Montana Western

[WILDCAT]

Game sponsored by America First.

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Also first 3,000 fans will receive a Blackout shirt for the Blackout game.


Montana Western is a DII out of the Frontier Conference, last year they went 7-4.

Last time these two schools met up was a 62-6 Weber State win back in our 2008 Big Sky Championship season.

Will this year's outcome be any different or will the Bulldogs bring their A-game? It's no question We have ? marks on offense, however Weber should still roll in this one.

I have Weber winning 45-3.


Despite the fact that I'd rather be playing another FCS team, I really actually like this game. For so many years we start the season off on the road, it's nice to get a home game to start and a game we can use to maybe iron out some of our early season jitters.

 

[oldrunner]

There is a reason that we have these guys on our schedule. The same reason that YBU has Portland State, UU has North Dakota, and USU has Idaho State on their schedules. A game like this can be useful in many ways. It really doesn't count for much because you are not playing in your subdivision. Same goes for playing Cal. In that case you are playing up for money. With WM we are paying a smaller fee to play down. We still come out ahead. One of these years we will be able to parlay all of this into 6 home games, like UM does. These non conference, up or down, games are really only about money coming in or going out. Same thing is true in basketball.

It sounds like Western Montana has a strong DII program. That is a good thing. It will make our guys work harder. It sounds like our D will be too much for a DII program to handle. Our offense needs a chance to work out some kinks against a team who will be playing hard and with nothing to lose. Also, we fans are going to get the chance to see players play who may not play much the rest of the way. A little glance at the future. I hope we get a big opening night crowd with a large contingent of students. Maybe, get a little excitement started.

 

[wildkyle]

This will be the first home opener I will miss in a few years. I will be recovering from surgery still.

 

[WILDCAT]

Wow, 9 days till the season opener and this forum is dead. Where is the excitement for Football season to start?

 

[oldrunner]

Wow, 9 days till the season opener and this forum is dead. Where is the excitement for Football season to start?

Just watched a replay of the ISU-WSU game from last year. I'm enjoying the new PlutoTV streaming and replays. This is much improved over what we have had in the past. The Standard has also had much better coverage than we have been used to. I am optimistic for another great year for all sports and teams at WSU. Football looks better than last year. We finished third last year. I don't see us falling back much. The schedule is good and we are undefeated at this point in the season, so we have that going for us. :nod: :clap:

Maybe it's because posters don't have anything to complain about. :lol: :lol:

 

[WILDCAT]

Wow, 9 days till the season opener and this forum is dead. Where is the excitement for Football season to start?

Just watched a replay of the ISU-WSU game from last year. I'm enjoying the new PlutoTV streaming and replays. This is much improved over what we have had in the past. The Standard has also had much better coverage than we have been used to. I am optimistic for another great year for all sports and teams at WSU. Football looks better than last year. We finished third last year. I don't see us falling back much. The schedule is good and we are undefeated at this point in the season, so we have that going for us. :nod: :clap:

Maybe it's because posters don't have anything to complain about. :lol: :lol:

With the state of this forum over the last few years that may be more right than we think :lol:

 

[MrLevski]

Looking forward to the home opener too--even if it is against Montana Western. I'm just thrilled that football is back. Good tune up came since they're playing Cal next week.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Regrettably, I will have to watch the Cats on PLUTO. My wife wasn't willing to waste a three day weekend for Montana Western. But, I will watch them wherever I end up. I'm just looking forward to seeing the Cats hit the field and play someone other than each other. We should get a chance to see our three deep play.

On that note, has anyone been able to see a 2-deep chart?

 

[WSUWildcat]

On that note, has anyone been able to see a 2-deep chart?

This frustrates me every year. How hard would it be to use that new website to publish things like a two deep chart? And usually if I can find one it is out dated before it is published. I am planning on attending the coaches luncheon on Monday, maybe there might be someone who can address this.

 

[SWeberCat02]

On that note, has anyone been able to see a 2-deep chart?

