NAU - Easy Path to Title?

[NAUJacksFan]

This will be NAU’s year. In addition to their explosive offense, I think they’ll have one of the top defenses in the league. They will have the best defensive backfield in the conference and perhaps all of the FCS. LB’s are pretty damn good too. OL is young. But they are very experienced and talented everywhere else.

 

[get'em_griz]

This will be NAU’s year. In addition to their explosive offense, I think they’ll have one of the top defenses in the league. They will have the best defensive backfield in the conference and perhaps all of the FCS. LB’s are pretty damn good too. OL is young. But they are very experienced and talented everywhere else.

It will be interesting to see if NAU can actually pull it off with such a favorable conference schedule. But when you can’t even beat non-scholarship San Diego in the playoffs, a lot of people are going to be skeptical.

 

[AZGrizFan]

9/1/18 Northern Iowa
9/8/18 Drake
9/15/18 at Western Illinois
9/22/18 Sacramento State (7-4)
9/29/18 at Cal Poly (1-10)
10/6/18 Portland State (0-11)
10/13/18 at North Dakota (3-8)
10/27/18 UC Davis (5-6)
11/3/18 at Southern Utah (9-3)
11/10/18 at Idaho (***)
11/17/18 Montana State (5-6)

One could argue WE have an easy path to the BSC title as well. UNI & Drake at home non-conference. In conference, no EWU. No Weber. No NAU. Two of our three toughest games (Suck St & MSU) are at home. Only real "challenge" would be at SUU, but by that time we should be humming along nicely. In fact, with NAU facing both Weber AND SUU, I'd argue they have a more difficult schedule than we do (except that they get SUU at home).

It is close their ooc is a lil tougher with EWU, however UNI and WIU are equal to utep and Missouri st. Then Griz have Drake.
I think UND, MSU ,SUU and Idaho Griz will be underdogs in those games. POly and Sac are toss ups.
PSU and DAVIS are only two games Griz should be favored.

Nau will be favored in all of their Conference games except two that will be toss ups (SUU and WSU)
If NAU loses more then 3 games (should be 2) Jerome should be shown the door!

Just my one cent!

I think it's comical what goes on around this board. We finished with the exact same record as NAU last year (yes they had one more conference win), BEAT NAU last year, and NAU couldn't beat non-scholly San Diego in the playoffs----AT HOME, but suddenly NAU is all-world and we're gonna struggle to beat teams that were 1-10 last year. This place never disappoints. Christ on a crutch, having BH return should be good for at LEAST two extra wins right? I mean he is the second coming and all....

 

[MT Jack]

Jerome Souers was interviewed on sports360az.com this week and said that NAU's offense will be the team's strength but he feels positive with what the defense has shown. UC Davis and Sacramento State look to be the harder road games. Weber State, S. Utah and EWU at home will be battles. On a positive note, I'll get the annual heartbreak vs. SUU out of the way early this year.

Cautiously optimistic going into the season but I'm not even close to declaring the Jacks Big Sky Conference kings.

On a side note, this may of interest to Griz fans. Don Read's son was hired on as NAU's special teams coordinator. https://nauathletics.com/coaches.aspx?rc=279&path=football

I'm sad the Griz aren't on NAU's schedule this year. Whether things are up or down in Missoula, games vs. UM are never dull.

 

[MT Jack]

7-4 is a realistic outlook. I'd be excited with 8-3. But don't think the Jacks win the Big Sky as someone like EWU or WSU gets hot.

 

[SaskGriz]

Is their star quarterback playing or did he "spit the dummy" again and is having a time-out with his blankie for nap time?

 

[kemajic]

Is their star quarterback playing or did he "spit the dummy" again and is having a time-out with his blankie for nap time?

I believe NAU is counting heavily on their junior QB who had the melt-down in Wash/Griz last year. He will not have to contend with Montana again as NAU is not on the schedule in either 2018 or 2019.

https://nauathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3659

 

[Ursa Major]

Is their star quarterback playing or did he "spit the dummy" again and is having a time-out with his blankie for nap time?

I believe NAU is counting heavily on their junior QB who had the melt-down in Wash/Griz last year. He will not have to contend with Montana again as NAU is not on the schedule in either 2018 or 2019.

https://nauathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3659

I would love to see them in the playoffs It would be great to see Bitch Baby back in WGS.

 

[SloStang]

I would not put the W up just yet on the Cal Poly game. Yes we had a bad 2017 and were devastated by injuries, but over the last decade the Cal Poly/Montana games have all been great battles with Cal Poly winning the last three. I expect Cal Poly to be back in the thick of things in 2018 and I am looking forward to the Griz coming to SLO.

 

[MT Jack]

I would love to see them in the playoffs It would be great to see Bitch Baby back in WGS.

The world is full of woulda's, coulda's and shoulda's. It's no stretch of the imagination to say that NAU woulda had a different day if Cookus hadn't initiated that unnecessary block last year. Looking back on it, I think that Cookus should have responded in a different manner to to the day's events and the crowd's chirping. I like that he showed some passion but coming unglued was bad form.

I gotta give it to Griz fans as I had more shit talked to me as an NAU fan on the road at Washington-Grizzly Stadium than at ASU, U of A, Montana State or UNLV games combined. Your fans have ability to get under the skin of opposing teams and, just like the fabled "noisy cold/cold noise" so often regaled upon here, it can have an effect on the game. I wish NAU fans were loud at times when the scoreboard didn't tell them to. Hell, I wish they simply showed up instead of staying at the tail gate lot and getting drunk.

