2015 Big Sky Preview
Head Coach: mraston (70-11); 6th season at NAU;
Last Season’s Record: 15-2 (9-0); Conference Champs
Last Playoff Appearance: Season 114; 3rd Round
Key Matchup(s): Week 3 - at #23 Youngstown St, Week 4 - at #18 Alabama A&M, Week 5 - at #9 Duquesne, Week 13 - at # 21 Sam Houston St.
Star Power: QB Donald Robinson, TE Robert Norman, TE Jonathan Evans, DL Eugene Salinas, P Peter Carlson
Notable Additions: 5 Star QB – Willie Lynch, 4 Star LB – William Booth, 4 Star TE – Scott Townsend
Notable Subtractions: WR Ronald Gray, TE David Doherty, OL Ricky Wright, OL Lawrence Finley, DL Jeff Barker, LB Robert Smith, LB Gary Morgan, DB Samuel Weber, DB John Jones
Notable Returnees: QB Donald Robinson, 5165 yds passing, 43 TD’s; RB Marvin Whitehead, 2246 yards rushing, 24 TD’s; RB Bryan Sanchez, 1061 yards receiving, 4 TD’s;
The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks will have a winning season if things don’t go hay wire for them against the teams that they have a talent edge on. Coach mraston has not forgotten his lone Big Sky loss over five seasons and aims to make sure that his game plan is prepared to finish the game against the Big Sky's best. This team is not thinking about a winning record but is wondering if they have what it takes to contend for not only the Big Sky but also the National Championship.
Head Coach: eblake (11-4); 2nd season at Cal Poly
Last Season’s Record: 11-4 (7-2); North Divison Champs
Last Playoff Appearance: Season 114; 1st Round
Star Power: QB Jacob Aguirre, WR Francisco Ingram, WR Paul Newsome, TE John Wilson, OL Thomas Wise, OL Gregory Schneider, DL George Grant, K Philip Johnston
Notable Additions: 4 Star RB – Thomas Cooley, 4 Star OL Mario Brown, 4 Star TE Patrick Walker
Notable Subtractions: RB Harold Alexander, OL Jack Simmons, OL Jesus Jennings DL Thomas Phillips, DL John Spaulding, LB Chris Lovell, LB Fred Daniel, DB Michael Rogers, DB David Cunningham,
Notable Returnees: QB Jacob Aguirre, 2844 yards passing, 13 TD’s; DL George Grant, 66 tackles, 12 sacks
The Cal Poly Mustangs will have a winning season. The question is can they matchup with the teams in the Big Sky South to win the conference championship. On paper, they are the most talented team in the conference and one of the most talented in the nation. They are looking for this year to be a year that they bring the conference championship back to the North division, to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs and get in the conversation for the National Championship.
Head Coach: bama2448 (23-5); 3rd season at Sam Houston St.
Last Season’s Record: 12-2 (7-1)
Last Playoff Appearance: Season 114; 1st Round
Key Matchup(s): Week 3 – at #23 Northeastern, Week 4 – at #8 Eastern Kentucky, Week 8 – at #17 Cal Poly, Week 13 – vs #13 Northern Arizona
Star Power: RB Earl Day, WR Juan Freeman,
Notable Additions: 4 Star OL Samuel Cordero
Notable Subtractions: WR Mark Stevens, OL Robert Billings, DL Ernest Simpson, LB Brian McKinney, DB Frank Kane,
Notable Returnees: QB Leo Lucas, 4876 yards passing, 38 TD’s; RB Earl Day 613 yards rushing, 13 TD’s; DL Eric McCoy, 56 tackles, 7 sacks; DB Robert Duncan, 4 interceptions, 12 pass deflections
The Sam Houston St. Bearkats will have a winning season. The question is whether or not they are ready to take the next step and be a serious contender for the conference championship. Coach bama has done a great job building the program but the lack of star power is cause for concern when it comes to the big games.
Head Coach: phimutau (30-14); 4th season at Texas St.
Last Season’s Record: 8-6 (5-3)
Last Playoff Appearance: 114; 1st Round
Key Matchup(s): Week 4 - at #23 Northeastern, Week 5 – vs. #10 Holy Cross, Week #11 – vs. #21 Sam Houston St, Week 12 – at #13 Northern Arizona
Star Power: OL Anthony Griffin
Notable Additions: 5 Star P Alfred Harris, 4 Star RB William Fowler, 4 Star TE Fred Ross
Notable Subtractions: QB Peter O’Donell, WR Sean Griggs, OL Scott Brown, OL Travis Mejia, K Peter Wilkes, P Robert Morales,
Notable Returnees: RB William Porter 1593 yards rushing, 10 rushing TD’s, 81 receptions 5 receiving TD’s; DL James Richardson 62 tackles, 7 sacks, DB Reginald Cleveland 9 pass deflections
The Texas St Bobcats will have a winning season but they are looking to do more than that in Coach phimutau’s 4th season at the helm. The players are all his and his system should be in place. Do the Bobcats have the talent to win the Big Sky North and make a deep run in the playoffs? That will be answered in Week 4 when they go head to head against Northeastern. A win, or even a strong showing, means that the Big Sky needs to be ready when the matchup against the Bobcats.
Head Coach: spcbuzzard (7-6); 2nd season at St. Mary’s
Last Season’s Record: 7-6 (4-4)
Last Playoff Appearance: Season 102; 1st Round
Star Power: P James Ortiz
Notable Additions: 4 Star WR Floyd Jenkins
Notable Subtractions: RB Roy Barnett, WR Sam Miller, WR Robert Love, TE Chester Williams, OL John Grubbs, OL Juan Long, DL Alvin Lambert, DL Paul Bryant, DL Kenneth Cruz, LB William Martin, DB Robert Simmons, DB Allen Burgos, K Mike Davis,
Notable Returnees: QB Thomas Stanley, 3424 yards passing, 23 TD’s;
The St. Mary’s Spires will have a winning season if the win they games they are supposed to win. St. Mary’s hasn’t been relevant in the Big Sky for over 20 seasons and spcbuzzard hasn’t had much time to implement his system with his players. Depending upon how the sim teams in nonconference play out, this team should find itself on the playoff bubble at the end of regular season play.
Head Coach: jt73walsh (18-22); 4th season at Weber St; coming off a 2 season leave of absence
Last Season’s Record: 4-9 (3-5)
Last Playoff Appearance: Season 112; 1st round
Key Matchup(s): Week 8 – at #13 Northern Arizona,
Week 11 – vs #17 Cal Poly
Star Power: DL David Marquez
Notable Additions: OL Terry Hunt
Notable Subtractions: RB Craig Salinas, RB Herbert Jones, WR Martin Rodriguez, OL Howard Laird, OL Chris Gamble, OL Melvin McCoy, LB Donald Martin, DB Steven Miller,
Notable Returnees: QB Frank Smith, 2716 yards passing, 15 TD’s; DL Raymond White, 6 sacks, 23 tackles; DB Michael Sanchez 10 pass deflections, 2 interceptions
The Weber State Wildcats will have a winning season if the seniors come to play and they don’t encounter any problems against the Sim coached teams. The have a favorable nonconference schedule. The Big Sky will need to get their shots in now because Coach jtwalsh is a proven coach that knows how to build a winner. This won’t be their year, but they might sneak their way into the playoffs and create some great momentum for the rebuild.
