MSU’s Dowler picks up 3rd straight Big Sky honor

Caden Dowler made history Monday with his third straight defensive player of the week award from the Big Sky Conference.

Bobcat quarterback Justin Lamson did the same, in a way. 

Dowler is the first Bobcats to three-peat the league’s defensive honor, after contributing a pick-6 and six solo tackles during their 31-28 win over Montana in the 124th Brawl of the Wild. 

The junior strong safety out of Billings West intercepted a tipped pass and took it 34 yards for a touchdown that put the Bobcats up 24-21 in the third quarter. They held on to claim their second straight Big Sky Conference title and third in four seasons. 

Dowler was also named the Stats Perform player of the week on defense as well for his efforts, which helped the Bobcats to their 10th straight win and a No. 2 seed into the FCS playoffs.  

Lamson, the senior Stanford transfer who hadn’t been a starter in college, set a school completion percentage record of 18 of 20 against the Grizzlies, for 175 yards and a TD. 

That, along with a 23-yard touchdown scramble that made it 31-21, landed him his first offensive player of the week award from the Big Sky.  

He ran for 80 yards in the game and for the seventh straight week had a TD rushing and passing in the same game. 

Idaho State sophomore kicker Trajan Sinatra went 3-for-3 on field goals and scord 13 points in Idaho State’s 37-16 win over Idaho. 

The win was the Bengals’ sixth in nine games and capped a 4-0 November; Sinatra set ISU’s school single-season record for kicking points with 97. 

Hauck up for Robinson Award 

Bobby Hauck, coach of the 11-1 Montana Grizzlies, has been named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award for the FCS coach of the year for a third time. 

Hauck is one of 15 finalists for the 2025 award; he was also a finalist in 2009 and 2023. He is 149-42 overall and 86-23 in Big Sky games in his two tenures as Griz coach (2003-9 and 2018-present). Both win totals are the best in league history and he is the second-winningest active coach in the FCS. 

Montana returned zero starters on defense and just 25 letterwinners overall from last season’s 9-5 team, and with sophomore Keali’i Ah Yat at quarterback won its first 11 games. The Grizzlies were picked to finish third in the Big Sky. 

All 13 FCS conferences are represented in the list of finalists and Hauck is the lone coach from the Big Sky. The award dates back to 1987 and Montana State’s Brent Vigen won it this past season. Other past winners include Troy Taylor of Sacramento State (2019), Dan Hawkins of UC Davis (2018), Joe Glenn of Montana (2000) and Chris Ault of Nevada (1991). 

Other finalists this year include North Dakota State coach Tim Polasek and Kevin Cahill of Lehigh. Both the Bison and Mountain Hawks are 12-0. 

Davis a Rice finalist 

Brooks Davis, who has had a breakout season with the Montana Grizzlies, is among 25 finalists for the Jerry Rice Award, given to the top freshman in the FCS. 

The redshirt freshman out of Brentwood, Calif., is second on the Griz with 48 catches, for 611 yards and five touchdowns. 

The catches are the most for a Big Sky Conference freshman and his yardage ranks second for first-year players. He had highlight-reel touchdown catches against Montana State last week and for the game-winning touchdown against North Dakota in September. 

Davis is one of five Grizzlies to be named a Rice finalist, a list that includes safety Robby Hauck (2018), quarterback Gresch Jensen (2017) and receiver Jerry Louie-McGee (2016). Griz running back Eli Gillman won the award in 2023. 

The Big Sky has two finalists, with UC Davis quarterback Caden Pinnick being the other. Pinning has thrown for 2,527 yards and 24 touchdowns for the 8-3 (and eighth-seeded) Aggies, with eight interceptions.  

Cal Poly dismisses Wulff 

With a four-paragraph release, Cal Poly announced it had parted ways with Paul Wulff after he spent three seasons has head coach of the Mustangs. 

Wulff, who spent from 2020-23 as Cal Poly’s offensive line and associated head coach, guided the Mustangs to a 4-8 mark this past season, including a 43-34 win over Eastern Washington on Saturday. He coaching record at CP is 10-24.  

His staff included offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach, who held he same position at Montana in 2012 at at Eastern Washington from 2001-02. 

"I want to thank Coach Wulff for his years of service to Cal Poly both as an assistant and a head football coach," Cal Poly athletic director Carter Henderson said in the release. "He represented the Mustangs well and was extremely dedicated to this program. I wish him the absolute best moving forward." 

Wulff previously went 53-40 in eight seasons as coach at Eastern Washington (2000-07) and 9-40 in four seasons guiding Washington State (2008-11).