 

[Ursa Major]

I would love to see them in the playoffs It would be great to see Bitch Baby back in WGS.

The world is full of woulda's, coulda's and shoulda's. It's no stretch of the imagination to say that NAU woulda had a different day if Cookus hadn't initiated that unnecessary block last year. Looking back on it, I think that Cookus should have responded in a different manner to to the day's events and the crowd's chirping. I like that he showed some passion but coming unglued was bad form.

I gotta give it to Griz fans as I had more shit talked to me as an NAU fan on the road at Washington-Grizzly Stadium than at ASU, U of A, Montana State or UNLV games combined. Your fans have ability to get under the skin of opposing teams and, just like the fabled "noisy cold/cold noise" so often regaled upon here, it can have an effect on the game. I wish NAU fans were loud at times when the scoreboard didn't tell them to. Hell, I wish they simply showed up instead of staying at the tail gate lot and getting drunk.

Ha! Jack, as any casual reader of eGriz can see, we tend to get under each other's skin a lot too.

 

[BigSkyBears]

Was just reading some articles and also looking at Big Sky schedules. It's incredible how the 13 team, unbalanced scheduling can give a team such an easy path to a title. This year it's that way for NAU.

Let this sink in....out of the 7 Big Sky teams who finished at least 5-3 last year, NAU only faces 3 of them. They avoid both MT schools and Idaho. Their game with EWU is a non conference game. Their two toughest conf games (Weber and SUU) are both at home. NAU has a very easy path to the Big Sky title this year. Will they get it done?

NON-CONF
UTEP
EWU (home)
Missouri St

CONF
SUU (home)
Idaho St
Weber St (home)
UNC
CP (home)
UC Davis
Sac St
UND (home)

I think UNC will beat them this year. The matchup is in Greeley and the Bears tend to get the upper hand when they play in CO. When UNC plays in Flagstaff, it's a different story.

 

[MT Jack]

Ha! Jack, as any casual reader of eGriz can see, we tend to get under each other's skin a lot too.

Some of your fan base are a bit out of touch at times (I notice a few unmentioned names don't seem to be around here on egriz anywhere....) but I generally like you guys.

 

[MT Jack]

I think UNC will beat them this year. The matchup is in Greeley and the Bears tend to get the upper hand when they play in CO. When UNC plays in Flagstaff, it's a different story.

This wouldn't surprise me either. The last few games have been very tight.

 

[Zirg]

Was just reading some articles and also looking at Big Sky schedules. It's incredible how the 13 team, unbalanced scheduling can give a team such an easy path to a title. This year it's that way for NAU.

Let this sink in....out of the 7 Big Sky teams who finished at least 5-3 last year, NAU only faces 3 of them. They avoid both MT schools and Idaho. Their game with EWU is a non conference game. Their two toughest conf games (Weber and SUU) are both at home. NAU has a very easy path to the Big Sky title this year. Will they get it done?

NON-CONF
UTEP
EWU (home)
Missouri St

CONF
SUU (home)
Idaho St
Weber St (home)
UNC
CP (home)
UC Davis
Sac St
UND (home)

I have no idea if NAU is a serious contender but,just like when Southern Utah won the fb conference a cpl years ago ( as the 4th or 5th best team in the conference), there will always be one team that doesn't play the other 3 tops teams. I've never understood why "more is better". We never needed North Dakota or Northern Colorado. I know No Colorado was added to gain more Root Coverage, but now we don't need UNC for any reason, IMO.

 

[CDAGRIZ]

Is their star quarterback playing or did he "spit the dummy" again and is having a time-out with his blankie for nap time?

I believe NAU is counting heavily on their junior QB who had the melt-down in Wash/Griz last year. He will not have to contend with Montana again as NAU is not on the schedule in either 2018 or 2019.

https://nauathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3659

I would love to see them in the playoffs It would be great to see Bitch Baby back in WGS.

He is what we in the coaching industry call a "bad waker-upper". Sometimes, your starting QB and team leader cannot control himself and has a Grade III temper tantrum. Experienced coaches can adapt, survive, and advance. You just have to build it into the game plan.

 

[Ursa Major]

Is their star quarterback playing or did he "spit the dummy" again and is having a time-out with his blankie for nap time?

I believe NAU is counting heavily on their junior QB who had the melt-down in Wash/Griz last year. He will not have to contend with Montana again as NAU is not on the schedule in either 2018 or 2019.

https://nauathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3659

I would love to see them in the playoffs It would be great to see Bitch Baby back in WGS.

He is what we in the coaching industry call a "bad waker-upper". Sometimes, your starting QB and team leader cannot control himself and has a Grade III temper tantrum. Experienced coaches can adapt, survive, and advance. You just have to build it into the game plan.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[footballdood]

This will be NAU’s year. In addition to their explosive offense, I think they’ll have one of the top defenses in the league. They will have the best defensive backfield in the conference and perhaps all of the FCS. LB’s are pretty damn good too. OL is young. But they are very experienced and talented everywhere else.

It will be interesting to see if NAU can actually pull it off with such a favorable conference schedule. But when you can’t even beat non-scholarship San Diego in the playoffs, a lot of people are going to be skeptical.

Well, NAU was reall the 4th Big Sky team. How they got in ahead of EWU...

 

[EverettGriz]

#bsc