This frustrates me every year. How hard would it be to use that new website to publish things like a two deep chart? And usually if I can find one it is out dated before it is published. I am planning on attending the coaches luncheon on Monday, maybe there might be someone who can address this.

It will be included with the weekly release, which should be out early next week. They always wait until the first week of the season.

 

[Colter_Nuanez56]

Montana Western is an NAIA team, not a Division II team. The Frontier Conference is among the strongest conferences in NAIA with Carroll College in Helena, Montana as perhaps best NAIA program of all time. The Saints have won six national titles since the turn of the 21st century, 43 Frontier titles overall and have a 186-30 record under 16th-year head coach Mike Van Diest.

Montana Tech in Butte is the other premier Frontier program, particularly since Chuck Morrell took over earlier this decade. Tech's top-notch petroleum engineering program has lured several Division I-caliber players to Butte instead, including All-American running back Nolan Saraceni, an elite ball carrier who would have started for either Montana or Montana State last season without question.

The Frontier Conference is just like the Big Sky in Montana in that the state is so lightly recruited outside its borders, many players fall through the cracks. Just as Montana and Montana State have several of Mountain West or Pac 12 caliber players from in-state who simply didn't get looks other than the Big Sky schools, the same could be said for the Frontier schools, just like Western.

Western is the teaching school in Montana. They also have a unique academic method — students go to one class at a time for 3 weeks, several hours a day, before moving on to their next course. It attracts many students who don't have the attention span for full 15-hour semester course loads.

Former UM Western head coach B.J. Robertson is now the special teams coordinator and director of high school operations at Montana State. He did a great job recruiting Montana kids during his time at Western. The Bulldogs have several players on their roster who could play in the Big Sky Conference.

Those players include:

- George Sherwood, a 6-3, 230-pound senior wide receiver and punter who was a former state champion long jumper and still Kalispell Flathead's single-season leader in touchdown catches after snaring 17 his senior year. Once had a preferred walk-on offer at Montana State.

- Jay Owens, a 6-0, 195-pound senior safety. Also a former state champion hurdle runner from Missoula who had a walk-on offer from Montana.

- Jason Ferris, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound sophomore linebacker from Twin Bridges who had preferred walk-on offers to both Big Sky in-state schools. He's the younger brother of Peyton Ferris, the Big Sky women's basketball MVP last season from Montana State.

- Hunter Thomsen, a 5-10, 205-pound running back who was the best tailback in the state as a senior at Great Falls CMR in 2012. He is probably the best running back in the Frontier now.

- Donovan Hucke, a 6-2, 290-pound senior center who had offers from both Montana and Montana State but is a Dillon native and elected to stay home for college.

Montana Western opened its season with a 43-24 win over Southern Oregon, the 2014 NAIA national champion and 2015 NAIA national runner-up. SOU was coached for a long while by Craig Howard, Tim Tebow's high school coach, and put up some of the most staggering offensive numbers you'll ever see before Howard passed away.

All that said, Western has a handful of players who will not look overmatched against Weber State. But WSU will overwhelm them with size, speed, physicality and depth. Should be no problem for Weber to start 1-0.

 

[oldrunner]

Thanks.

This kind of team can make you look bad if you're not ready to play.

Look no farther than BYU's 20-6 win over Portland State. I didn't see it, but they tell me that it was closer than the score might indicate. Who would have predicted that. The talking heads had BYU winning by 33. :lol:

 

[SWWeatherCat]

I attended the BYU/PSU game and couldn't decide if I thought PSU was looking very good or BYU was looking much worse than advertised. I think it is probably a little of both. PSU has good size on the lines and their secondary looks very capable. BYU's D is decent but I hesitate to give them the credit some are as PSU and their FR QB shouldn't have been able to control and move the ball as much against the caliber of D BYU has. I think PSU will do quite well in the BSC this season and suspect BYU will not live up to expectations, which always seems sky high.

 

[WSUWildcat]

Thanks.

