Northwest Notes July 25, 2021

Big Sky Football Kickoff set to air Monday on ESPN+

SPOKANE — The 2021 Big Sky Football Kickoff began Saturday and runs through Monday, which will see more than five hours aired live on ESPN+.

The Davenport Grand Hotel is hosting this weekend's events, with players and coaches from all all 13 teams in attendance. The event was held in Spokane in 2018 and ’19. Last year's event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Saturday, student-athletes took part in a youth football clinic. Today will feature video interviews and meetings, followed by a dinner that evening where the league's preseason outstanding offensive and defensive players will be announced.

Monday will feature more than five hours of live coverage from the Davenport Grand Hotel beginning at 9 a.m. PDT on ESPN+, with the Big Sky's Mariluz Cook set to interview two players and the head coach from all 13 football teams, as well as Commissioner Tom Wistrcill.

The broadcast will be the first for the Big Sky on ESPN+ following the league's deal with ESPN that was announced back in June.

FULL ESPN+ KICKOFF SCHEDULE

Monday, July 24 (Times PDT)

9:00 a.m. — Commissioner Tom Wistrcill

9:12 a.m. — Montana State (Head coach Bret Vigen and players Lewis Kidd and Amandre Williams)

9:32 a.m. — Sac State (Head coach Troy Taylor and players Elijah Dotson and Marcus Hawkins)

9:52 a.m. — Cal Poly (Head coach Beau Baldwin and players Wade Willet and Aaron Cooper)

10:12 a.m. — UC Davis (Head coach Dan Hawkins and players Connor Pettek and Jordan Perryman)

10:32 a.m. — Craig Haley (STATS Perform FCS)

10:42 a.m. — Northern Arizona (Head coach Chris Ball and players Hendrix Johnson and Tristen Vance)

11:02 a.m. — Southern Utah (Head coach Demario Warren and players Justin Miller and La'akea K-Davis)

11:22 a.m. — Northern Colorado (Head coach Ed McCaffrey and players Dylan McCaffrey and RJ Potts)

11:42 a.m. — Portland State (Head coach Bruce Barnum and players Davis Alexander and Anthony Adams)

12:30 p.m. — Sam Herder (HERO Sports)

12:40 p.m. — Weber State (Head coach Jay Hill and players Rashid Shaheed and Jared Schiess)

1:00 p.m. — Idaho State (Head coach Rob Phenicie and players Tyler Vander Waal and Oshea Trujillo)

1:20 p.m. — Idaho (Head coach Paul Petrino and players Logan Kendall and Tre Walker)

1:40 p.m. — Montana (Head coach Bobby Hauck and players Dylan Cook and Jace Lewis)

2:00 p.m. — Eastern Washington (Head coach Aaron Best and players Eric Barriere and Jack Sendelbach)

Big Sky announces future

conference football schedules

The Big Sky Conference has released future conference football schedules from 2022-24, as announced Saturday.

The previously announced schedules were altered due to Southern Utah's move to the Western Athletic Conference after this season, making the conference a 12-team football league beginning in 2022.

The future 2022-24 schedules will still feature eight league games that include two annual opponents, some of whom have changed since the last time, and six rotating opponents. This format was selected in part based on feedback from the league membership about wanting to make sure teams did not go a long time during the three-year slate without playing a fellow conference opponent.

Eastern Washington's two annual opponents are Idaho and Montana State. Previously, they were Idaho and Portland State.

League schools also had increased input into the scheduling process, with each institution allowed to request their preferred annual opponents (every school got at least one of their requests) and one week per season during which they would like to be home or not at home (either away or open). The nine non-California-based teams will play one game each season at either Cal Poly, Sacramento State, or UC Davis, and will host one of those three every year as well.

FUTURE CONFERENCE SCHEDULES

EASTERN WASHINGTON

2022

Sept. 24 — Montana State.

Oct. 1 — Open. Oct. 8 — at Weber State. Oct. 15 — Sacramento State. Oct. 22 — at Cal Poly. Oct. 29 — Portland State.

Nov. 5 — at Idaho. Nov. 12 — at Montana. Nov. 19 — Northern Colorado.

2023

Sept. 23 — at UC Davis. Sept. 20 — Idaho.

Oct. 7 — Open. Oct. 14 — at Idaho State. Oct. 21 — Weber State. Oct. 28 — at Portland State.

Nov. 4 — Cal Poly. Nov. 11 — at Montana State. Nov. 18 — Northern Arizona.

2024

Sept. 28 — Montana.

Oct. 5 — Open. Oct. 12 — at Sacramento State. Oct. 19 — UC Davis. Oct. 26 — at Idaho.

Nov. 2 — Montana State. Nov. 9 — Northern Colorado. Nov. 16 — Idaho State. Nov. 23 — Northern Arizona.

IDAHO

2022

Sept. 24 — at Northern Arizona.

Oct. 1 — Northern Colorado. Oct. 15 — at Montana. Oct. 22 — Portland State. Oct. 29 — at Sacramento State.

Nov. 5 — Eastern Washington. Nov. 12 — UC Davis. Nov. 19 —at Idaho State.

2023

Sept. 23 — Sacramento State. Sept. 30 — at Eastern Washington.

Oct. 7 — at Cal Poly. Oct. 14 — Montana. Oct. 28 — Montana State.

Nov. 4 — at Northern Colorado. Nov. 11 — at Weber State. Nov. 18 — Idaho State.

2024

Sept. 28 — at UC Davis.

Oct. 5 — Northern Arizona. Oct. 12 — at Montana State. Oct. 19 — Cal Poly. Oct. 26 — Eastern Washington.

Nov. 9 — at Portland State. Nov. 16 — Weber State. Nov. 23 — at Idaho State.