I don’t put much stock in the composition of the big sky teams, no more than I did in our being voted ninth before the season. It’s good that our line is getting some recognition elsewhere. We’ve got some young guys on the line and will only get better.

Funny, not an all conference 1st, 2nd or 3rd team player among them

Probably too much to pull together for this year. One obstacle is dormancy of the mechanics club. No one knows how to get it going and operate it.
But this was a great feature that was part of our tradition. The Case buisiness is still going on, making farm and construction equipment. They just had a 125th birthday. Perhaps they could provide support. We’re on TV quite a bit, more so in future. Good way to promote their story.

Do you know what administrative body made the decision?
Who owns the engine? The antique mechanics club?

Wow... Conference co champs and 8 spots out of 66 total on first second and third teams. Compare to Idaho with. 7.
Must be doing it with smoke and mirrors

Does the steam engine have a firebox... Is it wood/coal powered or oil fired?

can’t afford to lose difference makers at any position.
We lost a one or more defensive players to UCLA from the 2005 team that beat Stanford as well. We can’t turn into a pac12 farm team.

I don’t have a clue about his thought process.
Did he feel under or mis-utilized at Davis? Or was he disillusioned by Gould’s departure? Big sacrifice giving up a scholarship to become a walk-on and doing without that money for a year.
Worth noting that a player wouldn’t have to sit out a year under new rules, if I understand them correctly. i wish him well but hope no one else does it.

I found a list of Case steam engines, one listed at UC Davis, 45 HP. No year listed.
www.steel-wheels.net/nasteamcase.html
It is listed as a portable engine and not a steam tractor, Case made both.

The steam engine was impressive, great for TV

I don’t think so. Maybe there are more than one

why do you say the steam engine wasn’t a tractor? It was a self propelled vehicle not requiring a track, driven by big wheels. I think it was a tractor, an early Bio-Mass propelled tractor.

I’m a big fan of the steam engine but there is a valid reason for concern with a 100+ year old steam boiler. Does anyone fire that up anymore?

Sorry I have trouble with the names of directional schools. I tried to remember that it was the opposite of what I thought it was but it was the opposite of that.

NIU is an excellent choice as a dark horse since they will likely be favored to win their first two games; playing teams making their first appearance.

NIU doesn’t have the super big guys on defense, like Eastern’s Jay-Tee Tiuli.
Not saying they aren’t better, but size wise a typical team.

Sagarin opens the year weighting prior season, but after about six games prior season out of the picture.
The Sagarin ranking is an average of three rankings one of which is just “recent” games. I notice our ranking in recent games is higher than theirs.
One of the reasons other rating systems have us higher than Sagarin is the they factor in wins and not just points. Sagarin is just points and strength of schedule. We’re higher than Northern Iowa in systems that include wins, they are higher than us based in comparative scores and strength of schedule.
NIU Is middle of the pack in their conference statistics. One thing that jumps out when looking at their depth chart is their offensive linemen are very big guys. Not just heavy but 6’5 to 6’8”. Our defense might be expected to have trouble seeing their QB except he’s 6’5” 238

And the committee’s simple rating system is more favorable to us than Sagarin’s because:
1) it give a bonus for FBs win
2) factors in wins rather than pure points
3) limits impact of scores at 21 point differential.

Agreed, so why with a much better team did we lose to them last year?? Not talent because we dominated in the second half.
I don’t know if we gained so much yardage running in the second half because they were giving us the run because of their lead or if they just couldn’t defend it. Their record this year points to the later.

Unfortunately they beat us last year.
How we ever lose to these guys is a mystery to me. Randy Wright never lost to this team.