas, Sr., Northern Colorado ILB - Anthony Morales, Sr., Weber State CB - Anders Battle, Sr., Northern Arizona CB - T.J. Lee III, Sr., Eastern Washington S - Lucky Dozier, Sr., Northern Arizona S - Allen Brown, Sr., Eastern Washington P - Andy Wilder, Sr., Northern Arizona Special Teams Chris Judge, Sr., Cal Poly 07/15 13:53:45 ET