This kind of team can make you look bad if you're not ready to play.

Look no farther than BYU's 20-6 win over Portland State. I didn't see it, but they tell me that it was closer than the score might indicate. Who would have predicted that. The talking heads had BYU winning by 33. :lol:

Vegas line was BYU by 34.

 

[WILDCAT]

Montana Western is an NAIA team, not a Division II team. The Frontier Conference is among the strongest conferences in NAIA with Carroll College in Helena, Montana as perhaps best NAIA program of all time. The Saints have won six national titles since the turn of the 21st century, 43 Frontier titles overall and have a 186-30 record under 16th-year head coach Mike Van Diest.

Montana Tech in Butte is the other premier Frontier program, particularly since Chuck Morrell took over earlier this decade. Tech's top-notch petroleum engineering program has lured several Division I-caliber players to Butte instead, including All-American running back Nolan Saraceni, an elite ball carrier who would have started for either Montana or Montana State last season without question.

The Frontier Conference is just like the Big Sky in Montana in that the state is so lightly recruited outside its borders, many players fall through the cracks. Just as Montana and Montana State have several of Mountain West or Pac 12 caliber players from in-state who simply didn't get looks other than the Big Sky schools, the same could be said for the Frontier schools, just like Western.

Western is the teaching school in Montana. They also have a unique academic method — students go to one class at a time for 3 weeks, several hours a day, before moving on to their next course. It attracts many students who don't have the attention span for full 15-hour semester course loads.

Former UM Western head coach B.J. Robertson is now the special teams coordinator and director of high school operations at Montana State. He did a great job recruiting Montana kids during his time at Western. The Bulldogs have several players on their roster who could play in the Big Sky Conference.

Those players include:

- George Sherwood, a 6-3, 230-pound senior wide receiver and punter who was a former state champion long jumper and still Kalispell Flathead's single-season leader in touchdown catches after snaring 17 his senior year. Once had a preferred walk-on offer at Montana State.

- Jay Owens, a 6-0, 195-pound senior safety. Also a former state champion hurdle runner from Missoula who had a walk-on offer from Montana.

- Jason Ferris, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound sophomore linebacker from Twin Bridges who had preferred walk-on offers to both Big Sky in-state schools. He's the younger brother of Peyton Ferris, the Big Sky women's basketball MVP last season from Montana State.

- Hunter Thomsen, a 5-10, 205-pound running back who was the best tailback in the state as a senior at Great Falls CMR in 2012. He is probably the best running back in the Frontier now.

- Donovan Hucke, a 6-2, 290-pound senior center who had offers from both Montana and Montana State but is a Dillon native and elected to stay home for college.

Montana Western opened its season with a 43-24 win over Southern Oregon, the 2014 NAIA national champion and 2015 NAIA national runner-up. SOU was coached for a long while by Craig Howard, Tim Tebow's high school coach, and put up some of the most staggering offensive numbers you'll ever see before Howard passed away.

All that said, Western has a handful of players who will not look overmatched against Weber State. But WSU will overwhelm them with size, speed, physicality and depth. Should be no problem for Weber to start 1-0.

Are you talking about this year? Cause according to their athletics website UMW opened their season at home against the College of Idaho and won 16-14?

 

[oldrunner]

Either way, it is good for them to have a game under their belt. It allowed them to work out those first game bugs.

We know that they are a winning program at their level and we can surmise that they have a lot of pride. I think we will see the very best that they have. I feel that it will be a good game to watch. There is going to be a lot of competitive spirit. The game could become a blow out, but I bet they compete with us for a least a half. They could become wore down by our strength and depth, but that can take a while. There are no easy games against teams with pride.

 

[Colter_Nuanez56]

Montana Western is an NAIA team, not a Division II team. The Frontier Conference is among the strongest conferences in NAIA with Carroll College in Helena, Montana as perhaps best NAIA program of all time. The Saints have won six national titles since the turn of the 21st century, 43 Frontier titles overall and have a 186-30 record under 16th-year head coach Mike Van Diest.

