Cal Poly has the best offense on this week's board outside Bozeman. The Mustangs succeed on .480 of their snaps, second only to Montana State, and Eastern Washington's defense allows .498. Cal Poly also lost at home to San Diego of the Pioneer League last week, 38-35, after getting stuffed twice at the 1 in the fourth quarter.

That loss dropped Cal Poly from 35th to 58th in the Blend, and the Blend is why our line has Eastern Washington by 8.6 at Roos Field. Eastern Washington has lost to Northern Arizona, South Dakota and Washington, and beaten Northern Iowa. The ratings like that résumé more than the snap counts do. I'm siding with the computers over one season of success rates.

Southern Utah holds the ball 35.6 minutes a game, the most in the league, and runs it on 62.5 percent of its plays, also the most. Against Montana in Week Zero the Thunderbirds held it for 43:34 and lost by seven. Idaho State holds it 25.4 minutes, the least, and does not seem to mind: 3-0 with a defense allowing a .354 success rate, the stingiest in the league.

Cody Hawkins has not forgotten last year's 46-24 loss in Cedar City. "A good, playoff-caliber football team beat the tar out of us, rightfully so," he said Tuesday.

Southern Utah is 1-3, lost at St. Thomas last week on a failed two-point try, and plays at Homecoming with Will Burns at quarterback. Idaho State has taken the ball away seven times in three games. The Bengals lead the series 12-8-1 and are 2-5-1 in Cedar City, which is the one number on this page that argues for the home team.

Chris Fisk came from Central Washington, where he went 48-22. Eric Kjar came from Corner Canyon High School in Draper, where he went 112-10. Kjar's team is 2-2 and beat Northern Colorado on a blocked extra point with three seconds left. Fisk's is 0-4, and at Oregon, down 49-0 at halftime, it was offered 10-minute quarters for the second half and turned them down. "We came to play 60 minutes, regardless of the outcome," Fisk said. It ended 84-0.

I respect it. I'm also not taking the points with it. Portland State has scored 67 points in four games and given up 215. The Vikings have turned it over nine times, tied with Utah Tech for the most in the league, and convert .281 on third down. Weber State converts .500, second only to Montana State. Kjar said after the Northwestern State win that the passing game has been frustrating him, which is the kind of complaint a coach gets to make while converting half his third downs. Weber leads the series 25-15 and has won the last three.

These two have never played. Utah Tech is in its first Big Sky season, 0-4 after opening against four straight ranked teams, and 1-23 all-time against the schools now in this conference. The Trailblazers have turned it over nine times and taken it away twice. Minus-seven is the worst margin in the league.

Northern Colorado is 1-3 and it is Homecoming in Greeley. The Bears hold the ball 33.5 minutes a game, second only to Southern Utah, which is a useful habit against an offense that has scored 44 points in four games. Ed Lamb is 2-0 against this program from his Southern Utah days, and after beating Division II Northeastern State in overtime last week he said something coaches rarely say out loud: "I began to doubt just myself and my instincts." Honest man. His team only has to be better than a turnover machine.

8:00, Scripps and ESPN+. Kalshi has UC Davis by 3.5, we have them by 2.1, and I'm taking the Griz and the points; the case is in Friday's scouting report.