Montana Tech in Butte is the other premier Frontier program, particularly since Chuck Morrell took over earlier this decade. Tech's top-notch petroleum engineering program has lured several Division I-caliber players to Butte instead, including All-American running back Nolan Saraceni, an elite ball carrier who would have started for either Montana or Montana State last season without question.

The Frontier Conference is just like the Big Sky in Montana in that the state is so lightly recruited outside its borders, many players fall through the cracks. Just as Montana and Montana State have several of Mountain West or Pac 12 caliber players from in-state who simply didn't get looks other than the Big Sky schools, the same could be said for the Frontier schools, just like Western.

Western is the teaching school in Montana. They also have a unique academic method — students go to one class at a time for 3 weeks, several hours a day, before moving on to their next course. It attracts many students who don't have the attention span for full 15-hour semester course loads.

Former UM Western head coach B.J. Robertson is now the special teams coordinator and director of high school operations at Montana State. He did a great job recruiting Montana kids during his time at Western. The Bulldogs have several players on their roster who could play in the Big Sky Conference.

Those players include:

- George Sherwood, a 6-3, 230-pound senior wide receiver and punter who was a former state champion long jumper and still Kalispell Flathead's single-season leader in touchdown catches after snaring 17 his senior year. Once had a preferred walk-on offer at Montana State.

- Jay Owens, a 6-0, 195-pound senior safety. Also a former state champion hurdle runner from Missoula who had a walk-on offer from Montana.

- Jason Ferris, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound sophomore linebacker from Twin Bridges who had preferred walk-on offers to both Big Sky in-state schools. He's the younger brother of Peyton Ferris, the Big Sky women's basketball MVP last season from Montana State.

- Hunter Thomsen, a 5-10, 205-pound running back who was the best tailback in the state as a senior at Great Falls CMR in 2012. He is probably the best running back in the Frontier now.

- Donovan Hucke, a 6-2, 290-pound senior center who had offers from both Montana and Montana State but is a Dillon native and elected to stay home for college.

Montana Western opened its season with a 43-24 win over Southern Oregon, the 2014 NAIA national champion and 2015 NAIA national runner-up. SOU was coached for a long while by Craig Howard, Tim Tebow's high school coach, and put up some of the most staggering offensive numbers you'll ever see before Howard passed away.

All that said, Western has a handful of players who will not look overmatched against Weber State. But WSU will overwhelm them with size, speed, physicality and depth. Should be no problem for Weber to start 1-0.

Are you talking about this year? Cause according to their athletics website UMW opened their season at home against the College of Idaho and won 16-14?

You are correct. I looked at a webpage from last season :wall:

 

[n.ogdencat]

Notes on the game (as always, very well done by Paul):
https://weberstatesports.com/documents/2017/8/29//Game_1_Montana_Western.pdf

Finally, we get to see a 2-Deep. There are some surprises too.

 

[SWeberCat02]

Notes on the game (as always, very well done by Paul):
https://weberstatesports.com/documents/2017/8/29//Game_1_Montana_Western.pdf

Finally, we get to see a 2-Deep. There are some surprises too.

Landon Stice has a broken hand and Arnold Lopez has a torn ACL, that's why they aren't on the 2-deep. Both plan to play this season.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Notes on the game (as always, very well done by Paul):
https://weberstatesports.com/documents/2017/8/29//Game_1_Montana_Western.pdf

Finally, we get to see a 2-Deep. There are some surprises too.

Landon Stice has a broken hand and Arnold Lopez has a torn ACL, that's why they aren't on the 2-deep. Both plan to play this season.

Those aren't the two that I was surprised about. Heard that both would be out this game. Lopez is going to try to play even with the ACL, and Stice could be ready to go as early as next week. I was surprised by the 2-deep on the lines.

However, there weren't a lot of injuries from camp like in years past. I think that has something to do with their out of season conditioning.